The Wrath of God begins with seven seals;
The first four each seek the last to eclipse;
Two through four, a sharp two-edged sword each wields,
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse!
Christ's gospel is spread by the man on White;
Marxism seeks conquest on the Red steed;
The rider on Black spreads famine and blight;
Submission to Allah's the Pale one's creed!
Seal five reveals martyrs around God's throne;
The sixth brings an earthquake all earth fears;
A half-hour's silence, then fiery coals are thrown
Upon the world, and the time of Wrath nears!
Can people be spared the horror ahead?
Yes, but they won't; repent, like Jesus said!
Revelation 6:1-12 and 8:1-5 tell of angels opening seven seals which mark the beginning of the Wrath of God on the people of earth. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Apocalypse means "revealing events of the end") are released into the world one at a time (they are already released and at work) in seals 1-4 (Revelation 6:1-8). These four horsemen are symbolic of four powerful socio-economic movements---White horse for Christianity; Red horse for Communism; Black horse for Economic Depression; and Pale (Pale is likely Green, the color representing Islam) for Islam. These four movements are violently involved in the last 7 years before the return of Jesus Christ to the earth. His Second Coming, promised many times in the Bible, will mark the end of our world, at least as we know it. Communism has declined in its power, but it will be involved in the violence of the end, as Russia attempts to achieve a foothold in the Middle East to insure its supply of oil; Russia also wishes to revive its glory days with a new form of Communism. Christianity will be reduced to a few bedraggled Christians who elude martyrdom, as Islam rules the fragmented world that survived the Wrath of God and the Great Tribulation. We are already in the grip of Economic Depression.
The fifth seal opened revealed a throng of Christians' souls, said to be uncountable, that have been martyred during the Great Tribulation by the Antichrist, who demands that each Christian in the world submit to Allah rather than Jesus, or he loses his head. The sixth seal opened looses a huge earthquake on earth that is devastating, but it is just a powder puff compared to what is going to follow. There is a 30-minute period of silence in heaven before the seventh seal is opened, as all of God's hosts, angels and saints, are chastened by the destruction and killing to follow. The result of opening the seventh seal is a huge outpouring of fiery coals over the whole earth, accompanied by thunder and lightning. There are seven trumpets awaiting to be sounded and seven bowls or vials to be poured out on the earth.
You may be asking, Why? The answer is simple. God has been asking men since Adam to repent of their wicked ways and to accept Jesus Christ as Lord. They have not. Look at America. This nation was founded by men who wished it it be a Godly nation. Instead, we rejected God. We abort or murder unborn babies. We are condoning same-sex marriages. These evil and wicked practices are clearly condemned by God in the Bible, yet the Bible can no longer be read in school; prayer is outlawed. It is just a matter of how many days---not years---days we have left before God kills five-sixths of us.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
The Sealed Of God
O, to be among the fortunate few
Who are chosen to receive God's own seal!
Of those who're always in their Sunday pew,
They are spared His Wrath whose faith tests out real!
Just twelve-squared grand of six billion on earth---
What a pittance of men! Compared to those
Who rejected His grace, the gem of worth!
Yet such a joy to be numbered and chose!
Bring on His earthquakes, scorching sun, and hail,
The mark of the Beast, his beheading's threat;
My Jesus can count on me not to fail;
I'm glad to repay a part of my debt!
"After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth holding back the four winds from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea, 'Do not harm the land and the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.'" (Revelation 7:1-3)
In "Raptured Or Not", published 5/27/09, I introduced the Book of Revelation, a vision given by Jesus Christ to the apostle John. This apocaleptic vision relates events that will be occurring during the last 7 years on earth before the Second Coming of Jesus. The three great woes of the Wrath of God will be combined with the terrible persecution of Christians by the Antichrist and False Prophet into what is called the Great Tribulation. Though some interpret the Bible to include the Rapture, a "taking-up" of all true Christians prior to the Tribulation, thus sparing them from persecution, most theologians believe this is not true. I also believe that Christians will be required to go into the Tribulation.
The poem above describes a "seal" being placed on the foreheads of true believers, God's seal, which will protect them from harm from the natural disasters that God intends to release upon earth and its people during the Tribulation period. This seal will not protect Christians from the Beast or Antichrist who declares war on Christianity, beheading all those who do not confess submission to Allah or the devil. Many thousands of followers of Christ will be martyred during this time. A few tattered Christians will elude capture and be on earth to greet Christ at His return. At that time, He will bring with Him the souls of dead believers, to be rejoined with their resurrected bodies (See 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
Who are chosen to receive God's own seal!
Of those who're always in their Sunday pew,
They are spared His Wrath whose faith tests out real!
Just twelve-squared grand of six billion on earth---
What a pittance of men! Compared to those
Who rejected His grace, the gem of worth!
Yet such a joy to be numbered and chose!
Bring on His earthquakes, scorching sun, and hail,
The mark of the Beast, his beheading's threat;
My Jesus can count on me not to fail;
I'm glad to repay a part of my debt!
"After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth holding back the four winds from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea, 'Do not harm the land and the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.'" (Revelation 7:1-3)
In "Raptured Or Not", published 5/27/09, I introduced the Book of Revelation, a vision given by Jesus Christ to the apostle John. This apocaleptic vision relates events that will be occurring during the last 7 years on earth before the Second Coming of Jesus. The three great woes of the Wrath of God will be combined with the terrible persecution of Christians by the Antichrist and False Prophet into what is called the Great Tribulation. Though some interpret the Bible to include the Rapture, a "taking-up" of all true Christians prior to the Tribulation, thus sparing them from persecution, most theologians believe this is not true. I also believe that Christians will be required to go into the Tribulation.
The poem above describes a "seal" being placed on the foreheads of true believers, God's seal, which will protect them from harm from the natural disasters that God intends to release upon earth and its people during the Tribulation period. This seal will not protect Christians from the Beast or Antichrist who declares war on Christianity, beheading all those who do not confess submission to Allah or the devil. Many thousands of followers of Christ will be martyred during this time. A few tattered Christians will elude capture and be on earth to greet Christ at His return. At that time, He will bring with Him the souls of dead believers, to be rejoined with their resurrected bodies (See 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Raptured Or Not?
Dear children of God! Do not be misled!
By false-salve spreaders, saying, He will come
To take us from earth before times of dread;
They're wishful thinkers, hoping to win some
The easy way, by sacrificing less!
The Wrath of God, on the saved and the lost,
Must come to all, that He know which to bless,
And which must pay damnation's total cost!
The Rapture soothes, but is a fairy tale,
Spun by the builders of castles of sand!
If true, it would Christ's Return date unveil,
And whence martyrs Antichrist to demand?
The apostle John outlived his companions. He was martyred in 103 A.D. In his final years he wrote the Apocalypse, the Book of Revelation in the Bible. In a dream he was carried to heaven by Jesus Christ and was revealed many things that would happen in the end-times. The Wrath of God is a series of awful catastrophes that God is going to cause to happen to earth and its people, the unsaved as well as the saved. Before it begins, He is going to place a seal or mark on a number of true believers which will protect them from being harmed in the disasters He brings. These are intended to cause unsealed lukewarm Christians to hurriedly amend their ways and be saved, or to confirm their lostness. They are also intended to cause repentance among the wicked or to punish them and guarantee their condemnations. God's Wrath, combined with the depradations originated by the Antichrist and the False Prophet who rise to rule the world and make war on Christians, is called the Great Tribulation, and is predicted to last for 7 years.
Many preachers have promoted an interpretation of the Bible that calls for Jesus Christ to make an intermediate return to earth before His official Second Coming, bringing with Him from heaven the souls of dead Christians. This will happen, they say, before the beginning of the Tribulation. Jesus will call for the resurrection of the bodies of Christians; they will come forth in new, imperishable bodies and rise to be rejoined with their original souls; while Christians who are living at that time will change in the twinkling of an eye and rise to join the happy throng for its return to heaven. Thus, no true Christian would be left on earth to go into the Tribulation. Jesus will return with the saints and angels in 7 years to defeat the Antichrist at the battle of Armageddon.
It is a beautiful fairy tale. Revelation 20:5 says that the FIRST RESURRECTION will occur when Jesus makes His Second Coming. If the Rapture did take place 7 years earlier, complete with the resurrection of all dead Christians, how could there be TWO first resurrections?
By false-salve spreaders, saying, He will come
To take us from earth before times of dread;
They're wishful thinkers, hoping to win some
The easy way, by sacrificing less!
The Wrath of God, on the saved and the lost,
Must come to all, that He know which to bless,
And which must pay damnation's total cost!
The Rapture soothes, but is a fairy tale,
Spun by the builders of castles of sand!
If true, it would Christ's Return date unveil,
And whence martyrs Antichrist to demand?
The apostle John outlived his companions. He was martyred in 103 A.D. In his final years he wrote the Apocalypse, the Book of Revelation in the Bible. In a dream he was carried to heaven by Jesus Christ and was revealed many things that would happen in the end-times. The Wrath of God is a series of awful catastrophes that God is going to cause to happen to earth and its people, the unsaved as well as the saved. Before it begins, He is going to place a seal or mark on a number of true believers which will protect them from being harmed in the disasters He brings. These are intended to cause unsealed lukewarm Christians to hurriedly amend their ways and be saved, or to confirm their lostness. They are also intended to cause repentance among the wicked or to punish them and guarantee their condemnations. God's Wrath, combined with the depradations originated by the Antichrist and the False Prophet who rise to rule the world and make war on Christians, is called the Great Tribulation, and is predicted to last for 7 years.
Many preachers have promoted an interpretation of the Bible that calls for Jesus Christ to make an intermediate return to earth before His official Second Coming, bringing with Him from heaven the souls of dead Christians. This will happen, they say, before the beginning of the Tribulation. Jesus will call for the resurrection of the bodies of Christians; they will come forth in new, imperishable bodies and rise to be rejoined with their original souls; while Christians who are living at that time will change in the twinkling of an eye and rise to join the happy throng for its return to heaven. Thus, no true Christian would be left on earth to go into the Tribulation. Jesus will return with the saints and angels in 7 years to defeat the Antichrist at the battle of Armageddon.
It is a beautiful fairy tale. Revelation 20:5 says that the FIRST RESURRECTION will occur when Jesus makes His Second Coming. If the Rapture did take place 7 years earlier, complete with the resurrection of all dead Christians, how could there be TWO first resurrections?
Monday, May 25, 2009
If There Were No God
Across the halted earth a stillness lay,
No wind to ruffle the non-existent air,
The sun fixed and blazing; no night all day;
No man-made motors pounding; none to care!
Fallen in a wink, no matter what task.
All men lay strewn in scattered mounds of dust,
Their erstwhile petty plans screened by death's mask;
No more scheming, thieving, or fleshly lust!
Gone paved roads, anthill traffic, beehive tow'r's;
Ubiquant plastics; vying neon lights;
The once-great earth charred by u-v showers,
Its ozone roof melted by dark of nights!
Man, your tale was written in fading ink;
With God went your sole eternal life's link!
Most people in this world speak and act as if God doesn't exist. They reject Him and His Commandments, and they taunt and scoff at believers. Yet, if there were no God, our solar system would grind to a halt and life could not exist on earth. The universe does not power itself indefinitely. The small zone of survival in which our planet is maintained contiuously during its cycle about the sun every year is safe for life just so long as God makes it so. If He were to grow disgusted with an overconfident mankind and abandon us, we would exist only briefly. Our sun is not our personal good luck charm; it is a star, and it is subject to all the experiences of any star. Among these are going nova and supernova. The mildest of novas can heat the earth to 7 times its average temperature. The ice caps would melt, floods would cover large swaths of the land, and people could not expose themselves to sunlight and live.
Furthermore, the universe is constantly expanding at fantastic speed. Not only stars, but planets, meteors, asteroids, comets, and debris are hurtling through space on erratic paths, subject to forces of gravity pulling them in sudden and unpredictable directions. At any moment, perhaps without warning, our small planet can be violently hit by an asteroid or comet with such force that a third or more of life can be destroyed; we can be forced out of our safe orbit into one far more toxic. In fact, that very thing is prophesied in Revelation 8:8.
"The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood."
The fact that something this catastrophic has not already happened is due solely to God's forbearance, and His desire that more men might come to accept Him. This prediction is referring to the Bible's forecast of something called the Wrath of God, which is expected to take place in the 7 years before the return of Jesus to earth. Yes, it is God who causes this "mountain" to crash into the sea, followed by many more calamities. It will be His last attempt to try to convince mankind to turn to Him before He destroys most of mankind because of their wickedness and refusal to repent.
No wind to ruffle the non-existent air,
The sun fixed and blazing; no night all day;
No man-made motors pounding; none to care!
Fallen in a wink, no matter what task.
All men lay strewn in scattered mounds of dust,
Their erstwhile petty plans screened by death's mask;
No more scheming, thieving, or fleshly lust!
Gone paved roads, anthill traffic, beehive tow'r's;
Ubiquant plastics; vying neon lights;
The once-great earth charred by u-v showers,
Its ozone roof melted by dark of nights!
Man, your tale was written in fading ink;
With God went your sole eternal life's link!
Most people in this world speak and act as if God doesn't exist. They reject Him and His Commandments, and they taunt and scoff at believers. Yet, if there were no God, our solar system would grind to a halt and life could not exist on earth. The universe does not power itself indefinitely. The small zone of survival in which our planet is maintained contiuously during its cycle about the sun every year is safe for life just so long as God makes it so. If He were to grow disgusted with an overconfident mankind and abandon us, we would exist only briefly. Our sun is not our personal good luck charm; it is a star, and it is subject to all the experiences of any star. Among these are going nova and supernova. The mildest of novas can heat the earth to 7 times its average temperature. The ice caps would melt, floods would cover large swaths of the land, and people could not expose themselves to sunlight and live.
Furthermore, the universe is constantly expanding at fantastic speed. Not only stars, but planets, meteors, asteroids, comets, and debris are hurtling through space on erratic paths, subject to forces of gravity pulling them in sudden and unpredictable directions. At any moment, perhaps without warning, our small planet can be violently hit by an asteroid or comet with such force that a third or more of life can be destroyed; we can be forced out of our safe orbit into one far more toxic. In fact, that very thing is prophesied in Revelation 8:8.
"The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood."
The fact that something this catastrophic has not already happened is due solely to God's forbearance, and His desire that more men might come to accept Him. This prediction is referring to the Bible's forecast of something called the Wrath of God, which is expected to take place in the 7 years before the return of Jesus to earth. Yes, it is God who causes this "mountain" to crash into the sea, followed by many more calamities. It will be His last attempt to try to convince mankind to turn to Him before He destroys most of mankind because of their wickedness and refusal to repent.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
By Its Maker Unmade
O! You 'ologists! Who search e'er in vain
For the Garden where the Pair were planted,
Think you that He who flung the starry train
Would o'erlook the Tree of Life enchanted,
For tourists to taste and live forever?
Why else rush them out Eden's gate apace;
Set angels to guard; if not to sever
The race from a cheap circumvent to grace?
The perfect dell which housed the fated Pair
In blissful peace and joy, before their guilt,
Is gone; removed by God; no longer there;
By its Maker unmade, as if ne'er built!
"Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east of Eden, and there he put the man he had formed. And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground---trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ... And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely die.'" (Genesis 2:8-9, 16-17)
God's plan was so simple, yet so magnificent. Adam and Eve, the first man and the first woman created, were placed in a beautiful, sustaining garden, where they could have lived forever at ease, yet God placed one prohibition on them---they were not to eat the fruit of only one of the many trees. Notice they were permitted to eat of all the trees; but one tree was forbidden; it carried a penalty of death. They didn't understand what death was; God had in mind two kinds of death---physical and spiritual. As all men since, they had a free will; they could choose to eat, or not to eat. God gave all men a choice, and, like Adam, choosing to disobey brings death---spiritual death.
Of course, you know the story. They chose to disobey. Notice Satan was already there, on earth. In the form of the serpent, who walked uprightly and was the most beautiful creature in the garden then, he convinced Eve to eat, in the presence of Adam, and he did, too. This brought physical death to them and to all men; it also brought them and all men spiritual death, which means becoming a part of Satan's fallen angels destined to spend eternity in hell. All men are going to die spiritually, but all men are to be resurrected with new bodies---only those who choose to accept the gift of salvation by accepting Jesus as Lord and living for Him will go to heaven, which is to be a new Garden like Eden, and live there forever. Those who do not accept Jesus will live with Satan in a place called hell, which is a burning lake of fire that never ends.
What a magnificent plan! Only God could have conceived it. How could it be an invention of man? The Bible, containing 66 books, written by more than 40 authors over a 1500-year stretch of time, reveals the whole plan of God, with no inconsistency or conflicting statements. The poem above points out that, even though archeologists have discovered most of the places mentioned in the Bible; evidencies of its truth and no evidence of its falsity; no one has ever found a trace of the Garden of Eden. They never will. Believe it or not, the Bible tells almost precisely where it was located: Not far from the present city of Baghdad, Iraq!
For the Garden where the Pair were planted,
Think you that He who flung the starry train
Would o'erlook the Tree of Life enchanted,
For tourists to taste and live forever?
Why else rush them out Eden's gate apace;
Set angels to guard; if not to sever
The race from a cheap circumvent to grace?
The perfect dell which housed the fated Pair
In blissful peace and joy, before their guilt,
Is gone; removed by God; no longer there;
By its Maker unmade, as if ne'er built!
"Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east of Eden, and there he put the man he had formed. And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground---trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ... And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely die.'" (Genesis 2:8-9, 16-17)
God's plan was so simple, yet so magnificent. Adam and Eve, the first man and the first woman created, were placed in a beautiful, sustaining garden, where they could have lived forever at ease, yet God placed one prohibition on them---they were not to eat the fruit of only one of the many trees. Notice they were permitted to eat of all the trees; but one tree was forbidden; it carried a penalty of death. They didn't understand what death was; God had in mind two kinds of death---physical and spiritual. As all men since, they had a free will; they could choose to eat, or not to eat. God gave all men a choice, and, like Adam, choosing to disobey brings death---spiritual death.
Of course, you know the story. They chose to disobey. Notice Satan was already there, on earth. In the form of the serpent, who walked uprightly and was the most beautiful creature in the garden then, he convinced Eve to eat, in the presence of Adam, and he did, too. This brought physical death to them and to all men; it also brought them and all men spiritual death, which means becoming a part of Satan's fallen angels destined to spend eternity in hell. All men are going to die spiritually, but all men are to be resurrected with new bodies---only those who choose to accept the gift of salvation by accepting Jesus as Lord and living for Him will go to heaven, which is to be a new Garden like Eden, and live there forever. Those who do not accept Jesus will live with Satan in a place called hell, which is a burning lake of fire that never ends.
What a magnificent plan! Only God could have conceived it. How could it be an invention of man? The Bible, containing 66 books, written by more than 40 authors over a 1500-year stretch of time, reveals the whole plan of God, with no inconsistency or conflicting statements. The poem above points out that, even though archeologists have discovered most of the places mentioned in the Bible; evidencies of its truth and no evidence of its falsity; no one has ever found a trace of the Garden of Eden. They never will. Believe it or not, the Bible tells almost precisely where it was located: Not far from the present city of Baghdad, Iraq!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
The Urge To Slay
Why did Christians kill Jews in the Crusades,
When Christ clearly prescribes brotherly love,
Not instilling faith as torture persuades?
Killing the lost won't admit you above!
He sent us to convert all the nations,
By word of mouth, using tongues of preachers;
Why carry swords and wreak degradation?
O! How far we've strayed from scripture's teachers!
Saved slay saved, and do the same for heathens!
More blood has been spilled in God's name than hell's;
As if Satan, not Christ, in man's heart dwells!
The urge to slay cancels the rule of love
Established by Jesus who rules above!
The most difficult task for a new Christian is to uproot his inherent urges of how to act and react to others in this world. His natural reaction to any offense, slight or major, is revenge---"an eye for an eye". That is exactly opposite to the response Jesus wants His followers to give. "Turn the other cheek" when someone strikes you---that is His way. It will take you a long time to learn to do that, but you must, in order to love as He loved.
Translated into the way organizations are to behave toward other organizations, and nations are to behave with other nations, it becomes a responsibility to react in ways antithetical to the "bottom-line" mentality of business, and "sovereign" respect between nations. The history of man's nations is one of war after war; and that of business shows corporations becoming greedier and greedier, with less and less moral conscience to its employees, investors, and consumers.
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ... If I give all I possess to the poor, and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1,3)
To get a taste of just how difficult it is for us to grasp the meaning of "love" in the way Jesus means for it to be, read and meditate on Chapter 13 of the Book of 1 Corinthians, not just once, but several times. Start your personality revision with "baby steps"; try it with your closest loved one, like your wife, or husband, then move to those outside your inner circle. This is not the "love" of television opera; nor is it the "brotherly love" of Philadelphia; it is the "agape" love that seeks nothing in return.
When Christ clearly prescribes brotherly love,
Not instilling faith as torture persuades?
Killing the lost won't admit you above!
He sent us to convert all the nations,
By word of mouth, using tongues of preachers;
Why carry swords and wreak degradation?
O! How far we've strayed from scripture's teachers!
Saved slay saved, and do the same for heathens!
More blood has been spilled in God's name than hell's;
As if Satan, not Christ, in man's heart dwells!
The urge to slay cancels the rule of love
Established by Jesus who rules above!
The most difficult task for a new Christian is to uproot his inherent urges of how to act and react to others in this world. His natural reaction to any offense, slight or major, is revenge---"an eye for an eye". That is exactly opposite to the response Jesus wants His followers to give. "Turn the other cheek" when someone strikes you---that is His way. It will take you a long time to learn to do that, but you must, in order to love as He loved.
Translated into the way organizations are to behave toward other organizations, and nations are to behave with other nations, it becomes a responsibility to react in ways antithetical to the "bottom-line" mentality of business, and "sovereign" respect between nations. The history of man's nations is one of war after war; and that of business shows corporations becoming greedier and greedier, with less and less moral conscience to its employees, investors, and consumers.
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ... If I give all I possess to the poor, and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1,3)
To get a taste of just how difficult it is for us to grasp the meaning of "love" in the way Jesus means for it to be, read and meditate on Chapter 13 of the Book of 1 Corinthians, not just once, but several times. Start your personality revision with "baby steps"; try it with your closest loved one, like your wife, or husband, then move to those outside your inner circle. This is not the "love" of television opera; nor is it the "brotherly love" of Philadelphia; it is the "agape" love that seeks nothing in return.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Satan Breeds War
Where Satan encamps is where wars e'er rage;
He foments greed in men to covet rank;
No one is safe from Mars' bloodthirsty wage---
Young men dying to redeem old men's frank*!
What! You doubt that wars are contrived for greed?
Why else does slaughter ravage man's frail race?
Power's in the grasp of those in the lead
Who slaver** profit, the common embrace!
Then Satan has his way; sin calls the tune;
Men march to war, freedom's anthems singing,
Harnessed unseen by their own venal crown,
Their bones but manure for greed's sway bringing!
Look in vain for wars to end in this world,
Where Satan is loosed, his banner unfurled!
*frank = money order; **slaver = drooling
"Law will go out from Zion; the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many people. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more." (Isaiah 2:3-4)
The world, that seems to us so large and substantial, is only a vapor in the annals of eternity. It is only a temporary blip in the plan of God; its only purpose is to provide a brief testing-place whereby He can select those few good men who will fit into the world that follows. Revelation Chapter 20 in the Bible tells of a 1000-year reign of Jesus Christ on earth in a world, whether real or symbolic, like the one that men were supposed to manage in the first place, had Satan not poisoned their minds. Isaiah's passage quoted above gives a sample of what that following world will be like: No wars.
Imagine living in a world with no war for a thousand years! Imagine a world in which there are no nuclear bombs or nations with them and nations without. There will be no crime, policemen, or jails. This present world has never been without war or imminent threat of war, and it always will be a dangerous place to live. There will be no fight over which religion---only Christianity will exist. And what is bad about that? Christianity is a faith that is based on love between men and peace between nations.
He foments greed in men to covet rank;
No one is safe from Mars' bloodthirsty wage---
Young men dying to redeem old men's frank*!
What! You doubt that wars are contrived for greed?
Why else does slaughter ravage man's frail race?
Power's in the grasp of those in the lead
Who slaver** profit, the common embrace!
Then Satan has his way; sin calls the tune;
Men march to war, freedom's anthems singing,
Harnessed unseen by their own venal crown,
Their bones but manure for greed's sway bringing!
Look in vain for wars to end in this world,
Where Satan is loosed, his banner unfurled!
*frank = money order; **slaver = drooling
"Law will go out from Zion; the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many people. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more." (Isaiah 2:3-4)
The world, that seems to us so large and substantial, is only a vapor in the annals of eternity. It is only a temporary blip in the plan of God; its only purpose is to provide a brief testing-place whereby He can select those few good men who will fit into the world that follows. Revelation Chapter 20 in the Bible tells of a 1000-year reign of Jesus Christ on earth in a world, whether real or symbolic, like the one that men were supposed to manage in the first place, had Satan not poisoned their minds. Isaiah's passage quoted above gives a sample of what that following world will be like: No wars.
Imagine living in a world with no war for a thousand years! Imagine a world in which there are no nuclear bombs or nations with them and nations without. There will be no crime, policemen, or jails. This present world has never been without war or imminent threat of war, and it always will be a dangerous place to live. There will be no fight over which religion---only Christianity will exist. And what is bad about that? Christianity is a faith that is based on love between men and peace between nations.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
To Urge Baptists Relent
O, wilderness John, with your matted mane,
Clothing of skins, fearless desert preaching;
What of the flock known today by your name,
Their voices raised in prayers beseeching,
To be free of legalists phony chains?
Do you weep to see baptizers reslaved?
In their nostrils the smell of death remains,
So lately from sin's wages they've been saved;
Now accepting fresh bondage with a will,
Their hearts given to new Pharisees' laws!
So soon they renounced freedom's joyous thrill,
Trading for legalism's hungry jaws!
John, you once called upon Judah to repent;
Would you were here to urge Baptists relent!
The Southern Baptist Convention is in a shambles, having recently emerged from a 40-year internal struggle for control between legalists and so-called moderates, whose uncensored backroom names are "liberals". The legalists won the war but lost the convention which is falling apart in their hands. Seeing their mistake, they have desperately tried to give it back, but, alas for the Kingdom of God, it is too late. They have watched the greatest foreign missions endeavor in Christian history, the Cooperative Program, rapidly disintegrate. The Convention itself is declining, splitting into smaller, new organizations of the independent-minded churches. With its once-proud name steadily losing respect, it is very likely that the "Southern" appelation will disappear completely in a few years.
It is hard enough in today's world to convince lost people to enter a church and begin spiritual journeys without their being dumped into the middle of internal warfare inside the church; their weak faith needs careful and peaceful nurturing, not being forced to see their appointed role models duking it out over politics of control. The recent battle in the Baptist denomination was early and derisively given the name "the preachers' war" by lay Baptists; what kind of reaction do you think Jesus Christ had to it?
Jesus told us to love one another as He loved us. He suffered the pain and humiliation of dying on the cross for our sins without one word of complaint. "Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for another." I didn't see any Pharisees or Christian legalists plotting for control of who gets to die on the cross for the rest of us. The recent imbroglio of Baptists was nothing but a worldly struggle for power, using worldly non-Christ-like smoke-filled backroom techniques to win, and accomplishing nothing but hindrance for our Lord and Savior. So if after learning about our dirty linen, you would like to show us how it ought to be done, commit yourself to Jesus Christ and help us overcome our own sinfulness! Believe in Jesus Christ, not men.
Clothing of skins, fearless desert preaching;
What of the flock known today by your name,
Their voices raised in prayers beseeching,
To be free of legalists phony chains?
Do you weep to see baptizers reslaved?
In their nostrils the smell of death remains,
So lately from sin's wages they've been saved;
Now accepting fresh bondage with a will,
Their hearts given to new Pharisees' laws!
So soon they renounced freedom's joyous thrill,
Trading for legalism's hungry jaws!
John, you once called upon Judah to repent;
Would you were here to urge Baptists relent!
The Southern Baptist Convention is in a shambles, having recently emerged from a 40-year internal struggle for control between legalists and so-called moderates, whose uncensored backroom names are "liberals". The legalists won the war but lost the convention which is falling apart in their hands. Seeing their mistake, they have desperately tried to give it back, but, alas for the Kingdom of God, it is too late. They have watched the greatest foreign missions endeavor in Christian history, the Cooperative Program, rapidly disintegrate. The Convention itself is declining, splitting into smaller, new organizations of the independent-minded churches. With its once-proud name steadily losing respect, it is very likely that the "Southern" appelation will disappear completely in a few years.
It is hard enough in today's world to convince lost people to enter a church and begin spiritual journeys without their being dumped into the middle of internal warfare inside the church; their weak faith needs careful and peaceful nurturing, not being forced to see their appointed role models duking it out over politics of control. The recent battle in the Baptist denomination was early and derisively given the name "the preachers' war" by lay Baptists; what kind of reaction do you think Jesus Christ had to it?
Jesus told us to love one another as He loved us. He suffered the pain and humiliation of dying on the cross for our sins without one word of complaint. "Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for another." I didn't see any Pharisees or Christian legalists plotting for control of who gets to die on the cross for the rest of us. The recent imbroglio of Baptists was nothing but a worldly struggle for power, using worldly non-Christ-like smoke-filled backroom techniques to win, and accomplishing nothing but hindrance for our Lord and Savior. So if after learning about our dirty linen, you would like to show us how it ought to be done, commit yourself to Jesus Christ and help us overcome our own sinfulness! Believe in Jesus Christ, not men.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Young Bob Smith
I was nine when I chose God for my King,
Young Preacher Smith embraced me in the aisle;
He asked if Christ had told me anything
During his sermon, the last little while.
Shocked, I nodded; for the Savior had said,
Plain as day, "Billy, I want you with me;
To spread the word, where'er in life you tread;
Preach my gospel, and set the captives free!"
He died that night, my father in the Word;
God called him home, not until I was free,
The last down the aisle when his voice was heard;
"Lord, make me worthy of him who saved me!"
Young Bob Smith, his calling true to the end;
May I, the rescued, as faithfully fend!
When I was a child prior to WWII, I attended Central Baptist Church in McComb, Miss. The first pastor I can remember was young Bob Smith. Because of my mother's faithfulness, my brothers and I attended church regularly Sunday morning, evening, and Wednesday evening. I was saved all my life; I can never recall a moment when I did not consider myself a believer in Jesus Christ. By the time I was 9, there was never any doubt that I would go down the aisle professing Christ as my Lord; it was just a question of, How soon? One Sunday evening I was unusually attentive to Bob Smith, our pastor, and clear as a bell I heard Jesus say, "Billy, I want you to be with me!" Sitting with a group of boys in the back of the church, we were never completely quite and attentive. In fact, the preacher often had to stop speaking and snap his fingers at my gang. But on this evening, I listened to his words, and I heard Jesus speak inside my head.
Bob Smith must have noticed an odd expression on my face, because when he gave his usual invitation for those feeling the tug of the Holy Spirit to confess Jesus publicly, he was already walking up the aisle toward my pew. The rest of the story is history. I publicly gave my heart to the Lord that evening; and before midnight Bob Smith was dead with a sudden heart attack. I was his last convert in our church.
Paul made a young convert named Timothy, who also was called by Jesus to be a minister. Paul taught him everything, and Timothy served as pastor of the church Paul founded at Ephesus in Asia Minor, where John, one of Jesus' apostle also served at an age of almost 100. When Paul was imprisoned in Rome, just before he was executed in 64 A.D., he wrote Timothy two of the letters that became books of the Bible.
"I have been reminded of your sincere faith which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also," (2 Timothy 1:5)
Notice that Paul uses the expression "I am persuaded" to state that his young convert has the sincere belief that is sufficient for admission to heaven by the Lord; he does not use an absolute declarative that he is saved, even though if any Christian ever knew another so well as Paul knew Timothy, he would have grounds to say that Timothy was saved. As I have repeatedly said, "No human being can know another's heart well enough, or his own heart well enough, to declare definitively that either is saved."
I am sure Bob Smith is in heaven now with Jesus, and they have watched my life. It has not been as productive of converted souls as it should have been, or could have been, but I pray that I have in some way showed my gratitude for the special call they gave to me.
Young Preacher Smith embraced me in the aisle;
He asked if Christ had told me anything
During his sermon, the last little while.
Shocked, I nodded; for the Savior had said,
Plain as day, "Billy, I want you with me;
To spread the word, where'er in life you tread;
Preach my gospel, and set the captives free!"
He died that night, my father in the Word;
God called him home, not until I was free,
The last down the aisle when his voice was heard;
"Lord, make me worthy of him who saved me!"
Young Bob Smith, his calling true to the end;
May I, the rescued, as faithfully fend!
When I was a child prior to WWII, I attended Central Baptist Church in McComb, Miss. The first pastor I can remember was young Bob Smith. Because of my mother's faithfulness, my brothers and I attended church regularly Sunday morning, evening, and Wednesday evening. I was saved all my life; I can never recall a moment when I did not consider myself a believer in Jesus Christ. By the time I was 9, there was never any doubt that I would go down the aisle professing Christ as my Lord; it was just a question of, How soon? One Sunday evening I was unusually attentive to Bob Smith, our pastor, and clear as a bell I heard Jesus say, "Billy, I want you to be with me!" Sitting with a group of boys in the back of the church, we were never completely quite and attentive. In fact, the preacher often had to stop speaking and snap his fingers at my gang. But on this evening, I listened to his words, and I heard Jesus speak inside my head.
Bob Smith must have noticed an odd expression on my face, because when he gave his usual invitation for those feeling the tug of the Holy Spirit to confess Jesus publicly, he was already walking up the aisle toward my pew. The rest of the story is history. I publicly gave my heart to the Lord that evening; and before midnight Bob Smith was dead with a sudden heart attack. I was his last convert in our church.
Paul made a young convert named Timothy, who also was called by Jesus to be a minister. Paul taught him everything, and Timothy served as pastor of the church Paul founded at Ephesus in Asia Minor, where John, one of Jesus' apostle also served at an age of almost 100. When Paul was imprisoned in Rome, just before he was executed in 64 A.D., he wrote Timothy two of the letters that became books of the Bible.
"I have been reminded of your sincere faith which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also," (2 Timothy 1:5)
Notice that Paul uses the expression "I am persuaded" to state that his young convert has the sincere belief that is sufficient for admission to heaven by the Lord; he does not use an absolute declarative that he is saved, even though if any Christian ever knew another so well as Paul knew Timothy, he would have grounds to say that Timothy was saved. As I have repeatedly said, "No human being can know another's heart well enough, or his own heart well enough, to declare definitively that either is saved."
I am sure Bob Smith is in heaven now with Jesus, and they have watched my life. It has not been as productive of converted souls as it should have been, or could have been, but I pray that I have in some way showed my gratitude for the special call they gave to me.
Friday, May 15, 2009
The Crown Is His
How sad to see him go, his head unraised,
Shedding tears of shame at dismissal's sting;
For on his conscience has long been engraved
Submission to authority's iron ring,
No matter merit, or cause unjust!
In my former days of loss and despair,
Which Satan's horde contrived on me to thrust,
He stood me erect, did all the pain share!
He left not my side, till salvation gained;
Now, weeping for Jesus Lord, and for me,
Thinking both he's failed, his goals unattained;
His meekness, tribute; in grief, victory!
From the vineyard, in sadness, he trudges,
But the crown is his, and not his juges!
To you who are in the process of making Jesus your Lord, I must warn you of "legalists", modern-day Pharisees, self-appointed judges who find fault with fellow Christians and sinfully use rumors, gossip, hearsay, cruel judgment, and criticism to destroy brothers. Yes, Satan lives within the very walls of the church in the form of careless or mean-spirited believers who don't keep tight reins on their tongues, and who wreck the good works for Christ done by themselves and others by internal campaigns against them for imagined heresies. They think they are protecting the Kingdom of God and keeping it pure, when in reality they are doing irreparable harm in driving away new Christians and giving God a bad ame.
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to th plank in your own eye?" (Matthew 7:1-4)
Because of this admonition by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, we are aware that it is not possible for a human to judge another's righteousess or unrighteousness. Only God has the ability to discern the true condition of a man's heart. When I explain how a person is admitted to heaven, I always try to say that no man or religion can tell a person what he must do to be saved. In Philippians 2:12, Paul says we are to "continue working out our salvation with fear and trembling," He doesn't mean good deeds will save you; he means that we must read the whole Bible and keep on doing all the things that Jesus has told us we're to do, so that when He looks in our hearts on Judgment Day, He will find us worthy of admission to heaven. It is not by doing one, two, three, four or more things we are saved; it is by believing in Him sincerely and doing all the good things; asking forgiveness for the bad things, and to keep on doing it until we die.
I have respect for the Catholic Church. They believe that their priest to whom sins are confessed can become Jesus and forgive the sin. I don't believe that.
Shedding tears of shame at dismissal's sting;
For on his conscience has long been engraved
Submission to authority's iron ring,
No matter merit, or cause unjust!
In my former days of loss and despair,
Which Satan's horde contrived on me to thrust,
He stood me erect, did all the pain share!
He left not my side, till salvation gained;
Now, weeping for Jesus Lord, and for me,
Thinking both he's failed, his goals unattained;
His meekness, tribute; in grief, victory!
From the vineyard, in sadness, he trudges,
But the crown is his, and not his juges!
To you who are in the process of making Jesus your Lord, I must warn you of "legalists", modern-day Pharisees, self-appointed judges who find fault with fellow Christians and sinfully use rumors, gossip, hearsay, cruel judgment, and criticism to destroy brothers. Yes, Satan lives within the very walls of the church in the form of careless or mean-spirited believers who don't keep tight reins on their tongues, and who wreck the good works for Christ done by themselves and others by internal campaigns against them for imagined heresies. They think they are protecting the Kingdom of God and keeping it pure, when in reality they are doing irreparable harm in driving away new Christians and giving God a bad ame.
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to th plank in your own eye?" (Matthew 7:1-4)
Because of this admonition by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, we are aware that it is not possible for a human to judge another's righteousess or unrighteousness. Only God has the ability to discern the true condition of a man's heart. When I explain how a person is admitted to heaven, I always try to say that no man or religion can tell a person what he must do to be saved. In Philippians 2:12, Paul says we are to "continue working out our salvation with fear and trembling," He doesn't mean good deeds will save you; he means that we must read the whole Bible and keep on doing all the things that Jesus has told us we're to do, so that when He looks in our hearts on Judgment Day, He will find us worthy of admission to heaven. It is not by doing one, two, three, four or more things we are saved; it is by believing in Him sincerely and doing all the good things; asking forgiveness for the bad things, and to keep on doing it until we die.
I have respect for the Catholic Church. They believe that their priest to whom sins are confessed can become Jesus and forgive the sin. I don't believe that.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Sporting With The Devil
Think not that Satan fights the Lord alone,
Or by a few small groups of twos and threes;
He directs millions from his would-be throne,
Sufficient to cause all brutalities!
The strongest souls from God Satan can wrest;
Let not your guard flag for the briefest time,
Lest you from heaven's host be quickly pressed,
To join the sad plodders into hell's clime!
Great demon princes command dominions,
Each with occupants of earth's highest places;
Archangels and angels his glad minions,
Snatch the wayward, when new sin embraces!
Many risk their souls, with Satan to sport,
Yet he can take with ease the strongest fort!
Satan is capable of bringing fire down from heaven, assuming the forms of men, angels, and animals, perfoming miracles and signs of all magical sorts, and he's the most deceptive of enemies. He has plenty of help, too, because a third of all the angels fought and fell with him from heaven, and each of them possesses supernatural powers, and he is capable of imparting more of his power to them. The book of Revelation in Chapter 13 tells how he is going to lend power to the "beast from the ocean" in the last times. Even so, many human beings do not believe even that he exists, and they are prone to risking their souls and futures to associate with him in various worldy pursuits that ensnare them, for his traps are set in every place on earth.
"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, for you know your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering." (1 Peter 5:8-9)
The devil does not actually eat people; he traps them into loving things of the world: sex, strong drink, drugs, gambling, lack of self-responsibility, lack of will power, indebtedness, profanity, etc. Not real? He is as real as jail and a thousand times worse. Through his leadership America has strayed far from its roots. The founding fathers were nearly all Christians, and they designed the nation according to Godly principles. We have reached the point where our new president is telling the world this is not a Christian nation, rekindling rumors that he is a "closet" Muslim. For the first time ever, he removed the presidential endorsement of National Prayer Day, evidently casting doubt that God even exists, or that if He does, He would not help us with our problems. And God might not; we have so misused Him with abortion, same-sex marriage, and other violations of His commandments that He might have His finger on the trigger of the asteroid collision that is going to destroy us.
If any nation needs God's help, it is ours.
Or by a few small groups of twos and threes;
He directs millions from his would-be throne,
Sufficient to cause all brutalities!
The strongest souls from God Satan can wrest;
Let not your guard flag for the briefest time,
Lest you from heaven's host be quickly pressed,
To join the sad plodders into hell's clime!
Great demon princes command dominions,
Each with occupants of earth's highest places;
Archangels and angels his glad minions,
Snatch the wayward, when new sin embraces!
Many risk their souls, with Satan to sport,
Yet he can take with ease the strongest fort!
Satan is capable of bringing fire down from heaven, assuming the forms of men, angels, and animals, perfoming miracles and signs of all magical sorts, and he's the most deceptive of enemies. He has plenty of help, too, because a third of all the angels fought and fell with him from heaven, and each of them possesses supernatural powers, and he is capable of imparting more of his power to them. The book of Revelation in Chapter 13 tells how he is going to lend power to the "beast from the ocean" in the last times. Even so, many human beings do not believe even that he exists, and they are prone to risking their souls and futures to associate with him in various worldy pursuits that ensnare them, for his traps are set in every place on earth.
"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, for you know your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering." (1 Peter 5:8-9)
The devil does not actually eat people; he traps them into loving things of the world: sex, strong drink, drugs, gambling, lack of self-responsibility, lack of will power, indebtedness, profanity, etc. Not real? He is as real as jail and a thousand times worse. Through his leadership America has strayed far from its roots. The founding fathers were nearly all Christians, and they designed the nation according to Godly principles. We have reached the point where our new president is telling the world this is not a Christian nation, rekindling rumors that he is a "closet" Muslim. For the first time ever, he removed the presidential endorsement of National Prayer Day, evidently casting doubt that God even exists, or that if He does, He would not help us with our problems. And God might not; we have so misused Him with abortion, same-sex marriage, and other violations of His commandments that He might have His finger on the trigger of the asteroid collision that is going to destroy us.
If any nation needs God's help, it is ours.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Climb His Hill, Not Yours
He spreads no manna for "would-be's" who drift,
His plans for them ignored and unfollowed;
Twixt them and the unsaved, there is no rift
Of provender, if His path's left hollowed!
He has a purpose for every one,
Made plain for any who ferrets it out;
To do aught else, His not even begun,
Of the offender's true faith, stokes His doubt!
You are to seek out His will, ere you ask
For Him to provide, or light the way;
Each of us must hew his appointed task,
Or risk alone, carrying the day!
Ask not for strength to labor where you will;
Be certain His is your appointed hill!
One of the best examples in the Bible of a man who was told by God to do one thing but would not is Jonah. He was told to go to Nineveh and warn them their wickedness would bring destruction from God unless they repented. Instead of obeying immediately, Jonah took passage on a boat headed for the opposite end of the Mediterranean from Nineveh. God brought a great storm upon the boat; it got so fierce that the sailors agreed to throw Jonah overboard. God had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and he stayed in the belly of the fish 3 days and nights. Then Jonah was vomited upon the shore near Nineveh.
Running from God always leads to disaster. God calls lost people sometimes to do a job for Him, like Saul on the road to Damascus. He also appoints born-again Christians to particular places of service. It is always best to follow His commission for you.
"Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. 'Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.'" (Jonah 3:12)
Jonah knew better than to disobey God a second time. By his preaching Nineveh repented in sackcloth and ashes and the city was not destroyed. Jonah was not finished being stubborn; when it was not destroyed he grew angry at God and sulled under a gourd bush. Eventually he learned his lesson. God had had a little too much stubborness from this Jew. The lesson for us is to realize that if we serve God, He has a will for us, and it is our duty to discover it and then to carry it out. Sometimes He wants us to go elsewhere, and sometimes it is to stay where we are. Even lost people, like Saul, are tapped for particular service.
His plans for them ignored and unfollowed;
Twixt them and the unsaved, there is no rift
Of provender, if His path's left hollowed!
He has a purpose for every one,
Made plain for any who ferrets it out;
To do aught else, His not even begun,
Of the offender's true faith, stokes His doubt!
You are to seek out His will, ere you ask
For Him to provide, or light the way;
Each of us must hew his appointed task,
Or risk alone, carrying the day!
Ask not for strength to labor where you will;
Be certain His is your appointed hill!
One of the best examples in the Bible of a man who was told by God to do one thing but would not is Jonah. He was told to go to Nineveh and warn them their wickedness would bring destruction from God unless they repented. Instead of obeying immediately, Jonah took passage on a boat headed for the opposite end of the Mediterranean from Nineveh. God brought a great storm upon the boat; it got so fierce that the sailors agreed to throw Jonah overboard. God had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and he stayed in the belly of the fish 3 days and nights. Then Jonah was vomited upon the shore near Nineveh.
Running from God always leads to disaster. God calls lost people sometimes to do a job for Him, like Saul on the road to Damascus. He also appoints born-again Christians to particular places of service. It is always best to follow His commission for you.
"Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. 'Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.'" (Jonah 3:12)
Jonah knew better than to disobey God a second time. By his preaching Nineveh repented in sackcloth and ashes and the city was not destroyed. Jonah was not finished being stubborn; when it was not destroyed he grew angry at God and sulled under a gourd bush. Eventually he learned his lesson. God had had a little too much stubborness from this Jew. The lesson for us is to realize that if we serve God, He has a will for us, and it is our duty to discover it and then to carry it out. Sometimes He wants us to go elsewhere, and sometimes it is to stay where we are. Even lost people, like Saul, are tapped for particular service.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Unbridled Lust
How can we who dine at Jesus'table,
In silence allow helpless humans die?
Wrong votes and mute outcry both enable
Our nation kill unborns, no reason why!
Puppets dangling from Satan's evil strings
Enacting laws just for convenience' sake,
Killing that which, living, awkwardness brings
To those who the forbidden apple take!
The lackers of will are once more made free
To wallow at will in the wastes of swine---
The taxpayer will to their excess see
By paying the bill, and leaving them fine!
What of the new life helpless in the wake?
For their fun, its life is her right to take!
A few years after America's "greatest generation" defeated Germany and Japan in WWII, our Supreme Court plunged the nation into disgrace by ruling in Roe v. Wade that a woman had a "right" to abort her unborn child. Since then 50,000,000 babies have been legally put to death, losing their right to live, or even to defend themselves. Don't shrug your shoulders and say it is not your fault; this is a democracy, a nation that can only take actions that the people have voted (or omitted to vote) that it could. The meanest man in history is probably Adolf Hitler, who is guilty of killing 6,000,000 Jews. The world held the German people responsible for allowing that atrocity, but at least they didn't have a vote on killing Jews. We in America have had many votes since 1973, and we have continually elected spineless legislators who have continually allowed unborn babies to be killed, and after Nov. 4 last year, we have a President, Vice-President, House Speaker, and a huge Democrat majority who are all in favor of continuing killing babies, and the less said about it by we, the people, the less the chance for change. What I am saying is, we have killed over 8 times as many babies as Hitler killed people; the number of years of life snuffed out by us is astronomically higher than those destroyed by Hitler.
The special interest groups that promote abortion have succeeded in deluding us into adopting a half-sentence phrase, "A woman's right to choose", to identify this so-called "right", when if they finished the sentence, it would have to include "to choose to kill her baby", which wouldn't be palatable enough. No human being has the right to take life from another. Period.
What kind of people are we to allow this outrage to continue unabated and undiscussed? Does anyone in America, atheist or not, believe God is going to allow this to continue? Look for an asteroid or comet to crash into the northeast Pacific Ocean destroying America soon, especially if we allow President Obama to withdraw our support for Israel.
In silence allow helpless humans die?
Wrong votes and mute outcry both enable
Our nation kill unborns, no reason why!
Puppets dangling from Satan's evil strings
Enacting laws just for convenience' sake,
Killing that which, living, awkwardness brings
To those who the forbidden apple take!
The lackers of will are once more made free
To wallow at will in the wastes of swine---
The taxpayer will to their excess see
By paying the bill, and leaving them fine!
What of the new life helpless in the wake?
For their fun, its life is her right to take!
A few years after America's "greatest generation" defeated Germany and Japan in WWII, our Supreme Court plunged the nation into disgrace by ruling in Roe v. Wade that a woman had a "right" to abort her unborn child. Since then 50,000,000 babies have been legally put to death, losing their right to live, or even to defend themselves. Don't shrug your shoulders and say it is not your fault; this is a democracy, a nation that can only take actions that the people have voted (or omitted to vote) that it could. The meanest man in history is probably Adolf Hitler, who is guilty of killing 6,000,000 Jews. The world held the German people responsible for allowing that atrocity, but at least they didn't have a vote on killing Jews. We in America have had many votes since 1973, and we have continually elected spineless legislators who have continually allowed unborn babies to be killed, and after Nov. 4 last year, we have a President, Vice-President, House Speaker, and a huge Democrat majority who are all in favor of continuing killing babies, and the less said about it by we, the people, the less the chance for change. What I am saying is, we have killed over 8 times as many babies as Hitler killed people; the number of years of life snuffed out by us is astronomically higher than those destroyed by Hitler.
The special interest groups that promote abortion have succeeded in deluding us into adopting a half-sentence phrase, "A woman's right to choose", to identify this so-called "right", when if they finished the sentence, it would have to include "to choose to kill her baby", which wouldn't be palatable enough. No human being has the right to take life from another. Period.
What kind of people are we to allow this outrage to continue unabated and undiscussed? Does anyone in America, atheist or not, believe God is going to allow this to continue? Look for an asteroid or comet to crash into the northeast Pacific Ocean destroying America soon, especially if we allow President Obama to withdraw our support for Israel.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Pay Day Judgment Day
My sins are small, thus what do I have to fear?
The Lord God hates some sins more than others;
Theft is bad, but murder is much more dear;
Adultery and rape are not twin brothers!
All will be clear to Him on Judgment Day,
When each good deed is stacked against the bad,
My good works are sure the evil to outweigh,
And win me praise from the Judging Triad!
My sins are but to tell a lie or two;
To curse or use His name or oaths in vain,
i broke my marriage vows; His word eschew;
These should bring only a little disdain!
I wonder why I've this great disquietude,
From whence this iron grip, or this somber mood?
How wrong we can be, rationalizing our sins away! The subject of our poem rehearsed the defense he could muster for Judgment Day to justify his living without God. In his defense he commits error after error as we all do in assessing our lives.
"Then the Lord said to him, 'Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness." (Luke 11:39)
There are at least 4 broken Commandments listed in the litany of admitted sins by our poem friend, with others maybe unadmitted. He stole, and we are commanded not to steal. He lied, and God commands us not to give false testimoy. He has broken his marriage vows. which were made to God; his sin is to God, and he has wronged a neighbor---his wife. He has taken the Lord's name in vain. Worst of all, he has broken the First Commandment, which is to love God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his stength, and with all his mind. Believe me, if he had ever given God a thought, it would have been the first thing on his list. And though he didn't know it, God doesn't measure your stack of good deeds against your stack of bad deeds to determine righteousness; one sin outweighs a thousand good deeds.
Many people who are non-believers rehearse their lives, or at least the parts that seem best to please God; but if you have to resort to that in answer to a Christian's behest for you to accept Christ, you've lost God's acceptance already. Your fate begins and ends with Jesus. Either you know Him, love Him, and obey Him, or you're a goner. No counting of good deeds will help one iota. Dozens have answered me: "Well, I'm a petty good fellow. I don't beat my wife; I pay my debts!" I cannot say to them what I'm thinking---"Hell is populated with 'pretty good fellows'. All not beating your wife and paying you debts will do is keep you out of jail, maybe."
The Lord God hates some sins more than others;
Theft is bad, but murder is much more dear;
Adultery and rape are not twin brothers!
All will be clear to Him on Judgment Day,
When each good deed is stacked against the bad,
My good works are sure the evil to outweigh,
And win me praise from the Judging Triad!
My sins are but to tell a lie or two;
To curse or use His name or oaths in vain,
i broke my marriage vows; His word eschew;
These should bring only a little disdain!
I wonder why I've this great disquietude,
From whence this iron grip, or this somber mood?
How wrong we can be, rationalizing our sins away! The subject of our poem rehearsed the defense he could muster for Judgment Day to justify his living without God. In his defense he commits error after error as we all do in assessing our lives.
"Then the Lord said to him, 'Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness." (Luke 11:39)
There are at least 4 broken Commandments listed in the litany of admitted sins by our poem friend, with others maybe unadmitted. He stole, and we are commanded not to steal. He lied, and God commands us not to give false testimoy. He has broken his marriage vows. which were made to God; his sin is to God, and he has wronged a neighbor---his wife. He has taken the Lord's name in vain. Worst of all, he has broken the First Commandment, which is to love God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his stength, and with all his mind. Believe me, if he had ever given God a thought, it would have been the first thing on his list. And though he didn't know it, God doesn't measure your stack of good deeds against your stack of bad deeds to determine righteousness; one sin outweighs a thousand good deeds.
Many people who are non-believers rehearse their lives, or at least the parts that seem best to please God; but if you have to resort to that in answer to a Christian's behest for you to accept Christ, you've lost God's acceptance already. Your fate begins and ends with Jesus. Either you know Him, love Him, and obey Him, or you're a goner. No counting of good deeds will help one iota. Dozens have answered me: "Well, I'm a petty good fellow. I don't beat my wife; I pay my debts!" I cannot say to them what I'm thinking---"Hell is populated with 'pretty good fellows'. All not beating your wife and paying you debts will do is keep you out of jail, maybe."
Sunday, May 10, 2009
You Can Have Better
Why seek bread, when its pardon you need?
Why hang with the dead, and avoid the quick?
Why spurn God, and embrace a traitor breed?
Why keep from the well, yet live with the sick?
Who planted you for figs, but reaps no fruit?
Who gave you voice, and has heard not one hymn?
Who gave you His image, but you disrepute?
Who died to give you grace, yet must condemn?
Who made you pure gold, but you're only dross?
Who wants you on high, but you seek the vale*?
Who expects gain from you, and earns but loss?
Who desires you win, yet you always fail?
Must I say, you're falling short of your best?
You can have better, making God your quest!
*vale = valley of the shadow of death
These questions are meant, of course, for you only if you have ignored the behest of God to seek His face. Believers will recognize at once to whom they are directed. They are fair questions, but they just scratch the surface of the mountain of beneficence poured out on every human being by the Creator. If a dollar cost could, in any creditable calculation, be assigned to the provision and production of a single human being by economists for his value, including his pro rata share of the cost of producing earth in a 13.7 billion year process, it would be astronomical, even larger than the national debt of the United States. What has God received in return for His investment from the vast majority of us? No one, of course, could ever hope to reimburse Him, but non-believers have accepted God's munificence with a "so what" attitude, like that of an unruly child who shrugs his shoulders with an ungrateful air and says, "I didn't ask to be born!" If your child says that to you, it would hurt to the quick; that is exactly what you are saying to God by sailing through life and never giving Him a thought, sliding into hell when you die, when you could have lived a so much richer life and ended up with Him for eternity!
But God didn't choose a beligerent method to call attention to what we humans owe Him; instead, He calls to us in a still, small voice by His Holy Spirit. And He never will hound you like an aggressive bill collector trying to collect a past-due debt.
"So he said to me, 'This is the word of the Lord to Zerubabbel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.'" (Zechariah 4:6)
Zechariah was a prophet to Israel about 400 years before the birth of Jesus; Zerubabbel was Israel's governor appointed by the king of Babylon, who currently ruled the land of the Jews. The Lord was sending word to Israel, and to us today, that Jesus would be no military conqueror, nor is aggression the manner in which people are going to be converted into service to God. Of course the Jews did not get it---they rejected the Messiah mainly because they did not believe the gentle, meek, mild Jesus could possibly be the Messiah who was to force their Roman (at Jesus' time) occupiers from their land.
The great majority of humans today go through life ignoring their debt to God, when He lovingly wants them to accept His gits of grace and faith and to be saved to eternal life. But God will never force them to become His children; His method is still "not by power, but by His Spirit". In John Chapter 16 Jesus tells the apostles that the Holy Spirit will witness to lost people and convict them of sin, but still in the soft voice of mental persuasion; force will never be used. Revelation 8-19 describes the awful destruction of most of earth's population for their refusal to accept the gentle voice of His Spirit.
Why hang with the dead, and avoid the quick?
Why spurn God, and embrace a traitor breed?
Why keep from the well, yet live with the sick?
Who planted you for figs, but reaps no fruit?
Who gave you voice, and has heard not one hymn?
Who gave you His image, but you disrepute?
Who died to give you grace, yet must condemn?
Who made you pure gold, but you're only dross?
Who wants you on high, but you seek the vale*?
Who expects gain from you, and earns but loss?
Who desires you win, yet you always fail?
Must I say, you're falling short of your best?
You can have better, making God your quest!
*vale = valley of the shadow of death
These questions are meant, of course, for you only if you have ignored the behest of God to seek His face. Believers will recognize at once to whom they are directed. They are fair questions, but they just scratch the surface of the mountain of beneficence poured out on every human being by the Creator. If a dollar cost could, in any creditable calculation, be assigned to the provision and production of a single human being by economists for his value, including his pro rata share of the cost of producing earth in a 13.7 billion year process, it would be astronomical, even larger than the national debt of the United States. What has God received in return for His investment from the vast majority of us? No one, of course, could ever hope to reimburse Him, but non-believers have accepted God's munificence with a "so what" attitude, like that of an unruly child who shrugs his shoulders with an ungrateful air and says, "I didn't ask to be born!" If your child says that to you, it would hurt to the quick; that is exactly what you are saying to God by sailing through life and never giving Him a thought, sliding into hell when you die, when you could have lived a so much richer life and ended up with Him for eternity!
But God didn't choose a beligerent method to call attention to what we humans owe Him; instead, He calls to us in a still, small voice by His Holy Spirit. And He never will hound you like an aggressive bill collector trying to collect a past-due debt.
"So he said to me, 'This is the word of the Lord to Zerubabbel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.'" (Zechariah 4:6)
Zechariah was a prophet to Israel about 400 years before the birth of Jesus; Zerubabbel was Israel's governor appointed by the king of Babylon, who currently ruled the land of the Jews. The Lord was sending word to Israel, and to us today, that Jesus would be no military conqueror, nor is aggression the manner in which people are going to be converted into service to God. Of course the Jews did not get it---they rejected the Messiah mainly because they did not believe the gentle, meek, mild Jesus could possibly be the Messiah who was to force their Roman (at Jesus' time) occupiers from their land.
The great majority of humans today go through life ignoring their debt to God, when He lovingly wants them to accept His gits of grace and faith and to be saved to eternal life. But God will never force them to become His children; His method is still "not by power, but by His Spirit". In John Chapter 16 Jesus tells the apostles that the Holy Spirit will witness to lost people and convict them of sin, but still in the soft voice of mental persuasion; force will never be used. Revelation 8-19 describes the awful destruction of most of earth's population for their refusal to accept the gentle voice of His Spirit.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Bruises Are Mine
"But, Lord, how can I forgive as I ought,
When my estranged friend fails to importune?
He told me your pardon's already sought;
Shouldn't he also seek mine for the wound?
I wait ready, his offense to forgive,
If only he'd repent his attack aloud;
Since he caused the rift in the way we live,
Should he not beg me to remove the cloud?"
"My son, yours is to turn the other cheek,
And rejoice in his repentance to me;
Your hurt but provoked him mercy to seek;
You are not your own; you are mine, you see!
Praise His holy name! I did not know this;
The bruises are mine; forgiveness is His!
I learned a hard lesson, and it is this: Believers are not to return blow for blow, or to seek redress for persecutions and offenses against us in this world; we offer ourselves as victims, so that those who mistreat us will be motivated to seek God's pardon and thus be persuaded to accept salvation.
Our suffering is a gift to God---an offering that allows us to share in Christ's enormous sacrifice for us. We should rejoice in suffering unjustly and accept it as Jesus accepted the cross for us.
A lifelong Christian friend with a quick temper unjustly accused me on the golf course one day of deliberately recording his score wrongly. We had an unusually bitter wrangle, barely speaking to each other the rest of the day.
I was angry and intended not to golf with him again, although we were almost daily partners. My telephone rang that evening, and it was my friend. Although we had had such run-ins before, and he had never apologized, this one was so excessive that I was all set to hear him say he was sorry. Instead, he cheerfully asked the usual, "What time should I pick you up in the morning?"
I was shocked, to say the least. I stumbled in my answer, "Well, I would have thought you would have said something about that temper tantrum you threw today!"
"Oh, that? I took care of that as soon as I got home. I asked the Lord to forgive me." I almost dropped my teeth. Did he think he could confess his transgression only to the Lord and omit redress to the person he offended? Yes, that is exactly what he thought! And he was right! As far as which was the most important, asking forgiveness of God for a sin or to the one harmed by your actions, God is by far the most important. However, like Zaccheus, the tax collector, the sinner needs to seek out the persons sinned against for redress, as a matter of courteous public relations; but in terms of eternal relations, God must be first addressed. Yes, I went golfing with him as usual; not a word was ever said about the incident again between the two of us. I confess, though, that it took me many years of meditation until I felt like I was wrong in expecting reparation from him. That's how strong human nature grips us. We can never truly understand how God wants us to live until the animal inside us is tamed into the image of Christ.
When my estranged friend fails to importune?
He told me your pardon's already sought;
Shouldn't he also seek mine for the wound?
I wait ready, his offense to forgive,
If only he'd repent his attack aloud;
Since he caused the rift in the way we live,
Should he not beg me to remove the cloud?"
"My son, yours is to turn the other cheek,
And rejoice in his repentance to me;
Your hurt but provoked him mercy to seek;
You are not your own; you are mine, you see!
Praise His holy name! I did not know this;
The bruises are mine; forgiveness is His!
I learned a hard lesson, and it is this: Believers are not to return blow for blow, or to seek redress for persecutions and offenses against us in this world; we offer ourselves as victims, so that those who mistreat us will be motivated to seek God's pardon and thus be persuaded to accept salvation.
Our suffering is a gift to God---an offering that allows us to share in Christ's enormous sacrifice for us. We should rejoice in suffering unjustly and accept it as Jesus accepted the cross for us.
A lifelong Christian friend with a quick temper unjustly accused me on the golf course one day of deliberately recording his score wrongly. We had an unusually bitter wrangle, barely speaking to each other the rest of the day.
I was angry and intended not to golf with him again, although we were almost daily partners. My telephone rang that evening, and it was my friend. Although we had had such run-ins before, and he had never apologized, this one was so excessive that I was all set to hear him say he was sorry. Instead, he cheerfully asked the usual, "What time should I pick you up in the morning?"
I was shocked, to say the least. I stumbled in my answer, "Well, I would have thought you would have said something about that temper tantrum you threw today!"
"Oh, that? I took care of that as soon as I got home. I asked the Lord to forgive me." I almost dropped my teeth. Did he think he could confess his transgression only to the Lord and omit redress to the person he offended? Yes, that is exactly what he thought! And he was right! As far as which was the most important, asking forgiveness of God for a sin or to the one harmed by your actions, God is by far the most important. However, like Zaccheus, the tax collector, the sinner needs to seek out the persons sinned against for redress, as a matter of courteous public relations; but in terms of eternal relations, God must be first addressed. Yes, I went golfing with him as usual; not a word was ever said about the incident again between the two of us. I confess, though, that it took me many years of meditation until I felt like I was wrong in expecting reparation from him. That's how strong human nature grips us. We can never truly understand how God wants us to live until the animal inside us is tamed into the image of Christ.
Friday, May 8, 2009
God Dulled Israel's Insight
Israel, chosen God's own special race,
Was meant to be priests to the world by Him;
They brought nothing to His name but disgrace,
Succeeded only His light to bedim!
God dulled their insight, so that when Jesus came,
Instead of welcome, He was rejected;
Crucified by His own in open shame;
Now, still calloused, most have still not accepted!
But not for long! When Jesus does return,
Israel will mourn the years of neglect;
They will grieve His wounds by them; will not spurn
Him longer, but give Him love and support!
Their hearts will turn tender again, from stone,
And no more lack of insight will they own!
The Israelites had been out of Egypt little over 3 months when they showed God their obstinacy. While He was talking with Moses and engraving the Ten Commandments in stone on Mount Sinai, they got restless below and built themselves a golden calf to worship. Unfortunately, that kind of infidelity was to be their trademark. He freed them from slavery, defeated the enemies who faced them until they owned the Promised Land, fed and gave them water to drink in the desert, yet they drifted back and forth between short periods of obedience and disobedience for hundreds of years. He had intended them to be a nation that glorified Himself to all other races. instead they perverted His desire for all the world, claiming Him for themselves only. They misunderstood the spiritual meaning of everything He taught them, stubbornly holding to material understandings. In the time of Isaiah, 700 years before the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, He judged them unworthy, and dulled their insight further, so that they would certainly reject His Son's spiritual teachings.
"He said, 'Go and tell this people: Be ever seeing, but never perceiving. Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed!'" (Isaiah 6:9-10)
This is why Jesus taught in parables---so that the bulk of the people, the religious leaders would not understand the gospel. By that point, He did not want the Jews to fall en masse into accepting Christianity; they had clearly demonstrated their inability to carry the gospel to a world which they considered inferior to them; they had grown so puffed up because God had chosen them, they considered Gentiles unworthy. Had they accepted Jesus, all of us would have to be circumcised and follow all the Jewish customs plus the new ones brought by Christ. But some Jews, despite the judgment on the race, did understand and were saved; others have become Christians during the intervening years. When Jesus returns, Israel will accept Him en masse.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Same Soul; New Body
Your memory is contained in your soul,
As is your ability to reason;
It can be rolled up like a parchment scroll,
Or stretched upright and stood for a season!
Other souls see you as you were on earth,
As do angels and saints living on high;
You can mix and mingle on heaven's turf,
Awaiting the Lord's return from the sky!
The new composite of body and soul
Occurs when Jesus returns as King;
At its prime, undying, a saint made whole,
To reign and live with Christ everlasting!
What a glorious sight the nations will see,
Christ and His Church all together be!
When a Christian dies, it is not a time to grieve, because it only means the soul leaves the body which is buried, or "planted" as Paul says. Made from dust, it was not intended to last; it will soon return to dust. Ah, but the soul? It is escorted to heaven to be with Christ Jesus forever. For a time, the soul will wait in heaven near the throne, until the day arrives that Christ returns to earth. He will bring with Him all the souls of Christians who have died; before landing on the Mount of Olives, He will command angels to bring to Him all the bodies, from whatever places on earth they are; they will be resurrected new, imperishable, and at the peak of perfection. Christians still living will rise, their bodies changing in the twinkling of an eye and retaining their souls. The great reunion of new bodies with their same souls will take place in the air; then all join Christ and the angels, a mighty host, for the landing in Jerusalem!
"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ... For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that we who are still alive, who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:12-14, 16-18)
As is your ability to reason;
It can be rolled up like a parchment scroll,
Or stretched upright and stood for a season!
Other souls see you as you were on earth,
As do angels and saints living on high;
You can mix and mingle on heaven's turf,
Awaiting the Lord's return from the sky!
The new composite of body and soul
Occurs when Jesus returns as King;
At its prime, undying, a saint made whole,
To reign and live with Christ everlasting!
What a glorious sight the nations will see,
Christ and His Church all together be!
When a Christian dies, it is not a time to grieve, because it only means the soul leaves the body which is buried, or "planted" as Paul says. Made from dust, it was not intended to last; it will soon return to dust. Ah, but the soul? It is escorted to heaven to be with Christ Jesus forever. For a time, the soul will wait in heaven near the throne, until the day arrives that Christ returns to earth. He will bring with Him all the souls of Christians who have died; before landing on the Mount of Olives, He will command angels to bring to Him all the bodies, from whatever places on earth they are; they will be resurrected new, imperishable, and at the peak of perfection. Christians still living will rise, their bodies changing in the twinkling of an eye and retaining their souls. The great reunion of new bodies with their same souls will take place in the air; then all join Christ and the angels, a mighty host, for the landing in Jerusalem!
"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ... For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that we who are still alive, who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:12-14, 16-18)
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
The Church-Swapper
I found a better church, or so I thought;
It thrilled my heart; its doctrines matching mine---
Those pre-set beliefs that to it I brought---
The pastor, at first, seeming more divine!
My contentment grew, as did lighter yokes;
Less change of heart and giving demanded;
Not like the former man, who told dull jokes;
Made arduous change that he commanded!
My pastor-image he just didn't fit;
Would not change when I wrote him his wrong!
Soon my new man began to slip a bit,
Left my mental model and sang a new song!
I began to look elsewhere, for someone new
Might fit my image, and with less change, too!
All long-time church members are familiar with church-swappers"---people who go from church to church, looking for a pastor whose style and belief fit their own, and whose congregation of members are outgoing, warm, and friendly. If you are like that, please remember that a church should be and usually is like a hospital---full of sick people who need someone like you to supply what is lacking! No church is perfectly suited to anyone. The believer is expected to adjust to the church and help it to grow more like Christ; with your help being friendly and outgoing, you can join the workers in making it better. As far as the pastor's style and doctrine is concerned, remember there would be only one denomination to begin with if everybody believed the scriptures alike; but even in the same denomination, preachers are different in many ways---no one man possesses all the talents needed to please everybody.
Among Baptists, there are over 300 varieties, and the largest, the Southern Baptist Convention, has just emerged from an intradenominational squabble that will undoubtedly leave 3 or 4 smaller groups struggling in its wake. If you are considering becoming a Christian, and you should be if you're not one, you need a church membership. It's not that you have to join a church to be saved; but if you do, you are much more likely to please God when He looks into your heart on judgment day if you have participated fully in a church. Remember what Paul said in Romans 10:17, "faith comes from hearing the gospel". You are saved by your faith in Jesus; but you have to have faith; you get faith by listening to the preacher, Bible teacher, even by reading my blogs.
Another point needs to be made about church attendance. Remember that all born-again Christians continue to sin after their conversion. Even the pastor, the deacons, the priests, etc. You need some older(in Christ), more mature Christian to mentor you; to sort of partner, to talk with about spiritual matters. This can be vitally helpful. Occasionally, scandal breaks out when well-known Christians are revealed to have committed the most tawdry of sins. If you have idolized such a person, it could shake, even destroy, your faith. Keep in mind, we all have feet of clay until we are admitted to heaven. Clay feet are left in huge piles outside heaven's gate!
It thrilled my heart; its doctrines matching mine---
Those pre-set beliefs that to it I brought---
The pastor, at first, seeming more divine!
My contentment grew, as did lighter yokes;
Less change of heart and giving demanded;
Not like the former man, who told dull jokes;
Made arduous change that he commanded!
My pastor-image he just didn't fit;
Would not change when I wrote him his wrong!
Soon my new man began to slip a bit,
Left my mental model and sang a new song!
I began to look elsewhere, for someone new
Might fit my image, and with less change, too!
All long-time church members are familiar with church-swappers"---people who go from church to church, looking for a pastor whose style and belief fit their own, and whose congregation of members are outgoing, warm, and friendly. If you are like that, please remember that a church should be and usually is like a hospital---full of sick people who need someone like you to supply what is lacking! No church is perfectly suited to anyone. The believer is expected to adjust to the church and help it to grow more like Christ; with your help being friendly and outgoing, you can join the workers in making it better. As far as the pastor's style and doctrine is concerned, remember there would be only one denomination to begin with if everybody believed the scriptures alike; but even in the same denomination, preachers are different in many ways---no one man possesses all the talents needed to please everybody.
Among Baptists, there are over 300 varieties, and the largest, the Southern Baptist Convention, has just emerged from an intradenominational squabble that will undoubtedly leave 3 or 4 smaller groups struggling in its wake. If you are considering becoming a Christian, and you should be if you're not one, you need a church membership. It's not that you have to join a church to be saved; but if you do, you are much more likely to please God when He looks into your heart on judgment day if you have participated fully in a church. Remember what Paul said in Romans 10:17, "faith comes from hearing the gospel". You are saved by your faith in Jesus; but you have to have faith; you get faith by listening to the preacher, Bible teacher, even by reading my blogs.
Another point needs to be made about church attendance. Remember that all born-again Christians continue to sin after their conversion. Even the pastor, the deacons, the priests, etc. You need some older(in Christ), more mature Christian to mentor you; to sort of partner, to talk with about spiritual matters. This can be vitally helpful. Occasionally, scandal breaks out when well-known Christians are revealed to have committed the most tawdry of sins. If you have idolized such a person, it could shake, even destroy, your faith. Keep in mind, we all have feet of clay until we are admitted to heaven. Clay feet are left in huge piles outside heaven's gate!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
The Return of Christ(Armageddon)
Sing, all you nations, and every tribe!
The Savior comes in power and glory!
Make haste, you artists; His welcome inscribe,
In brilliant colors, His epic story!
Look in no stable, this Coming to greet,
Nor on a bloody cross, dying for man!
See! The apostates tremble to their feet,
At the eastern sky, full with angel band!
"Come, dear Lord! Stop this Islamic charade!"
Cry the tattered surviving faithful few;
"Make Satan pay for the shambles he made!
They beheaded those who stood up for you!"
Lucifer's rebellion's finally done;
Christ's sinless Kingdom is at last begun!
We have been anticipating the return of Jesus Christ to earth daily for almost 2000 years, and now we expect it to occur in the very near future. The first lines in the poem are satirical, for Jesus told us in Matthew 24:30 that the few nations left on earth when He returns will MOURN to see Him. This is because first there must be a 7-year tribulation period which will be devastating for most of the people and nations of the world, especially for Christians. A few hardy ones will survive alive, and they will be extremely glad to see Him, for they know the destruction that awaits for the two men called "Beasts" in the Book of Revelation and their 200-million man army composed mostly of Islamic believers. They will mourn His coming, for it will end their short domination of the world and their brutal killing of all who refuse to worship Allah.
"The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel." (Joel 3:16)
"This is the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet; their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. On that day men will be stricken by the Lord with great panic. Each man will seize the hand of another, and they will attack each other." (Zechariah 14:12-13)
God will be very angry with the people and nations of the world for rejecting Him and becoming so wicked---more wicked even than the up-to-now record-holders for wickedness, pagan Rome in its last years. He will release 3 great calamities on the world that will destroy America, most of Europe, Japan, the Far East (See Revelation); these are called the Wrath of God. While that is underway, Islam will rule the world and outlaw Judaism and Christianity; those who do not recant will be beheaded. It is at that time that Jesus Christ will return to earth. Israel will be under attack, and the Lord will demolish the attackers in their tracks with a great roar; they will kill each other.
And what will be the fate of Christians? The souls of the dead in Christ will be with Him coming to earth; before He lands on the Mount of Olives, their bodies will be resurrected with new undying bodies and rise to meet Him; the few Christians who remained uncaught and alive through the tribulation will be changed in a twinkling and will also rise to meet Him (See 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
The Savior comes in power and glory!
Make haste, you artists; His welcome inscribe,
In brilliant colors, His epic story!
Look in no stable, this Coming to greet,
Nor on a bloody cross, dying for man!
See! The apostates tremble to their feet,
At the eastern sky, full with angel band!
"Come, dear Lord! Stop this Islamic charade!"
Cry the tattered surviving faithful few;
"Make Satan pay for the shambles he made!
They beheaded those who stood up for you!"
Lucifer's rebellion's finally done;
Christ's sinless Kingdom is at last begun!
We have been anticipating the return of Jesus Christ to earth daily for almost 2000 years, and now we expect it to occur in the very near future. The first lines in the poem are satirical, for Jesus told us in Matthew 24:30 that the few nations left on earth when He returns will MOURN to see Him. This is because first there must be a 7-year tribulation period which will be devastating for most of the people and nations of the world, especially for Christians. A few hardy ones will survive alive, and they will be extremely glad to see Him, for they know the destruction that awaits for the two men called "Beasts" in the Book of Revelation and their 200-million man army composed mostly of Islamic believers. They will mourn His coming, for it will end their short domination of the world and their brutal killing of all who refuse to worship Allah.
"The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel." (Joel 3:16)
"This is the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet; their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. On that day men will be stricken by the Lord with great panic. Each man will seize the hand of another, and they will attack each other." (Zechariah 14:12-13)
God will be very angry with the people and nations of the world for rejecting Him and becoming so wicked---more wicked even than the up-to-now record-holders for wickedness, pagan Rome in its last years. He will release 3 great calamities on the world that will destroy America, most of Europe, Japan, the Far East (See Revelation); these are called the Wrath of God. While that is underway, Islam will rule the world and outlaw Judaism and Christianity; those who do not recant will be beheaded. It is at that time that Jesus Christ will return to earth. Israel will be under attack, and the Lord will demolish the attackers in their tracks with a great roar; they will kill each other.
And what will be the fate of Christians? The souls of the dead in Christ will be with Him coming to earth; before He lands on the Mount of Olives, their bodies will be resurrected with new undying bodies and rise to meet Him; the few Christians who remained uncaught and alive through the tribulation will be changed in a twinkling and will also rise to meet Him (See 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
Monday, May 4, 2009
By Chance, Or By God?
If man evolved by chance, aided by his brain,
Planning each stage from cell to stance upright;
Unrivaled master in his earth terrain;
Leaving only one thinker, to man's delight;
Designing his own thumb and his great toe,
So o'er all life, he owned the greatest skill;
Word-maker, permitting each man to know
Others' thoughts, group-think greater goals fulfill!
But! How brief the span, for his brain to etch
Life's nobler feats; of rhyme; religion; art;
Higher worlds, that man might conceive, or sketch;
How scale each man's worth; grow tender group-heart!
Chance? Whence, then, man's soul? Why his moral bent*?
God alone, can do this; plan; or invent!
*bent = inherent trait
Science has achieved much in teaching men HOW things work, but it cannot tell WHY things are as they are, and it never will be able to. Why was space a mammoth void---a nothing, no matter, no solids, no gases, no heat, no light, no energy of any kind---before that silent puff of energy called the "big bang" suddenly erupted once, then never again? If there was NOTHING where the gigantic universe now expands at 186,000 miles per second, WHY did all matter, man, and his planet emerge? Albert Einstein, not a Christian, confessed that he was forced to the conclusion that some supernatural intelligence outside our universe must have existed to produce it. We Christians have a simpler ame for it: God.
Science has always assumed that chance played the only causative role in creation. That is why they continue to search for life on other cosmic bodies. Fruitlessly, I might add; I don't believe they will find life in space, except for that we have currently living in the NASA space laboratory, which we sent up there. I don't think they will find other life in space; unless they discover God's 'present' heaven; but wherever it is, it is not inside our universe.
My poem above points out that chance could hardly have produced a planet like earth after almost 14 billion years of cosmic turmoil; a planet that, even though rotating on an axis and hurtling millions of miles about a star every year, is in a very small pocket ot safety for human survival, the only such safe pocket in a massive universe; and that this man is the only animal living that has a thinking brain, two thumbs, and two great toes, without which the brain alone could hardly dominate as the man does. The odds of all this occurring by chance alone are infinitesimally small, so small that even scientists consider them zero. They are secretly highly fearful that their assumption that God does not exist has already been proved false; I know it has to me and many others.
Planning each stage from cell to stance upright;
Unrivaled master in his earth terrain;
Leaving only one thinker, to man's delight;
Designing his own thumb and his great toe,
So o'er all life, he owned the greatest skill;
Word-maker, permitting each man to know
Others' thoughts, group-think greater goals fulfill!
But! How brief the span, for his brain to etch
Life's nobler feats; of rhyme; religion; art;
Higher worlds, that man might conceive, or sketch;
How scale each man's worth; grow tender group-heart!
Chance? Whence, then, man's soul? Why his moral bent*?
God alone, can do this; plan; or invent!
*bent = inherent trait
Science has achieved much in teaching men HOW things work, but it cannot tell WHY things are as they are, and it never will be able to. Why was space a mammoth void---a nothing, no matter, no solids, no gases, no heat, no light, no energy of any kind---before that silent puff of energy called the "big bang" suddenly erupted once, then never again? If there was NOTHING where the gigantic universe now expands at 186,000 miles per second, WHY did all matter, man, and his planet emerge? Albert Einstein, not a Christian, confessed that he was forced to the conclusion that some supernatural intelligence outside our universe must have existed to produce it. We Christians have a simpler ame for it: God.
Science has always assumed that chance played the only causative role in creation. That is why they continue to search for life on other cosmic bodies. Fruitlessly, I might add; I don't believe they will find life in space, except for that we have currently living in the NASA space laboratory, which we sent up there. I don't think they will find other life in space; unless they discover God's 'present' heaven; but wherever it is, it is not inside our universe.
My poem above points out that chance could hardly have produced a planet like earth after almost 14 billion years of cosmic turmoil; a planet that, even though rotating on an axis and hurtling millions of miles about a star every year, is in a very small pocket ot safety for human survival, the only such safe pocket in a massive universe; and that this man is the only animal living that has a thinking brain, two thumbs, and two great toes, without which the brain alone could hardly dominate as the man does. The odds of all this occurring by chance alone are infinitesimally small, so small that even scientists consider them zero. They are secretly highly fearful that their assumption that God does not exist has already been proved false; I know it has to me and many others.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Misusing The Nane Of God
My next-door neighbor yelped in pain one day,
Followed by, "Satan dammit all to hell!"
I dashed off, hoping to help him some way,
Seeking to learn what provoked such a yell.
Hammer on ground; thumb in mouth; cause was clear;
His choice of words, though, was still in my mind.
"The name of God we would normally hear,"
I said; "It's used in matters of this kind."
A smile replaced the thumb; he answered me,
"That's true, Bill, but I'm a Christian, you see;
God's Third Commandment says we must refrain
From misusing His many names in vain!
We should not curse, no matter the sharp pain;
To add His name makes us doubly profane!"
I hadn't thought of that---we're so accustomed to hearing sacred names attached to curse words that it sounds awkward when Satan or Lucifer is substituted. But why not? God wasn't the cause of my neighbor's pain; Satan is more likely to be the root of it. I guess cursers think their sacrilege makes their rebuttal exclamation to a stupid accident more rebutting! The Ten Commandments, though, are not meant for Christians only to obey---they are God's natural laws, meant as a basis for any nations legal system. In modern America we seem to have decided to omit the first four, which apply to our responsibilities to God; come to think of it, we have dropped the Sixth--"Thou shall not murder", because we legally abort(kill) 4000 innocent unborn babies every day in this country. Don't be misled; abortion is not a political issue---it is a moral one, and God has judged us for it. He is holding back our punishment just as long as we help Israel, His Chosen People.
Please excuse my getting away from the sin of cursing, but, to me, murdering a helpless child is about as low as a nation can get, but that's what this nation does. Christians are always puzzled about why America has gone so immoral; it is hard for me to see why the puzzlement, when the government allows abortion and same-sex marriage. I haven't written on the Sixth yet, because I can't imagine a poem that goes with murdering babies!
Followed by, "Satan dammit all to hell!"
I dashed off, hoping to help him some way,
Seeking to learn what provoked such a yell.
Hammer on ground; thumb in mouth; cause was clear;
His choice of words, though, was still in my mind.
"The name of God we would normally hear,"
I said; "It's used in matters of this kind."
A smile replaced the thumb; he answered me,
"That's true, Bill, but I'm a Christian, you see;
God's Third Commandment says we must refrain
From misusing His many names in vain!
We should not curse, no matter the sharp pain;
To add His name makes us doubly profane!"
I hadn't thought of that---we're so accustomed to hearing sacred names attached to curse words that it sounds awkward when Satan or Lucifer is substituted. But why not? God wasn't the cause of my neighbor's pain; Satan is more likely to be the root of it. I guess cursers think their sacrilege makes their rebuttal exclamation to a stupid accident more rebutting! The Ten Commandments, though, are not meant for Christians only to obey---they are God's natural laws, meant as a basis for any nations legal system. In modern America we seem to have decided to omit the first four, which apply to our responsibilities to God; come to think of it, we have dropped the Sixth--"Thou shall not murder", because we legally abort(kill) 4000 innocent unborn babies every day in this country. Don't be misled; abortion is not a political issue---it is a moral one, and God has judged us for it. He is holding back our punishment just as long as we help Israel, His Chosen People.
Please excuse my getting away from the sin of cursing, but, to me, murdering a helpless child is about as low as a nation can get, but that's what this nation does. Christians are always puzzled about why America has gone so immoral; it is hard for me to see why the puzzlement, when the government allows abortion and same-sex marriage. I haven't written on the Sixth yet, because I can't imagine a poem that goes with murdering babies!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Lucifer Trilogy III
Of all God's creatures, man stands alone;
God forgives the sins of him who repents;
Remorseful eyes are dried, till tears are gone;
And wages of sins He always relents!
What of Lucifer, the father of sin?
Was he compelled to play that dead-end role?
Where is his second chance, like that of men?
Can he never re-enter heaven's fold?
A mortal might condemnation evade,
By repenting, trusting in Christ as Lord;
But Satan? He lost his place in God's glade;
If he repented, God would disregard!
It must have been intended so to be,
Making man's will to choose ever be free!
Angels are created immortal, to live forever. Since nothing is impossible for God, He could have killed Lucifer when he lost his rebellion to sieze God's throne for himself. Had He done so, though, there would have been no Satan awaiting the creation of man; if there were no Satan, how would those men who professed faith in Jesus Christ have been tested for sincerity? If believers did not have to face the temptations that the devil surrounds them with in this world, how would God know that they would live sinless in the next world---that is, in heaven? Above all else, God wanted men to have unfettered free will in choosing to live in love and service to others; if there were no evils in this world for a man to avoid---because this world's flesh would offer a sterner test of him that the next world's spiritual sexless body---thus proving his sincerity and strength of will, God could not be confident that another traitor such as Lucifer would not be admitted to heaven.
So Satan-nee-Lucifer was an essential part of God's master plan for man; he was allowed to live to provide a stern test for the sincerity of our faith in Jesus. He was an instrument of God, who has always used unGodly men as tools with which to punish(discipline) His children. Egypt's Pharaoh in the time of Moses; the Babylonians in 587 B.C.; the Romans under Titus in 70 A.D.; these and many more have served as instruments for the use of God. That is essentially the role of Lucifer, and why God didn't slay him or put him in imprisonment after his first defeat in heaven. His fate will be to spend eternity in the tortures of hell with the majority of the human race.
God forgives the sins of him who repents;
Remorseful eyes are dried, till tears are gone;
And wages of sins He always relents!
What of Lucifer, the father of sin?
Was he compelled to play that dead-end role?
Where is his second chance, like that of men?
Can he never re-enter heaven's fold?
A mortal might condemnation evade,
By repenting, trusting in Christ as Lord;
But Satan? He lost his place in God's glade;
If he repented, God would disregard!
It must have been intended so to be,
Making man's will to choose ever be free!
Angels are created immortal, to live forever. Since nothing is impossible for God, He could have killed Lucifer when he lost his rebellion to sieze God's throne for himself. Had He done so, though, there would have been no Satan awaiting the creation of man; if there were no Satan, how would those men who professed faith in Jesus Christ have been tested for sincerity? If believers did not have to face the temptations that the devil surrounds them with in this world, how would God know that they would live sinless in the next world---that is, in heaven? Above all else, God wanted men to have unfettered free will in choosing to live in love and service to others; if there were no evils in this world for a man to avoid---because this world's flesh would offer a sterner test of him that the next world's spiritual sexless body---thus proving his sincerity and strength of will, God could not be confident that another traitor such as Lucifer would not be admitted to heaven.
So Satan-nee-Lucifer was an essential part of God's master plan for man; he was allowed to live to provide a stern test for the sincerity of our faith in Jesus. He was an instrument of God, who has always used unGodly men as tools with which to punish(discipline) His children. Egypt's Pharaoh in the time of Moses; the Babylonians in 587 B.C.; the Romans under Titus in 70 A.D.; these and many more have served as instruments for the use of God. That is essentially the role of Lucifer, and why God didn't slay him or put him in imprisonment after his first defeat in heaven. His fate will be to spend eternity in the tortures of hell with the majority of the human race.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Lucifer Triology II
"How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
For you have said in your heart,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God,
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the fartherest sides of the north,
I will be like the Most High!
Yet you will be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit!
"Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying,
'Is this the man that made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
Who made the world as a wilderness
And destroyed its cities
Who did not open the house of his prisoners?'
"All the kings of the nations,
All of them, sleep in glory,
Everyone in his own house,
But you are cast out of your grave
Like an abominable branch,
Like the garments of those who are slain,
Thrust through with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit,
Like a corpse trodden underfoot,
You will not be joined with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land
And slain your people." (Isaiah 14:12-20, NKJV)
Isaiah describes the final downfall of Lucifer after the battle of Armageddon. He had supplied the power for the Antichrist and the False Prophet to take over and rule the world during the Great Tribulation of the Wrath of God, and Jesus Christ had returned to earth and destroyed the world's last armies with a single shout. Satan meets his end in Revelation 20:10. He was not given a chance to repent. Maybe God knew that he would not subdue his pride enough to ask for forgiveness. Since angels are immortal and men are mortal, God might not offer them a second chance like men.
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
For you have said in your heart,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God,
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the fartherest sides of the north,
I will be like the Most High!
Yet you will be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit!
"Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying,
'Is this the man that made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
Who made the world as a wilderness
And destroyed its cities
Who did not open the house of his prisoners?'
"All the kings of the nations,
All of them, sleep in glory,
Everyone in his own house,
But you are cast out of your grave
Like an abominable branch,
Like the garments of those who are slain,
Thrust through with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit,
Like a corpse trodden underfoot,
You will not be joined with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land
And slain your people." (Isaiah 14:12-20, NKJV)
Isaiah describes the final downfall of Lucifer after the battle of Armageddon. He had supplied the power for the Antichrist and the False Prophet to take over and rule the world during the Great Tribulation of the Wrath of God, and Jesus Christ had returned to earth and destroyed the world's last armies with a single shout. Satan meets his end in Revelation 20:10. He was not given a chance to repent. Maybe God knew that he would not subdue his pride enough to ask for forgiveness. Since angels are immortal and men are mortal, God might not offer them a second chance like men.
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