The Law of Perception of Hypocrisy

There are two laws: the law of sin and the law of God. The flesh, because of sin, battles between the two. Actually it's the temptation to sin which is the stressor because without temptation, sin lies dormant. It's much like shingles. The chicken pox virus is always there, but something aggravates it to allow it to manifest itself. Time, particularly age, is what reactivates the varicella zoster virus, although the mechanism is not fully understood.

Why do people sin? Original sin is the chicken pox with which we're born. We inherited it from Adam because he is held accountable for the first sin. We now all have that Adam's pox. It lies dormant in new born babies, but with time, it manifests itself in behavior and thoughts, and grows worse with time. Pleasure incubates it's growth. Shingles are painful when they becomes obvious. Although sin seems pleasurable, once it peaks, it can hurt terribly the bearer and those around, because misery begets misery.

Likewise, we can have pleasure even though we have original sin. However, as time goes on, our nature manifests itself in hurtful actions. The result is that the flesh is pained. It wants to be healthy, but it is inflamed. Paul spoke on this inflammation of the flesh to the Romans who probably knew that he did wrong (even a murderer before he came to Christ), but preached righteousness. He appeared to be one of them, but was one of God's, a dichotomy which he endeavored to explain!

Romans 12:21 (ESV) "So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature, a slave to the law of sin."

Because Paul was no different than any of us at times he still sinned, but he preached righteousness. This law is the conflict between the law of sin and the law of the Spirit. Allow me to propagate  a name for this conflict: because others call Christians hypocrites, I'll call this the law of the perception of hypocrisy!

The character of the law of the perception of hypocrisy is "Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. (verse 21)" The world calls this law: "He claims to do good, but evil he does!" Thus we seem to be hypocrites. I know that I'm seen that way and you are too, because we all have "thorns in our sides". They are the barbs which Satan shoots between the crevices in God's armor.  Because we pleasure in certain things, they become our strongholds, and are the last defense against righteousness.

Even as Christians, we all still sin. We don't have to, but we do because we want to pleasure ourselves. The self-righteous person, the true hypocrite, will rationalize: "I am good, even as that person is keenly aware of the sin inside." We, just like others with an addiction, must first admit the addiction, because sin is addictive! I do that as I pray, and ask for forgiveness. What the world sees is me doing sinful things, not being aware of the forgiveness for which I request of God.

Satan can use the law of the perception of hypocrisy against even the best Christian, even more so! Calloused Christians can sin without remorse because they take little time to reflect on their disobedience. Dutiful Christians seek to do what is right and when they fail, it seems that they may as well give up. This is a deception of Satan. He doesn't speak that to us directly, because he doesn't have to waste his time on us; that feeling of doubt was sown thousands of years ago and is part of our sinful nature. It's part of the virus to doubt.

Right now I doubt that I will ever get shingles. I tell myself that I will be the lucky one. Although the pox virus lies dormant in me, and I chance extreme pain, I sit here and do nothing about it. That's a gamble on my part because I can get shingles tomorrow and be sorry for my negligence. There is a vaccine available for about $300, but yet I cherish the paper money so much that I gamble a gamble which I am likely to lose!

The same goes with the sin in the lives of people: they know that unless they are inoculated they will surely die. The death sting,  more painful than the sting of shingles, and for eternity for some rather than for only four weeks, is dreaded by all, but something all must face, not just a few. However, when death occurs, the second death, a spiritual death ensues without the inoculation. It's sting is forever!

On the other hand for those inoculated with the blood of Jesus, the sting of death is for a moment only, and when the heart ceases to beat, the spirit lives forever... a joyful and peaceful forever!

Although the $300 insurance against four-weeks of shingles pain may seem extravagant, the inoculation against an eternity of damnation is free for the asking. When we come to realize that we can't save ourselves, but Jesus can, and trust him to do so, that is being born-again with the Adam's pox no longer there!

When we walk around, even though we're inoculated with the blood, and we desire to be good, because the pox is still there, we continue to do wrong. With shingles, if we stay healthy and maintain a good immune function, the virus may lay dormant. With the virus of Adam's pox, if we endeavor to live spiritually healthy, it will lie dormant as well! What God sees is the desire not to sin... what the world sees is the sin! We all fail the world's law of hypocrisy, but inside, we are striving Christians who at times fail.

Hopefully, you non-Christians will now better understand the hypocrisy which you see!

Mere Man to Superman

There are two realms: one is a natural world constructed of material, and hence is visible; the other is a supra-natural entity always there, but always unseen because what is there is there, but a prerequisite for it's visibility is a supernatural power only obtained by superpowers.

In jest I always comment about obtaining superhuman capabilities and becoming Superman. Because his flesh was born on Krypton, but his existence was on earth, the man of steel had superpowers as long as he wasn't exposed to the evil of kryptonite!

I am not superman as we know him. I never will be! But I am in another sense. My new Krypton is the realm of the Spirit, but my kryptonite is my own flesh in this world. Yesterday I wrote on the flesh as the receptor of earthly pleasures. My flesh, when indulged, is always my kryptonite. In it's presence I am weak, and Lex Luthar, who supplies the kryptonite to destroy me, is symbolic of the agents of Satan.

Whereas, a rocket ship carried Kal-El from Krypton and he became Superman on earth, it is another vehicle which carries me from one realm to another. That vehicle is Light which is obtained through enlightenment as I am born-again, no longer Kal-El, but Super-Larry. I obtain miraculous power and immortality as I travel from one realm to the next and my ship is powered by faith!

Romans 8:9 (ESV) "You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. "

We must take care that we truly are saved from this world, not Krypton, but planet earth by getting on the ship so to speak. Scripture teaches that to be born again, and given a new chance in a new world, just as Kal-El was saved from Krypton, we must accept the ticket to ride on that spiritual ride who's destination is the Kingdom of God, his spiritual realm.

Where do we obtain faith? It is available for free everywhere, and surely, as most people, the reader likes "free things". Faith is a gift of God, but it also requires effort. Just as Kal-El got on the ship prepared for him by his father, we must accept the "ride" from God our Father. Faith is provided by God's Holy Spirit, but we must accept it. The first step is to believe in Jesus Christ, and trust that he died for our sins, and accept him as savior.

Krypton exploded right after Kal-El left it's influence. He was saved by escaping it's damaging rays called kryptonite. When we are made safe, is when the world has no effect on our flesh because it is protected by God's Holy Spirit as we travel from the realm of the flesh to the realm of the Spirit, the Kingdom of God!

We are made safe, just as Kal-El with his new identity of Superman was made safe. He became a new person, the man of steel with super-human powers.

Likewise, when we change our allegiance from the flesh to the Spirit, we become new creatures, and fueled by God's Spirit, we have power over life and death. Hate is our kryptonite. When our Lex Luthar brings a lump of hate to our presence, we are weakened. If exposed to it too long we will surely die. We must be careful. Kal-El was saved from destruction only one time! We can be save only once as well.

Lex Luthar was Superman's nemesis. Satan is ours. Lex was limited by what he could do. It was kryptonite he used to foil Superman. It is sin which can foil us. It's harmful rays bring eventual death. However, we are protected by a special shield just as Superman was protected by a layer of lead between him and his kryptonite. Our protection is the whole armor of God! If we wear it with trust, and renew it with the word, it shall always be effective against all forms of kryptonite!

Our Lex Luthar always looks for chinks between the armor. He shoots his barbs there to bring us down and expose us to his vile element. If we submit to the devilish Luthar we shall surely die, but if we turn to the Father, he protects us:

James 4:7 "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

Superman never caves in. He always struggles to crawl away from the poisonous kryptonite. Eventually a miracle always came about and he was saved. If we trust in God, he will provide. He is our super-power: the Holy Spirit living in us, for if we are in the Spirit, we are not of this world. We have journeyed from the realm of the flesh (the world) to the realm of the Spirit (the Kingdom of God).

Part of being born again, a Superman, in a supra-natural realm, is trusting that it's there. It is, for if it was not, God would not have told us so! When I became enlightened, that I can never save myself, but Jesus can, I went from evil-mannered Larry Herrin to the man of steel, mild-mannered Supra-man as Lex Luthar was undermined! He will be destroyed someday as I watch from the Kingdom of God!

One person had hope as the entire planet of Krypton was destroyed. Kal-El traveled far and endured as his planet was destroyed. He was made safe on the rocket-ship and was saved as he entered the atmosphere of earth. On the other hand we are made safe on the earth, but are saved in the New Jerusalem, paradise or heaven, as we call it. Until then, we may have a bumpy ride as asteroids collide with us, but in the end those who persevere shall be saved. We must always have faith in the saving blood of Jesus which covers our ship and guides and protects it!

The World-The Flesh-The Heart

In the broadcast medium there are the signal, the antenna and the receiver, and of course the output so that what was broadcast can be shared with the people.

In the spiritual medium there are the same components: the signal is evil broadcast from the spiritual realm, the antenna is the flesh of the people and the receivers are the people. The output is iniquity. Notice that evil begets iniquity. This is the communication system which you enjoy, but don't understand as everyone enjoys the media, but don't have a clue.

The media broadcasts things for reasons. Of course the love of money is foremost, but there are other reasons. Those in entertainment have agendas. They think that it is of their independent thinking, but they have received the disruptive signal from "out  there" that they are sending to the world. They are victims of their own wiles. The progressive thought which they believe that they have attained by enlightenment, is spoon fed to them gradually by Satan who uses their own methods against them. For the slow-minded what I am saying is that for the most part the broadcast and entertainment industry are tools of the devil to capture the people's minds!

The world belongs go Satan. He is Prince of the Air. Of course until recently "the air" was the medium in which signals were transmitted. Since then technology has introduced cable and the world wide web. These tools make the devil's job much easier.

At my fingertips right now I can either select good or evil. Most of the time my conscious elects the righteous, but sometimes I see and read things which I shouldn't. Be honest. Most of us do that, but check ourselves, or should I say, the Holy Spirit checks our behavior. Our system is checked for fidelity at times and sometimes we just sit there like zombies listening to the bad signal even though a better signal is there. We become comfortable with the static and digital disintegration. It's not a better TV or radio that we need, but a better controller!

The world is evil. However, evil offers pleasures. The world continues and will always transmit evil because as a result of disobedient people, the content has been contaminated. It's a dirty signal which is broadcast from the decent equipment which God made! Satan tampered, not with the world, but what is in the world. Evil is broadcast, then, all over the world. There is no place to hide, but faithful people can be protected behind a shield. They can put on the whole armor of God.

The Word is the sword which severs the bad signal. When it's bad, the Word prevents it from reaching the receivers of righteous people. Satan's transmissions are as barbs. Temptations are transmitted into the world hoping to deflect off others and penetrate the sutures between the armor.

The flesh of everyone is the antenna. Of course in the broadcast realm, antenna merely capture the signal. It's the same with our flesh! Antenna have elements which are set up to take the waves transmitted through the air and concentrate them before they are translated into information.

The flesh's elements are the five senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. There may be other  hidden senses, but these are the most obvious. A sixth sense may be our nature which we were endowed with genetically with the sin of Adam. Our propensity is always to sin, and each temptation (or barb) must be filtered out. In the divine world it is the Holy Spirit who does the filtering for those with fidelity to his signal.

The flesh receives what the world broadcasts and is successfully transmitted. For a few, God puts up an unseen hedge, his shield, to minimize the signal so that it can not be amplified.

The receivers are our hearts. Don't think of that as the human organ, which only beats to the tune of our spiritual condition, but the heart is the receptor of the information, the cognition which it takes to process it, and the emotions we feel when the signal is descrambled.

Satan transmits faulty signals. They ride on the waves of good signals, and slip through unnoticed. The flesh accepts whatever is transmitted, then the heart, the main processor, must make decisions. Faith and trust aid with the processing. There is within righteous people a resistor which reroutes wrong to a dissipater. Good signals, filtered through the soul enter the mind and happiness and joy result. If any bad signals get through stress, irritation, unhappiness and despair will eventually disrupt the heart. The mind can even blow a fuse and become reprobate and doomed to the junk pile where it is to be incinerated. The cabinet is the first to go!

The more good signals which enter, the more full of the spirit the soul becomes. The soul is like a capacitor which captures a charge and has potential. That potential is hope! Hope can be short-circuited by emptying the capacitor. Satan tries to do that all the time! Even if mostly good signals are contaminated with too much of the things of the world, after a time the capacitor may get so much static that it explodes and is emptied of potential. All hope is lost. We must take care in what is  received by our flesh so as not to destroy our own receiver!

That my friends, is an analogy which is meant to clarify that the beautiful cabinet we have pride in is of no use unless the system inside has high fidelity!

Oh yes... we must be careful with our own outputs because we can add to the static already transmitted. Our own feedback to others just makes the destruction faster!

Imitation & Artificial

When I was a child food was natural and often without preservatives. Bread had to be eaten within a day or two or it dried out and molded. Bacon grease and lard seasoned and textured about everything. Vanilla was real vanilla. About the only thing I can think of which was artificial was Kool-Aid. Anyone would say that chemically flavored water is not the real thing! At least real cane sugar was used to make it palatable!

I remember when Tab cola came into existence. Shortly thereafter it was Diet-rite cola. Both had artificial sweeteners and both tasted like lighter fluid. Yes, those who smoked cigaretets when it was cool, know what lighter fluid tastes like because to squeeze out a real flame, it was necessary to put the lighter in the mouth and blow. Now we even have fake fire with laser lighters fresh on the market!

When Tab came out and I tasted it for the first time, I was repulsed. Skinny girls went ahead and drank it to stay skinny and overweight girls drank it so that they had the appearance of self-control. I didn't drink it because it was artificial.

At that time, with the advent of space travel, the media forecast that just like the space pioneers, the general public would also be eating artificial food someday. As a  thirteen years-old boy, I made my own forecast: I declared that I would NEVER eat anything artificial!  Advance (sic) to 2016. Now almost everything is artificial or imitation and all but the veggie extremists eat it! What was anathema is now acceptable. Just last night I dined on artificial flavored cherry cookies with imitation chocolate covering as I drank 1% milk, not whole vitamin D, flavored with some type of chocolate with all types of chemicals, along with aspartame, the enemy of the sugar industry.

They said that bacon grease and lard will kill me, but it is more reasonable to consider that it may be unknown compounds which will gradually mutate my cells into cancer of some sort!

With that said, let the reader self-examine religion: believing in an existence which transcends self (Herrin Lexicon), which entails some sort of faith because that transcendence is of the supernatural.  There is no tangible proof that a higher existence is real, but the desire for hope encourages the believer to have faith. Some admit that they have doubts, but because of optimism about eternal life, believing that is possible is a prerequisite.

Christianity is a religion, but so is everything: Buddhism, Zoroastranism, Islam, Judaism, animism, and even the worship of the self because it relegates the self to the level of supernatural power as Selfism proposes that the individual has the ability to save the self and that God is not needed. Most of these religions place importance on the self to balance bad with good to deserve eternal life.

Christianity, on the other hand, is the genuine religion because it makes sense! No one has godly powers and good works hasn't the energy to propel a material being to heavenly places. Christianity is the real McCoy because by being a REAL Christian, one must admit that the person has no ability to save oneself, and come to the realization that it is by 100% certainity that only Jesus saves.

Pagan religions are imitations of Christianity, being without Christ. Because "the Word" (Jesus) was there in the beginning, then Christianity is the original religion. In those days it wasn't even a religion because faith was reinforced by an audible God who sometimes visited the people as celestial beings, clouds of smoke and fire, and even as persons.

At least atheists are genuine as they admit that even though they have no faith in God, they aren't going anywhere because they have no power to save themselves, and no place to go even if they could! What is artificial about them remains their attempt at being good, not realizing that only God is good.

Their god essentially is unknown because the good they do is for the world. Their religion is secular humanism. In effect their deity is humanity and they live to serve mankind! Their goal is noble, but their reasoning interferes with their own hope. Inside, this must be an imitation life for them: appearing content and joyful, but inside even dreading the thought of death, if they are even contemplative enough to consider the hereafter.

Many people live artificial lives: music, partying, alcoholic beverages, marijuana, sex, positive affirmations, and even an abundance of food. These things take the mind off the hereafter and are the serpent's way of providing pleasure to deceive people into believing that the end is too far away to worry about, when it reality, it could be tomorrow! These placebos for hope creates an artificial existence.

At times the kid who would never eat anything artificial has ingested immediate gratification as all men have!  Scripture calls things artificial "the flesh" which is the interaction of our sensory systems to the world, including how the mind uses these things to forget the future and convince the spirit that immortality is easy!

Mad Magazine's Alfred E. Neuman asked it well: "What? Me worry?" Because like Alfred, pleasure exists to take the mind off eternity, but in reality, even if we don't think on it, eternity is long and it is real! I want to be part of eternity (no atheist here), and I want to be part of the REAL faith (Christianity) because only through the sacrificed life of Jesus and his shed blood as a propitiation for my sins can I be saved. That's the real thing (Sorry, Coca Cola), and is the true way to immortality!

If I ask anyone, "What is your greatest desire?" Most would respond: "to be happy", "to be wealthy" or "to be loved". These things are artificial because they are temporal. We even fake out our own selves! Admit it: "What we all want is to live forever!" There is only one gate to that. It is the "strait" gate, meaning it's by truth which we can enter onto the path to eternal life.

Truth isn't shades of gray. God's words cannot successfully be twisted to get there. Imitation churches will mislead you, and it's not progressive beliefs which attain immortality. It's not tolerance which is the gate posts. It's obedience, but not to DESERVE salvation, but because a born-again person appreciates God for his grace! Even obedience to obtain eternal life is false. Artificial does not save; it dooms!

I battle with "the flesh" everyday and so do you! Sometimes I feel as if I'm faking belief because I am weak. Just as with Paul (and many of us), the spirit is willing, but our vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch stands in our way because we all love things which pleasure us. Even sincere people who have trouble with the flesh can be convinced by Satan that indeed they are faking it. Others do fake it for different reasons. We must be genuine Christians who desire genuine meat (the Word) and never eat of those things artificial (false doctrines).

A Sanctuary for Me

Oh Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary
Pure and holy, tried and true ...
With thanksgiving, I'll be a living
Sanctuary for You
(From the Song "Lord, Prepare me to be a sanctuary for you; Randy Scruggs)

Here is the meaning of this praise song:

1 Corinthians 3:16 ( ESV) "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?"

As Christians we are to be a sanctuary for God. His temple is no longer the tabernacle in the wilderness or the one built from the cedars of Lebanon covered with gold! The former was thought to be unfit for God, so the latter was built to honor God. However, God didn't want the fancy temple; he wanted the spiritual temples within each of us. He wanted his Holy Spirit to fill our souls, his temple.

Have you ever thought about that? Our soul is ours, but it belongs to him. It's where God desires to reside in this world. Those who accept him are his chosen people. He wants to reside in us.

 A sanctuary is a place of refuge. It's where God goes to get away from sin. Yes, he can look upon sin because God is who judges sinners.

Acts 17:30 (ESV) "The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent..."

In order for God to overlook sin he does see it. Although God can see sin, he doesn't want to be in it's presence. His temple is refuge from sin.  He doesn't look at sin from a standpoint of approval. As such, a sanctuary for him is righteous living.

 1 John 3:7  (ESV) " Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous."

Sanctuaries are places of righteousness which is where our own wills are to do God's will. We are not our own. Us "little children" (of God) belong to him. His desire is that we no longer live for our genetic father, the devil, but for our spiritual father, himself! That milieu is the sanctuary we provide for God, according to the lyrics preceding.

Our "flesh" is the spiritual sensory system which transmits pleasure from the world to our minds. Our mind relishes in the pleasures we find and contaminates the soul, God's temple.  We must cut off the flesh so that the sins of the world cannot enter in.

1 John 2:15 (ESV) "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."

Since Satan is Prince of the World, we are to keep sin away from our flesh to provide to God a sanctuary. To avoid sin, and to provide a sanctuary for God, we must seek refuge from the world. We live in the world, but if we're born again, we are not of the world. We belong to the kingdom of God.  Everyone knows the passage "flee from temptation". That's our part of providing God a sanctuary. That entails our own refuge from the world.

At work and in entertainment we are constantly bombarded with sin. Psychologically speaking, we become what we  take in. All that surrounds us effects and affects each of us. When we hear a catchy tune, it's difficult to get it out of our minds. That's why in commercials for products they sing jingles. Likewise, when we hear evil, our thoughts are on evil. It's difficult to filter out that to which we have been continually exposed. Our minds acclimate us to the evil around us!

For instance, when I lived in Detroit, my co-workers used the F-word continually. When I prayed what do you suppose contaminated my prayer. You're right... the F-word. I had to pray first to be delivered from those thoughts before I could even pray for other things. I needed a refuge from the F-word. Church was my sanctuary and still is!

I go to church for various reasons: to honor and praise God, and also commune with my brothers and sisters in Christ, but also to get my flesh away from the world so that I can quit taking in sin. It's a place where I choose to not look upon sin.

Now for my point for today's commentary: The church, my sanctuary is contaminated with sin just like the temple was when Jesus threw out the money-changers. They disrupted his sanctuary. Likewise, when the Holy Ghost came in the early church it was when they all of one accord. Harmony is a pre-requisite for the Holy Ghost having sanctuary, and it is us in accord which creates that milieu for the Holy Ghost.

We are to be righteous because God is righteous. Conversely, if we are righteous we create for God a sanctuary and if the church is righteous a sanctuary is created for both us and God.

Unfortunately, the church is no longer a sanctuary. I think of the gossipers who are obvious about it. I think of the immodest and grandiose attire worn by some. I think of those who fail to love even their Christian friends (sic), let alone their enemies. I hear Christians use God's name in vain, even in church! These folks rob me of my sanctuary, and as such, as we're not in one accord, we ruin sanctuary for God.

The Holy Ghost lives, not in the church, but his temples. Fortunately he does reside in some, but in others his existence is squelched by sin which has not been repented. That's why one of the first things in the Lord's Prayer is to ask forgiveness for our trespasses. It provides sanctuary for God when we allow him to clean out our temple. However, the church is only cleansed when the people within it are!

We can prepare a sanctuary for God in ourselves by being righteous. The church can prepare a sanctuary for me, you and God by being righteous, loving and in one accord. That's where our churches are lacking. We are the sin merchants in his temple and defile his sanctuary. Some create chaos in the church and there is no refuge. Some people need to change. The rest of us do as well!

Sloth or Zealot

Romans 12:11 (ESV) "Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord."

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A sloth is noted as a slow animal. It's symbolic of laziness. A story comes to mind: Anthony said about his brother, "Timothy is lazy," to which Timothy replied, "I'm not lazy, I just don't like to work!" Timothy was slothful.

We must be honest: left-wingers are zealots for their causes. Regardless of what cause it is, whether anti-establishment, anti-wealth, anti-morality, anti-Christianity or whatever, they are zealots for it. For instance when Indiana passed a bill that liberals perceived as unfair, they organized a boycott of Indiana. The same goes for North Carolina. In most cases these boycotts are against the evangelical conservative Christians who favor those laws.

If one Christian or conservative even uses a word in their "incorrectness" lexicon, liberals ostracize them. They know how to stand up for what they believe!

On the other hand political correctness (PC) has enslaved all Americans and removed any pretense of freedom of speech. They have freedom of theirs, but we don't have freedom of ours. Christ's voice is censored sometimes by law, but most often by persecution. Left-wingers silence through persecution, and they are so blind to their own cause that they fail to recognize their own hateful attitude!

Christians are called to be zealots, but Paul recognized the sloth in all of us. Christians are called to be zealots, and not sloths. Paul goes on to actually define zeal: it's being fervent. How so? "Serve the Lord!"

Adam was called to "tend the Garden". As such mankind has one and only one job assignment because it was intended for all. Since the Tree of Life, representing Jesus, was in the center of the Garden, it's obvious that Adam's responsibility was to tend to God. He was to do things which would magnify the Lord. That main thing was written on stone much later on "Thou shall have no other gods besides me, " which is in essence "love me only!" Luke explained well how to "tend the Garden":

Luke 10:27 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Love is an action verb. Emotions show little action. We do things to demonstrate love, and St. John says to "obey his commands". What did God command?

 Matthew 19:28 (ESV) "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in  the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."

Fervency is doing things. Zealots do things. What is it that we should do? The Great Commission is "go therefore and make disciples" and "teaching them". Slow-moving sloths can't do that, but that's how fervent we are to be. When we make disciples of people we are doing our part in saving them from eternal damnation. That's an ultimate show of love. That's demonstrating love by DOING!

Sloths don't do much other than eat, poop and rest. They even move slowly from one thing to the next. They are the epitome of apathy and laziness. They certainly aren't left-wingers because the progressives' Great Commission is "Go therefore and keep disciples from being made in all nations!" Their self-appointed job assignment is to keep others from hearing the gospel and as such as the ultimate way to hate: they prevent others from being saved from eternal damnation! They don't tend the Garden, they set fire to the crops before they are harvested!

Whenever there is a cause which teaches others about Christ, we are to be zealots. In doesn't matter where or when. There is no wall of separation of church and state in scripture, nor even in free speech. That's society's addition to the Constitution.

Christians need to stand up to keep this a free nation; free to speak publically about Jesus, to tell the nation about Jesus and to insist that we have the freedom to live as Christians. That freedom will make others angry because zealots get angry. We need to get as angry for God as others do against him!  By apathy we accept the God of the west: secular humanism which the French worshiped as the Goddess of Reason. Libertas standing in our own harbor is symbolic of the angel of light.

2 Corinthians 11:14 (ESV) "And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light."

That's right. The torch the stature of Liberty holds doesn't light the nation. It is a false light held high by liberalism. Their zealous followers ensure that we follow their gods as well. They are allowed to stand prominently in America while the One True God has been covered by a veil to hide him from those who need them.

It's God who helps the huddled masses, not Libertas, but it is she who gets the credit. If it was Jesus who stood high on Bledsoe Island, those who have been deceived would scream in defiance. It's okay for Libertas to stand there,  but us sloths need kicked in the buttocks to tend to our own Garden. Jesus deserves the spot that was meant for Jesus when this nation was founded, but the left-wing has created their own religion. Ours (America's) is a pagan religion and our god is an Unknown God. Their god is anything or anyone, but our God is  Jesus.

As Paul said, "let me proclaim to you the unknown god who you worship!" He as saying that Jesus is God; that they just didn't know him! We need to tell those as fervent as Paul told the philosophers at Athens. He died for telling others about Jesus. He tended the Garden well!

The sloth has claws for pulling food to the mouth. They lay still in laxity, and let the food come to them. That's laziness and lack of fervor. We need to go fish for the Lord. We must move in haste because the time is coming soon when no more opportunities will be there. It may be the ones we most love who fail to be brought into the Garden. We must tell them in haste how to be saved and stand up for what is right!

 

I Didn't Make the Rules

Abigail Van Buren's daily newspaper advice column has become the hotbed of homosexual tolerance, and rather than give sound advice, she advices continuation, even with the guilt, and even promotes it. Rather than those in a same-sex relationship as abnormal, it's her advice that it's those who are against same sex marriage who are intolerant!

In the field of psychology, homosexuality at one time was considered "abnormal" by those in that profession. First off, they are not all-knowing and there are no hidden secrets in that profession. Psychology is at a minimum an accruement of philosophies, and at it's worst the most prevalent branch of the religion of secular humanism, psychology being the study of the soul.

With DSM-II in 1973, homosexuality was removed as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association due to social unrest and protests. (In biblical terms mankind preferred to do what is right in their own eyes). It was the studies of the pervert Alfred E. Kinsey who generated the reasoning behind the removal. (It was later discovered that Kinsey performed deviate sexual studies on innocent infants).

At the same time psychologist George Weinberg indicated that an healthy homosexual was one who had overcome prejudice against him, in effect, indicating that intolerance was the problem, not homosexuality. The civil rights and feminists movement stigmatized what they labeled "homophobia". Hence, it was no longer homosexuality which was abnormal,  but those who disagreed with the practice. Wrongly, they associated disagreement with fear, although society doesn't fear what goes on behind closed doors, but find it either immoral or disgusting. Since, it has been the normal who are labeled abnormal, those tolerant of homosexuality have become the haters of those with whom they disagree.

This very twisting of truth and the implementation of Big Brother type newspeak and doublethink is what political correctness is all about and what Donald Trump ran against. One of the main reasons I voted for him was because of his aversion to political correctness, basically lies to protect the feelings of the skin-skinned.

Since 1973 society has generally come to accept homosexual behavior because of "remolding", as they call it, by psychology, higher education, the media and pressure from those abnormal themselves. (Read that brainwashing). Add to that the progressives and libertarians who propagate the notion that it's okay to do what is right in your own eyes!

Unfortunately for the rest of us, we are forced to see and hear through television, movies and life what we don't want to see with our own eyes! Some of us still find it unnatural, not because we're haters, but because it always has been except in wicked societies. However, the ultimate reason is it's not us who makes the rules: it is God!

Leviticus 18:22 (ESV) "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination."

First off, "shall not" makes this a command! Who made the command? God. You see, I didn't make the rules and neither did a bunch of bigoted Jews and Christians. It was God who made the rules. He even gave the reason for it: "It is an abomination."  Abomination means "disgusting". In God's eyes people of the same sex who have sexual relations do disgusting things. That defies God, not me nor others, since it is God's authority to make the rules for his creation.

Some say "love the sinner, but hate the sin" is not in the Bible. Actually, the entire Bible is about hating sin and loving the sinner. Because Jesus loves us so he desires that none of us sinners should parish (John 3:16). Why would anyone perish? Because God hates sin!

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 ( ESV) "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."

Why not go to heaven? God hates sin and doesn't want it in his divine face.

"Born this way?" Nope! God doesn't create disgusting people. We all have the propensity to be disgusting, but same-sex attraction is behavioral. Even Sigmund Freud, the originator of psychoanalysis, proposed several behavioral reasons for same-sex attraction, none of which were genetic. (Note that there is not one study which proves that homosexuality is a genetic trait or more simply that people are born that way. That is another lie propagated by society).

Lastly, some say, "all sins are the same". That too is a lie even repeated by preachers and theologians. Unrepented sin regardless of their nature all have an equal penalty: death, but their magnitudes vary. The range of sins proceed from accidental to casual such as boiling a kid in its mother's milk, to malicious, to abominable to the unpardonable sin. Even the sin of Caiaphas was a greater sin than Pilate's we are told (John 19:11).

Satan made greater sins. Don't blame God. People commit greater sins. Don't blame God. However, God did make the rules, so don't blame me. I didn't make the rules. Don't call me hateful or intolerant. It's God who made the rules and he teaches obedience not tolerance!

Masters of Our Own Domain

Each person has their own domain. It's our kingdom where we are in authority. As such we are kings there, if not emperors. Not only do we rule our domain, but we are heavy-handed rulers, at times loving, but at others dictatorial.

Our domain which we own is our flesh. Within that domain lies our all: mind, body and spirit. Right outside our domain is territory which we claim because we need it and use it. It belongs to the world because ingress is possible for all, but as colonials, we claim it for ourselves.

This immediate extension to our domain is our personal space. It's not ours since we live within our own domain, but we treat it as if it is ours. Others may enter that zone either by trespass or by invitation. We kiss and hug those who are invited, but fear those who enter into it uninvited.

Our personal space is part of the world and belongs to all, but it's each of our protectorates. It's ruler is the Prince of the Air, Satan, but we have annexed that space as our own.

Each person has their own personal space. Their immediate sphere of influence is their domain and their personal space. As such the twain are the world in which each person lives.

Remembering that personal spaces of everybody belongs to everyone, we are merely needful and users of it. Personal space is not ours, but we claim it.

When people get close, their personal spaces are covalent. In layman's terms, it's shared space. Their personal space and our personal space occupy the same territory. When more than one personal space becomes the space of another, then world's collide.

In marriage, two people of the opposite sex, for it doesn't work for same-sex, agree to share not only personal spaces, but the domain, one of the other. Of course this means sexually entering the domain of another in romantic love. Consummation is the rite of unity between husband and wife. That's when they willingly share their own domain, each with the other.

Because of that, neither are longer the master of their own domain. They are now one and what God joins together, let it not be put asunder. Sharing domains is easy! In good sexual relationships each are to provide pleasure to the other. Neither is master of their domain, but are partners in sharing the common domains.

Personal space is another issue. Since domains are shared, personal space is both enjoyed and in turmoil if infringed upon. When one party becomes more focused on being master of their own domain, the other seeks to either preserve their own domain or insist on being part of or even destructive of the other person's domain. When a storm enters the personal spaces of man and wife, world's collide. The personal space of one is invaded by the other.

it may be politics, belief systems, the children, families, friends, finances or even silly things which make world's collide, but with the collision, the personal domain of each is damaged. Even coitus may be jeopardized and often is because of world's colliding!

Each domain seeks pleasure. That's original sin. Rather than first seeking to pleasure God by loving him, our first desire is for self-pleasure. As such we are our own other gods besides God. Our world comes into conflict with God's world, the Kingdom of God.

When our world collides with our spouse's, that is our world's colliding. Rather than sparing both worlds from destructing, each insists that their own world prevail, even to the extent of colliding with God's world! When couples separate, the one world with two domains which share personal space becomes two independent worlds again. They no longer co-exist, but shoot weapons of mass destruction, one at the other. To preserve their own world, they each are relentless in destroying the world of the other. Since living turns to animosity, then God's world is under attack.

Couples coexist with God's blessing. Marriage is ordained by him because it's holy. When couples become individuals they become again, masters of their own domain, but have destroyed the sacredness of a shared world and even shared domain because sex may even be withheld or passive.

With discord, the two once encompassed with God's world, now break through his field of gravity and are on their own. World's colliding results in the two being cast out of Eden so to speak because of disobedience they are no longer in the Kingdom of God.

You see marriage is important because it's akin to our marriage to God. Since we are the bride and Jesus is the groom, we can never separate because spiritual marriage is meant to be forever. We can't even flirt with other gods, let alone fornicate with them! That's why marriage is so important. God cringes even when we flirt with those in another world, let alone fornicate with them! Fornication with one other than our spouse is adultery. Fornicating with another god is spiritual adultery and blasphemy. As such adultery is symbolic of blasphemy.

If we're Christians, we are no longer masters of our own domain. We live in the Kingdom of God and his domain is our domain. God keeps us there, but we can freely leave it! Satan is the whore who entices us to fornicate with other gods. Those other gods may even by our own self, but are the worlds of other people as well. Satan shoots barbs at our world, but it's God's domain if we remain true to him. As such God puts up a protective shield around our world, but that can be only if our world is covalent with his world. Faith is the gravity which holds our world in orbit with God's!

It takes commitment to remain in unison with God because temptations are great! They are powerful missiles which seek to destroy our domain and tear it from orbit of God's world. If we are sucked from the orbit of God, it's the world of Satan to which we are propelled. In his orbit, we are no longer the master of our own domain, but slaves to his. Our world explodes as it is captured in Satan's world and our fantasy of a personal domain is shattered with no hope for restoration. Our world is damned once it is submitted to Satan's personal space; this world.

We are never masters of our own domain. We are either servants of God working with him or slaves to Satan working for him. We can never serve two masters. We all must choose. Even if we choose to be masters of our own domain, we are deluded; we serve Satan as his slave and everything we do magnifies him, not us. You see, becoming deluded into believing that we are masters of our own domain, is a tactic of Satan. If we believe that we are, we belong to him and Satan is the master.

Jesus is the Master! Christians are servants of the Master and all that we do is to serve him! When we are born again we give up mastery of our own domain and become servants in his. That's the new birth, essentially being enlightened that we are NOT masters of our own domain, but are totally dependent on the Master of Spiritual Domains!

Self-Evaluation at Christmastime

Read this survey in advance of Christmas and improve your performance, or do it afterward and realize that you fall short of the "reason for the season":

1. Did you question yourself "If I am not a born-again Christian, why would I celebrate his birth?
2. If you don't worship Christ (per 1 above) do you desire to?
3. If the answer to 2 is yes, did you ask Jesus to save you?
4. Did you testify to others that Jesus is your way to eternal life? (If so, then you can legitimately celebrate Jesus' birthday).
5. Did you repent of previous sins to prepare to praise him?
6. Did you magnify his name and acknowledge his majesty?
7. Did you thank God for sending Jesus to save the world?
8. Did you reflect on that Jesus was born to die in your place?
9. Did you eat your meal in remembrance of him?
10. Did you pray to (talk with) Jesus? Did you listen for his guidance?
11. Were your gifts given in the spirit of charity (or was it mere obligation or ritual)?
12. Did you expect to receive or were you just happy to be able to give?
13. Did you show love to God?
14. Did you show love to others? Your enemies too?
15. Were you just still for a time and contemplate on Jesus?
16. Did you spend time reading God's word that day?
17. Did you make any changes as a present to Jesus? (self-sacrifice in sacrifice to God).
18. Was your attitude Christ-like in emulation of him?
19. Did you pray for those who do not have what you have on this day? Did you help any others who NEED help during this season?
20. Will you endeavor to do these things next year?

The Gift of the Magi

The magi from the east brought gold, frankincense and myrrh. For the significance of those, see an earlier commentary: Gifts to the Messiah

That's what Jesus got materially, but what was it that he really received?

Matthew 2:1 "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way."

•  (Verse 1) Jesus knocked and the magi answered. The magi came. His "knocking" was his birth. Their coming was their travel from  a distant place, probably Persia, now Iran. Herein are numerous gifts: faith that it was God they followed and the hardships of the trip. They brought Jesus perseverance because they traveled 970 miles probably by camels or asses. It wasn't three men which came, but surely a caravan of single-minded people.
• (Verse 2) They queried "Where is born the King of the Jews?" Their gift here was his Kingship validated by their gift of gold which signifies kingship. They came to worship him. As such their gift to him was reverence.
• (Verse 9) They believed! When they star stood over the baby Jesus, they knew Jesus was King! Because they were Persians they were surely Zoroastrians, but were open to truth. Jesus is for everyone who believes in him. Their belief converted them from pagans to Christians.  In essence they sacrificed themselves by believing in Jesus!
• (Verse 10) They rejoiced. Their trip was rewarded. They came to see the King and bow to him and that's what they did. Joy is from the heart. They gave Jesus their heart. These tired pilgrims became new persons by belief. As such the presence of Jesus saved them. Note that their faith was before they saw Jesus. It was the hope that made them travel the path to Jesus. Their faith was such that they knew not only of his Kingship (gold) and life (frankincense), but also of his death (myrrh). They knew why he was born when he was born. They rejoiced that he came to die for them, not Jews but Gentiles.
• (Verse 11) They fell down and worshiped him! Their gift was humility. Imagine what people thought, these wise men bowing down to a poor baby who was born in a manger in a stall. Humility is important because being born again when people present themselves a living sacrifice. Their gift to him was themselves! Of course their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, but they brought these in advance of knowing him as recognition that he was who God said he would be! That is the gift of faith. It's the gift for which the givers will someday be rewarded. They receive themselves a gift as they brought their gifts: the hope of salvation!
• (Verse 12) By averting Herod, they protected Jesus, not that he needed their protection, but God used them. In other words they risked their lives for Jesus!

Just look at the gifts they brought! There were three material gifts, but unspoken of was all their spiritual gifts. What was the gifts they really brought: hearts, minds and souls. That was the true gold, frankincense and myrrh! That's how much they loved the Lord. The gift of the magi was love!  That's what we should bring to God! It's our love he wants. He has always desired that from day one. What is it that we most often fail to give? Love.

Christmas or My-mass

I'd like to differentiate why I am the way that I am about Christmas, and many others are of the same conviction. I love the meaning of Christmas, but dislike the Christmas season. How can that be? The easy accusation is that I'm a scrooge, but because I love to give, I'm not.

Let me give an example. When I graduated, the routine was to send invitations out to about one-hundred people, even those who were mere casual acquaintances. One of those said to me, "I got your dun today." We don't use the word "dun" anymore, but it means "demand that a debt be paid off". He was referring to my invitation as a demand for money.

To be honest, he was absolutely right because my motives was to manipulate free things from people that I barely knew. I have been sensitive to that comment ever since and as such, I never wanted anyone to give me any material nor pecuniary payment as an obligation. That's engrained within me, and in this age of he politics of jealousy and free things (i.e., socialism), it irks me to be manipulated for gifts.

Jealousy is the part where the have-nots desire to have what the have's have without the hard work that it takes to have!

There is one thing that I love to receive: that is love. Love is what I got every Christmas, never gifts to entertain, if anything at all, but gifts of my family given of themselves. My best memories are waking up to the excitement of a good meal (which people get every day now), and all my family together, laughing and just having a good time. We had Christmas decorations and a tree, but they were merely decorations.  Beyond the tree was abundant love!

In my family seldom was their an argument. On Christmas there was never an argument because "things" lead to expectations and disappointment because happiness lies not in the tangible, but intangible.

I celebrate Christmas. I do it inside. I celebrate it my way, not the way of the world. Christmas is not "My-day"; it's Christ's-day. Not being Catholic, since we don't have mass, I don't even celebrate Christ-mass, I only celebrate Christ. That day is not "my Christmas" as some call the season, but a day belonging to someone else... God himself. It's not about self-satisfaction, but service. What is a better service than to love others as I do myself. As such, giving is great, but the best gift is the gift of love!

The problem with Christmas is that it now belongs to Satan. He has usurped the meaning of Christmas and made it, in effect, "his-day".  Admittedly, few people overtly praise Satan, but when we expect things for the self, it robs Jesus of the gift he should receive: peace on earth, good will toward men.

Note that it was Jesus who received on his birth day, not others. That tradition is how early pagans distorted the meaning of his birth. Furthermore, the gifts to Jesus were not to make him wealthy, but were symbolic of his Lordship, life and death (gold, frankincense and myrrh, respectively).

There are two gifts which Jesus expects, not only on Christsday, but everyday: our love to him and to others. It's a good thing when a modest gift is given any day, especially to meet the needs of the less fortunate. However, extravagant gifts lead to high expectations. The thought, even sub-consciously may be this, "I hope I get something really good for Christmas this year." Expecting is appeasing the self. On the other hand receiving with gratitude things of nominal value is relaxing the focus from being on yourself.

Gift-giving is not an obligation. Christmas is not the bill-day to dun others. A person should be as content with nothing as something as long as the nothing is accompanied by love. Expectations of a gift, especially by manipulation, is dunning the giver, so to speak.

I love to give good gifts. I do all year long with my family. First off, I give them all love, all the time. Secondly, my hard work has made life easy for them and I enjoy their joy when I give them good things, even the money to buy good things, throughout the year. Because I am generous throughout the year and my loved ones have their needs and desires met, at Christmastime, there is not much more than I can buy. As such I get frustrated during the season. For me it's not one of joy, but tension. When tension arises, Jesus loses and Satan gains. Jesus' day becomes Satan's day because dissension occurs.

My wish is to return to the days that I remember; when the season was a season of love. Love makes it Christsday. Expecting things makes it My-day and dissension makes it Satan's-day.

My gift to all my friends, acquaintances and even enemies during this season, is that I love you all. Of course I may disagree with behaviors, but my desire is that "none should perish and come short of the glory of God". That my friends and enemies is love and that is what Christmas is all about!

Now for giving: I love to give.

I, however, don't like to give to those who waste their own money on trivial things and excessive entertainment. I especially don't like to give to those who waste their own finances on drugs, alcohol. tattoos and expensive designer clothing. I don't enjoy giving to those who expect gifts. Those are self-worshiping; things to appease the god of self.

If I give gifts, let's say to help one pay off a medical bill, and that person buys a tattoo or marijuana, in effect I am buying their tattoo and marijuana. I don't choose to do that! (Tattoos are ornaments which adorn the self and the use of marijuana is the self's way of finding happiness without Jesus).

The "other gods besides God" is each of our own selves. We are of whom God is jealous. He topples idols easily, but his design is that we have our own will. Unfortunately, most people's will is to self-indulge. In effect we worship ourselves, if we're not careful and Christsday becomes My-day. "I" have a wonderful day when things are given to "me" and I have it "my way". Where is Christ on that day as you stand under the tree of pleasure? The Tree of Life is there by himself with nobody standing under him.

Remember that on Christsday, the Tree is not the evergreen; he is Jesus. The gifts are not the wrapped presents. The fruits are not in the beautiful ornaments, They are the unseen things that offer happiness.  They are the fruits hanging on the Tree: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fruitfulness, gentleness and self-control. Those are all fine Christsday gifts!

I am in the Christsday spirit. My way is just different. I'm not scrooge and I'm not cheap. I just endeavor to keep the focus on Christ and stay away from the false day called Christmas. That is my Christian belief and all the dark angels will never entice me to change that. Please bear with me as I worship the way which seems right for me to worship.

Be Still Within the Storm

Mark 4:39 "And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm."

When the storm comes, I go to the Lord for solace. Where else would I even think of turning?

This truth from scripture was of a physical storm, but it's not there to calm us from the fear of bodily harm, but from the storm within!

What type of storm can we have? Spiritual and emotional comes to mind with a covalence one with the other. When we are in an emotional storm our spirit suffers at the same time. If we truly are Christians, God's desire is that we control our emotions, because in the storm it's him who can calm!

God's command was that the storm "be still", it was and peace came about.

What emotions are the storm: anger, hostility, vengefulness, and self-pity. These are the waves in the storm and they are there to disrupt the spirit, essentially principalities rocking the symbolic boat, trying to capsize what is God's. These emotions are as the wave crests in water.

On the other side emotions might be: hurt, a sense of loneliness, feeling unloved, or distraught, knowing not where to turn. These are the wave troughs between the crests.

The difference between the two is the wave height and is the amplitude resulting from the storm. If the crest and trough are extreme the wave can sink the ship. The crest can peak and break. That's the surfers barrel or tube which can wash-out even the best if they are not careful. Christians need to "be still" and never ride those fast and turbulent waves.

On the other end are standing waves. They are the ones which oscillate back and forth and tend to go nowhere. Some choose to ride that wave because they're comfortable standing up there emotionally excited with little thought that the standing wave may turn into a barrel wave.

To avoid harm, Jesus wills that the waters be peaceful by being still.  That's directed not so much at the water, but those who were in the boat with Jesus and feared for themselves. "Cease the agitation!"

Themselves is the keyword here! Each person in the storm cares more for themselves than for Jesus. Jesus was asleep in the boat, but it was each of the others who feared, not even thinking about Jesus!

In our emotional and spiritual storms, they come about because rather than caring about Jesus, it is the self we all try to protect. Jesus is the Master. They said that, but didn't treat him that way. They treated their own selves as masters because each desired to protect themselves.

Jesus said shortly thereafter "Do ye have no faith?" to the fearful. If they loved Jesus, as they said they did, he would provide the calm.  They each sought to make themselves safe when only Jesus can make one safe. Their gods were themselves even with God right there in the storm with them!

When arguments ensue or crises begin, it's our nature to protect ourselves. Rather than having peace, we create our own storms. What would Jesus have us do? Be still! Don't let the storm get us agitated and riding on it's waves. Be still and have peace through Jesus.

People still don't live the life they claim. Rather than "be still" they stir the waters and create their own storms. Some people relish riding the waves and endeavoring to stand up in the barrel waves. They care little that the crest will spill over and drown them, or at least choke them with water.

For me, I desire to stand there in the shallow waters with my feet on solid ground and stay away from stormy seas. It's there that I can have peace in the stillness of the water. Why venture into the storm when safety is available. We need not fear if we stand on the solid ground.

When the storm sinks us, Satan smiles. His are the stormy seas seeking to carry each asunder, and all of them together for "what God has joined together, let no one put asunder", but the storms will do that if we don't control the storms through our Master!

God and gods: Apples and Oranges

Many people say "We all worship the same God so all religions are the same!"

Unitarian-Universalism is the notion that all people without regard to religion will eventually be saved. As such which god by name that is worshiped is of no difference because all gods are God!

Many, even non-Unitarians, believe that notion because of their own doctrine. It is certainly not scriptural since it's fairly clear:

John 14:6 ( ESV)" Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' "

Acts 4:12 (ESV) "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.”   

John 3:16 (ESV) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Scripture is plain: Jesus is the necessary person for anyone at any time to be saved!  I use the description "person" here because Jesus is God who came down in the flesh.

John 14:6 (ESV) "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

According to John 1 Jesus is God in the flesh, referred to as "God incarnate" and was called both Jesus (Savior) and Emmanuel (God With Us). Elsewhere he calls himself  I AM, the very name of God!

To decide who is God and who is not, let's use fruit as a symbolic representation:

Both the apple and the orange are fruits. Their size is near the same and they both are sweet and of a similar shade of red. No one can argue that both are fruits and appear to both be sweet and desired.

Although both are fruits, one is an apple and the other an orange. They are different, but both are still fruits. Compare this to Allah and Jehovah, for instance. Let the apple represent Jehovah and the orange Allah, Vishnu, Brahman, Buddha, or even an animal or other pagan god, not that they're the same, but they all are gods to a great many people.

On the outside of the apple is what we see in life. It's a peeling called the apple's flesh. That flesh represents Jesus who is God in the flesh while the whole apple represents God. Inside the apple is the core. Because God has spirit, the core of the apple is Jesus who died on the cross and his juices were released, the blood and the water. Jesus is still with us, but now with the apple peeling gone, we must look at the core. The core can be seen only when the skin and meat are eaten, but it was there all the time, just waiting to show itself.  The core of the apple represents Jesus' Holy Ghost. Although the skin is peeled and gone elsewhere, the core is still here to see. We still nibble on the core to nourish us and to remember the flesh which was there and the meat which was eaten!

The flesh is gone to heaven, but the core is still here. Likewise, under the flesh of the apple is the meat. That represents the father because the flesh is around him and the spirit in him, but the apple is all three. To be an apple there must be meat, flesh and core, which bears more fruit with the seed.

On the other hand, the orange represents a god, but not God Jehovah. It too has a skin, but it's rough. Whereas the apple is smooth, the orange is not. However, it too has beauty because it can be seen. This flesh is a perception of what God looks like, but none of these other gods can be seen. Therefore, the orange flesh is a mere perception and is not real. (Of course the orange peel is real, but this is symbolic). If one was to taste of this fruit, it's bitter, but there is pleasure inside.

On the other hand the flesh of the apple is quite good and for our health we should eat of it.

Inside the orange is good tasting fruit. If we eat one section we ate tempted to eat more and eating one piece entices to eat of more. The orange is a fruit, but it's not an apple. Some only believe that because both are fruits that both are Apples!

It's the same way with gods. Because Allah or Veshnu is thought to be God or even claims to be, they are not God; they are mere gods and are false gods because they deceive one to believe that just because they too are fruits, that they're apples as well!

Oranges don't have cores. To be an apple there must be a core. The Holy Ghost must be present. The orange does have a skin, but the orange never claimed that it's skin was special. It was a rough facsimile of the apple. Likewise, other gods, don't have special skin. These gods have never walked the earth. (Buddha is not really a God, but a philosopher. His god was Vishnu). So to be a real apple and not a false apple, a smooth undefiled skin is required and a core as well. In fact pagan gods have not even real meat. It's temptation. They offered sweet orange juice, but it wasn't squeezed from a real Apple!

The not so secret ingredient to the One True God is that he must have a real skin (Jesus), real meat (the Father) and a real core which can bear fruit (the Holy Ghost).

No other god even claims to be who God IS. Sure, they look similar and some even have good attributes, but none are the real Apple. They are just pretenders to Applehood! Only God is the real Apple and his juice is the blood of Jesus who died for our sins. No other fruit is an Apple like that and if they claim to be they are mere oranges or Ugly Fruits. Perhaps they should be called "ugly"!

All gods are not the same. God is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. Your other gods are weak, not ever present and don't know a thing. Paul called your god an "unknown god". Your god is not even real fruit, of he's not God. He's fake fruit!

Worship God in spirit and in truth. These other gods are false and can save no one. Only Jesus saves and his core is at your door knocking. Join him. He's part of the only really good fruit!