Here is wisdom;
On Thursday of last week, two very well dressed and polite people rang my doorbell. One woman who wore a flowery dress and one elderly man in a suit who's mobility was aided by a cane. The woman told me they were conducting a survey in my neighborhood and wondered if I would mind answering a question. I said sure and she asked me if I knew why Jesus came to the earth. Being a good Southern Baptist and raised in a Holy home with decades of study in my past I was refreshed by the question.
I answered that He came to pay the price for our sins. Just as the perfect lamb of the Old Testament covered the iniquities of the Jewish people, Jesus' sacrifice covered the iniquities of the Gentiles. The man with the cane told me that I was a man who knew the truth. Then the woman asked me if she could leave me some literature. I was preparing to say no because their resources could better be spent on someone else. Then she pulled out a "Watchtower" magazine and started telling me about Jesus from her "bible."
I stopped her and told her that if it isn't the King James, it isn't the Bible. I then asked her how she reconciled all of the false prophecies that have been made over the years by the Watchtower society. The old man told me I was misinformed. Then I said that they don't believe Jesus was the Son of God. Again he told me I was misinformed (they believe He was the firstborn of creation...a matter of semantics).
I wasn't prepared to talk to them and asked them to come back the next day. They happily agreed and said that they'd come in the afternoon. I stayed up late researching JW's from their own literature. I even found a website with cited JW references to failed prophecies, 35 pages long, and printed it out for them. I prayed and asked God to give me the words that they needed to hear. Then I realized that I could have just invited evil into my home so I prayed that God would keep evil off of my property.
The next day came. I waited all day. No JW's. I suppose that they are only willing to spread their "gospel" to those who are weak, diluted, and uninformed. They weren't up to the challenge. The man had bragged of his 61 years in the church yet he was weak in the face of He who resides in me. I really felt like I could have made a difference with at least the younger woman. I feel relief, yet sadness and still cannot help but wonder if God was truly keeping evil away from me and my family...
Monday, May 3, 2010
Pascal's Wager
Here is wisdom;
The French philosopher Blaise Pascal was an early Christian apologist who said that even though we cannot "prove" the existence of God through reason that we should believe in Him anyway. His reasoning for this was that we have everything to gain and nothing to lose.
This is flawed in so many ways. First of all, do you think God is not sophisticated enough to know those who feign love and adoration for Him? Secondly, if we assume that we cannot prove the existence of God wouldn't we stop trying? Finally, how does this prove which god is correct?
This reminds me of something I once heard a preacher say, if the only motivation for obeying God is the fear of hell, then what is going to be our motivation once we get to Heaven?
The French philosopher Blaise Pascal was an early Christian apologist who said that even though we cannot "prove" the existence of God through reason that we should believe in Him anyway. His reasoning for this was that we have everything to gain and nothing to lose.
This is flawed in so many ways. First of all, do you think God is not sophisticated enough to know those who feign love and adoration for Him? Secondly, if we assume that we cannot prove the existence of God wouldn't we stop trying? Finally, how does this prove which god is correct?
This reminds me of something I once heard a preacher say, if the only motivation for obeying God is the fear of hell, then what is going to be our motivation once we get to Heaven?
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The "True" Church
Here is wisdom;
There is only one true church. It is the church that Jesus leads.
How will I know which church is real?
They will teach what Jesus taught and will follow the ten commandments.
Revelation warns us of the seven churches. Many of them are rebuked by Christ.
Revelation is not our only source for these churches.
"And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, "We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach" (Isaiah 4:1).
This is prophecy. In prophecy "women" represent the church (Jeremiah 6:2), "one man" represents Christ, "bread" represents the word (John 6:35), and "clothing" represents character (Isaiah 64:6).
What this is saying is that there are several churches but to stay away from the ones that make their own rules or word and character even though they claim to represent Christ.
What if I'm wrong?
Follow Jesus and the ten commandments and you have nothing to fear.
Jesus said, "...other sheep that I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." (John 10:16)
...just study and follow God's word. Do what it says and you will always be in the fold.
Maranatha
There is only one true church. It is the church that Jesus leads.
How will I know which church is real?
They will teach what Jesus taught and will follow the ten commandments.
Revelation warns us of the seven churches. Many of them are rebuked by Christ.
Revelation is not our only source for these churches.
"And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, "We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach" (Isaiah 4:1).
This is prophecy. In prophecy "women" represent the church (Jeremiah 6:2), "one man" represents Christ, "bread" represents the word (John 6:35), and "clothing" represents character (Isaiah 64:6).
What this is saying is that there are several churches but to stay away from the ones that make their own rules or word and character even though they claim to represent Christ.
What if I'm wrong?
Follow Jesus and the ten commandments and you have nothing to fear.
Jesus said, "...other sheep that I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." (John 10:16)
...just study and follow God's word. Do what it says and you will always be in the fold.
Maranatha
Repent Now; Aviod the Rush
Here is wisdom:
No one comes in from outside until it is raining.
Just like those in the days of Noah waited until the rain drops were falling before they tried to get on board the ark.
Why wait until it is too late?
Just like the last day of the month at the department of motor vehicles, there will be a rush.
Why wait until the line is so long that you might not make it?
God is real and the rain clouds are forming on the horizon, the renewal notices have been sent out on your Ford or Chevy.
Jesus is God. There is no other name under heaven by which we are saved.
Join a church that teaches the Bible.
No one comes in from outside until it is raining.
Just like those in the days of Noah waited until the rain drops were falling before they tried to get on board the ark.
Why wait until it is too late?
Just like the last day of the month at the department of motor vehicles, there will be a rush.
Why wait until the line is so long that you might not make it?
God is real and the rain clouds are forming on the horizon, the renewal notices have been sent out on your Ford or Chevy.
Jesus is God. There is no other name under heaven by which we are saved.
Join a church that teaches the Bible.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Genome Sizes
Here is Wisdom;
The most simple form of life on earth is bacteria.
The simplest bacteria that has been mapped is known as phi X174 and has 5,386 base pairs of genes.
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/P/PhiX.html
Man has 3,300,000,000 pairs or 3.3 x 10 to the ninth power.
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/H/HGP.html
Quick subtraction gives us 3,299,994,614.
What does that have to do with anything you may ask?
Good question. The earth has supported life for only 3.8 billion years. That means that a genetic mutation would have to take place every 1.13 years, every year, for humans to have evolved from the simplest form of life.
That assumes (with great faulty) that life began as bacteria.
Think about it...
The most simple form of life on earth is bacteria.
The simplest bacteria that has been mapped is known as phi X174 and has 5,386 base pairs of genes.
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/P/PhiX.html
Man has 3,300,000,000 pairs or 3.3 x 10 to the ninth power.
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/H/HGP.html
Quick subtraction gives us 3,299,994,614.
What does that have to do with anything you may ask?
Good question. The earth has supported life for only 3.8 billion years. That means that a genetic mutation would have to take place every 1.13 years, every year, for humans to have evolved from the simplest form of life.
That assumes (with great faulty) that life began as bacteria.
Think about it...
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Star Dust
Here is wisdom;
According to the big bang, everything that is in existence came from the dust of stars.
Where did the dust come from?
In the milliseconds following the big bang, there was no mass. Everything had so much energy that it was pure light.
Try to wrap your mind around this: everything, including ourselves, came from light.
Sentience, art, music, sound, terra firma... all came from light.
God is light, remember that.
According to the big bang, everything that is in existence came from the dust of stars.
Where did the dust come from?
In the milliseconds following the big bang, there was no mass. Everything had so much energy that it was pure light.
Try to wrap your mind around this: everything, including ourselves, came from light.
Sentience, art, music, sound, terra firma... all came from light.
God is light, remember that.
Wisdom
Here is wisdom;
Jesus said not to cast pearls before swine least they be trampled upon.
Swine cannot appreciate the finer qualities of a pearl. A pearl enhances the look of the person who wears it, yet a swine knows nothing about beauty and cares not for it.
Similarly, wisdom comes from God. And unless you belong to Him you belong to the deceiver, which is the serpent of old Lucifer, and you are without wisdom.
Pity the fool who has said in his heart, "There is no God!" You have eyes to see, you have ears to hear, and you have a mind to comprehend and yet you, atheists, claim that there is no "empirical" evidence of God?
Wisdom is separate from intellectualism in that it transcends knowledge and combines it with other components like experience, emotion, perception, intuition, and arrives at a new outcome...
There is a God and He still loves you.
Jesus said not to cast pearls before swine least they be trampled upon.
Swine cannot appreciate the finer qualities of a pearl. A pearl enhances the look of the person who wears it, yet a swine knows nothing about beauty and cares not for it.
Similarly, wisdom comes from God. And unless you belong to Him you belong to the deceiver, which is the serpent of old Lucifer, and you are without wisdom.
Pity the fool who has said in his heart, "There is no God!" You have eyes to see, you have ears to hear, and you have a mind to comprehend and yet you, atheists, claim that there is no "empirical" evidence of God?
Wisdom is separate from intellectualism in that it transcends knowledge and combines it with other components like experience, emotion, perception, intuition, and arrives at a new outcome...
There is a God and He still loves you.
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