World without God

Just as Sin has polluted man and polluted man from the purity of God and created a chasm that could only be bridged by Jesus Christ, mankind has polluted his environment. I’m not going to argue whether or not global warming is or is not happening but as a species we have polluted rivers, streams, bodies of water, the sky, and our land because of our own sin. 

Technological advancement is one thing but we have sacrificed much to make money in the long term as industry looks for the cheapest ways to make things. The bible says “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost?” Luke 14:28. We have not counted the cost for the industrial damage to our planet over the short-term.

You have no doubt heard of the carbon footprint. Each person on the planet does something that ultimately pollutes this planet. Every single person that breathes. We are corrupt like a virus even to our own habitat. That should tell you something about our very nature.

God has given us a way to redeem ourselves from sin and escape the bondage so that when we enter the next life none of this is an issue. After Christ returns there will be made a new Heaven and a new Earth.

Count the cost of not being part of that eternal reward and eternal joy. And as Christians we can start that joy today.

God bless each and every one of you and thanks for reading.

Your needs met

This Thanksgiving I am reminded of the story where Jesus meets the Sumerian woman at the well. The woman would come to the well to fill up her jug with water but she came at odd times of day to avoid others because of her reputation.

The day she went and Jesus was there she was surprised when Jesus asked her for a drink of water. During their conversation Jesus revealed himself to her by showing her that she had a need that could not be filled by earthly water. Jesus told her that had she known who he was she would have asked him for drink.

He showed her things about herself that only God could know and in this revelation she could come to know Christ and drink from everlasting water and never thirst again. In essence she had a need to be met and was searching for this need. Possibly through male companionships or some other need. The trips to the well during the heat of the day when no one else would really go was a great way to teach her of her own burdens and the symbolism of something so simple as thirst and water as a lesson in how Jesus provides for us and gives us eternal life.

In this way we all have needs that are not being met or cannot be met by others. The gift of everlasting life can only be gotten from Jesus Christ.

This Thanksgiving and every day we should be thankful that God is meeting our needs daily and forever.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Man kills himself after reading The God Delusion?

I found an unusual story on World Net Daily regarding a college aged man, or boy depending on how you view age, who recently killed himself and was a Christian. The Father of the boy found the book, “The God Delusion” stuffed under his mattress and believes that this could be the cause of his suicide.

While I do feel that certain atheist objections to Christianity could rattle the faith of some Christians not well versed in their faith I seriously doubt this alone would be the factor for this person’s suicide. I suppose it could be but I would imagine there were already some other issues at play, possibly depression or stress from school itself.

If you are a Christian who feels that these atheist objections are challenging your faith I would stress to you to seek out all sides to each objection. This is why we have apologetics which is an entire field dedicated to answering the objections themselves.

One thing atheists like to do is attack the Christian bible and pick it apart based on a reading of the words on the surface. Or they will point out various scripture, usually from the Old Testament, to make God appear to be a genocidal maniac. The goal is this, even though they don’t believe in God, to make God 1. appear evil or cruel and unworthy of worship and 2. To make the bible appear as though it has so many contradictions that it cannot be a work derived from God and thus God does not exist.

The third thing atheists like to do is bring in science and measure it against what is described in the bible to make it also appear that the bible cannot be inspired by God. They are right when they say the bible was written by ancient men but the revelation given to these men was what they could understand for the time it was given.

Certainly God would allow man to discover and learn about the creation for himself over time and not have Moses writing out the periodic table or giving a lecture on Quantum physics. Had Moses, or any other author, included these facts in the bible, some atheists say this would lend more validity to the bible. I say they would probably just write the author off as a brilliant man but not necessarily inspired by God.

The bible is not a modern day science book. It contains information that primitive man was able to grasp without getting heavy into how the universe was created. Why is this? Because as Pagans tend to revere the creation itself and as other religions make idols from material the bible is a book about discovering who God is not how God creates. It’s a book designed to help man find Jesus Christ and then show him how to live his life.

So have no fear of the objections by others. All of them have alternate answers and have already been discussed over and over again. Repentance and Faith is what is necessary to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. In the end, faith is all one really has. Nothing can really be proven. You could be a figment of some creature or in a dream or part of an elaborate computer program. What is truth really? Is your truth the real truth? This is why at the end of the day Faith is all we have and take that faith and put it in Jesus Christ, the only one who offers salvation and remittance for sin.

If you are disturbed by books like the God delusion or other books and writings from the new wave of atheism just remember, they don’t know God and for them, they really is no God.

Side

In the Garden of Eden Adam looked for another that was like him, essentially he needed something that only God could provide through creation. Eve was made for Adam and was his bride. Eve was taken from the side of Adam, not the foot, not the head which could indicate one person being elevated higher than the other.

Eve was taken from the side indicating that Adam and Eve were equals, they were partners. When Eve was tempted Adam shared in her fate by disobeying God and participating in a work that would glorify themselves. The serpent said that they would be like God but the deception here was that they were already made in God’s image and God was able to meet all of their needs.

Flash forward to the birth of Jesus Christ where we have a supernatural conception where Jesus is born out of the woman. God gave us his son who became a man, flesh and bone. When God created Adam’s bride Eve she was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. 

By becoming like us, Jesus was able to take on the sins of the world and have his bones and flesh broken so that we can spend eternity with God in heaven. Through Jesus Christ we can get the gift of eternal life from him through no work on our part. In the garden Adam and Eve were already with God and had all they could want. But they were missing something they could not get themselves. Even though Adam looked for his mate he still did not have the savior.

In the spiritual equivalent, the body is the church, the bride and Christ is the bridegroom who will come for his bride and ultimately present the church to the Father just as the Father presented Eve to Adam and took her from his side Jesus will take the church by his side and present the church to the Father.

This is why marriage is a sacred institution to Christians. In the physical realm the bridegroom is playing a role as an earthly representation of Christ and the woman is his bride. In a traditional ceremony the Father of the bride presents the bride to the groom and the groom takes her as his bride.

The church is a gift to Jesus the son of God but at the very end Jesus will return that gift back to the Father so that he can be glorified and through that glorification the church spends eternity in heaven with God.

For now, Satan is against us but with God on our side we cannot lose. Romans 8:31

There’s probably no God

Apparently atheists in London England are unhappy with some recent ads that Christians ran and want to respond with a campaign of their own. The slogan would run on the famous double decker buses with the line “There probably is no god”. 

The first thing I find funny is the use of the word “probably”. The other irony I find in this story is that the common term used by those contemplating suicide is “Catch the bus”.

In light of all of the news and looking at the history of man and the miracle of life and the greatness of the universe, I conclude that not only is there probably a God but there IS a God, and it’s the Christian God. The one who created all things and offers remission for sins through the blood of Jesus Christ at Calvary.

Don’t miss the bus when it comes to God and eternal life.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081028174358.ui5hekmi&show_article=1

Fireproof movie

Over this past weekend I managed to take the family out to see “Fireproof” with Kirk Cameron. Right off the bat I recommend all Christians, especially married Christian couples to see this movie. It’s not hollywood quality but it is very well done. If you saw the movie “Facing the Giants” this movie is by the same people.

The movie is centered around Kirk Cameron’s character Caleb is a firefighter who is in the middle of some heavy duty marriage problems and teetering on divorce. Caleb’s father convinces his son to hold off on the divorce and read through a book he sends him called “The love dare” which is a 40 day program in which you have a set of daily tasks that will help bring you to understand love and marriage by the time you complete it.

Caleb has mixed results initially and keeps speaking to his father who is also a devout Christian whereas Caleb is a believer in God but doesn’t really have any relationship with God beyond that. Without giving much away, Caleb explores his marriage and his faith and learns how the two intertwine and what marriage really means.

We all cried during this movie including my 8 year old daughter whom I think really truly became born again during the watching of this movie. As a person who has been married for over 17 years I can tell you that this film can really help you no matter where you are in your relationship. Even those considering marriage should watch this movie to understand what marriage and love is.

The acting is fairly decent in the movie, Kirk Cameron does a great job looking like a mean jerk. There is some really good humor and this is one movie where someone says you’ll laugh and you’ll cry, is true here.

I wish the movie quality had been a little better. I felt like I was watching a TV movie on the big screen. The sound was not that great and the lips were a little off but that may have been a technical glitch of the theater I was at.

Again, I can’t say this was a great film when comparing it in a film setting, yet all the same it spoke to my faith and was a great movie without being a big budget block buster.

The Karate Kid

Hello readers it’s been a long time since my last post. I wish I could have been more active and I apologize to those that are disappointed but of course this is something I try to do with my free time and lately I haven’t had any. Also life has been very difficult as of late and I haven’t been motivated to do much of anything until this post which sort of relates to me and what God is showing me.

Let’s look at Isaiah 64:8:

But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.

Since there are very few potters and clay that we see today perhaps a more modern spin through the movie “The Karate Kid” will make more sense. Lately I have been going through some trials of my own and while at first glance they do not seem to relate to being molded and brought closer to God I believe that the things we go through are for that very reason.

In the movie the Karate Kid, Daniel Laruso is a young high school kid that moves to a new place and he is immediately attacked by some neighborhood thugs who are adept at the skills of hand to hand combat and give Daniel a good beating. Ironically in their first confrontation these kids are dressed as skeletons, adding a somewhat demonic theme to the scene.

Realizing that he has to face his problems Daniel turns to an unassuming older man that is the maintenance person in his new apartment complex. He finds that this man is highly skilled in the ways of Karate and can teach him what he needs to defend himself.

However Daniel does not get what he bargained for. The older man, Mr.  Myiagi puts Daniel through a series of, what appears to be, menial household chores. Painting fences, sanding deck wood, waxing cars.

Daniel cannot understand why Mr. Myiagi is putting him through such tasks and believes Myiagi is only working from his own selfish purposes and that once he completes working on his tasks then Mr. Myiagi will begin showing him the ways of a martial artist. Daniel lashes out against Myiagi and finally realizes that all he has been doing has been getting him ready as the moves he applied to painting and sanding and waxing had him repeating a variety of Karate moves again and again.

As far as realism in the movie goes I know that the movie is far from reality in this respect but the lesson here is very clear. God deals with us in much the same way. We are the student and he is the teacher. We may not understand why certain trials are put before us but the question is, will we apply our biblical teaching in these trials and let God shape us for the next task? Sometimes God allows us to get beat down so that we will finally cry out “LORD!”.

This is what God wants from us because he knows it works to our benefit. Love isn’t just pampering or being a bystander but a perfecting love. One that allows us to be hurt but learn from and use to bring us closer to God, closer to the truth. Because what happens here on Earth isn’t as important as entering God’s kingdom.

I’ve often heard atheists grumble and complain about how the people that were wiped out in the flood of Noah were killed by an evil God who committed terrible genocide. But God showed me that in the moment of those very people gasping for their last breath they would be given that opportunity to cry out “LORD!”. Just as our trials bring us to our knees so that we can cry out to God and come to know him.

We serve an awesome God. Wax on, wax off.

Iran test-fires missiles in Persian Gulf

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D91QFFG00&show_article=1

Iran test fires 9 missles
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/09/mideast/iran.php

Union for Mediterranean

French President Nicholas Sarkozy has proposed a Mediterranean union that comprises many nations along the Mediterranean Sea. This plan is designed to improve relations with Middle Eastern states such as Israel and promote peace. The map I have linked below looks eerily like the map for the Roman Empire. For more info read all the links I have below. Now I’m not saying this is a revived Roman Empire or this is what is spoken of in the bible but it is pretty incredible some of the similarities.

Wikipedia entry for Mediterranean Union
Recent news story On the MedU
Map of the Roman Empire
Medu Map
Jerusalem Post article from March
Shimon Peres supports Med Union

Third Temple preparations begin with priestly garb

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1214726180915&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

On Monday, the Temple Institute started preparing to build a Third Temple on Jerusalem’s Mount Moriah, the site of the Dome of the Rock and the Aksa mosque, by inaugurating a workshop that manufactures priestly garments.

This group is very interesting as they have been attempting to push the rebuilding of the Jewish temple for a number of years and have not been successful. I also don’t think Muslims and Arabs are going to be as supportive as the article seems to suggest.