Water and the Blood

1 John 5:6 "This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one."

There is much speculation on what "came by the water and blood" means. Some say it refers to the water and blood which Jesus lost with his piercing while on the cross. That's certainly plausible because Jesus provides everlasting life and salvation is always by the shedding of blood; in this case his own blood.

Some say that the water refers to his virgin birth; when the Holy Spirit came down and gave flesh to the Savior, the blood remains his sacrifice. Hence, "water and blood" would be Jesus' life and death. That too is plausible.

However, I think of a different meaning. When Jesus came to the well to drink with the woman there he said that he could provide for her "living water".  He explained what it was:

John 4:14 "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."

It would appear to me that "everlasting life" is obtained through "living waters" emanating from Jesus. What are/is "living waters"? Its spirit and truth. The Holy Spirit "flows" from Jesus:

 John 7:37 "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)"

Therefore, "living waters" in the Holy Spirit. Notice a distinction here! It's by the "Holy Spirit" because Jesus had yet to die (be glorified), or have a perfect everlasting body (presence).  I am certain, and this validates my contention that, although pneuma is used in reference to "spirit" and "ghost", they are not the same in form! (See my link: HOLY GHOST).

Hence, the "water" part of the "water and the blood" (1 John 5:6) refers to the "Holy Spirit" who was with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist and Jesus Christ himself until he died on the cross, but not only that, but until he ascended and went to his father. What happened then? His Spirit who was with him as he was crucified "replaced" Jesus after he was glorified! Hence, Jesus in our hearts is the Holy Spirit which comes from Jesus' spiritual side: his "Ghost", and therefore the difference between "Holy Spirit" and "Holy Ghost".

John 14:26 "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
John 15:26 "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:"
John 16:7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you."

The "Comforter" is Jesus' replacement, but he does not come until Jesus "departs". The Holy Spirit was already with John the Baptist and the apostles, but after Jesus was glorified, the Holy Ghost was sent (Acts 2), right after Jesus "departed" (Acts 1).  It seems to me that this is very plausible and is the "truth" part of "in  spirit and truth". Jesus was a carrier! His wasn't a virus, but a free antidote to death. The carrier was "living water" and that was the Holy Spirit! The carrier of the Holy Spirit is Jesus Christ who God sent in "Jesus name" (John 14:26). Hence, the Holy Ghost is the Ghost of Jesus!

So that identified what "the water" part of "water and the blood" means. Jesus received the Holy Spirit (and he alone) when John baptized him. Therefore, the Holy Spirit was in him on the cross and it's that Holy Spirit which comes from the Holy Ghost. Jesus suffered in the flesh and he suffered in the Spirit. His Holy Spirit experienced death with him and after he left, the Holy Ghost had those same experiences!

What then is the "blood" part of "blood and water". I believe it's his fleshly existence. Therefore, "water and blood" is his Life and Truth; the latter what is the composition of the Spirit! Then Jesus, said:

John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

This supports  1 John 5:6 which says "the Spirit is truth." The "way" is the path to eternal life. How to get there? "the truth and the life". The "truth"is the Holy Spirit and "the life" is the fleshly existence or Jesus (his blood which is the source of life). In short, salvation is by Jesus who is both flesh and spirit. His flesh died for us by his shed blood and the Spirit was there grimacing with him on the cross! That same grieving Spirit, which has come back with experience, and is the Holy Ghost!

I know! It seems that I'm shot-gunning this commentary and "no" I can't say that I fully understand it, but somehow the Holy Spirit with the experience of Jesus' death became his "Ghost". John had a spiritual intimate relationship with Jesus and he knew all about "his Spirit". It was Jesus' Ghost which gave him the prophecy of things to come!

Now for 1 John 5:7-8: In heaven there exists Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost. *Father, Son and Holy Ghost". These aspects of God are the Holy Trinity.  If Jesus sits on his right side, then the Holy Ghost must sit on his left.

On earth there exists: "the Spirit, the water and the blood". This is the "Spirit" now emanating from the Holy Ghost who resides in heaven, but sends his Spirit like a mighty wind and unseen lightening. (Acts 2).  "The water and the blood" is the memory of Jesus who is still here in Truth. His blood is in remembrance of his sacrifice.

Well, that about sums up this complicated inspired topic from Jesus' closest friend. He knew Jesus thoroughly! That's John the Beloved.

It May Be Too Late

Can you imagine the elation the eleven apostles had when they saw Jesus alive after he suffered death! Peter was surely ashamed. He denied Jesus thrice. John was there. He wrote that he was. There were several disciples who remain unnamed. However, most who came to the crucifixion were "the haters", soldiers and many who were there to leer and jeer. For some this crucifixion was great entertainment. I'm sure that many laughed as they read the sign on the cross "King of the Jews".  Which member of the audience would you be?

Even the most faithful failed to believe that Jesus would live again. There faith just wasn't that strong! Even his mother mourned as Jesus arranged for her care, although he was not going to his death, but because he was going to spend some time with his Father! Basically, Jesus was saying "John, take care of my mother while I go to spend time with my Father." Jesus knew where he was going and although he dreaded death, he didn't fear it! He defeated death and it had no "sting" for him as he asked "Where is your victory?" (1 Corinthians 15:55).

I'm bearing that time we all dread from the very day we think on it!

Hebrews 9:27 'And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"

For me I was about six years old when I considered the finality of death. I didn't understand faith and hope at that time and the resurrection was meaningless without understanding death. At six years-old I felt the fear of the sting and I feared death! That's way to young, but we must all fear death so that we make a decision: continue in despair or seek relief? For me, I chose to find the cure for this fear; the cure for fear is hope!  When I was about fourteen I was born again, It's when I realized how weak I was and I needed someone to save me from eternal death. A person can "experiment" with religions all they desire, but the conclusion must be the same if one accepts truth: Jesus is the way and only way for eternal life (John 14:6).

Although I reached out for the hand of Jesus as he offered salvation to me, I'm still stung by the fear of death. There are all types of fear. Like Jesus I care for my loved ones and I don't want to leave them. I fear that the world will keep getting worse and many more will go to hell. I fear the thought of the coffin or the ashes from which I came. I fear the actual sting of death where the poison steals my lifeblood. There may be pain with my demise and I dread it! Even knowing in advance that in one-second I'm dead is a terrifying thought!

Like my Dad before me, I don't fear what's on the other side; I fear crossing over. There are three possibilities: nothingness, hell or heaven; all for eternity. Scripture teaches only the latter two. Atheists fantasize on the deterministic possibility of eternal nothingness. Even that fiction "scares the hell out if me" If tomorrow I was to die, the record is closed. Nothing more will ever happen to me nor by me. It's the end. That's depressing and scary!

I'm going to heaven; not because I decided to and am striving to do so! I'm going to rise from the dead and live forever because Jesus proved it's possible! Because he now lives, I have that same trust. If God can do it for Jesus, he can do it for me. Jesus is the way to eternal life, but it's a strait gate and narrow path. By "strait" it's meant that through Jesus only and by "narrow", it's a lifetime commitment that few will make.  What is it that we're "saved" from? Hell and death! How are we saved? By resurrection just as Jesus did! In order for salvation to have any merit, it's goal must be obtainable. If resurrection is  not possible we're not saved from anything!

Yesterday was the anniversary of Jesus' Resurrection. We celebrated that event in remembrance of him. Easter is the time to HAVE hope or GET hope. For those of us who have bought into God's Plan for us, we have hope! For those who haven't signed up for the gift of eternal life, fear that sting because you will be stung... for eternity.

You think "I'll do that later when all the fun in life is over!" You damn yourself! It's not something you just decide to do one day when you get tired of having fun. It's something you're called by the Spirit to accept. Your heart can become calloused and with a hard heart, you'll never submit. You need to decide NOW because "later may be too late!"

Resurrection: Essential Doctrine

The hope of salvation points toward one event! We celebrate that event tomorrow. Yes, the crucifixion is important for providing the means of salvation, but one needs to ask the question "What is it saved from?" The answer to that is "eternal death". Since the Resurrection of Jesus means that the dead can rise, we have that same "hope" as Jesus demonstrated.

Resurrection means that mortal "death" is overcome.

John 11:23 "Jesus saith unto her (Martha), Thy brother (Lazarus) shall rise again. 24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"

It's tough to admit, but the reason why we turn to Jesus is that we want to live forever! The flipside of that is that we fear being dead and tormented for eternity. It's this fear of our own fate which  calls us to our only means of salvation. It's because Jesus did what he said he can do for us in the passages above. He is "the Resurrection". He did it! Because Jesus was able to die yet live again, he tells us that we too can be revived from death and live forever!

Ironically, it is because we want to save our own god (our self) that we turn to the One True God to do the saving. Because we want our god to live forever, we call on The True God to do it for us. This act is the most humbling experience of a lifetime. We in effect are saying,  "You, God, are stronger than my god!" When our forebears fought wars it was concluded that the winning side had a stronger god. God does win in the end! Our God is stronger than our god (self)!

So your're saved? Salvation is being saved from eternal death, but we are all destined to die.

Hebrews 9:27 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment..."

Even when you die, guess what? You aren't dead yet? You will someday walk and kneel in front of God and 'fess up! In your life if you depended on Jesus Christ for salvation, you are judged free and will live forever! If God says "I never knew you!" even after your thousands of excuses, that's when you really die! The first death is a tame event. The second death is forever, lonely and painful. No wonder the discerning people depend on Jesus! Our weak little god can't save anybody, even him or her self!

It's impossible to trust in Jesus unless we have confidence that he can resurrect us, save us from hell and give us eternal life. We can't have the latter two unless the former occurs. As such, belief in the Resurrection is a "must".  Paul taught that!

Acts 24:15 "And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust."

We think only of the "just" being resurrected. That's not true! Everyone, even Khan, Stalin, Hitler, Dahmer and Gacy will be resurrected. Even those Sadducees who do not believe in the Resurrection shall be raised up from the dead... because they are really not dead yet! Everyone "lives" forever, but the unjust will "live" a painful existence; eternal damnation!

We "define" death as the cessation of the body functions. The systems cease to operate. God defines "death" as  just punishment of the wicked. Our little god deceives us! "I'm not wicked!" our god thinks. Unless we submit ourselves as a living sacrifice and trust Jesus, God calls our rebellion "sin". As such wicked people are those who reject Jesus. Even those "good" in a secular sense, are "evil" if they deny the fatherhood of their Creator!

Deniers of Christ are bastard children of the devil. Why would Satan's children even want to be with the Father forever. They've made their choice. They were born illegitimate children of Satan and turn their faces away form the adoption of the Father.  When God says "I will revive you from the dead and you shall live forever!" even most "good" people think "I want to do it MY way!"

Summary:

• There is a Resurrection.
• Jesus IS the Resurrection.
• Everybody, believers or not, will be resurrected.
• The just will have eternal life.
• The unjust will eternally die.
• To be "just" one must believe in Jesus and his word.
• "Salvation" is when  one is saved from eternal death.
• To have eternal life one must first be resurrected.
• Therefore, to be 'saved" one must believe in the Resurrection!

Your destiny, Your choice. Resurrection... not a choice. It's a precondition for judgment. We all shall be Resurrected and the save shall live after they are resurrected!

Adam, His Death and Resurrection

This is the week of Easter. when "The Death is swallowed up -- to victory." (1 Corinthians 15:54). It's when the crucified Christ was raised from the dead, and not only is the cross empty, but so is the tomb. Easter is the substance of Christianity because the Resurrection of Jesus provides "the hope of salvation". It's death from which Christians are saved because Jesus Christ defeated Death, and because he lives today, we have the hope or eternal life!

One man died for us, taking on the full burden of sin for all mankind from all ages. The agony of this heavy load made him cry out to God, "Father why have you forsaken me?" His spiritual burden was greater than death. His body died that day, but his soul agonized -- for us. Jesus arose from the grave and now lives in heaven. His Ghost remains with us for Comfort! Because Jesus, formerly dead, walked through solid walls to life and ascended into heaven, that can be our own destiny! What does it take? To believe this and to accept it! It's free and the only outcome is love of God and others. That's the "proof in the pudding" so to speak!

With that knowledge now is the time for salvation. He knocks and must be received because he may fail to knock at your whim. We walk with Jesus on his terms and must never take for granted that a right heart will be willing sometime later. For those who are "sorry" after their own death, it will be too late! For those who fail to answer his call, you too will live eternally,  but it will be a horrible living death with no escape. Eternal punishment is called "the second death", and if you dread death now, in hell you will die continually being consumed by fire only to be consumed time and again. Your body will be immortal, but with the constant sting of death!

For those who humbly believe, accept and obey Jesus, Death is swallowed up in victory! Yes, this is the anniversary celebration of our own chance at a new birth. It's when some of us crawled from the womb of bondage into eternal life. It's when fear died and hope arose! I can live today because of the hope of eternal reward. That makes this life worth the living and it's because Jesus suffered death for me! But more importantly is that Death was defeated by the Resurrection!

It has been written:

"...the name Golgotha refers to the location of the skull of Adam. A common version states that Shem and Melchizedek traveled to the resting place of Noah's Ark, retrieved the body of Adam from it, and were led by Angels to Golgotha – described as a skull-shaped hill at the centre of the Earth, where also the serpent's head had been crushed following the fall of man. This tradition appears in numerous older sources, including the Kitab al-Magall, the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, the Cave of Treasures, and the writings of Patriarch Eutychius of Alexandria." (Wikipedia).

 I believe this contention! I believe that Adam's skull is buried on Cavalry. I also believe that with the death and resurrection of Jesus, sin (from Adam) was defeated there, and the serpents head crushed (also from these writings). Why? It all fits into the contiguous narrative of Jesus Christ! It is said that Shem and Melchizdek buried Adam's skull at "the place of the skull" as part of God's plan for Calvary! It's because of this;

Romans 5:19 ",,,for as through the disobedience of the one man (Adam), the many were constituted sinners: so also through the obedience of the one (Jesus), shall the many be constituted righteous."

Where better to get closure from Adam's sin than on top of his head! It was his mind which was housed in his skull and it's that mind which brought sin into the world! As Jesus defeated sin, he stood on top of that skull and it was stepped on, being representative of the head of Satan, as I believe. Nobody is sure, but God had a big plan from day one, and this was the consummation of that plan hatched back there with Adam. It's symbolic of justice. The loop is closed. Adam's belief in what saved him now came about. Adam was finally saved after having that hope all his mortal life. His spirit was already in heaven, now his skull (body) will join him there glorified like Jesus!

Now for much speculation! I enjoy this because it is possible.

Matthew 27:50 "And Jesus having again cried with a great voice, yielded the spirit; 51 and lo, the vail of the sanctuary was rent in two from top unto bottom, and the earth did quake, and the rocks were rent, 52 and the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who have fallen asleep, arose, 53 and having come forth out of the tombs after his rising, they went into the holy city, and appeared to many. 54 And the centurion, and those with him watching Jesus, having seen the earthquake, and the things that were done, were exceedingly afraid, saying, `Truly this was God's Son.'"

By the way, the centurion was wrong. This WAS not, but  IS the Son of God because Jesus body died, but he always was, is and always will be! That's what his resurrection was all about!

Saints are what Christians are called. It has some bearing on "goodness", but it's because of God's gift to mankind that sainthood is possible. Many BODIES of saints arose from the grave because all sins were just then paid for the instant Jesus "yielded his spirit" and died. Because he died those who had died in this hope immediately arose from the ground in bodily form and actually walked the streets where they were seen by many!

Who could these saints be? How about John the Baptist whose purpose in life was the tell the world about Jesus? John was baptized with blood for Jesus' name!

There is another saint who may have rose from the dead! If Adam's skull was buried on "the place of the skull", Calvary, it would be a sure possibility that Adam rose from his place beneath Jesus as the curtain was torn, rose up and walked among many! This would surely close the loop. Adam was the source of death and with Jesus' sacrifice, Adam was finally made whole. It could be him who rose from his resting place and demonstrated to all the power in the blood!

With the death of Jesus, was Adam resurrected? We don't know how long the saints walked the streets, but surely, since they were destined to die, but one time, that they ascended unto heaven and are there with Jesus; Adam and Jesus side by side with hands raised to praise God. Adam's loop is closed. It's closed whether it was his skull or not!

Won't it be great when we see all the miracles which God did, but we failed to discern. Because Adam is alive is why I have hope. Because Jesus defeated death is when hope gestated in the hearts of men as they are born again! Because he lives we can face tomorrow! Bill Gaither sings it well!

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone,
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives! 

Adam arose from his grave and all fear was gone! Jesus was Adam's future. He had the same hope that we have. The loop is closed. Adam lives on and now for us, life is worth the living!

Freedom To What?

As I awake each morning I'm a man so free;
there's a large list of things I'm expected to be.
As I get in my car and the seat belt fastens...
and think of all the cars that I'd soon be a passin'.
What if I decide not to wear my car's restraint?
I figure a free man should be free of this constraint.
But think again how free I truly am;
caught without that belt, I'm surely in a jam!

Continuing on my drive, I pass a cross of wood.
It's there in memory where grieving parents stood.
If it was a star or crescent it would surely be accepted,
but since it's a cross, it's a symbol so detested!
A free man thinking he was free put it there to see,
but one atheist is enough to remove this Holy Tree!
Being worse than that is praying in a crowd;
atheists can't stand it when God is praised aloud!

Because hateful people insist that others be tolerant;
they intimidate the others with their silly silly rant.
Pull down that stone where wise words are written!
It's those who rebel the serpent has so subtly bitten!
Ten Commandments are too many for those so evil.
Atheists subject the rest of us to such awful upheaval!
You see freedom is just a word for those who object.
It's their demand that it's God who we are to reject.

It's not enough that they can speak so free.
My own liberty to speak is what they take from me!
Never are we to pray that others may hear...
those who hate us speak loudly without a bit of fear.
The courts are cheerleaders because evil is their idol.
It's free people the courts desire their speech to bridle!
So we're free as long as we do all that they heed,
but if we demur... the haters do us impede!

For those who love their neighbor instead them do hate,
liberals throw out accusations for them to take the bait.
If people disagree with unruly riots and mobs;
it's us who are haters the crowd to the cameras sob!
Yes, we are free if it's bondage that we desire,
but some hate the sucking sound of all this liberal mire!
Freedom is for all us...  and not just a few;
but liberty for all is what Americans are really due!

Life Changes

There are many things in life which cause anxiety. They go all the way from puberty, to engagement, to marriage and then the fear of death. Most of these are occurrences which nature and its call brings on us. Most of these can't be avoided except the romance part of life, and that's what makes much of life worthwhile.

There are other anxieties which victimize some of us. Divorce, new job or loss of job, death of a loved one, financial burdens, a major purchase such as a new home, a change in churches and the list goes on! Right now we are in the process of selling our home and buying another. The change sounds so easy but there are finances, inspections, repairs, and the new environment. There may be friends who we seldom see any more and new friends to make. Sometimes kids have to go to new schools or churches. Moving is certainly a life-changing event with tremendous hidden anxieties! Unexpected expenses is a major concern and moving has many!

It's not like it used to be. Homes are difficult to sell "as is" and there is always a list of imperfections that are expected to be corrected. It takes the enthusiasm out of getting a new home and new homes always have unexpected shortcomings as well. Why do we go through this self-punishment; bringing anxiety on ourselves? It's an attempt to be happy, but in doing so we can destroy our happiness. I suppose that the status quo is much easier than change even when the advantages of change bring a degree of excitement. Is the trade-off between peace and change worth the stress? Right now it seems self-destructive because of high anxiety!

You see, not being happy with what has given us makes us want more and sometimes more has a penalty. I am paying for future happiness by present anxiety and I'm not sure it's worth it. I was happy before; now I'm stressed.

How I handle this is by prayer and confidence that God will let it all workout, but it's that doubt which foils the prayer. Being a Christian doesn't guarantee things will always go our way. Sometimes God allows us to suffer the consequences of our own humanity! It's a teachable moment!

I'm already at the ebb of excruciating anxiety. I pray that all goes well, but my doubts haunt me. I cringe because I failed to write into the contract the best protections. Now I suffer the consequences! How to escape the pain of anxiety? I solicit your prayers.

The Holy Ghost

The name is the same, but in context the pneuma was called "The Holy Spirit" until Jesus died. Afterwards he was called "The Holy Ghost". Why the difference? The Holy Spirit suffered with Jesus and as such experienced the pain that Jesus did. As such he now has the experiences of Jesus and is indeed "the Ghost of Jesus", so to speak. My video commentary on thus topic:

Holy Ghost vs Holy Spirit

Islam: We Lose!

I was inspired to write this today. What inspired me? God did. However, the inspiration was a glimpse into the future, by today's actions, being a repetition of what has been before. The Brussel's terrorist attacks today were the venue of my discernment.

I'm going to give it to you straight: WE LOSE! Yes, we lose the war on terrorism because it IS A RELIGIOUS WAR. Calling it anything else is not only sheer stupidity, but closing the eyes and stopping the ears to truth.

I'm not going to bore (sic)  you with a lot of scripture. However, I am going to scare you with history which is supported by scripture. You can check the accuracy for yourself.

History agrees with scripture. God made a deal with Abraham. Simply put,  God's deal was "Follow me faithfully and you will prosper. Follow other gods and you will be destroyed."  That was nearly four-thousand years ago and  that deal is still extant. It is not a myth. It's the real deal and the Jews know it!

However, not only did the Jews fail to keep the deal, but Gentiles have always disregarded it. Gentiles are as bad as the Jews, if not worse!  The deal was broken through the worship of "other gods besides God". They never abandoned the One True God, the Jews and now the Gentiles, have accepted other gods in addition to God. When those gods failed to exist, people created them! For the Jews it was the many gods of Baal. Basically "Baalism" is the worship of "other gods". These were in Canaan Land and Egypt and represented by the golden calf. However, those props are mere idols. The evil lies in the hearts of those who look toward deception for salvation.

Jeremiah, before the years circa 350 B.C. warned the people, because they worshiped other gods, that God was going to allow them to be destroyed. The people and the leaders closed their eyes and stopped their ears to this unwanted prediction. However, Jeremiah was inspired by God to tell it like it is!

He told them that their country would be destroyed by those with foreign gods, that their temple would be destroyed and that the people would be scattered, and except for a few, would be lost to posterity. Right now, those people who were lost have never been found. They no longer exist! That's history!

People always must have other gods. That's history too. Islam IS Baalism because the attributes of Allah are of a false god. He is not Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Islam is a misguided blend between Judaism, Christianity and Paganism (Other gods). These three belief systems were rolled into one and, "Poof!", out came the Golden Calf all by itself. It's name is Islam. Like Aaron with the Golden Calf, Mohammed built the idol. For Aaron it was a calf of gold. With Mohammed he was the calf who millions dance around.

The proponents of Baal got their converts by force of war. Mohammed did the same! Rather than soliciting converts by love and truth, Mohammed did it through coercion, hate and death. Millions of Muslims are Islamic today because a sword was held to the throats of their ancestors! That's history and that is in their "bible"; the Q'uran.

Their own texts say that Jesus is coming again. However, their prophet, who is not Christ by the way, will come with vengeance and destruction! This agrees with Christian scripture which indicates that the anti-Christ will come the same way. The Muslim Jesus IS the Christian anti-Christ! How do I know this? There are several methods, but the most convincing is the Bible's description of Sharia Law and the use of decapitation to propagate the faith of the Antichrist!

Of course Christians who live today will miss this extreme, but those Christians of latter times will suffer this persecution by their own government. It won't happen all of a sudden after we're gone, but it will grow into that! It is growing right now. The stage is being set. I'm not Jeremiah, but I'm warning you anyway! Buyer, beware of Islam. It's not a peaceful religion. It will destroy you and the world as we know it! WE LOSE! That's prophecy. That's a repetition of history because we are where the Jews were under their own brand of Baalism.

We will lose because people won't believe truth. It's seems improbable and impossible because God has always cared for us Gentiles. The deal has been broken! Babies are being killed, same-sex marriage the law and disobedience rampant. We will not go unpunished. That's God's deal with Abraham. We are being punished now, but since we don't change, it will go on! We lose this religious battle. We are at war with Baalism. We are at war with Islam.

Baal fought the battle and won it. Islam will fight the battle and win it. REPEAT: WE LOSE the battle!

But because of grace, God wins the war! Baalam will be buried and his master will be thrown in the fiery pit. Mohammed will rot in hell with his teacher, the devil. Islam will go to hell and burn as the Golden Calf was destroyed by fire!

We lose, but you don't have to yourself. You can make the decision right now for Christ, and miss the lost war. If God is for you who can stand against you! Heed my warning! No, heed God's warning. It was his deal with us!

Judas: Apostasy?

There is a question in regard to doctrine: Was Judas Iscariot a fallen Christian or was he merely posing as one? Let's look at passages which paint the picture of who he was:

Mark 3:14 "And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, 15 And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: 16 And Simon he surnamed Peter; 17 And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: 18 And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, 19 And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house."

John 6:70 "Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? 71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve. 12:4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, 5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?"

Luke 22:3 "Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. 4 And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them."

John 13:1 "Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. 2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;"

Matthew 27:3 "Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. 5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself."

Acts 1:16 "Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. 17 For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. 1:23 And they (the apostles) appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, 25 That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. 26 And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles."

First off, the apostles before the time of Jesus' resurrection were not "filled with the Holy Spirit". That happened later:

John 20:20 "And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. 21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:"

Judas had already committed suicide by this time. Judas never received the Holy Spirit. The question arises before this "Were the apostles Christians before this?" They were disciples, even apostles of Christ, but Jesus is the only one who had received the Holy Spirit and he stayed on him.

 John 1:32 "And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him." 

"Abode" is rendered "remained" in most versions, including Young's Literal Translation. It would suggest that on all the others John's Baptism was of the Holy Spirit, but once the baptism was finished, except for Jesus, he left. This is reinforced because after Jesus returned from the dead he breathed on them the Holy Ghost.

I have discerned this because of a difference in context between the Holy Spirit and the Holy Ghost. Although the word pneuma is the same, translators had a different view between the two. It's not one of essence, but of timing. Claiming two would be heresy, but the difference is one of experience. Throughout the Old Testament and up until the death of Jesus he's referred to as Spirit,  flowing from God. After Jesus' death, the translators saw fit to readjust. He was now "the Holy Ghost". The difference is one of experience. The Holy Spirit experienced the agony with Jesus and after Jesus died, his Holy Spirit remained. The spirit of a dead person is disembodied and what remains is his Ghost. As such, all the apostle's before Jesus died had the Holy Spirit, but he was not yet the Comforter because he had not yet experienced what all men have to experience.

All the apostles including Judas Iscariot, were ordained (appointed) by Jesus Christ along with God's Holy Spirit. . Only the remaining apostles after Jesus was resurrected were ordained under the auspices of the Holy Ghost. The apostles had power after Jesus' appointed them : " to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils". Before this incident they were like any of the other Jews who had been baptized. The Holy Spirit wasn't there to empower until Jesus shared his Holy Spirit so that the apostles could do miracles. It's not a different Holy Spirits, but works of the Holy Spirit at different times.

As such Judas had the power of the Holy Spirit because like the others, he believed in the future propitiation of Jesus Christ. Their spiritual status at this time was similar to Abraham who was in heaven because he had great faith in what Jesus WOULD DO!  Like Abraham they were ordained of God; Abraham to provide the seed for the savior and the apostles to be the seed for Christ's mission; to spread the word; presenting the gospel.

As such, Judas was not a "spirit-filled" Christian with John's Baptism or by Jesus' appointment, but somehow the Holy Spirit aided them in their work because of the presence of Jesus.

It was known by Jesus as he appointed Judas that he would betray him. This is noted early on because Jesus referred to him as "a devil" (John 6:20). Jesus had foreknowledge. He is God and scripture tells us that God is omniscient (all-knowing). He knew that Judas would become "a devil", but appointed him anyhow to serve a purpose. Judas fulfilled scripture because one would betray him! Jesus picked one who believed, but one who would relent to temptation. Later on we find that "Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot" (Luke 22:3).

You can see that Jesus knew in advance that Satan would defeat Judas. Judas was a Christian by the standards before the death of Christ, but the "hope of salvation" had yet to be paid for by the propitiation of Jesus' own blood. Judas had power to do things, but a hedge had not been put about him by the comfort with the filling of the Holy Ghost. It took Jesus' death and the advent of the Ghost to offer the whole armor of God.

My conclusion is that Judas was a Christian as were the other eleven. He doubted just as Thomas did and he denied Jesus as did Peter three times. Thomas and Peter showed doubt. Satan still deceived them. The difference is that Judas succumbed to temptation, but didn't disbelieve in Jesus; he was a traitor to Jesus, knowing that Jesus was indeed the promised Savior! Why so? "Judas, who had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood." (Matthew 27:3-4).

Judas recognized that he was a sinner and repented. He tried to make restitution, but it was before Jesus paid the price with his death! Then in his rejection, Judas killed himself. I understand that.. He sinned so greatly that he could not stand to live. He chose death to the pain of knowing that he killed the Savior of the world.

I can't judge Judas, but Jesus did. How did he judge? With mercy, but fairly. Judas knew that what he did was profound!  He understood the temptation of Satan because he endured it! My OPINION was that Judas' heart was contrite and that he was a true believer who allowed Satan to overcome him, not having the protection of the Holy Ghost.

However, it seems that Jesus knew his heart better than me! "Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place." (Acts 1:25). Apparently he did the unpardonable sin. He grieved the Holy Spirit by rejecting Jesus. He was once a Christian, but he fell. His lot at death was "his own place". It wasn't God's mansion, but another place of persecution.

Some would say "But, this was a different economy! Judas didn't commit apostasy!" But he did! God judges everyone by the same measure because he is just. He never changes. Therefore, my conclusion is that Judas is a fallen Christian and Calvin's Point 5 is in error.

On Child-rearing

I have been dreading this topic because too many millennials have been influenced by social opinion and automatically disagree with me, although reason and experience would side with traditional methods of child-rearing. Prepare to be angry with me enough to want to set me straight. I'm used to anger because I present truth. Anger is a natural response to scriptural truth.

One of my favorite things children are called is "Mini-Me's". In the Austin Powers movies Dr. Evil had himself cloned and his creation was a "little person" who was named "Mini-Me". In essence Mini-Me was an idol of Dr. Evil. He was an idol of Evil's "self". He was made in the image of "evil" ironic as it may be! It seems far out because at the present there are no known human clones, indeed there are billions of "personality clones". All around us are behavior induced Mini-Me's, some doing good, but most doing evil!

Those "good" Mini-Me's are truly a copy as well. Their parents are spiritual mentors and they truly are a copy. This can be good, conditionally that is!

Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

God inspired this manner of child-rearing. Christians are to pattern their children's character after God himself. Rather than being a "spiritual clone" of the parents the child is to be a copy of the Father in heaven. As such, the Father who begot the Son made the Son without flaw. We can't do that because our children are not divine, but we teach perfection, knowing that the goal us not obtainable, but is still desirable!

This passage implies that to train one must model the behaviors to be effective. Dr. Evil could not train Mini-Me to be good because he was evil. Likewise, to train a child to be righteous, the parent must be righteous as well. Too many parents fail to recognize that "Do not do as I do; do as I say!" is a failure for character building because  effective training must be modeled. Those poor parents who have good children have failed in their training because, obviously, those children in spite of that choose to be what their parents are not! Those are miracle babies because God wrought grace upon them!

God goes further than mere teaching. He endorses modeling as the means of training!

Deuteronomy 6:6  "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."

"These words" (God's wisdom) are commanded to be in the hearts of the parents. That makes the parent a "spiritual clone" of God. After they are right themselves, then the parents' job is "to teach them diligently unto thy children".  To teach righteousness requires the teacher to be righteous. Parents are to be Mini-Gods in an obedience sense and children are to be "Mini-Me's" of a righteous parents rather than allowing Dr. Evil to be the model!

The Bible refers many times to a man "who pisseth against a wall".  What they do is unclean (as a dog) and futile. The modern term is "peeing in the wind". Unless we are righteous (clean) ourselves, teaching righteousness is like peeing in the wind. What is taught blows right back to the origin and what's dirty can't flow forward.  Teaching righteousness from unrighteous parents is an effort in futility. To teach right, one must be right with God themselves.

The first rule in child-rearing is to get yourself where you want your children to be.

One of the most noticeable traits of millennials is that they have been spoiled. Adoring baby boomers wanted their children to have what they went without. Baby boomers were children born subsequent to WWII when soldiers came home tp anxious wives. There was a population boom. Many of these soldiers were reared in the depression and had little. They were frugal parents and most taught their children frugality.  Many baby boomers were comfortable in necessities, but had few luxuries. As such they wanted their children to have what they didn't have!

Now the millennials have their own children. They cloned themselves!  Now the mantra is "I want my children to have the luxuries I have and I wished I had more!" Millennials on the whole saturate their children with mountains of "things" and constant entertainment. They create Mini-Me's galore. We're surrounded by them!

This modern generation wants what the previous generation has without the time and work to legitimize it. By the use of fake money (credit) young people have what it took the previous generation years to attain. However, the older generation owned what they obtained whereas the younger generation has only borrowed it!

Those of the Y-Generation (born subsequent to 1982) have come a long way! They grew up when times were good. They are products of the electronic age and the prosperity it brought. Not only that, but the electronic age brought electronic entertainment. When I was a child I listened to static on the radio and watched the "snow" on the television when we even had those. Now, people can game with those on another continent  or romance with virtual people on the internet whose make-up amounts to ones and zeros, the genetic identity of beautiful people on the internet.

Every new toy and entertainment medium is promptly displayed all over the world and society's corporate awe exclaims "I gotta have that! It looks like fun!", and right then the parents go buy it for "deserving" children to keep their munchkins from "hating them"! Love can't be bought, but parents still depend on that because they spend too much time working instead of loving so that they can buy THINGS.

I must admit: I lived in "the good old days". Poverty is training par excellence for success! The hardships and lack of things motivated me to accomplish and be successful to EARN those things. I have joy in the memory when my father took me to the five-and-dime and bought me a warm coat when I went off to college in Michigan, which by the way, I paid for without borrowing! The tears in his eyes when he said "I wish I could help you more." meant more than anything he could have given me! The millennials missed out on that and it's my best memory!

What word describes the attitude for the modern generation? It's DESERVE. Even car advertisements show young people who exclaim "I want the car I deserve!" What makes them deserve it? They haven't worked for it yet, It's bought on borrowed money! They DESERVE things just because "I am me!" when in fact they are just like their parents; they are Mini-Me's!

Part of feeling they DESERVE things is because they have always had things, but not because they DESERVED them, but because parents try to buy their love, and some who even attempt to right their own childhood by giving kids what they didn't have. Children do NOT DESERVE anything rather than love, reasonable nourishment and training. What they DO DESERVE is a chance for the hope of salvation and although the parents can't save them, they can present that hope: Jesus Christ!

DESERVING has reached new extremes. Younger people even think they DESERVE heaven because their parents are Christians or because they are taught "If you behave I'll GIVE you ...whatever!" Some parents even reward their children for behaving well and this becomes the metric for reward! God never rewards us for just doing "good" for only God is good, so why do parents do that? They are not doing what God wants them to do!

Scripture teaches industry, hard work and honor in patience and sacrifice. Poverty is a product of disobedience, but it's useful as a key ingredient for success. I will recount my own blessing.

I have things now because I did without then. The lack of being affluent made me affluent. It was not of me, but of God. It wasn't necessarily the things I did which made me achieve, but the things which I did without!

Dad could have borrowed money for my education. I would never have allowed that. I still will not borrow for things I can do without and avoid borrowing for things I need by planning ahead. The modern generation are driven to spend as fast as they earn and when peril comes, they have to borrow to continue on. Borrowing compounds the problem. People have things, but they have the stress of borrowing for things. Their priorities are on themselves rather than God. They model this failure for their children and with each generation the problem is compounded. People look for a name for these people. I will call them the "D Generation" because of the attitude "I DESERVE to have!"

For myself, I worked my way through college. I was ready to quit when fiances got tough, but God got me through! However, I had to sacrifice to succeed and that I did with God's comfort. I actually went eight full days and nights without any food at all (not even a slice of bread) because I had no money. I had only water to drink. God kept me from danger and made me strong. My test grades were even better because my mind was clear and I spent more time studying.

That was the extreme, but that was pretty much my life for four years. I didn't DESERVE to be in college, but God provided a way. When I wanted to quit for lack of THINGS, God got me through it. Now I reap the rewards of THINGS not getting in my way!

I like "boy toys". When I raised my children I never bought them for myself. My children came first. I waited until I was middle-aged before I bought a cheap boat and retirement before I had a motorcycle, Now I'm blessed. I set priorities for my family and made it through. I even tithed and gave generously, and have been rewarded with an affluent period in which to spend my last days on earth. I have no regrets. I have fond memories of making it through tough times!

How did I make it? My Dad reared his children right. I had one birthday present my entire life (a watch) and only one toy for Christmas ever (from my brother). I didn't DESERVE things and I didn't get things for which I did not work! I earned money, but it wasn't spent on entertainment nor things; it was spent on clothing and shoes to help my Dad. Now, I have fond memories of sacrifice and hard work. I have fond memories of my struggling Dad who didn't go in debt to give me THINGS!

Dad was the clone, or nearly so, of God's desire for him, and he passed that along to me. I am my Dad's Mini-Me because he brought me up in the way I should go! No, that's not a perfect way for like Paul, I'm a chief sinner. However, I know that I don't DESERVE anything, but by grace I have many things! I don't DESERVE heaven, but I have the hope of reward because of Jesus' grace.

For those parents who create Mini-Me's who DESERVE whatever they want. they come to believe that they DESERVE heaven. For those parents who reward their children for being "good", they train them to EXPECT heaven for being "good". For those who give their children so many THINGS, it's THINGS they come to worship! The Bible teachers perseverance and sacrifice, not immediacy and luxury.

Those toys, games, CD's, iPads, nice cars, and concerts which seem a necessity now, are temporal. The desire for those will be lost in the glory of heaven. Train your children now to prepare for heaven.  Hope for one gift is acceptable: we can HOPE for heaven and get it by grace, not because it's DESERVED!

Stressors

We all know what "stress" is; don't we?

Human beings are a system. Within the system we have numerous sub-systems. They are all controlled by the brain. Some systems require thinking to make them actuate. For instance to make the skeleton system do things, most often that system requires a command: "I say walk!" and it will carry you forward or backward. However, it can't do that without help. When you say "walk" the skeleton can carry you, but it needs aid!

Without the muscular system, the skeletal system is helpless, but it takes more than muscles. Muscles are of no use without the aid of the skeletal system. Where is this all leading? All of the eight or more systems of the body are required, but without each other to assist, the individual would be greatly impeded. When any of those systems fail to do what they're supposed to do, a person is said to be handicapped.

Point 1: There is much going on within the system we call our "body". In fact we are a "body of operating cooperating systems".

There is one system which makes it all operate and cooperate. That's the nervous system. It's the processor (the brain) and the LAN (the spinal cord and the nerves). The nerve endings carry things outside the system and says "Hey, body. Something wants in!" The information is transmitted to the brain where it must decide. Some decisions are conscious. That's thinking and is called "cognition". Other decisions are automatic. The brain has learned to do things without conscious decision-making. That comes with gestational development and with creation.

Point 2: Cognition can be conscious or beneath awareness, called "within the sub-conscious".

It's nice that we don't always have to think:"Fingers, scratch my nose!" From the experiments within the womb, the unborn child "learned" that.

Point 3: External inputs have taught our bodies to do things without thinking.

However, the cooperation between systems is innate. The brain signals the diaphragm (muscular system) to move and it's the motor which drives the pump, the lungs. When the oxygen is distributed to the bloodstream the respiratory system and the circulatory system cooperate, already cooperating with the muscular and nervous system. We were created with these sub-systems and most people are born with systems which cooperate on their own. God designed this powerhouse to be most efficient. It was not chance nor accident that these systems are so perfect

Point 4: The brain controls the flesh without the system having to think about it.

Most psychologists would tell you that personality is a sub-system of the body. It's our unique personhood.  The external signals are carried from the world to the brain. There the information is processed and the end result of the decision-making is the personality. Other sub-systems influence the personality. They all cooperate although some seem to be uncooperative!

Some inputs create joy, happiness and amelioration. The body likes those and the nervous system tells the arms to raise in joy and the mouth to move from neutral to smile. We are happy with the external events which help to make us what we are.

Other external events are undesirable. They cause one or more of the other system to function, but to do so in a malicious way. For instance, the digestive track always cooperates. It has good enzymes and bad acids. When external inputs go well, the digestive track does its job sub-consciously. The body is not even aware it's working except for the occasional gas pain and maybe an awareness of normal peristalsis. The systems work together to do the job they were designed to do!

On the other hand, some external forces outside the system irritate the system. It's good that we recognize danger for our own safety. To effect that, the nervous system, without us thinking, tells the digestive system, "I need a shot of acid to warn my other systems of danger!" The digestive juices then do their job and the entire system is saved!

Point 5: External events and how we handle them create our personality. (We eventually become what we allow into our system).

The impulses from outside to the body system and how the person handles the external input is called "the flesh". The flesh is what the system does with external signals. Those systems all combined, external to the body system, is called "the world". The world was created by God, but distorted by Satan. God guides us to do well with what he created and Satan tells us to do evil with it.

Satan sends invisible and scientifically non-detectable signals to the body's system to short circuit it. Those impulses are called "temptation".

Point 6: Satan's role is to disrupt the body's system.

The reason Satan wants to disrupt is to separate man from God. There is another system which science refuses to accept. We have a sub-system called "the soul".  Those invisible forces, both good and evil, attempt to enter our system through the flesh and imbue the container called the soul.

Point 7: Another system exists called the spirit.

The spirit takes influences from the world and presents them to the flesh. If the flesh has a pleasing experience with what enters the system, it's called pleasure. If it imbues disruptive signals, it's called dissatisfaction. Extreme dissatisfaction results in pain!

Like other external inputs what comes from the world must be interpreted by the nervous system.  The other systems cooperate to decide, "Is this pleasurable or is it harmful?" Acid may drip into the stomach and the digestive track cooperates in the decision-making. This is normal and is for our protection!

An input, not of the world, but from the Spirit of God is "guilt". It's an external signal which has the purpose of protecting the body system. Guilt can be a good thing, or a bad, depending on where it originates.

Psychology sees guilt as morality and is something which the person needs freedom. Their recommendation is that when behaviors; such as fornication, homosexuality, greed, anger and such; makes the person feel guilty, that their counsel is to work on the negative feeling causing the guilt. Go ahead and do whatever it is you do, but don't feel guilty about it. Guilt does cause anxiety if something doesn't change, and they find it easier to change the guilt than the behavior!

Point 8: The Holy Ghost's purpose is to provide "comfort".

I use the term "Ghost" rather than spirit for two reasons: 1. The Spirit is the presence of God the Father, whereas the Holy Ghost is the "Ghost" of Jesus. It's his presence which he left behind to minister to mankind in his physical absence. The Holy Spirit was imbued within Jesus at the crucifixion and experienced death with Jesus. He didn't die, but he was there. He felt emotional pain. It's imperative to understand that the Holy Ghost is Emmanuel, God with us, and is the very Spirit who is the remnant of Jesus Christ on earth.

When the Holy Ghost Comforts us, he is of two distinct aspects. He's the Spirit which imbues our soul and fills the temple within. There is one Spirit, don't get me wrong, but there is part of that Spirit who lives within and another part who is external. For them to be in unity, the external part of the Spirit acts on the body's system, the soul being part of that system. We were created in "their" image; meaning Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As such we have a mind much like God's, a body much like Jesus' and a Spirit which flows from God. He's not a liquid flowing, but a personal presence who communes with Christians.

Therefore the Communion which we have for God is external to our system, but is in unity with the Spirit which dwells within. Somehow we do the will of God by the influence of the Holy Ghost (Ghost of Jesus) who communes with the Spirit of God within. This communion crosses the body's system boundary and causes change within our system. We have a desire to do good, because we are one in Spirit with God.

Something changes inside the system. It gets cleaned up. What was dirty inside (evil and unclean) is expelled from the system and more spirit imbues. It's proportional. My thoughts is it's like "God's Conservation of Spirit Law". It must balance! We are all evil unless the blood cleanses us for the entry of the Spirit, and the spirit makes the system new, cleansing it within. God's temple, the soul, is washed inside. However, the part we're born with is still there. That's why we still sin. That last bit of impurity will become pure when we're glorified. Then we will truly be like Jesus. Until then we keep that Spirit "flowing" by loving God and others!

Point 9: External forces will continue to cross into the body's system boundary until we're glorified by dying in the Spirit!

Now for the bad news.  Christians, even when imbued with the Holy Spirit have external influences. These are stressors. Stressors are the external things which attack the body's system boundaries to undermine God and frustrate you. Satan gives false guilt and even tells you to reject God-given guilt. To do that he gives you pleasure. The mind accepts by freewill (our thought processes) which we inherit and can either allow in or reject pleasure. Unless we are discerning and responsive to the Spirit, weak people allow pleasure to come into the system.

It's easy for pleasure to come in because the mind has memories of what feels good. The body likes for it's system to be elevated to heights of importance and fed the best of the best. All bodies want pleasure, but those imbued with the Holy Spirit recognizes pleasures for what they are: temporal. The God-tempered mind weighs the temporary pleasures which are promised with eternal safety, and refuses to allow pleasure to cross the system boundary.

Point 10:  The full armor of God blocks unneeded pleasure from entering the body's system.

Others allow pleasure to come from the world to the flesh and cross that system boundary. For those who don't care, the fight is short. The system allows things, even which it knows will destroy, to cross that boundary. Guilt isn't there to filter out the bad things disguised as pleasure. The system only remembers the "high" it has had before and allows about anything to come in.

Suddenly, it's too late. Pleasures become stressors when the body system starts to fail. Pleasure ceases to be pleasurable and the body starts to die. Too much pleasure is poisonous and relationships tarnish as the system boundaries inflate to the point where nothing matters, but the system. You are now fully your own idol and everything is about you! What once seemed to provide pleasure are now stressors. If it's drugs, people reject you. You feel unwanted. Sex gives you disease and loss of respect for others and you. Anything which is ungodly becomes a stressor because they are sins which are diseases of the system.  Satan murders you by providing whatever stressor your system loves to allow entry!

Point 10: Pleasure can make you ill to the extent that you spiritually die.

You may still walk, talk, eat and breath, but you're dead inside. Some people destroy the remnants of what's left by suicide. They can't take any more things which cause pain to cross into the system boundary,  so they stop the dynamics which have caused the pain. Suicide is a tool for keeping your own idol from hurt. Since no one hates their own self, suicide is a mechanism to keep stressors out of the system. A better way would be God's whole armor, but Satan deceives.

Point 11: Even Christians have stress.

Because we belong to God as new persons, Satan doesn't give up, He multiplies his attacks. He provides more stressors to destroy us. He tempts us more. With God's whole armor, he loses. If we aren't praying and reading scripture that armor (which proetects the system) is pierced and evil enters in.  The Holy Spirit rushes forth and provides guilt. We have to make a choice: Can we ignore this discomfort and allow pleasure in or do we reject what Satan offers. Those who battle and loses feel guilt. It's from God, but it's a check to allow only right things in. Guilt keeps stressors at bay if we feel them inside the system, hate the stress which guilt creates, and rejects the stressors which seek to enter the body's system boundaries.

Point 12: Even guilt from God can be a stressor unless there is obedience.

If the checks and balances of "God's Conservation of Spirit Law" is allowed to work, stress is short-lived, turned on itself,  and prevented from attacking the system. We don't have to be stressed. That's a choice.

Point 13: Only fools would accept stress over joy and happiness.

When we're in God's will, stress is reduced and if we're faithful, it's almost non-existent. When we call on the Holy Spirit to Comfort us, and he will, he takes those "darts" called stressors for us. God's whole armor can't be penetrated and we live less stressful lives. It's those lives which are happy and at peace; even joyful! That's the Comfort we receive from God because Jesus wants us to be free of the bondage of the world which shoots stressors into the flesh!

Point 14: You too can be joyful. It's keeping the system from the darts which kill the spirit.

Scatomas: We All Have Them

For me any cancer which ends in "oma" is scary indeed! Of course we all think of carcinomas and such as those which kill. Those are physical maladies, but there are less benign cancers which can kill. A "scatoma", in medical terms, is a mass of feces in the the colon which appears to be a tumor. I recently had a hater tell me that "I only know what I see!" What if your doctor used that philosophy. He would be removing your colon because you ate too much cheese!

In terms of daily living, a "scatoma" is not seeing the whole picture. It's lies your eyes tell you! One of my favorite expressions has always been : "Are you going to believe me or your own lying eyes?" (Groucho Marx). Yes, our own loyal eyes can and will deceive us!

Another idiom is "Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see!" (Benjamin Franklin). Groucho and Ben understood real life. Each are paraphrasing scripture:

Ezekiel 12:2 "Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house."

Scripture covers the spiritual aspect of scatomas for they apply to hearing as well. Satan wants people to misunderstand and he throws in confounds to, well, confound you! He doesn't force scatomas upon those who trust in and obey God, but on those of a rebellious nature. Before we proceed with the spiritual aspect, let's look at other types of scatomas:

Carelessness:

We're all sloppy! Sloppiness is basically inefficiency in the use of our brain. Our cognition takes the easy route to the conclusion. "You can't see the forest for the trees" (proverbial) means that people have a tendency to focus on the wrong things. In this case they fail to see the beauty of the forest because they are looking at the detail of one tree.

A good painting, when viewed from a distance, is beautiful. However, when the viewer gets too close too much detail is seen and the detail doesn't match reality. When the artist stands back a ways and examines his work, he paints a better picture. An achieved painter paints with carelessness because he knows for beauty's sake, the detail doesn't matter. This is an example of a beneficial scatoma.

An an engineer, I can't paint because I must show all the detail. Hence, my drawing of the tree looks contrived although it's closer to what's real than what the more abstract person paints.

Let's say right now that for five seconds a picture is placed before you. It may have much detail. In five seconds, even if you concentrate, you will never ever be able to exactly duplicate that picture even if you have the skill set because your brain is inefficient. Those who have efficient minds have photographic memories. Most people don't have that!

In five seconds, my attitude and readiness determines how much detail I see. If someone merely flashes a picture for five seconds, I may not see anything with clarity, but the impression is that it's a forest, for example.  If I'm forewarned, I'm ready for the "test" and see much more! The lack of readiness is carelessness because there must be a reason to take in as much as possible. Because it's a test of efficiency, we all want to be more efficient, so we try harder! Even with that we see very little detail. We see, but still are blind! It's not rebellion. It's inefficiency. It's lack of motivation. We need a reason to be more efficient!

Error:

Many times we just err in what we see. Our mind can't take in the entire picture, so it just adds the detail because of various factors. Perhaps one is that "We see what we want to see." Let's say that Joe Chance stumbles into a women's changing room, for instance. His brain quickly gets new information: "Something is amiss here!" and Joe darts out because of his perception. Joe could have walked in while a woman was showering. He would then notice that there was a woman present, but not even be able to say if she is white or black, let alone how big her endowments are. That goes back to inefficiency.

On the other hand, the longer Joe stands there the more detail he sees and the more complete the picture matches reality. If he stands there ten minutes he will surely see "the whole Monty"! The problem arises when the time is of short duration. His mind fills in the blanks for the detail he did not see! His mind enlarges her breasts and puts a smile on her face. He colors her hair and her eyes with perceptual colors. She may actually not even look like the person he saw. That's his mind making errors in detail. This sub-conscious action is one reason witnesses misidentify innocent people in line-ups.

The woman showering may say "I saw Joe looking at me showering!" Joe may have had his focus on the trees and not have seen the forest, so to speak. His eyes were attracted to something else in the scenery and did not even see that the woman was showering; while she believes he did because to her she is the most important thing in the room!

We all have experienced this many times! We believe we captured it all when what we perceived was a fiction. Many people are in jail because of errors in seeing. Truly our eyes lie to us and lying eyes indict innocent people! Our minds fill in too many blanks!

Is this of Satan? He certainly uses our limitations to deceive for his own havoc! He even uses carelessness to make people stumble. All's fair with him in love and war. He will use our human frailties to ruin relationships whenever he can!

Planting Scatomas:

Satan "plants" things that aren't there. He wants us to see real things wrongly and false things as truth. For instance, I got in trouble for harassing a person with fourteen telephone calls. When confronted, I felt guilty. My phone showed that I indeed had called the person, who became irritated, fourteen times, but I only had called her once to answer her question! There's more: I never even had her phone number in my smartphones's address book yet my history showed that I called her all those times!

I had no explanation. I was accused of harassment, I couldn't deny making the calls, so I must have done them. I felt guilty, but something was amiss!

Well, it turns out that by "accident" my phone and my wife's phone, when close, exchanged information without the knowledge of either of us. Compounding this "coincidence" was that there was a bug in the IOS which caused my phone to auto-dial this number. Then the other "coincidence" is that it called one of the few people who much dislikes me and she knows that I have trouble tolerating her.

Are these truly accidents and coincidences? I don't think so! I believe them to be "plants" by Satan to ruin relationships!  If one looks at probabilities, scientifically, the odds are well beyond it happening by chance. Satan rigs the tables. He plants scatomas to fool even the elect. His M.O. is to ruin relationships because his desire is for us to hate each other for his own nefarious purpose; to undermine God! This brings us to the spiritual.

Spiritual Aspect:

Sometimes carelessness and error is because we're human. At other times it's the devil's deceit. He plants things in our minds to cause discord. He knows that when human's are at each other, we are not with God! That's why the love of others is so important. We are doing what God wants us to do!

Let's say that I'm in a store. I drop my comb on the floor while looking at a billfold. I put the comb back in my pocket and the billfold back on the display. Mrs. Observant, who I know, "sees" this incident. Her own mind "develops" this snapshot. What she sees is that I slipped something into my pocket. It must be the billfold because she failed to see the comb being dropped and retrieved. The mind then creates a fiction. She "sees"me put the billfold in my pocket!

That is a scatoma painted by the devil. She immediately (her maiden name was Shirley Gossup) tells all her friends. "I saw Larry steal a black Tommy Hilfiger wallet at Macy's." Her ready mind even put a color to the wallet, who the designer was and that it was Macy's and not Wal-mart. She became the tool of Satan to destroy my reputation!  Mrs. Observant did see me put something in my pocket (truth), but her mind created a fiction (lie). She wasn't being dishonest on purpose. She was being used by dark forces to ruin relationships.

On the other hand, Mrs. Observant was married before to Mr. Sinter. Because she is a thief, that's her first impression: "This man is stealing!"

In the other example, the woman in the shower may create a fiction which suits her fantasy. She wants a man to see her, so she creates the situation in her mind. It's real to her because Satan created it with realism. Satan paints a good picture and the woman's fantasy is fulfilled.

With the billfold, because this woman is a thief, to exonerate (sic) herself, she wants me to be a thief as well. It makes guilt less excruciating for her if "we all do that!". Satan let's her rationalize her own wrongs through the use of scatomas. She "needed" to see me steal to validate her own thefts! The downside is that she is still a thief, but now her fiction is that I am too! This misperception is not intentional. It's how Satan does his dirty business. We must always be merciful and give others the same benefit of the doubt which we would want for ourselves. That's the Golden Rule!

Summary:

Because of scatomas, reputations can be ruined and relationships soured.  Because someone really didn't see what they "saw", animosity results. Discord results in bitterness and the one we once loved, now we hate. We both lose and Satan wins. God cries as Satan smiles.

Note that none of these were done in rebellion, but in innocence because we were pawns in Satan's game of chess. On the other hand some people destroy others by refusing to look at truth for any length of time and in detail. People are happy with their false realities and God's not going to change that! People know what they"saw" is wrong, but continue in the facade because of pride. This is rebellion against right. It is rebellion against God.

People just have a problem admitting "Maybe I didn't see what I thought I saw." because of their pride, or it may be that they are mere pawns in the hands of a deceptive dark angel!

Validation:

Back in the first paragraph this was written "feces in the the colon which appears". Did you see "the the" before colon? If not, that's a scatoma. Slow detailed readers will immediately see it while the mind will not absorb that for speed readers. That's life folks. That's carelessness and inefficiencies in our make-up. Sometimes Satan uses that for nefarious purposes!

I Too Have a Dream

We shouldn't have to lie in the wallow of those who seek to destroy us, I speak to you today as my friends.

We, even though we continue to face problems with the future, also have a dream! It is a dream civilized people deserve. It is the dream on which America was founded.  It should be more than a mere dream!

I have a dream that someday civilized people will rise up and resume that on which this nation was founded: That we all are entitled "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" and no corrupt government has the right to usurp those rights.

I have a dream that soon on the plains and mountains of this great nation; in the cities, suburbs and farms; that the sons of American patriots, those who gave their lives for this great nation, can sit down together without fear of repressive adversaries robbing their freedom.

I have another dream. That one day even the people of the south will enjoy full rights as does their northern neighbors, that the injustices of Federal Reconstruction and regional differences will no longer cause a divide in this great nation! That class warfare will cease and correct talk be replaced with truth.

I have a dream that my five grandchildren will one day be free from speech control and remolding, which suits those whose ignoble ideas is to subvert our great nation and build instead a repressive regime of regulation and loss of liberty; that their desire to love and obey God shall not be infringed upon. That someday their own children shall not be stolen from their wombs and sacrificed to the gods of irresponsibility and pleasure.

It's just a dream today, but that too is my prayer!

I have a dream that those who endeavor to "level the playing field" and build mountains in their stead will cease. That equity shall be based on ability and that no false promises be used to further enslave those who succumb to deception and false hope; and that government tampering give way to the will of God whose desire is that all prosper and be saved, and that those whose faith is in government be replaced with faith in the King.

This is my hope and faith which I present to truth seekers today. Please take it with you and pass it along because "what is in you is better than what is of the world"!

With this confidence we will prosper again and all will have equal chances, whose outcome is based on individual effort and motivation. Because we can be great again, we shall be, if discerning people use their wisdom to divide truth from what is false. With this confidence, liberty shall replace despair and freedom... bondage. Those willing and able will be able to achieve greatness with obedience to God and the removal of government chains which enslave and create despair.  With this true hope and change we will be able to return our nation to prosperity, to give hope to our children and grandchildren, to provide a future rather than an abyss, and to allow everyone to build sturdy bridges to safety and happiness.

And this will be the time - this will be the era of good feeling where this song can be sung with meaning:

America... how great thou again shall be.
America... what once was the land of the free.
America... where truth and justice can again be.
America... the land of liberty!

And if America can again be a great nation, sound the clarion call. Sing this song with hope. Sing this song with confidence. Let freedom again ring across the great corridors of this nation.

Let these bells sound from Florida to Alaska, from Maine to Hawaii. Let freedom be!

Let Liberty stand tall not only on Staten, but throughout the land.

Let Liberty's torch light the karsted hills of Kentucky and the mountains of the Great Divide.

Let Liberty's hand stretch forth to those whose faith is the cause of their persecution.

Let Liberty again stand tall and never ever again bow to the memory of Marx...no never again!

Let Liberty alone. Just let her be. Let Liberty shine forth and let us receive her light!

On Discouragement

Generally discouragement is when things don't go right. Right for whom? Each of our own "selves". Discouragement is an emotion. It's when a person loses hope in something. It could be financial, marital, health, friendships, romance, vocation, performance, educational or spiritual. Some people even get discouraged with their sports teams and other petty things.

Psalm 55:22 "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."

Discouragement takes three forms: 1) It is a normal reaction when one fails even though one's desire is to please God, 2) It's  a tactic of Satan to usurp one's hope in Christ or 3) It's the inability to get what one wants. Discouragement is not of God in all cases. "Failure" is succumbing to temptation and the destruction of "hope" is the vocation of Satan.  The latter is being self-centered and it too is Satan's desire because he knows that each one of us wants to be as gods.

In effect, then, discouragement is when Satan tries to defeat us. He entreats us to feel pleasure, but also uses a lack of satisfaction as a tool to bring us down. He tells us that we deserve pleasure then makes sure that we fail to get right pleasure!

For instance, my desire is to teach. In order to teach I need a forum. The most obvious forum is participation at church. It comes a time when there are not enough slots for everyone to minister. I was called to teach,and when I'm not teaching my calling is not fulfilled. Because I'm not able to have joy in teaching about the Lord, I am discouraged. What is paramount is to realize that I'm where Satan wants me. I focus on what I'm not getting, rather than what others need.  In other words, rather than focusing on the Lord, it's on my own "self", so in effect I'm placing my "other god" before God!

This analysis is called "soul searching". It's looking for cause and effect and testing it with scripture. We don't have to be discouraged.

Matthew 11:28 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Discouragement is being "heavy laden". It's having a burden constraining us. It's a lack of hope and joy. Jesus gave instructions for the malady of discouragement. "Come unto me." and what will he do "I will give you rest." or in other words, he will lighten the burden.  Jesus wants our load to be light and he is the one and only one that can provide encouragement for sure. If we rely on others to do God's job, we are looking in the wrong place!

Things WILL go wrong in life. Romances will sour! People will feel slighted or betrayed. There are three things to do: 1) Change things, hopefully through prayer and  instruction from the word, 2) have satisfaction with the way things are, or 3) continue to be discouraged.

If we make the choice to continue to be discouraged, things won't get better! We all should have the desire to get out of the slump, so that leaves leaning on the Lord for both other alternatives. For myself, that means either being satisfied with the way things are, or making a change. I don't want to do the latter because of friendships which I hate to leave behind. Then my prayer is for God to allow me to be satisfied with the mere worship of him. When I've got Jesus to lean on others cannot define my happiness unless I let them.

On the other hand, what church is it that has no need for willing workers? That still befuddles me! I need for that to be resolved in my mind, but until then, I'll lean on the Lord.

This type of spiritual discouragement "feels" just as does romantic hurt. There is a dire feeling of loss inside. When things don't please us in relationships, we feel pain inside. It may be that joy is gone from daily living. We are depending on others to make us happy when the only true happiness is with God. Satan's desire is for us to have no joy whether it be spiritual or with relationships. Even when friends abandon us, we have the same pain of discouragement. Oftentimes if one source of discouragement is defeated, it encourages enough to remove the funk in other aspects of life.

When a friend encourages, it helps in relationships with others. When friends encourage it helps our spiritual well-being. We all need encouragement and some have that gift. My intent right here is to encourage others who are dismayed as I encourage myself. I have a few great friends in church who encourage me enough to keep me from being heavy laden because in the eternal scheme of things is that I have the hope of salvation. All other things are secondary. The Lord says that he will lighten the burden. We are to let him do his work in us. That is to focus on the blessings which we have rather than fret at those we lack!

1 Peter 5:7 "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."

The Abomination of Socialism

Politics and religion never can be nor should be separate. We are to turn to God in ALL THINGS! We are to seek his guidance before we vote. Keeping in mind that God is the only ruler who is righteous, there are still politicians who believe in God's righteousness. Although I am for Ted Cruz for President because he is a righteous man after God's own heart, we must acknowledge that Donald Trump may be the nominee.  If that happens we'll have a fairly good, but certainly not Godly, candidate on the Republican side, but overt villains on the Democrat side.

When Christians evaluate the candidates there are values which must be examined. The first is the sanctity of life. Any candidate which proposes laws or cuddles with those who propagate abortion are just plain evil! That includes Hillary Clinton, and worse yet, Bernie Sanders, who believes in abortion at any stage for any reason. He sees human life as no more value than that of a parasite. That's the exact same position that der Fueher had for the Jewish people and strangely enough Bernie is a Jew and should know better! Bernie admits to NOT being a religious man at all!

Hillary's campaign depends greatly on Planned Parenthood's money. She is beholding to them and her campaign money comes from the blood of dead babies! These two candidates are violent. Not that they wield the sword or turn on the gas, but they are the prison guards who make sure it happens. They are indeed as guilty as Hitler, especially since the victims are primarily "undesirables" such as mostly black babies! Abortion in America is black genocide and it's they who are so naive as to murder their own race by voting for these villains!

Then a Christian must look at same-sex marriage. Both Democrats and their platform supports men lying with men and women with women. Any Christian who supports those who propagate that notion are guilty of the behavior most abominable to God. Marriage is a divine institution and both of those candidates are an abomination!

Socialism is ungodly! The younger generation aren't close to the evils of this Marxist doctrine, but as they teach social justice, they kill to insure it happens. Socialism takes away freedom and see Christianity as an impedance to their agenda. They merely tolerate it for awhile to trap naive people!

Why make this an issue and risk offending friends and relatives? Because progressive (socialist) candidates are a danger to life, liberty and freedom to worship!  Young people. don't be like the German citizens were in pre-WWII. Learn how evil this "ism" is. It's a danger to civilized people and especially Christians. You won't even know that until you tire of their control and try to escape; then you will see their true colors!

Open to Truth

The last of the summer whine:

Acts 28:24 "And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. 25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, 26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: 27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. 29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves."

Just as Isaiah prophesied, the Hebrew people rejected Christ. Although their Holy Scripture was all about the Messiah, when he came and died for them, they were calloused in their thinking. They rejected Jesus even though they were God's chosen people! Whereas in times past, the Jews needed miracles to believe and the Gentiles reason, now it was the Jews who needed reason.

God didn't give up on the Jews! They can still become Christians, but because they have distorted the Law of God, it's just harder for them.  Throughout history they murmured against God and his prophets rather than just accepting. We have seen that they were whiners. Well, this chapter is "The Last of the Summer Whine"! The focus of the Great Commission is forthwith on the Gentiles. The Jews, as little children do, blocked their minds to what they saw and heard, and finally their hearts became hardened. Rather than accepting the miracles of Jesus and Paul, they reasoned among themselves!

I thank God that whereas the Jews failed him, that the church grew through the unclean people and I am a Christian because my predecessors believed in him!

"Reason" is the power of the mind to gather information, evaluate it and then make decisions. That process is called "logic". The Jews' problem was that it didn't seem logical to get the gift of salvation for free and that it is because of God's GRACE. It did seem logical that they must DO things for salvation. In effect their reliance wasn't on God, but on their own selves to be saved.

Likewise, it wasn't logical that one man could shed his blood for the sins of all for all time, when they assured themselves it took many animals continually sacrificed to appease God.

They assured themselves,  through faulty logic, that God must be appeased rather than accepted. Centuries had ingrained faulty reasoning into their spiritual makeup! They were so molded in their thinking that remolding, even with miracles, was essentially impossible with them, although not with God. At any time God could have forced his chosen people to accept him, but love cannot be forced.

Now, let's apply this to modern times. During my lifetime I have attended the following denominations: Christian, Methodist, Missionary Baptist, Independent Baptist, United Baptist, Primitive Baptist, Southern Baptist, General Baptist, Wesleyan, Nazarene,  Lutheran, Free Methodist, Pentecostal, Christian Alliance, Church of Christ, Mennonite and the non-denominational Bible Church,

You can see from the list that I worshiped with other Christians who ranged from five-point Calvinists to Armenian-Wesleyan. I have worshiped with the most primitive and with the most contemporary. I have worshiped with the most obedient to those who depend entirely on grace. I have worshiped with those who were ritualistic and formal to those who were without ritual. I have worshiped with those who baptized infants to those who baptized only adult believers. I have worshiped with those who believed baptism is an ordinance to those who believe baptism is saving. I believe all those with whom I have worshiped are sincere Christians with different theology. I believe all but the most formal seek to glorify God.

The common element of each of these divergent denominations is that they all sincerely believed in the deity and sacrifice of Jesus Christ to be saved or I would never ever have went there!

Many people are born into denominations. They are what they are because that's what is modeled for them and is what they are taught. Those who attend Primitive Baptist churches their entire life are going to be Calvinists. When exposed to Armenian doctrine they are going to block it out because it's contrary to all they know! That is a defense mechanism of pride! That's the notion that "After all these years I can't admit that my doctrine is wrong!" The same goes for Wesleyan churches on the other end of the spectrum!

Because I have been exposed to the doctrines of divergent belief systems I don't block out doctrine which threatens my pride. Although I'm Armenian, I have sat for years in churches which had one to five points of Calvinism. It's essential that I (and you) put aside our pride long enough to consider what may be truth. As such, I have weighed the two "isms" and concluded that it must not be either one way or the other. I won't put God in a box. He can work with different people in different ways!

For instance Paul's conversion was predestined from time immemorial. What he got was irresistible grace and he was totally depraved being a murderer.  God's plan for him was to persevere to the end and make the church grow. Paul's life was the epitome of Calvinism.

On the other hand Judas was truly a Christian or Christ would not have accepted him as an apostle. However, Judas committed apostasy because of the promise of gain. God with his foreknowledge was quite aware of that, but Judas was a traitor to Jesus Christ. He was in apostasy and since you can't be made safe twice, he gave up his salvation.  Judas was the epitome of what is possible in Armenian-Wesleyan doctrine.

Of the two extremes God can do whatever he wants to do from one end to the other. However, if I had attended only one denomination I could have stopped my ears and closed my eyes to truth.

Paul's conversion was not the norm. Few people were struck blind when they were led to salvation.On the other hand, although many have been traitors to Jesus few have hung themselves as Judas did!  What needs to be examined is the usual born-again experience. It is all by grace and because of thankfulness a Christian is instilled with a desire to obey Jesus. Because we are weak in the flesh, the Holy Ghost remains right here to aid and protect us, but we must be willing.

My beliefs are from scripture. They are tempered by exposure to different doctrines. I never closed my eyes and ears to any of them, but what I believe is the truths from each which agree with Holy Scripture according to my understanding. I must put away my pride and admit that what I believe is not the "final word" and that I too can misunderstand.

On the other hand I must cling to my beliefs unless scripture convinces me that I am wrong. That has happened many times! If the Holy Spirit inspires me through the word, a sermon or reason, to cling to or change; that's what I do. We must not be malleable to any thought which passes men's lips, but open to truth.

I'm a member of the General Baptist Denomination although this has come late in life. When I was growing up in my geographical area, I had never even heard of General Baptists. I attend that specific denomination, not because their doctrine is perfect, but because it's closest to what I believe from scripture. If I said that "They are it!" I would be wrong.  There are some remnants of Catholicism still extant o which I disagree from my understanding of scripture. For instance a "suit and tie" to preach would make John the Baptist cringe.  That divorce precludes a person from serving makes it an unpardonable sin. That's very Catholic, but they are the church's parents.

What we all must do is consider scripture, pray for understanding and adapt to what the Lord shows us. If we read scripture with open eyes and listening ears, we WILL change because we are all wrong in different areas. It's not that truth is dynamic, but that maturity is considering and understanding!

I don't want anyone to ever belong to "The Church of Larry Herrin" because if you did, you would share the same mistaken beliefs which I may have. I'm not proud since I'm not Paul! It would be instructive though if one considered what I understand, even correcting me when I'm wrong... as long as you're not clinging to your own biased learning.