Angels

There are quite a bit of misconceptions about angels. Most of these we see in TV shows and movies. I want to separate truth from those misconceptions. First of all, Angels are NOT dead people. Many TV shows depict angels as people who have passed away and are trying to earn their wings somehow. The truth is angels are not, nor have they ever been human. They are unique creations. They are spiritual beings having no physical body. They can however take on any appearance that suits their purpose. In the bible we see them mostly being messengers for God. They announced the birth of Christ to the shepherds for example. God has also sent them to protect his people at times. Angels always obey God. They always point to God. They always give glory to God. An angel that does not is called a demon. Angels are not to be worshiped. No angel will ever seek worship. An "angel" that seeks worship is also a demon. You do not pray to an angel. There are a creation of God, not any sort of deity to be prayed to.
Lucifer was once an angel. He basically thought he deserved to sit on God's throne and was cast out of Heaven. 1/3 of the angels fell with him according to the Bible. One common misconception about Lucifer, also known as Satan, or the Devil, is that he is in Hell and rules it. He is not. Hell will be his final destination along with others who reject God, but he is not there now, nor does he, or will he ever rule it. He will be sent there to be punished like everyone else there. He has not yet been sent there. Those events are yet to come and are foretold in the book of revelation. Satan occupies the same space we do. The Bible calls him the prince of the power of the air. Meaning he is here with his demons tempting man and attempting to steer people away from God. Because he hates God he wants as many people to perish in Hell as possible. He also hates people because we are made in the image of God.

Unlike angels human beings can be redeemed. A demon can never be saved and become an angel again. However, Because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross paying for the sins of humanity we can be redeemed in the eyes of God. Humanity is he crown jewel of God's creation and we are the only beings he has provided this way of redemption to. We are created in the image of God, angels aren't. Even the angels can't be saved. That is how much God loved us. The next time you feel down about yourself remember that God loves you more than the angels and sent Jesus to die for you. If you turn to Him you will be saved.

Halloween

There is a lot of arguing over  whether or not a Christian should participate in Halloween. My opinion is that it depends on the condition of your heart. If you have Jesus in your heart then Halloween is just a fun time to put on a costume and eat candy regardless of what it means to pagans. Likewise if you don't have Jesus in your heart Christmas is just a time to put up a tree and exchange gifts regardless of the fact that to Christians it is the celebration of the birth if our Lord. So chill out, put on your costume and eat your candy. Simply doing so is not worshiping the devil.

My thoughts on the Trinity

As a protestant Christian I do hold to the teaching that God is three in one. Not that there are three Gods, but that one God exists as three distinct persons. At first this might seem like alot to wrap your brain around. How can one anything exist as three? Some have so much difficulty with the teaching that they abandon it all together. Some try to explain it in various ways to make it easy to understand. I think of it as this way. The remarkable thing isn't that one God can exist as three distinct persons. The remarkable thing is that our infinite, limitless, all powerful God ONLY exists as three distinct persons. God is infinite. He can exist as any infinite number of distinct persons yet he reveals himself to man as only three. That's how I see it anyway.

An Absurd Observation

I have recently, though I've head this said before, heard of someone make an observation which was quite absurd. This person made the observation that Jesus was not a Christian. This observation comes from a lack of understanding of who Jesus is, why he came and what it means to be a Christian. I will give several reasons to clarify why this observation is absurd.

First of all what is a Christian?
A Christian is someone who has repented of their sins and placed their faith in Jesus as Lord to save them. Through the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross a Christian is forgiven of their sins. They have a personal relationship with God.

Who is Jesus?
Jesus is 100% God and 100% man. He is not a God/man hybrid. He is completely both. God is three in one. (I blog about that here) The three in one God consists of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus is God the son. Jesus is also called the Son of God. This is true because he was born of a virgin and had no human father. Like wise He often calls himself the Son of Man due to his humanity and human mother. God the father, through the Holy Spirit, conceived the baby Jesus. However, this was not the beginning of His existence. He is God, so Jesus existed before his birth as a man.

scripure:
John 1:1-5,14 ESV
¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it... ¹⁴And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.


Why did Jesus come? This one is simple. Jesus came to save that which was lost. That is, he came to save us. Who is lost? Everyone who does not know Jesus.

Scripture:
Luke 19:10 ESV
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost

Romans 3:23 ESV
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

This observation is usually made because Jesus observed old testament law and commandments. So it is often argued that Jesus was a Jew (by faith, not heritage). To accomplish his goal to save that which is lost Jesus had to become our substitution. Not only was his death on the cross our substitution to pay the sin debt we can not afford to pay ourselves(See "Why is Hell Forever?"), His life was also a substitution for our own sinful lives.
Jesus had NO sin.
(scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.)
This means he observed God's laws and commandments to the letter. When God looks at a Christian he sees no sin because of this, He just sees the perfect life of Christ. This is why Jesus observed God's laws and commandments. He came not only to die in our place, but to fulfill the law perfectly in our place, two things we can not do. So yes, Jesus DID practice what we would call Judaism.

So, because Jesus is God and not just a man who started a "religion" based on some new ideas, and has no sin, and has no need for salvation he has no need to BE a Christian. This makes the observation that Jesus was not a Christian rather absurd.

However, you are not Jesus. You do sin. You do have a need for the loving, open arms of Jesus. They are open for you always.

Prosperity?

I had to write this blog because there is a growing movement in the modern church which is most dangerous. It is sometimes called the "prosperity gospel" or "word of faith" movement. I'm also going to pick on one leader in this movement because judging by the size of his flock he is leading many astray. Simply put this movement teaches that God wants believers to be wealthy. It teaches that the price Jesus paid on the cross not only brings spiritual, but material prosperity as well as physical healing. Leaders in this movement encourage believers to pray to the point of demanding that God give them financial success. You'll sometimes hear them say "name it and claim it". Some will even go as far as to say Jesus had a nice house, and was wealthy himself. They teach if you just have enough faith then your faith is a spiritual force that will cause you to obtain your wealth and healing. If you do not prosper you simply don't have enough faith.

Let me be perfectly clear. Jesus Christ did NOT die on the cross to give you a big house, an SUV, or designer clothes. Jesus Christ died to take the punishment for your sins so that you may be saved. If Christ died just so you could have THINGS then he paid much to high a price for your STUFF. Sure God chooses to bless some believers with more financially, some he chooses not to according to HIS purpose.


Now, I said I was going to pick on one of their leaders. That leader is Joel Osteen. He stands on his stage with his big smile and teaches exactly the false gospel I described before. Then, he gets on national TV, and when faced with the question that any truth teaching pastor should jump at the chance to answer YES! to, he waffles. Observe:



(by the way, here is the CORRECT answer from the bible:
(John 14:6) Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."
(Acts 4:12) And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.)

He was even given more than one chance to say yes, and he did not. My wife use to watch him now and then. I watched him once, and the one time I watched him he altered the bible to fit his sermon. A good pastor will pick a scripture and expound on its meaning. This joker writes a feel good sermon and shoe horns the bible to fit it. I showed my wife the above video and she no longer watches him. Why should he want to say Jesus is the only way though? He wants people to buy his door stops he calls books. He doesn't want to offend anyone.

Be very careful. The bible gives a strong warning:

(Galatians 1:8-9)
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

This is the danger of the prosperity gospel. It's a feel good movement meant to fill seats and fill offering plates and sell books. But there is no substance to it.

This I proclaim with great importance! Jesus died on the cross to give you much more than a big house or a fancy car. He died on the cross so you could have a mansion in Heaven, not on earth. He died on the cross so that you may be clothed in HIS righteousness not designer clothes. Most of all he did it because he LOVES you! Trust in him, acknowledge that He alone is Lord, Repent of your sins and he WILL save you!

I wrote a blog in 2007 that fits this topic well:

http://super-hampster.blogspot.com/2007/04/parable-of-parachute.html

Things that don't work.

Sometimes God lets things happen to show human beings that it won't work.  As humans we gravitate on wanting to do things on our own. I believe that was what most of the Old Testiment was all about. God set up a system to where if they would obeyed His laws He would be their God and they would be his people. The problem with that is His standards are too high for us to acheive. This system of doing to gain favor with God does't work. He knew it wouldn't. He had to show us that so when He gave us a system of grace we'd get it. The same goes now for why I think God let Obama win in 2008. America had to see that liberalism doesn't work. Judging by all the elections since he took office I'm hopeful that we're getting the hint.

Thanks to those responsible for bin Laden's death

Thank you Ronald Reagan for believing so much in and investing so much in special ops teams that made this victory possible today. Thank you George W. Bush for putting in place policies which gave us the intelligence necessary to find bin Laden's hiding place and having the courage to stand up and defend those policies when they weren't popular. Thank you President Obama for failing to end those policies so far even though you've been trying. Thank you for making the only decision any president in your situation could have possibly made. It wasn't gutsy, it was a no brainer. Thank you for riding the coat tails of these other great men and taking all the credit. We haven't forgotten how you tried to close Gitmo where this intel was acquired or tried to give miranda rights to terrorists captured on the battle field. Here's a hint, when you give them the "right to remain silent" they don't have to give you intel on where certain people are hiding. Had you been successful bin Laden may still be alive. And of coarse, thank you for the soldiers that actually put your life in danger to bring this evil man to justice. Not only to the team who actually did the job last Sunday, but also to all those who sacrificed their lives in battle, and time away from your families over the past 10 years.

Evil

I ran into a conflict of logic recently. There are those who have decided that since God does not prevent an act of evil that resulted in the death of innocent people that He is not worthy to be believed in. Yet these same people believe in a "higher power". How is it logical to say since God did not prevent an act of evil you'll make up a "god" to believe in who also did not prevent the act of evil? Your "higher power" god didn't prevent the evil either. What makes this "higher power" better than the true God if, by your own standards, he should have prevented the evil?
However, the God who is God died on the cross to pay for your sins, your "higher power" god did not. The God who is God has mercy to forgive your sins, your "higher power" god does not since he is your invention and has no authority over sin. The God who is God has revealed himself in His word. Your "higher power" god is still a mystery, and will remain one because he is an idol. The God who is God spoke and the universe leaped in to existence. Your "higher power" god can't speak.

Which god has the upper hand?

Evil is not God's fault. Blaming God for evil is the same as blaming Chevy for your wreck when you decided to drive head on into a brick wall. Yeah they made the car, but you were warned that driving in to a wall would not end well. In the same way God warned mankind that sin was bad. God's original creation contained no sin, death, or evil. Because we disobeyed we introduced sin, death and evil into the world. Even when we were sinless and only had one rule to follow we couldn't get it right. God knew we'd sin, but he was willing to become a man and die to take the punishment. In a way, even though evil is not God's fault, he still took responsibility for it and died on the cross. He did so because despite the existence of evil He is a loving God who paid a price we could not afford on our own. Jesus, an innocent man, died a violent death on our behalf, because He is a loving God. Your anonymous "higher power" remains anonymous.

Facts about bible accuracy

There are more than 24,000 partial and complete manuscripts of the New Testament.

There are also about 86,000 quotations from the early church fathers and several thousand Lectionaries.

While there are around 150,000 variations 99% hold no significant change whatsoever. Most are spelling errors, a missing word or letter, or a simple reversal of the order of two words, for example saying "Christ Jesus" Instead of Jesus Christ. In other words, no tenet of the Christian faith is at all effected by these variations. The fact that we have so many manuscripts makes the margin of doubt very low.

There is more manuscripts copied, with greater accuracy, than any secular ancient book. In fact the average gap between manuscripts of other ancient books, and their original writing is around 1000 years.

The New Testament has a fragment within 1 generation of it's original writing, whole books within 100 years of the original manuscript, most of the new testament within 200 years, and the entire new testament within 250 years of it's completion date.

There are, like I said before, 86,000 quotations of the New Testament from the early church fathers, as well as thousands of early church worship books which contain new testament quotes. We have so many quotes from the early church fathers that if we were to lose all manuscripts we could still reconstruct all but 11 verses of the New Testament from material written from between 150 to 200 years from the time of Christ.

Why has the Democratic party become the party of minorities?

First and foremost I am NOT a racists. I think the whole notion that one group of people is superior to another because of a physical trait is ignorant and ridiculous.
I'm writing this because there seems to be a paradox in the political world. That paradox is that now days African-Americans and other minorities tend to vote Democrat, when historically the Republican party has been the ones to rally behind civil rights and really be on their side. Even the first African-American President is a Democrat. This is an historical paradox.
Abraham Lincoln, the president that freed the slaves, was a Republican. The first African-American Senator, Hiram Revels, was a Republican. The first African-American Congressman, Joseph Rainey, was a Republican. Martin Luther King was a Republican. It was Democrats that passed the Jim Crow laws. Democrats founded the KKK. Martin Luther king had to fight against Democrats who stood in the doorways of a schoolhouse and turned a firehose on African-Americans who were trying to get in to get an education. It was Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican, who passed the Civil Rights act of 1957 and appointed Chief Justice Earl Warren that lead to the desegregation of schools. It was Republicans that added the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the constitution giving African-Americans freedom, citizenship, and the right to vote. It was Democrat Woodrow Wilson who in 1912 kicked all African-Americans out of Federal Government jobs. In 1967 Democrat President Johnson, in anger, once referred to Dr. King as "That N!gg3r Preacher".
When one studies the history of this country one sees that it has been the Republicans, not the Democrats that have been on the side of freedom and equality for African-Americans and other minorities.
But, have times changed? Are the Republicans now the racists and not the Democrats? Not at all!
Republicans believe that everyone is created equal. Republicans of all races want African-Americans and other minorities to succeed in life because we know they are capable, intelligent human beings. We want to work next to them and live next to them. We want them to get educations, because we know they can. We want them to have good paying jobs that they can be proud of. Yes we want to them to earn a living and be respectable, because we know they can succeed.
Alternatively the Democrats want to give them handouts, tell them they can't do any better, and stick them in the corner of town that no one else wants to even pass through, let alone live. When you're in the corner of town that no one else wants, Democrats don't have to look at you.
Now tell me which is more racist?

Tech Advice: When bluetooth is greyed out on blackberry desktop manager

If you have a usb bluetooth adapter with a third party driver then Blackbery Desktop manager does not support it. However there is a work around that will make it work.

1) install it as usual with the third party drivers

2) Go to device manager, look at the properties of your bluetooth adapter and click the details tab. You will need the device ID of your adapter. Highlight it and press CTRL-C to copy it. Paste it in to notepad. It will look similar to this:
USB\VID_1131&PID_1004\6&5419C4E&0&2

You only need this part of the device id:
USB\VID_1131&PID_1004
So, you can delete the rest.

3) Go to "c:/windows/inf/bth.inf" - It's there, it's just hidden.
open bth.inf in your notepad

There is a section in this file that looks like this:

;------------- Device section - Start -----------------------

[ALPS.NT.5.1]
ALPS Integrated Bluetooth Device= BthUsb, USB\Vid_044e&Pid_3005
Alps Bluetooth USB Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_044e&Pid_3006

[Belkin.NT.5.1]
Belkin Bluetooth Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_050d&Pid_0081
Belkin Bluetooth Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_050d&Pid_0084
My Bluetooth Adapter= Bthusb, USB\VID_1131&PID_1004

[BrainBoxes.NT.5.1]
Brain Boxes USB Bluetooth Adapter BL-554= BthUsb, USB\Vid_05d1&Pid_0003

[Broadcom.NT.5.1]
Blutonium BCM2035 Bluetooth 2.4 GHz Single Chip Transceiver= BthUsb, USB\VID_0A5C&PID_200A
BCM2033 Bluetooth 2.4 GHz Single Chip Transceiver= BthUsb, USB\VID_0A5C&PID_200F

[Cambridge.NT.5.1]
Generic Bluetooth Radio= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0a12&Pid_0001
CSR Nanosira= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0a12&Pid_0003
CSR Nanosira WHQL Reference Radio= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0a12&Pid_0004
CSR Nanosira-Multimedia= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0a12&Pid_0005
CSR Nanosira-Multimedia WHQL Reference Radio= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0a12&Pid_0006

[Dell.NT.5.1]
Dell TrueMobile Bluetooth Module= BthUsb, USB\VID_413C&PID_8000
Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth Module= BthUsb, USB\VID_413C&PID_8103

[FIC.NT.5.1]
FIC Bluetooth Wireless Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_05b1&Pid_1389

[GVC.NT.5.1]
GVC Bluetooth Wireless Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0525&Pid_a220

[HP.NT.5.1]
"HP USB BT Transceiver [1.2]"= BthUsb, USB\Vid_03F0&Pid_0C24

[IBM.NT.5.1]
Bluetooth UltraPort Module from IBM= BthUsb, USB\Vid_04BF&Pid_0317
IBM Integrated Bluetooth= BthUsb, USB\Vid_04BF&Pid_0318
IBM Integrated Bluetooth II= BthUsb, USB\Vid_1668&Pid_0441
IBM Integrated Bluetooth III= BthUsb, USB\Vid_1668&Pid_2441

[Microsoft.NT.5.1]
Microsoft Wireless Transceiver for Bluetooth= BthUsb, USB\Vid_045e&Pid_007e
Microsoft Wireless Transceiver for Bluetooth 2.0= BthUsb, USB\Vid_045e&Pid_009c

[Microsoft]
%BTH\MS_BTHBRB.DeviceDesc%= BthEnum, BTH\MS_BTHBRB

[MotionComputing.NT.5.1]
Motion Computing USB Bluetooth Device= BthUsb, USB\Vid_10ab&Pid_1002

[SiliconWave.NT.5.1]
Silicon Wave Bluetooth Wireless Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0c10&Pid_0000&Rev_1350
Silicon Wave Bluetooth Wireless Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0c10&Pid_0000
USB Bluetooth Wireless Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_1310&Pid_0001

[Sony.NT.5.1]
USB Bluetooth Device= BthUsb, USB\Vid_044E&Pid_3002
USB Bluetooth Device= BthUsb, USB\Vid_044E&Pid_3003
Sony Bluetooth USB Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_044E&Pid_3004
USB Bluetooth Device= BthUsb, USB\Vid_044E&Pid_3007

[TDK.NT.5.1]
TDK Bluetooth USB Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_04BF&Pid_0319
TDK Bluetooth USB Adaptor= BthUsb, USB\VID_04BF&PID_0320

[Toshiba.NT.5.1]
TOSHIBA Integrated Bluetooth= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0930&Pid_0502&Rev_1350
TOSHIBA Integrated Bluetooth 2= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0930&Pid_0505
TOSHIBA Integrated Bluetooth 3= BthUsb, USB\VID_0930&PID_0506
TOSHIBA Bluetooth Adapter= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0930&Pid_0507

[Zeevo.NT.5.1]
Zeevo Bluetooth Solution= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0b7a&Pid_07d0&Rev_0126
Zeevo Bluetooth Solution= BthUsb, USB\Vid_0b7a&Pid_07d0&Rev_0133

;------------- Device section - End -----------------------

You'll notice above that some of the text is in red. This is the line you should add to your bth.inf file, substituting the above device ID for your own.

4) Unplug your USB bluetooth adapter and uninstall the third party bluetooth software, then reboot your computer.

5) When your computer starts back up plug in your bluetooth adapter.
When it asks to search for a driver say no to searching online, and then search automatically. It should install drivers for your USB adapter automatically.

Now your third party USB bluetooth adapter will be installed with the default Microsoft bluetooth software built in to windows instead of the third party software that came with it. You should now be able to use it with your blackberry.

Just a good man?

There are alot of people out there in the world today who will tell you that Jesus was not God, was not the Son of God, but WAS a good man. I say that is absurd. Either Jesus is who He says He is, or Jesus was insane. Think about it. How many people in history who claimed to be God are considered good people? People who claim to be God, but aren't, are not good people. If someone claims to be God, they are either God, or they are lying either from mental instability, personal greed, or both. So, as a wise man once said, you don't have the option to just respect Jesus as a "good man". You either accept Him as God, who came to earth in the flesh and died in our place to take the punishment for our sins, or dismiss Him as a man who thought He was God. I for one have found that you can take Jesus at His word for who he is. I encourage others to do so also.

The Burger King Steakhouse Mushroom Swiss

I sometimes go off topic with my blog. This is one of those times. I absolutely love Mushroom Swiss burgers. If they are at all offered at a burger place I'm eating at then it is what I get. So far Backyard Burgers and Hardee's are the best fast food Mushroom Swiss burgers I've tried. So naturally when Burger King had one I decided to try it. I don't know why. Burger King is NOT my favorite place to eat. But hey, it was a mushroom swiss, how bad could it be? I'm sorry to say it makes me gag just thinking about it. It was terrible. The meat patty was nasty. It was suppose to be an all Angus meat patty, but it tasted more like an all Anus meat patty. You couldn't even taste the mushrooms and swiss over the disgusting barbecue sauce they put on it. I didn't mind the french fried onions however.They would have been a nice touch to a decent mushroom swiss. It was by far the worst excuse for a mushroom swiss burger I've ever tried. And it was not exactly cheap. For what I payed for it I could have just gone to Backyard Burger and had a good mushroom swiss. Avoid Burger King's weak attempt at a mushroom swiss. It is quite simply a crap sandwich.

Reconcile

Scripture:
Matthew 5:23 "So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, 24 leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.

We all know we are to forgive those who wrong us. But did you know that if anyone has something against you it is up to YOU to attempt to reconcile? In the scripture Jesus says that if you are at the altar and you remember someone has something against you then you are to leave and take care of it. Jesus says don't even come to the altar to worship me if you know someone has something against you! That's pretty strong! Are you at odds with anyone? Do they think it's your fault? It doesn't matter! You are the one who should attempt to reconcile. No one can do it for you. Jesus doesn't say if you remember someone has something against you send your brother to talk to them, he says for you to go and reconcile. And, he says to do it before you even try to come worship him.

Arguments Creationists Shouldn't Use

I see numerous forwards and bulletins from my fellow Christian friends we "shocking" evidence of creation. And while there is plenty of good solid evidence for it there is plenty so called evidences that should be avoided. Not only because it is not the truth, but also because any athiest in the know will pick them apart. Answers in Genesis was nice enough to compile these in an article. Click and read on:

Answers in Genesis: Arguments Creationists Shouldn't Use

Jesus is Alive

It can be demonstrated that there is good evidence to conclude that Jesus did raise from the dead.

His deciples were absolutely sure this man was who he said he was, that is until he was arrested and put on a cross. At this point they not only were doubtful that Jesus was the son of God, but they feared for their lives. They feared that being associated with him would mean that they were next to die.

However, every one of Jesus's deciples died, or was exciled in the case of John, while preaching that Jesus was the Son of God. What would cause these men, who were too afraid for their lives to even associate with Jesus turn around and be willing to die for the message of Jesus? Something had to confirm to them that Jesus was the Son of God. They were expecting the Messiah to overthrow the Roman government and set up his kingdom, and yet after seeing Jesus arrested and crucified what could possibly convince them a dead man was in fact the Messiah? It's only reasonable to conclude that Jesus himself, alive and resurrected, standing before them would be enough to convince them he was the real thing.

It would not be reasonable to say that these men just made the whole thing up. Many people die for causes they believe in, but not many people would die for a story they knew they madeup.
One of them would have eventually cracked under the preasure. Only seeing the resurrected Jesus in the flesh would have motivated these men to go out and be willing to die to tell the world that Jesus is Lord!

Jesus is alive and waiting for you to repend and believe!

The Prodigal Son

I thought I would follow the last blog, which was very stern, with a change of pace and write a blog concerning God's love. When most people think of God they think of an old man sitting on a throne without a smile on his face, waiting to smite sinners at every change he gets. This of course is not the picture Jesus painted for us. He painted a picture of a loving father waiting for his Child to come home. Read the following from Luke 15:

"11

To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: "A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, 'I want my share of your estate now before you die.' So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons."

Let's pause here to examine this further. This child wanted his father's inheritance now before his father was dead. In asking for it before his death it was as if he were telling his father, "I want your money and I'm tired of waiting for you to die. I wish you were dead now so I could have it but since you aren't I want it now." It was one of the most disrespectful things he could said to his father.

13 "A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything."

Let's pause here again. He wasted his riches on wild living. Literally he waste it on partying and prostitutes. He was so poor he got a job feeding pigs. For a Jew of this time period nothing was more degrading as pigs were unclean and they weren't even suppose to touch them. Yet he was so hungry he'd be glad to eat the leftovers from the pig's feed.

17 "When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, 'At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, "Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant."'

20 "So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.'

Let's pause again. His father was a wealthy man who wore long robes. In order to run to his son he would have had to lift his robes. This would have been undignified of a man of his social standing. Yet when his son returned he was glad to do it! This is a beautiful picture of Jesus. Even though Jesus is God he hung on a cross for us which was surely something less than dignified for the God of the universe. Yet he was glad to do it! And he watches for us to come home to him like a father waiting.

22 "But his father said to the servants, 'Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.' So the party began.

When we come to the father after coming to our senses and coming to the cross God treats it as a time of celebration. He doesn't condemn you for what you did, he celebrates the fact that you've turned away from your sinful lifestyle to come to him. Even if you think you're the lowest of the low and there is no way God could ever love you, he loved you enough to send Jesus to die. And if you come to him he will welcome you with open arms and a smile on his face because he loves you. He'll lift up his robes and run to you!

Examine yourself

How do you know you're saved? If you are not a Christian then this blog is not for you. But if you believe yourself to be saved then it is. Many will misunderstand.Some might get angry.And, forgive me in advance for not sugar coating it. And believe me when I say I'm preaching to myself as well.

It is important to ask yourself this question. The bible commands that we do:

2 Corinthians 13:5 "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith....."

And Jesus himself said that there would be many who would proclaim his name, but not be saved, and that you would know the true believers by their fruits:

Matthew 7 Beginning in verse 15:"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

Look closely how Jesus speaks here. The lost man is repeating Lord twice when he speaks. In English if we want to emphasize something we say it louder, or put it in all caps, but the Hebrew style was to repeat it. So this was not only a man who believed he was saved, but he was putting emphasis on calling Jesus Lord. He was the type who was open and radical. In modern times he'd be the type to wear Christian t-shirts and have fish on his car. He was openly vocal about Jesus, and yet Jesus says he was lost.

So how do you know you are saved? Is it because you feel saved in your heart? What does scripture say about that?

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?

Does it just seem right?

Prov 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death

Is it because a preacher told you you were saved? Is it because you prayed a prayer and asked Jesus in your heart? And then, you looked around at all the other people sitting next to you in Church and you compared your life to theirs and when your life wasn't any worse than theirs you determined if they were saved you were ok too? What makes you think they're saved? Where in the bible does it say if you repeat a prayer after a preacher that you are automatically saved? Don't get your theology from a T-shirt or catchy song!

Praying a prayer does not save you. There are no magic words to get in to heaven. You are saved because when you prayed that prayer you repented and believed. Salvation only comes by faithin Jesus.

So how do you know that you are saved? Look above again at Matthew 7. Jesus says you'll be known by your fruit.A good tree can't produce thorns, and a thorn bush can't produce figs.

He says he who does the will of His father will be saved. Is this a message of salvation by works? NOT AT ALL! The one who does the will of the father does so as evidence of salvation, not to earn salvation. He doesn't do so by his own efforts but because when he met Jesus he was changed and was never the same. He was given a new nature and hates the things God hates. He walks the narrow path, and when he strays God snatches him back. When he sins he hates his own actions because God hates them. He cannot go astray and remain there because God won't let him. He repented, believed and continues to always because he is God's child.

Notice in Matthew 7 that the lost person uses many gifts of the spirit as evidence that he should be saved, but they were not. God never uses gifts as evidence, once again read the verse. You will be known by your fruit. So examine yourself and be sure your are in the faith. Don't compare yourself with others to determine your salvation, but to scripture instead. Your own church is full of people who come every week and sing praises to the Lord and believe their last breath here is their first breath with the Lord. But, sadly they are mistaken. Don't believe you were saved because a preacher told you you were after repeating a prayer but do so because when you prayed a prayer it reflected your repentant heart and you believed in the name of Jesus. You can KNOW you're saved. But KNOW you are saved for the right reasons!

Pro-life logic

I want to start off by saying if you are a mother who has experienced abortion then this blog is not ment to belittle you. It's aimed at the people who lied to you and told you abortion was harmless and that the person growing inside you wasn't human. For you there is grace and forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

I heard a logical approach to being pro-life on the radio the other day and I agree with it. It is logical to believe that the pro-life movement is the truth. To illustrate we take the 4 differences between an unborn fetus and a newborn baby and evaluate each one.
The first difference is size.
Is an unboard fetus smaller than a newborn baby? Yes it is. Does this make a fetus less than human? Of course not. There are alot of people who are shorter than me. They are not less than human. Size makes no difference in determining humanity. If it did any dwarf or young child could be considered less human than larger people.
So size can not logically be a factor in considering a fetus less than human.

The next difference is level of development.
Is a fetus less developed than a newborn child? Yes it is. Does this make a fetus less than human? Not at all! A 4 year old child is less developed than a 14 year old. Is the 4 year old child less human than the 14 year old? Of course not. People are born with underdeveloped limbs and organs. Are they less human than someone who is born whole? Of course not. You continue to develope for a good part of your life outside the womb. Does this mean you aren't fully human until you stop? Not at all.
So, Level of development is not a logical factor in deciding if a fetus is less than human.

The next difference is environment.
The fetus is in the womb, while a newborn child is outside the womb. Does this make it less than human because it has not yet changed it's location? We change our location every day, going to work, getting in the car, going outside, coming inside. At no time does our change in location make us less than human. In that case does a 7 inch journey down the birth canal magically transform a non-human mass of flesh into a newborn person? Of course not.
Environment can not logically be a factor in deciding if a fetus is less than human.

The final difference is level of dependency.
A fetus is depended on it's mother's body and can not be seperated from it, while a newborn needs only milk and a diaper. Does this make it less than human? A newborn is more dependand than a 10 year old child. Is the newborn less than human? There are elderly, and severly injured people who depend on machines and medication, are they less than human? Is a person not a person when the person's body is no longer self sustaining? Of course not.
So level of dependency is not a logical factor in determining if a fetus is human.

Therefore, there is no logical reason to call a fetus less than human. And if the fetus can not be proven to be less than human, then killing it is murder.

Why did God make the tree?

In the book of Genesis we read the following:
Genesis 2:8-17

8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 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.

10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

Why did God, if He expected Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit from the tree, did He put it there in the first place? This is a question sceptics and believers have asked since time began. The answer, however is not a hard concept. God put the tree in the garden to give mankind freedom of choice. God made us to love, but He also made us to love him back. But, what kind of love could we have for God if we had no other choice? True love requires a choice. Without the freedom of choice true love is rendered void. The type of love God requries is the type of love we all want, the love that loves Him when we don't have to. If there were no tree in the garden Adam and Eve would have had no choice but to love God. And that is not true love.