Apostasy of the church and false teachings Part 2

Of all things God and money.

If you want to see how God feels about money just learn about the catholic church. What I can tell you from the Bible is that events in life do not happen just once and they are done with. Events tend to repeat themselves over and over and there is a reason that this happens. If you are familiar with the Bible then you know that prophesies and similar events happened many times throughout the Bible. For example the Hebrews had a land to live in and they lost it. God gave them another land to live in and they lost. God returned them to that land and they lost it. God returned them again to that land and they lost it. God has returned them again to that land but this time they will not lose it. The Jews kept losing the land because they strayed from God, forgot about him and started following false teachings of the world instead of the instruction of God.

One of the intricacies of the Old Testament is that the Jews did not use emphasis in their writings especially when it came to punctuation but also in the older spoken language. The way that Jews emphasized and put importance on words was to repeat it. So whenever you see events, prophecies or words repeated in the bible you are to know that this is being emphasized for God. The more something is repeated the more important it is. So when  you see events in life repeat themselves remember that this is God all but holding up a neon sign saying this is important pay attention and learn.

The catholic church had the opportunity to do something that had not been done in the world before. The catholic church was born from the new covenant and individual salvation. I do not quote the Bible in my posts and that is intentional.

Jeremiah 31:29

 “In those days people will no longer say,

   ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,
   and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

 ³⁰ Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.

 ³¹ “The days are coming,” declares the LORD,
   “when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
   and with the people of Judah.
³² It will not be like the covenant
   I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
   to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
   though I was a husband to^[d] them,^[e]”
            declares the LORD.
³³ “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
   after that time,” declares the LORD.
“I will put my law in their minds
   and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
   and they will be my people.
³⁴ No longer will they teach their neighbor,
   or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’
because they will all know me,
   from the least of them to the greatest,”
            declares the LORD.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
   and will remember their sins no more.”

This is a prophecy from Jeremiah and foretells one event as well as a repeat of the same event on a more global scale. The Babylonians are about to crush Judah and Israel and take most captive and take them north into foreign lands as slaves and servants. God is promising to return them and renew his covenant with them but more importantly God is foreshadowing Jesus. This time God is promising a new covenant with the world. God is planning on transitioning the world from national accountability to individual accountability. Mankind failed to seek God as nations now they will seek God as individuals.

The Catholic church was born from individual salvation and they had the opportunity to carry that proclamation to the ends of the world and bless the entire world in the name of God. However the Catholic church did not even get started before it faced the three faces of humanity’s desires. Power, money, and sex. When the Catholic church realized how powerful serving God could make them, how wealthy they could become and how it could corrupt sexually it was over before it ever really started. Read about the popes and you will understand exactly what I say. They put themselves before God, used God as a foot stool and corrupted nearly everything about Christianity.

It was the Catholic church that first realized how wealthy and church could become by selling God. The Catholic church amassed unimaginable wealth by selling indulgences. Selling indulgences is simply the selling the forgiveness of sin or pardoning sin. Nothing like that is taught in the Bible but mankind quickly learned they could add to the Bible. The Catholic church teaches that the church itself is not just the teacher of the word and will of God from the Bible but can also add to the teaching of the Bible. This was not in an attempt to understand or clarify biblical teaching but an attempt to alter the Bible to teach what is good for the Catholic church and for the men that rule it.  They call it the catechism.

Do you think this was acceptable to God that a church should teach apostasy? No, and read just a short history of the Catholic church and you will learn that it has been abandoned by God and he does not know that church. Now that does not mean good Catholics go to hell. Catholics go to heaven but it would be easier on them if they separated themselves from the church and moved into a more direct church of God. Catholicism was one of the first of the apostasy and false teachings but there have been many after it. Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witness (watchtower), Islam all find their roots in Judaism/Christianity but have “interpreted” or changed biblical teachings to fit their needs. There are many other versions of Christianity that teach apostasy or heresy.

If you read earlier posts you will understand the that our history is broken into three different eras as it concerns God. The initial era (oral), this is to Noah but continues as oral with guidance until Moses. The oral era has hints of universal salvation but is not exactly universal salvation. I dont know enough to expand on that other than God had a bit different plan for man but man failed at taking that path. After Moses it becomes the written era of the law and this is about national salvation. This era changes at Jesus and becomes the written era of individual salvation which reverts all the way back through time too Adam and supersedes all other forms of salvation. After Jesus is the final era of man until Jesus returns.

Adam to Noah-Oral teaching of God

Noah to Moses Oral teaching of God with guidance

What God wanted was for people to teach about him, seek him and establish a relationship with him. Mankind failed.

————————————————————————–

Moses to Jesus Written era of the law of God (national salvation with written guidance)

What God wanted was for Israel to lead all other nations and nations would be judged according to the righteousness of Israel. Israel (mankind) failed.

 —————————————————————————-

Jesus to Jesus The complete written era (individual salvation with written guidance)

This is the final attempt to save humanity and it supersedes all prior attempts at human salvation. God lived as a man to show us how to live. God came to personally teach us and left behind the complete word of God to study his Will. Now salvation is completely individual.

It is important that I give you this background because you need to know that money, sex and power have corrupted the teachings of God since the beginning of time. Islam has some of the most faithful and beautiful people in the world but Islam is a twisted version of God’s teachings that puts a lot of emphasis on power and sex and even wealth. Any teaching of God that puts wealth before teaching God’s word is something to be very cautious about. Do you think that God needs money. Do you think God wants you to hand over money with graven images on it and its history of corrupting his most faithful people? God has no desire for money. A church that teaches that God wants your money is teaching a false doctrine. Here is what God wants when it comes to money.

God wants you the individual to be debt free. Money is a false Idol and a false God. A person that is in debt is a slave to the debtor. If you want a strong relationship with God you cannot serve two masters.

God wants you to have control of money not money to control you. Greed is a common sin and it has dropped the most powerful churches in the world to their knees and they have withered away as they agonized in pain. The love of money is a barrier between your relationship with God.

God wants you to be charitable with the material things you have received in this world. Wealth with a charitable and generous heart is close to God. God does not want you to worry about money so he will allow his faithful to have enough to meet their needs so that instead of focusing on money they can focus on a relationship with God.

It is good for a man to tithe to a church because it is showing God that money has no control over them and that they are disciplined with the material things they have. It is also good for a man to know what his tithe is being used for to make sure that his tithe is not being used to corrupt others in their greed.

There is no such thing as seed money and God does not have a money tree. Money is not of God or from God. It has graven images on it and it corrupts absolutely. A good God does not have money trees or work as an investment bank. If you give money to do good things in Gods name you are showing your faith, your discipline and are showing God you only have one master. If you give money to God thinking God is going to return it to you ten fold then you are worshipping a God of money and that is a false Idol and God despises that.

God loves a poor person that gives what they have in Gods name. Not because God wants to take everything a man has but because that person is showing God that above all things in this world God comes first. They have put God above everything even that which is important to them in this material world. It is a sign to God that you are just waiting to be with him. People like me will wash the feet of these poor people in heaven because their inheritance is above all.

The Christian church has turned money into a mockery of God’s desires. What should be about a sign of faithfulness to God has turned into a dark place of Greed. Whenever you see money as the focal point of a church you can rest assured that God is not close by. If God wanted magnificent churches he would come down here and use Angels to build the most magnificent churches. God does not need our churches. He destroyed the temple that housed part of God to show mankind that God is not contained in anything and that God is not found in material things. God is greater than that, God is superior to the world and all within it. God’s church is in your heart. God is with us where we are gathered to worship him whether that is in a trailer, a park or a street corner.

You can gather wealth in Gods name and you can build great monuments to God with the wealth you have created but God will not reside there. The idol worshippers and those that build Ashera poles love great monuments to their Gods. Your God is not greater by the space of buildings you make for him your God is greater because he is the creator of the universe and your personal savior. What do you think a church means to a God that created the sun and the stars. Are you better than God? God does not need you to build spaces for him. If you need a space for people to be with God find that space God built a field. By building monuments to God you are trying to compete with the false religions of the world. Our God does not compete. He is the only living true God and he crushes false churches into ash and dust. 

Money is detestable to God give as much of it away as possible so that you can glorify God by your actions and be an example of others around you. Yes God wants you to prosper but you need to know your God and his will. Know the bible and find the wealth that God has given you in it. Build relationships with people and love them to know the wealth God has given you through people. God destroyed his own temple because mankind corrupted it. God does not need you to build more corrupted temples.

The Catholic church had magnificent churches. The Catholic church was the throne of God. Now the Catholic church dies like a sick man in the bed because of the three dark desires of man. Power, wealth and sex. Of all things these will destroy the righteous completely.

The Rich and the Kingdom of God

 ¹⁶ Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

   ¹⁷ “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

 ¹⁸ “Which ones?” he inquired.

   Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, ¹⁹ honor your father and mother,’^[c] and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’^[d]”

 ²⁰ “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

 ²¹ Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

 ²² When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

 ²³ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

 ²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

 ²⁶ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

 ²⁷ Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

 ²⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife^[e] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. ³⁰ But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

 Apostasy Part 3 next

Apostasy of the church and false teachings Part 1

It has become common for churches to break away from teaching biblical principles. In most situations it is the church trying to make Christianity seem more welcoming to more people. They take what they want out of the Bible or exclude what they do not like so that more people may be interested in buying the version of Christianity they are selling. Let me emphasize that they are selling Christianity. It is a pretty attractive thing that apostates sell these days. They are like charlatan doctors selling tonics from the back of an old wooden wagon. The tonic is nothing more than a sweet syrup that is going to do nothing for you except relieve you of some hard earned money. They sell an idea, a false God and prey on the desires of gullible masses. Here are some common tonics they sell.

God will heal you and if he does not heal you then you do not have enough faith or do not pray enough. God does heal but when he has a purpose to heal and it fits well with him. We as a people have mortal lives and if God was to intervene and heal everyone when they asked our lives would no longer be mortal. What is important is that we experience life, learn, grow and move into a relationship with God. Everything else is just the passing of time. People get sick, people die and people move on to stand before God. At times God intervenes but how and when God chooses to intervene is completely up to him. I have prayed and asked God to intervene with someones health and seen God do so but it is entirely up to God and by his will. He does not want to see people suffer but there are certain rules that govern our lives and many of those rules were self created by man. One of the rules is that people will get sick and it is ok. We will all face sickness and death sooner or later it is just another part of life of learning and growing. Everything has it’s season.

The problem with this is that it has become a fairly popular tonic to sell. Tithe and God will heal you. Pray harder and God will heal you. Attend my church and get healed. Our purpose in life is to be healed spiritually to have our souls germinated so that they can grow into something greater than what we currently are. A caterpillar does not need to be cured from becoming a butterfly. Do not misunderstand what I am saying I fully believe in the full power of prayer healing but it should not be packaged into something it is not. Do not add sugar to it, bottle it and mass market it. The therapeutic God of healing that modern Christianity sells is not the real living God. The real living God is much more than therapy and healing. He heals and does so generously but he is more concerned with you reaching the destination spiritually intact.

God is accepting no matter what your flaws or desires. This is not how it works and this is another change that some in modern Christianity are selling. Some modern christian churches are teaching that there is black, white and grey. They are saying that the devil is everything very bad and that God is the good and the grey. We as human beings are exceptional at rationalizing our behavior. It is ok for a man to steal if he is stealing to feed his family but it is not ok for a man to steal if he wants to buy drugs. Let me burst the bubble of desire here and tell you that there is only black and white. God is everything good and nothing less than that. God’s good is continually growing.

I have read the bible and consider myself fairly familiar with it and I do not remember ever reading about how God is just ok with something or that it’s not the best but go ahead and do it. In fact I do not remember where God’s will was expressed in anything other than a direct manner and with direct consequences for disobeying his will. God was not wishy washy or ok with human rationalizing. Remember that sin in its purest definition is not obeying God’s will. This includes indifference.

If you have a problem understanding God’s will let me show you how to easily and clearly reason it out. If God is accepting of a behavior it means that God encourages that behavior or action. We know that God encourages people to be charitable and generous so that behavior is good, pleasing and accepting to God. If a behavior is not encouraged by God then it is disobeying his will in one way or a another and is a sin. Now let me give you some examples to use.

Apostic Christianity says masturbation is indifferent to God. You now know there is not an indifference with God it is either an encouraged behavior or a sin. God does not encourage masturbation so masturbation is…a sin.

Apostic Christianity says divorce is fine. Oh no I am not about to tackle the sacred cow of apostic Christianity am I? You know that God does not rationalize behavior. God does not encourage people to get divorced so divorce is…a sin.

Apostic Christianity says that God is ok with homosexuality. We know that there is no grey area with God. We also know that God does not encourage people to be homosexual. So if it is not encouraged by God then it is a sin.

What about wealth? Well let us put it to the test. God in the bible does encourage people to work hard, save money and create wealth. We also know that God encourages people to be charitable and generous. So wealth is an encouraged behavior as long as it is entirely within Gods will. Not being charitable and amassing wealth is called greed and it is not encouraged by God that is a sin. Sometimes to be something that is encouraged by God it has to also include other behaviors that are also encouraged by God.

If it is not an encouraged behavior it is a sin. If you read one of my earlier posts you would understand that sinning does not necessarily mean you are going straight to hell. Every man sins every day. I do not obey God’s will everyday and so I sin everyday and will always sin everyday and I am not going to hell. The pastor that preaches in church sins everyday. The only man that lived a sinless life was Jesus because he was the living embodiment of God’s will.

So if we sin everyday how do we not go to hell? Well to stay out of hell we must rely on our tool chest. In our tool chest is a moral compass so that we always have a direction towards God’s will. In our tool chest is a desire to serve and build a relationship with God. In our tool chest is God’s grace which by God’s sacrifice pardons our sin. Last we have a helper called the holy ghost, holy spirit or the presence of God’s will on earth to help us the entire way. Now when we become a born again christian it should be our sole desire to serve God and to obey his will. To knowingly and arrogantly disobey God’s will is a version of blasephemy and it is very serious.

The difference between apostasy and sinning is that apostasy tries to change the rules and form false pretenses that God is ok with certain behavior. If God was ok with the behavior he would have directly and clearly told you He was ok with it. “I God am ok with divorce”. So is divorce a form of apostasy? Divorce is a bit different and is treated so in the Bible. Every sin we do is individual and an individual choice and we are solely responsible for the sin we commit. Divorce is a bit different. Marriage is a union before God marriage is encouraged by God and is sanctified by God but it is also not individual. It is about a relationship of two people and God. You can control your behavior but you cannot control the behavior of others. So at times divorce becomes an option when all other options are fully exhausted but you have to be sure that it is not disobeying Gods will and that is very tricky.

The fact is that 87% of christian divorces are because of sex. Less than 2% are because one spouse felt the other was straying from God. Is it God’s will that a man divorce his wife because she is not meeting all of his sexual requirements? Life is temporary and fleeting can we not control ourselves sexually for a moment? Trying to sell that God is universally ok with divorce is apostasy. More christians get divorced than secular marriages and this is because apostasy has taken over the church. What is supposed to be a marriage between God and two individuals of different genders is taken lightly and not seen as binding.

Am I telling you that a person goes to hell for divorce? Not necessarily that is between you and God. You are supposed to live to serve God and I fail to see how that serves him.There is no difference between a man that divorces because of sex and a homosexual that thinks God is ok with his sexual preference. It is not encouraged behavior so therefore it is….sin.

To be continued Part 2

Obama’s Birth Certificate-The Secret Revealed

 

The birth certificate thing has become old and played out. The Donald is using it for publicity and the media loves the secrecy. It is not that hard to logically deduce why Obama is very protective of his birth certificate. So here are some key factors in figuring out why Obama feels the need to keep it so secret.

1. There is something of interest on Obama’s birth certificate otherwise he would have shown it long ago just to move past the controversy. Although he has played it off like he is doing it to antagonize Republicans that is not the real reason. Any reasonable person would not let it get to be such a big ordeal without squashing it.

2. Obama was born in the U.S. You have to fill out many forms when running for office on the state and local level. It does not make sense that someone could not verify his birth place if it was outside the U.S.

3. If Obama was born in the U.S. and he feels the need to  keep his birth certificate private then it must have something that is controversial or embarrassing. There is not much that could be controversial except maybe if he was born a female but that is highly unlikely so it must be embarrassing.

So if Obama’s birth certificate is embarrassing enough for him to keep it private then it can really only be one thing. Under Father it says ‘unknown’. We do not know how Obama’s mother really felt about his father when he was born and what kind of pressure she was under from her parents. It is not hard to deduce that there was some frustrations at the events and that it was easy to dismiss those frustrations by putting down that Obama’s father is unknown. This insinuates that Obama is a bastard child or that his mother was promiscuous. Both of these would be very embarrassing to the President of the United States and it makes sense why he would want to keep it private.

So now you know.

Are You Afraid The End Is Near?

 

 I was talking to a young man about where he thought the world was headed a few days ago. He is a good man that is on the path to wisdom and has a strong relationship with God and a good foundation. We had crossed paths and I could see that he was a man that God wanted me to be involved with. When you serve God you have to keep your eyes open and your ears constantly listening and God will show you what paths you need to take. Being a servant can mean different types of things. Not everyone serves in the same ways and has the same strengths. True christianity is the body of Christ and each person has a responsibility and a position in that body. Some are the hands that mold the world, some are the feet that separate the body of Christ from the world and some the heart that keep the love perpetually flowing. When you serve you have to keep constantly aware of what God’s intentions are for you. Most servants in one way or another are an intervener. Knowing when to intervene and how to intervene is the part that separates. In almost every situation the servant is a relationship builder. Christianity is about relationships. Not the faux relationships that you see that have christian labels but those deep and resounding relationships. Can you love a stranger as much or more than your own child? I am not talking about a child that you adopt I am talking about maybe a grown man that is rough, dirty and broken. If you can answer yes to that then I should be learning from you, you are teacher.

The truth is that a person that has a strong relationship with God is my family. No matter who you are, where you come from, what you have done. If a man was to take the life of your child and later he confesses to you that he has opened his life to God and has God’s Grace could you accept him into your house, wash his feet and give him your best food and bed? There is nothing special about not being able to do that it would only be a reminder that you are a human being. If you could then you truly understand life and God.  

This young man I was talking too told me that his wife was afraid to watch some TV programs because it worried her and was a cause for stress. I have heard other people talk about how they are afraid of the events that are happening in the world. The winds of change are definitely blowing and the earth is rumbling with transformation. The writing is on the wall and every person that knows God can see that something is happening. The world is losing all accountability, all responsibility. The moral compass in humanity is broken and people are mistaking the desire for God for the desire for power over others. Humanity is as broken as it gets.

The truth is that no man knows how many days are left in this world. We do know that the days are numbered and every day that passes is one day closer to the end of what we know ; and then transition into something new. If you are familiar with the Bible then the end can be a terrifying prospect. The end could be tomorrow, fifty years from now or a thousand years from now. No one knows when it will come about but we can see the world starting to take steps in that direction.

Even secular logical people know that this world will not last for much longer. At least not the world as we know it. The world has an expiration date a time when it can no longer support life in the same manner that it has been supporting us. It will not be much longer when we will have make tough decisions and face moral dilemmas about resources and population. As a Christian we know what is ahead of us for it has been clearly laid out.

The question is should you be afraid if things are headed in that direction now? No you shouldnt and here is why.

1. You are God’s and his mark is on you and always will be as long as you choose him. Although you may face tough times, suffer through trials and tribulations you will be ok. It will all be ok. Pain and suffering are temporary but God is eternal and he makes all things new and good.

2. You are meant to be an instrument of transition, a servant of change, and a shelter of storms. There is a strength inside of you that no one that does not know God has. Evil and sin have diluted this world but they have not diluted God within us. In truth the exact opposite is true. The power that God gives us to have strength and serve him is always the same amount. If everyone served God then the strength within us would seem insignificant. If only one person in the entire world served God then that person would have unimaginable God given strength. What God has given us does not dissipate. If the whole world turns from God do not worry for you will carry a torch that will make all darkness flee before it. The fewer the torches carrying God the brighter the light of each torch. Light dims light, darkness magnifies light. You are the torch bearer.

3. God has your back. How can you worry when God has made so many promises to you. Stand Upright and face the world without fear. He is the creator of everything and he has asked you to live a temporary life. He asked you to live your life experience, face obstacles, overcome hardships, learn and in the end make a choice about having a relationship with him. If you choose that relationship with him then don’t look back just walk forward. Compared to what God has promised this life is just a fleeting moment of challenge and nothing else. It is like taking a raft down a turbulent river. You will have difficulties at times, fun at times but when it is all said and done you will feel accomplished and even grateful for the experience.

4. The world can take my life but they cannot take my faith. It is very likely that the world in one way or another will take your life. Almost all of us will experience death and it is really not something to worry about or fear. The worst this world can do is take your life but in the realm of things they have not taken that much. Your true life is in the hands of God not in the hands of man. You may be hungry but you will be full. You may be thirsty but your thirst will be quenched. You may bleed but you will be healed. You may have your life taken but it will be given back and magnified to perfection.

5. You have those around you that are like you. Do you know who is like you? Have you searched them out and developed a relationship with them. Do you know who also carries the torch? Have you used your torch to lite torches for other people? Find those that carry the light and keep them close to you. It will be the torch bearers that keep a light in this world until the day that the light of Jesus comes to set the world itself on fire. Will he see your light and those around you? Make sure he does.

There is reason to be concerned but there is no reason to be afraid. If you are an Uprightman then know that you are an Uprightman. Tremble and fear disappointing God but love and shelter in the truth and promises that God has laid at your feet. God has washed your feet and in return you are to wash the feet. If you are an Uprightman then you serve and God has asked you to be a shelter and to be a strength for others. So how do you become an Uprightman and carry Gods torch?

Be Debt Free- A man is a slave when he is in debt. You cannot serve two masters. Uprightmen have no master other than the Lord their God.

Serve no God and worship no Idol- Worshipping those things in this world that are materialistic in nature. Money, fame, power, sex are examples of things that can become a God to you. You can only have one God. An Uprightman has no love of money.

Serve- An Uprightman is always available to serve God and serve humanity. An Uprightman washes feet every chance he gets. The dirtier the feet the more the Uprightman desires to wash them.

Seek Wisdom An Uprightman prays to God for wisdom. He reads the Bible and studies every chance he gets. An Uprightman studies the world. An Uprightmen can never learn enough and never stops seeking knowledge.

Know yourself An Uprightman knows exactly who he is as a person. He knows his strengths, he knows his weaknesses, he knows how God uses him to serve.

Build relationships- An Uprightman is always building relationships so that he can stay strong on the Lord and so that he can keep others strong. An Uprightman holds others accountable and an Uprightman listens when others are holding him accountable. He is a shelter as his Lord is a shelter for him and would give his life to keep the wolves from the sheep.

 Pray everyday- It is prayer that renews us everyday. The bread in the temple had to be made everyday, so we must pray everyday. An Uprightman prays to God, begs of God, admits his faults to God.

Praise God every chance you get- An Uprightman lives to praise God.

Carry the torch and do not be afraid for tomorrow. God owns everyday yesterday, today and tomorrow and God will always be with you.

Hell-the lies of progressive christianity

 

Rob Bell’s book “Love Wins” has created some controversy with the Christian community. Rob Bell dances dangerously close to universalism and is really only writing what the progressive church is thinking. Some Christians have a hard time grappling with ideas such as eternal torment and the fact that a good God could allow such a thing.  It would seem that such an important topic like Hell would have a more thorough explanation in the Bible and that more detail would be given. The fact is that Hell is barely mentioned and when it is mentioned it is usually only vague references. But then who is the Bible written for it is not written for those that choose Hell it is written for those that choose God. Hell is fairly unimportant to a good christian that has a healthy relationship with God.

Just because the topic of hell did not have great prominence in the Bible that does not mean that hell does not exist and that also does not mean that we can not understand what Hell is on multiple levels. So what exactly is Hell, what is the purpose and is it eternal? Hell does exist and you should have at least a basic understanding of what Hell is about.

Not every person goes to Heaven. In fact far fewer people than most people think will go to Heaven and it is not about the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’. It is about those that have chosen to be obedient to God and those that have not. Remember that sin is basically being disobedient to God’s will and sins range in their magnitude by how disobedient to God the action is. When you start thinking of sin in this way it should start becoming more clear why sin is so costly and why it is so bad. Why is suicide such a bad sin? Well it is at the very essence of God’s will that you live, experience and make a decision to have a relationship with God or not.

When a person commits suicide not only are they being disobedient but they are directly interrupting God’s will. There is a difference which is like breaking a law compared to trying to dismiss a law. Blasphemy is the unforgivable sin and the essence of blasphemy is not just disobeying God’s will but disrespecting God while doing so. This would be like a man speeding while flipping off the police officer as he passes by. Not only is he speeding but he is arrogant, disrespectful and confrontational in his decision to break the law. That is blasphemy.

 Here are the basics that we know about Hell:

First Hell is separation from God. This is a complete and utter separation from God but what intensifies the punishment is that it is after having been in the presence of God after mortal life. We all will stand before God and be held accountable for our behavior and our actions. Those that loved the world and had no concern for God will be in a tough position. God will separate out those that have been obedient and chosen him and he will remove those that have not and place them in complete separation from his goodness.

Hell is eternal. Now there is a lot of debate on the eternalness of hell but hell is eternal and it easier to logically understand than one would first think. God is timeless or outside of time. There is no basic separation of events for God, everything happens now and also takes forever. When we pass on from our mortal lives we will stand before God in his full presence and we also will be outside of time or eternal. Once judged a person will go to Hell which is outside of time. Without that separation of time hell becomes eternal or timeless. Now when talking biblically eternity does not necessarily mean without end which is what the english language would apply definition to the word to mean. A better word is timeless but that word did not become popular until well after the King James was written. Hell is timeless. It will seem like it lasts forever especially for a creature that has experienced time and now is in a timeless state. It might as well be forever.

Hell is a place of punishment. There is a price that has to be paid for the most grievance offenses when disobeying God’s will. Murderers, pedophiles and so forth have to be punished for their actions. This is not a punishment to instill regret or to exact revenge or to pay a price so to speak. This is a punishment to burn away impurities. Fire harms but fire also sanitizes, cleans, strengthens and is a catalyst for something to change properties or states. Like water to steam or wood to ashes. Fire is the catalyst for accelerated change. Does God have people whipped and tortured in Hell, no. However, people will be held fully accountable for their actions and will face a transitional period that will not be good. For some or all after that period of transition their existence will most likely come to an end. No matter what happens it will be very difficult. Becoming ash does not sound very appealing.

Satan exists in Hell. This is the only place Satan can exist because hell is the one true place that is fully separated from God and God can not have things around him that are disobedient to his will. Hell is timeless and Satan does reside in hell until his existence is extinguished and he becomes less than ash. Sharing hell with Satan is probably the most fearful thing about hell. Satan is powerful as the bible has mentioned and sharing a non supervised or moderated existence with him is probably what makes the punishment the worst. Imagine being in prison with the most insane and violent criminal and he has all of the power. Hardly a pleasant idea.

There is no such thing as universal salvation. Universal salvation was discarded at least 2000 years ago when Jesus died on the cross and bridged individual salvation. God does love but his love is pure and a pure love also is responsible, accountable and noble. How could God be noble if a horrible criminal has no accountability. Do not buy the lies of progressive christianity.

The easiest way to avoid hell is to develop a relationship with the one that gave you everything and asked for little in return.

Pray The Gay Away-Lisa Ling

 

When I saw the previews for Lisa Lings Our America special on gay christians I really had no desire to watch it. One reason was that it was on the Oprah Winfrey Network and I disagree with Oprah on many topics socially, politically and spiritually. With everything that Oprah has she is still not comfortable with who she. Oprah is still lost and searching for the person that she really is. Extremely successful and in some ways extremely powerful she is still a person that will look back and have regrets about the sum total of her life unless she starts really discovering who she is as a person.

I knew the opinion/documentary about religious homosexuals by Lisa Ling would be presented from the liberal stand point and I knew that the thousands of hours of video would be edited to show the extreme of Christianity. That Lisa and her editors would package it through editing to make understanding fundamental difficult and even unreasonable and I was right.

I know that a person can have gay tendencies and live a strong fulfilling fundamental christian lifestyle. I have had a lot of experience with homosexuality when it comes to Christianity and family. I have my experiences and through those experiences I think that I have a strong understanding of the struggles that are involved. I have seen the transition of a close family member as they have struggled with their own life and who they are as a person. I have seen the pain, questions, frustrations and attempts to deal with what life has given them.

If you read my posts you should know that I am a fundamental Christian. I believe that my God is the same God of the old testament as the God in the new testament. I believe that God has not changed his rules or desires for humanity but he has at times changed how he deals with humanity. I know that God is loving beyond understanding. I know that God understands us as a whole and as individuals. I also know that God is accepting. However, there is different types of accepting and you need to understand exactly how God is accepting.

Every person in this world is dysfunctional. This dysfunction as some claim is not from God making an inferior creation but it is a dysfunction of choice. To fully explain this would take us far off topic and into a biblical realm that even many pastors have a hard time understanding. There is basically three types of sin in our world and from this sin that was self created we have as humans created dysfunction. Original sin also called humanities sin is the first and from this sin we have as humans created viruses, natural disasters and all external challenges. Generational  sin in which we as humans have created cancer, disease and birth defects. Lastly you have individual sin which is where we as humans have created our own problems and miseries. I am not going to go into detail because I have posted about sin many times before and although it is very misunderstood and a topic that even scholars have a hard time understanding. I will give you just a brief outline of what I am talking about.

When God created humanity he created with freewill in hopes of having a relationship with a creation that could love him by its own desire and not by an artificial desire of his creating. A truly powerful relationship based in freewill. Before humanity left the Garden of Eden we where basically offered two choices by God. The first choice was a life of obedience. If we would have chosen obedience our lives would be much different and without pain, problems and challenges. The second choice was to use our freewill to be disobedient. Remember that sin is basically disobedience to God’s will. 

When we as humanity chose disobedience it changed everything for us and not in a very positive way. God is good and perfect and because He is good and perfect to remain so He can only have beings that are good around him.  If God allowed inherently bad beings around him then He would not be good and He would be a God that we would be terrified of and not because of his judgement but because of his desires and plans for us. So the question is how do you make something good that has become inherently bad?

To do that you must make the being that is inherently bad come to understand exactly who they are as a person. They must understand that they are inherently bad and have chosen to be disobedient. The individual must understand that they need to elevate themselves above what they desire. They also must understand that they need to shelter themselves fully in that which is good so that the bad stays out. So lets lay out those steps.

Step 1. Know that you are inherently a disobedient creature with flawed desires and dysfunctions.

Step 2. Learn exactly what type of person you are strengths, weaknesses, desires and capabilities.

Step 3. Choose and then act on elevating yourself above your disobedience and dysfunctions.

Step 4. Shelter yourself in the perfect good so that what is bad is seperated by what is good.

Good and evil are like oil and water. They do not mix. There can be no evil in heaven and there can be no good in hell.

So if you understand this process you now understand almost entirely what life is about. You have disobedient and dysfunctional people that are on a journey of self discovery and discovery of Gods good.  This process turns what has been contaminated back into something good and perfect.

So now how about praying that gay away. Is it possible? Is it healthy? Is it truly what God wants? Well we are all flawed beings by our own choice and we are all dysfunctional in one way or another. There is no such thing as a good and normal person there is only different levels of dysfunctional people. Think about the term dysfunction for a minute.

What does it mean to be functional and what does it mean to be dysfunctional. God created each one of us for a functional purpose which is to have a good, healthy and rewarding relationship with Him and enjoy all of existence with Him. Unfortunately as a whole humanity chose a path of dysfunction of disobedience, struggle and a separation from our creator. Each one of us has our own dysfunctions. I know exactly what my dysfunctions are those things that I desire that are against God’s will and are only self serving. I know each one and how much of a struggle they have caused in my life. I can choose that which is self serving or I can choose to elevate myself above it and move towards a relationship with God. I would rather have that relationship with God so I have said good bye to my dysfunctions and strive for that functional relationship with God.

Some of us wear our dysfunctions on our sleeves and some of us keep them inside and hidden from society. Homosexuals wear their dysfunctions on their sleeves so it is something that society has to confront on a daily basis. As a person that has chosen a relationship with God I do not hate homosexuals. In fact I love them very much and I think I understand them on a very deep level. I wish that every single person in this world would choose a relationship with God and elevate themselves above their disobedient nature. But we all know that will never happen.

Lisa Ling said in a follow up to pray the gay away that she did not understand how Christians could believe in a God that does not accept people no matter what their choices are. Her observation is a bit self serving. I always wonder how people seem to think that God should do everything and make all of the sacrifices for the relationship with him. Are not relationships two way streets and about compromise. It seems to me that God has made almost all of the compromise. He created us and gave us life, he has offered us eternal life with Him. In return God has asked for obedience to his good. I am sorry if I fail to miss how God is not doing almost all of the compromising.

The question we all must ask ourselves is can we elevate ourself above our nature and our desires long enough to grab God’s hand?

A homosexual person is no weaker than me and no stronger than me. They are perfectly capable of elevating themselves above a petty and materialistic desire long enough to grab God’s hand. They are perfectly capable being better than themselves. However, when we assume that God is going to accept us just as we are is when we run the greatest risk of losing that relationship with God. God has outlined exactly what he expects from each of us. These churches that are not Bible teaching churches and teach that God is going to do all of the compromising and that we as individuals can continue our self serving and disobedient lives without risking our relationship with God are ridiculous. Everyone knows that a healthy relationship is based upon mutual compromise. God has given you everything including the opportunity to correct a bad decision we as a whole made a long time ago.

Elevate yourself or miss the hand of God that is reaching down for you top grab you and carry you up into his lap.

His lap is a good place to be. 

If you love the earth and your materialistic life so much you will find that it is the only thing you will ever have. You will never have more. Love life but love a relationship with God more.

Life Matters

It has been awhile since I last posted a blog. The reason partially being is because I was too busy with life and partially because I am not as interested in some of the topics I used to write about. For awhile I felt threatened by science. I thought of science as being encroaching like a trespasser with no regard or consideration. I felt that science wanted to take something that I held to be dearly valuable robbing me. I even felt that I needed to defend God, defend Christianity and somehow make an iron clad argument for the existence of God.

I no longer feel that way. I guess you could say that I have grown comfortable. I am comfortable with who I am, with what I believe and with where my relationship is with God. I feel guilty in some ways about where I am in my life because I feel a bit selfish. I love people, even strangers but I have a hard time getting fired up about where they stand in relationship with God. I do not really care what they believe, why they believe and if it is right or wrong. I have found myself asking how much I care if someone chooses to go to hell? The keyword in that sentence being choose.

Because I have a deep relationship with God I often get a feeling that everything will turn out ok. When I am worried or think about events that are out of my control God often puts his hand on my heart and tells me not to worry, He tells me everything will be ok. However, who will everything be ok for? I know that everything will be ok for me and my family. How about strangers will everything be ok for them? I would like to consider myself enlightened but enlightened is not the best word to use. Saying that you are enlightened assumes that you know something that many others do not. That is not how I would explain it because that sounds arrogant and self righteous. Instead I think that the word comfortable is a good word to use.

I do not know any less or any more than anyone in this world. I spend a good amount of time thinking about those things that I find most important in my life and at the top of my important list is God. You do not need a degree to become an expert in God. It certainly does not hurt but you can be an expert in God fairly easily. I have often talked about the Trinity of Understanding which is simply understanding self (experience,self reflection, philosophy), understanding the world (science, exploration) and understanding the Bible. If you know exactly who you are, you know a bit about the world you live in and you know the Bible then you should know God.

I see what is happening in the world today and it is as if I am watching a movie that I have already seen. I know how this movie began I know the plot and I know how it ends. I know my place in this world, I roughly know what I am supposed to do. I know that my time here is temporary and that this whole experience we call life is about learning and choosing. It s as simple as learning about ourselves as individuals and choosing to have or not to have a relationship with the creator. I have made my choice already and at a fairly early time in my life and in return I have already experienced part of heaven here on earth.

I know where I have been and who I used to be. I know who I am struggling to be today and I know who I will be tomorrow. Most of all I have the confidence of an assuming child. Have you ever noticed that children have an assumed confidence when it comes to their fathers. My girls do not ask for permission to sit in my lap. They climb, jump and plop right down in my lap without ever asking. This is the same relationship that I have with God. I am confident that my Father is always there for me and that I can shelter in his embrace whenever I need. That is a powerful statement but it is also very true.

I wish that every person had that relationship with God. There is not a person in this world that I would not want to have know what it feels like to have the embrace of the true loving God. But I am also a logical person and I know that not everyone wants that type of relationship. For whatever reason and no matter how hard it is for me to comprehend many people are comfortable with what they have and they distance themselves from God. In fact many turn their backs and some even spit on God. You would think that someone despising and abusing God would offend me and make me angry like a child seeing their father harmed but in all reality it doesnt bother me as much anymore. 

I have grown comfortable with the fact that it is not my place to defend God. The more comfortable I have grown the more ridiculous the idea of trying to defend God has become. What does God need defending from? Nothing in all of creation is a threat to Him and if some spoiled children want to mock and despise their good and loving Father, who are they really harming?

Life really does matter, everything we do matters. I have come to understand how temporary life is and when I see people acting dysfunctional and misbehaving I often think to myself ‘can you not control yourself but for a moment’. Why is it that life is so painfully short yet we cannot control our actions even in that short amount of time. I often see a man I disagree with and I want to ask him “in the end sir what will you have”. Even if I did ask the question I highly doubt that they will understand it. There comes a moment in our lives when we are frightened. That brief moment of unknown when our heart stops beating and that last bit of oxygen carrying blood makes its way through our brain. In that single moment we will all think “what have we really accomplished”.

For some that moment of terror will seem like an eternity when they realise that this short temporary life was a measuring rod of who exactly they are and every single choice they made will be replayed for them. For some like my house it is just another door. A fantastic door but a door all the same.

The question that every Christian should ask themselves is if a man was heading for a cliff and certain death would you warn him? The second question is if that man did not heed your warning how far would you go to stop him? I wrestle with this question and I often feel like I am not doing enough. I feel guilty. On the other hand in a world that seems to just despise God it seems like the cliff is poetic justice for spoiled children. In all honesty I do not want any type of harm to befall anyone. It is these exact emotions and feelings that life is about. You help others as much as possible even when the person you are trying to help seems repulsive in their actions.

As my Father has done for me so am I supposed to do for other. That is what it means to serve him. That is why Life Matters.

I talk a lot about politics and sometimes I can be very opinionated. I do a poor job of curbing my tongue and I criticize often. The fact is that I really do love everyone. I cannot think of one person that I would want to not have a good and blessed life. I would never take another persons life unless they tried to trespass against my family. I find life extremely rewarding. I love God more than anything. When everyone is afraid who will be confident? When it is all darkness who will carry a light? When the world is angry who will love? When your enemy is crying who will comfort him? It will not be a long before I am comforted in my Fathers lap.