Vacation

     I'm on vacation. For me it is a vain thing because I am retired. On the other hand, I am somewhat tired of everyday events. Sometimes people just need a rest from life.
     God took one long vacation. Between the prophecy of the Book of Micah and John the Baptist, God sort of went on vacation. He tired of correcting and rebuking mankind, so he just took a break; over four-hundred years of silence.
     Not that God ever left or forsook mankind, but he merely remained silent. Those who are married know full well what the silent treatment is and how effective it can be! God used the silent treatment against His people but they never seemed to notice. God went on vacation and the world was just as wicked as before. No one seemed to notice except for a few people; foremost John the Baptist whose calling was to announce God's end to His silent vacation. John was beheaded because the people preferred that God remain on vacation.
     Why so? Because God judges people. God even believed that none were without sin! People don't want that kind of reproof; they would just as well go on sinning.
     It was a short-lived "vacation" because it ended in God's death on the cross. Today, I acknowledge that my vacation is vanity but His sacrifice was not.

Excuses

      On that great and terrible day of God's judgment,, many will be asked, Why? Forthwith, God will here a multitude of excuses. They are attempts to lesson the blame or to hide the guilt. Everyone is guilty but only a few will be excused. Although many excuses, there can only be one reason - or root cause, and that is because the person is guilty of sinning.
      George Constanza, after pleasuring with the cleaning lady at work and was found out, remarked, "Was that wrong. If I had only known, I would not have done that!" (paraphrased). Perhaps some believe there is no God and thus no authority to whom to answer. We are to look around at the magnificence surrounding us, and marvel. People, with that enlightenment, "Are without excuse" (Rom 1:20). No one needs to be told they are sinners; inside they know they are by the feeling of guilt.
     After all the excuses, and providing no good reason, God will say, "I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Mat 7:23). Iniquity is sinful behavior. It is an attitude in defiance of God's authority. One sin is not an attitude; a life of sin is a defiant attitude. Of course, when sin is not repented, the attitude is that one is too special to need to repent.
     The first step in drug rehabilitation is admitting that the addiction is wrong and is controlling. The first step with God is that _______ (your name here) is a sinner, is addicted to sin, and it is controlling your thoughts and behaviors. Note that there is no attempt to excuse the addiction of drug use or sinning. Why ae you an addict? Because you love the feeling that drugs provide. Why are you a sinner? Because of,  "the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16). Those are valid reasons! But what is the root cause? You want to do what you want without answering to any authority. In other words, sinners don't fear God, let alone love Him (Deut 10:12)!
     Love and fear? Yes, just as you would your own father if he is a good parent, and God is good! Why would anyone sneer at His authority? Because they relish their own pleasure rather than sacrifice the pleasure out of respect.
     I hear excuses why people don't go to church. People do what they want to do! No excuses; Christians who don't go to church have one good reason - they don't want to be there! Excuses are sickness and health problems, and God excuses those. On the other hand, if sickness is not the root cause, those with excuses minimize God's will. Are people required to attend church? No! However, if they are true Christians with a new attitude, their first love is for God, and the way to do that is worshiping Him with others.
     If the preacher and fellow Christians are tired of your excuses, just think how God feels? Just think how your own unrequited love has felt, and think on God's unrequited love! If anyone loves God they will be the bride to His Bridegroom, and they all will meet at the Church for the wedding!

Operant Conditioning of the Beasts

Intelligent beings use logic and wisdom. Theologians believe that the human faculty of reason was instilled from eating of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. [i] Adam and Eve became capable of learning evil and were instilled with logic to know the difference between what is good and evil. Condensing the definition, “good” is doing God’s will. and evil is doing one’s own will.

The Will:

Beasts have one will – their own. Mankind is of a different kind or species than beasts. With original sin, mankind became as beasts, believing they were as gods. They did their own will rather than God’s. The human-kind “will” is a mental faculty used in making choices which is perceived as benefitting oneself.

The Serpent deceived the perception of Eve. She perceived that eating of the fruit would be beneficial for herself although God warned her of eminent death. [ii] She was deceived because she failed to understand death. She and Adam believed only in the biological definition of death, not understanding that the soul is immortal!

“Free will” is the ability of mankind to make decisions of their own volition. The “will” is an attribute of all intelligent animals. “Free will” is for mankind only because it is based on morality. Animals can decide whether to chase the pray or leave it be. They may even imagine the taste of a nice meal. On the other hand, humans must evaluate it on some type of moral scale. The western world has mostly used Judeo-Christian percepts to guide their free will. In the beginning, that was also the case.

Reprobate men – those who have their own moral (immoral) compass - do what they will. They are like the beasts. They never relinquished their instinctual desire to sin or practiced sin so often that their beastly nature returned. Psychologists call them psychopaths. Indeed, they are pathetic beasts.

Such beasts: animals and the reprobate do their own will. People are born with beastly natures. They take what they want unless restrained  by some law or rule. God made commandments to control the beasts. How would people even know they are beasts unless there are standards of bestiality. Murderers are beasts, haters are beasts, thieves are beasts, and so on. The worst beasts are those who have no God and do what they want to do without considering the well-being of others. Barbarians are beasts because they do what they want to do.

God’s Way was to tame the beasts. He wrote rules for civility for the beasts to follow. However, because they had no respect for the writer of the commands, they broke all the commands. After all, only they knew they were beasts, or so they thought!

God is merciful. He could have destroyed Adam and Eve for doing their own wills over His. He gave them other chances – many others – to tame the beasts within them.

Breaking the Will:

God’s Way was to break the will of Adam and Eve. He made them safe by covering them with a cloak of skin. He took life for the first time, presumably the life of a lamb. [iii] Shortly thereafter he expelled them into the wilderness, [iv] and placed guards there to keep them from re-entering the hedge of the Garden for safety. [v]

In the wilderness, the two learned by operant conditioning. Satan was permitted to test and retest either until they got it right or gave up. The Books of The Conflict of Adam With Satan (Pseudipigraphia Unknown)is about their operant conditioning. With God’s protection, they saw the prize, wanted it, and will soon obtain it!

Operant conditioning is a way of breaking or at least modifying the will. On the other hand, classical conditioning is merely obtaining what is desired without choices. God used operant conditioning for His chosen people - the Hebrews. The Abrahamic Covenant [vi] offered a choice - to either do God’s will or not, with two possible outcomes - prosperity or tribulation. Direct prosperity would come with the promised land. That was the reward which made the beasts salivate.

On the other hand, those prophets and patriarchs who were more than beasts understood the true reward – the real “Promised Land” – the City of God whose King is Jesus.

Test group #1 – legalistic Jews - had to learn by reward and punishment. God kept His promise, and they continued to see Canaan land as theirs. As they got closer to the reward, the more they salivated. Many of the Hebrews wondered in the wilderness for forty years. They continued to salivate for the land of milk and honey, but never tasted the reward. Most even failed to realize the true reward because they were spiritually blind beasts.

Time and time again, God endeavored to train them by punishment. They remained untamed, and in the end, when the reward was near, their bestiality was revealed. They killed their Rewarder even while they salivated for the reward.

Jesus knew why. He said, “They know not what they do” [vii] Jesus was referring to the Gentile guards, but inferred it was all mankind.

Test group #2 – Messianic Jews – understood the real reward. They weren’t looking nearby - only to the promised land, but looking to the promised Savior! They salivated at the thought of eternal life without even tasting it. Of course, the promised land was a little taste of heaven, just enough to keep the Jews salivating for a Savior.

Note that it was never the Law which brought salvation. That was only the punishment they received by looking at the wrong reward. It was God’s way of saying, “The real reward is not the land; it’s the Savior.” Most Jews to this day still look at the wrong reward. Operant conditioning has failed to work on the undomesticated.

Throughout history, the nature of man has evolved. Barbarians – the beasts – for most of history have ensured the survival of the fittest, not even realizing that they were unfit beasts. Time and again, those ruling beasts were defeated by deadlier beasts. Jesus death on the cross tamed the beasts. It even tamed Constantine. The fittest are those who see the reward and do what it takes to get the reward.

Civilization resulted from the taming of the beasts. Romans, although still cruel, were civilized. They were some of the fittest and their offspring still are. What made them fit? The death of God’s Flesh on the cross on which the Beast should have been nailed.

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[i] Genesis 3:5

[ii] Genesis 3:3

[iii] Genesis 3:21

[iv] Genesis 3:23

[v] Genesis 3:24

[vi] Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 15:18-21; Genesis 17:2-9; Gen 17: 9-14

[vii] Luke 23:34

Annihilation

     Atheists and others who just want to do their own thing, hope for annihilation -complete and utter destruction. Many fail to believe that their souls ever existed, and fail to believe it even has the possibility of existing in the hereafter. Their "hope" is that there is no Hell, and since Heaven is escapement from Hell, then for them there is no Heaven either. What remains? Nothingness. That is annihilation.
     Think on the sadness of that: wishing that they just will cease to exist! No wonder the world is in despair.
     When I was a youth, one time I drank too much scotch, and got into a drunken state. (This happened because I was not a drinker; I just thought, this one time is okay.) My mistake; I was annihilated except I still had a mind. In my stupor, I levitated to the ceiling until my nose touched, then commenced to spinning around my nose as a pivot point. As inertia propelled me, I went faster and faster. The spirits were unmerciful. I became a centrifuge as the spinning seemed to expel my very being. For a time, I cease to exist but I was aware of it!
     That's one reason I don't imbibe, but that's not my point. It brought back a long-held fear - my fear of annihilation. As a young person, I never feared Hell, I just feared not existing. I still can't imagine an eternity without me in it! My hope is that won't be the case because I have been graced with hope. On the other hand, when demons want to take me for a ride, they take me to the place of my fear. They return me to the void where nothing exists. The isolation of which I preview scares the "Hell out of me." I not only not want Hell, but neither do I want to be annihilated. Hell is not final; it is eternal. Not existing is termination. I'm afraid, though, that if only annihilation exists, I will know that it exists and of my presence in it!
     Everyone gets lonesome. Being alone is terrifying. Imagine "aloneness" forever. That is annihilation. It came to me that one aspect of Hell is isolation. Perhaps everyone will be alone in a crowd. I often feel alone in a crowd in the world because I am a peculiar person as scripture calls Christians. How would it be if I was a non-Christian in a hateful place? There will be no fraternization in Hell; it will be spiritual annihilation, only never quite terminating.
     Maybe my childhood fears were isolation in Hell. Maybe I never dreamed of the agony of it at that time. On the other hand, everyone, giving themselves time to think, should fear no longer existing. If that is frightful, then consider existing but in agony! That made a believer out of me. If nothing else, seek God to save your own skin, then he will take care of the "loving Him" part.

Called to Preach

     Preachers make a issue about their calling to preach. Actually God does put in their hearts the desire to spread the gospel truth, but not specifically them. All Christians are called to preach - to preach the good news. How so? Christians obtain a second occupation when they are born again. They too, as Adam, are to "dress and keep the Garden" (Gen 2:15). It doesn't take much knowledge of  symbolism to get the idea: It wasn't the "trees" God was so concerned with but men as trees. Regeneration is the same as generation - the job of God's creatures is to care for God and others. Paul referred to Christians as the "royal priesthood" (1 Pet 2:9). What do priests do? Priests are earthly mediators between others and God. The mediation is what God wills, and is transmitted by preaching. As such, all Christians are called to be preachers.
     Priests are referred to as ministers. Bishops, in scripture, superintend the building of the Church. They don't go into the world as preachers must, but nourish the flock. As ministers, they do much more than preach; they organize, fraternize, pray for, grieve for, and love the flock. Preaching is just a mere part of ministering. Bishops need a wider knowledge than preachers as their responsibility is more than laying the lively stones, but superintending the entire Church structure.
     That is a big job. Therefore, they need helpers. Neither are deacons called, but are appointed. They are the bishops' helpers. They carry the hod (mortar) when laying the lively stones and help care for the Church. They are much like the Levites in Judaism whereas the Bishops are the Levitical priests, all of which were appointed because it was their birthright.
     Of all those in the Church, only the prophets and apostles were individually called. We are neither of those. I don't write commentary because I'm called; I write because it is my reasonable service (Rom 12:1). It is the preachers' jobs, as a peculiar people, to provide the service of teaching, reproving, and correcting those in error. As the eunuch said, How would I know unless someone teaches me? That's what preachers do, and we are all called to do that.
   

The Surrogate Birth

     I have a friend who did a most sharing thing; she had a baby for a couple who could not. She is a Christian and so are the couple. Some people questioned the wisdom of that; even I. Not only did I resolve their act of kindness in my head, but short of dying on one's behalf, giving life to a person is the greatest sacrifice. I worried about post-partem depression, but there has been none. Other than the physical aspects of pregnancy, the outcome made everyone benefit. My friend merely incarnated a person on behalf of another.
     What changed my mind? God did! The Word told me that my friend did what Mary did.
Let me stop there for a moment: "Immaculate conception" is a non-biblical event that was made by Catholic doctrine (Papal dictate) in the mid-1800s. That is the false doctrine that Mary was born without original sin. "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). That includes Mary who, as David, was "shapen in iniquity" (Psalm 51:5). The so-called "immaculate conception" of Mary at her birth must not be confused with the virgin birth of Jesus.
    To be exact, my friend was far from being a virgin, having children of her own; I will not stretch the comparison that far! That does not reduce the generosity emanating from her heart. With surrogacy, there is money involved, but money was not her greatest objective. She wanted the other couple to have the joy that she has.
     It struck me like a bolt of lightening; her surrogate baby has not an ounce of her blood, and neither is the baby genetically related to either her nor her husband. My friend was merely a vessel for incubating a person until gestation. All that she provided was a womb, comfort, and nourishment. The unborn baby may have gotten some of her personality by experiencing her life outside while inside the womb. If that is true, then the new person will have some of the host person's emotions.
    Now let us examine the story of Mary (Oftentimes one gospel story is repeated in another gospel. In this case the full story if the virgin birth of Jesus takes two gospels; please read them both for the full account):

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26-38)

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus. (Mat 1:18-25)

     The first thing to understand is that Mary was an ordinary woman. She had both father and mother. As such, she was born with original sin. It came to her through her father's Y-chromosome because original sin is accounted to Adam (Rom 5:12). It seems that Adam knowingly and willingly sinned, but Eve was deceived and beguiled to sin. Mary did not inherit the sin trait from her mother, but like everyone else, her father. Even the pleasure of coitus seems to be passed down by the man's seed.
     I believe David's iniquity (Psalm 51) is twofold: (1) being conceived in pleasure, and (2) inheriting original sin. Mary had at least the latter. It may be that when she was born, by grace, her parents realized the sacredness of their union, and conceived Mary without pleasuring in her making. However, that is mere speculation, but does make sense.  There are such things as Holy Matrimony and Holy Union. That is because God ordained marriage and pro-creation; "recreation" was never commanded, and many theologians believe that original sin was pleasuring without the intention of multiplying. I tend to agree with that viewpoint.
     God did choose a fairly clean vessel for Jesus's incubation. Mary was a virgin. Any type of fornication before that would have made her an unclean vessel for God. She did, however, have original sin in her soul. Souls can either be (1) empty, (2) be a vessel for future sin, (3) be contaminated with sin, (4) be imbued with sin, (5) be cleansed from sin, (6) be imbued with the Holy Spirit, or (7) be filled with the Holy Spirit. The soul is a sort of "cup" (Mat 26:39), which was also his purpose (dying for mankind; Mat 26:42). With Mary, she was born as a vessel for future sin (original sin being the propensity to do evil.)
     It can be assumed that Mary may have sinned, maybe not willfully, but because of her genetics. Therefore, Mary had surely been contaminated by sin but never the fornication of sexual sin. She had remained true to God and man. The angel said that she was "favoured by the Lord." She would be a satisfactory "vessel" for His use.
     Blessed was she among women. She was beatified or consecrated to the Lord. In other words, she was not only declared sacred, but made so! The Lord made her a holy vessel for the purpose of surrogating the Lord Jesus. Mary, as a surrogate, was a substitute for natural conception - coitus between man and woman. Mary did not pleasure in the making of Jesus, but served God's purpose. Jesus was not born in iniquity, and never had sin, even original sin, within Him. Jesus did not get Adam's Y-chromosome because no "Adam" was involved in the conception.
     Jesus was the "Son of Man." He obtained flesh through Mary. She was the "host" which provided flesh for the Lord's incarnation. The Father took the elements (or dust) from Mary, and as he did with Adam, and created Jesus's flesh in the womb. Let's look at original sin again for a moment:

And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. (Rom 5:11-12)

     Adam was born to sin, yet lived. God knew he would because he has foreknowledge. Jesus was born to make the atonement for sin, and Jesus was born to die.  The Lord wanted mankind's flesh to suffer death. He used Adam's flesh, remembering that Adam was created in "our image" (Gen 1:26). God knew when Adam was created how he would create Jesus's flesh. Jesus was a soul before he was born (his cup), but as with Adam, the Lord was made a living soul. In the human lexicon, "living" is having flesh. In God's Word, it is having a glorified soul.
     The Word inferred redemption in the beginning: "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (Gen 3:15). Jesus was Mary's flesh (seed), and sinful man was Adam's seed. Jesus stepped on the Serpent's head with his heal on Calvary as Adam is believed to be buried beneath the rock of Golgotha (My own book, The Skull of Adam).
     Birth is deliverance from the womb, or in the case of "born again", it's deliverance from the confines of darkness. Jesus was never born again. He was born once. Everyone else must experience the Holy Ghost. Jesus's flesh experienced the Holy Ghost initially at his conception. His was not a natural conception, but was a natural birth; he was both Son of God and Son of Man.
     Mary conceived beyond the natural (supra-naturally): "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee." Mary was imbued with the soul of Jesus - his cup - so to speak. Her part was to provide the nourishment to grow the flesh while God provided the "cup" and imbued Mary with the Spirit. Later when Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit remained upon him. It makes sense that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, but baptism was a sort of dedication and further imbuing or saturation of the Holy Spirit.
     There was no trace of Joseph's DNA or blood in Jesus. There was no spermatozoa involved in his conception. I it supposed that Mary's ovum provided the flesh, but neither does ovum have the mother's blood (All Things Conceivable Blog; "Surrogacy";  May 18, 2018). Neither does the mother's blood cross the system boundary of the unborn child - the placenta. In other words, Jesus has his and only his blood and only God's "DNA". Mary was merely a host and cleansed vessel for this one purpose. Mary is NOT "the mother of God." 
     Jesus said, "Who is my mother? " (Mat 27:48), then immediately placed her in his family, but not more significantly than his disciples. Jesus had no biological mother; only a Father as Mary was merely a surrogate for his incarnation. We must remember that Jesus pre-existed his birth. He was there in the beginning in spirit. (John 1:1-2) and when he was born he was "made flesh." (John 1:14). The word "made" in the Greek is "ginomai" and has as it's primary meaning "generated".  Jesus was "generated" at his birth, and had no need for regeneration because he was born perfect and true.
    Just like Adam, Jesus was without mother. Just as Adam, his Father IS God. Ironically, Mary was dust, for to the dust she will return (Gen 3:19). That is not implying that there is "a mother earth" but that Adam was without a mother just as Jesus was. 
     Should Mary be venerated? Not any more than the long sought after "cup" from which the disciples drank - the sacred chalice men still seek. Jesus did not even drink from that cup; he merely provided for the "blood" that others would drink. Mary was no more than a "cup" for growing Jesus's flesh. She was already honored by God; our honor is for Jesus. Making Mary any more than "blessed," is creating her as a god. She was not, and never claimed to be. 
   
   
 

Proof

     Everyone must face the facts: There is no proof that the universe was created, and likewise there is no proof that it evolved. There are no other viable options for existence. "Proof" is certainty of the validity of hypotheses. There are two possible hypotheses: (1) Existence evolved or  (2) existence was planned by an intelligent being.
     The evolution theory is that energy spontaneously converted to matter, and that there was a effect without a cause (a reaction without an action), as there was nothing to cause an action. Then complex existence came about by mutations ordering themselves into more complex elements, compounds, systems, until life and intelligence developed. Evolution is akin to profound alchemy; rather than gold from lead, evolution is "gold" from nothing. Of course the "gold" is complex life forms.
     The creation theory is that an intelligent being planned and created everything in existence. Some "thing" took no "thing" and made every "thing." Unlike the alchemy of evolution, at least the creation theory has an Alchemist, and a mighty fine one at that!
     "Things" with the ability to create are called "gods." "Things" with the ability to create all existence are called Almighty gods. Because it takes almightiness to create existence, if the god is almighty, then that Existence does not need the assistance of other gods. Thus, there is One God to meet the definition of a god.
     There must be a great degree of respect for any "Thing" with the power and intelligence to plan and implement such a grandiose project. Mankind calls that Being "God" and rightfully so because of His power - One God. "God" is a much more respectful noun than "Thing." Evolution believes no "thing" created, but every "thing" evolved. Thus, their theory has no God, gods, nor even intelligence. Evolution theorists effectively have an unknown god who was only a boson that began to spread. Two helium atoms combined and multiplied into existence. The first "creatures" of evolution are two helium particles who mated and multiplied. Of course, there was no life breathed into them, but sometime later the "seed' of gender-neutral Helium "Man" and Helium "Woman" evolved into life.
     As the theory goes, amoeba were basking in primordial soup when they contacted and no "thing" breathed life unto them.
     Of course, I write about the evolution theory hyperbolically to accentuate the absurdity of "things" just happening without causes and effects. It takes great faith to believe that the syntropic complexity of existence merely happened without cause, and that it supports itself by providing its own nourishment (i.e., air, water, light, and supportive compounds.)  Evolution seems scientific but it too takes great faith; even greater faith to believe "things" just happened without intelligent design and a plan.
     Taking less faith, is the creation theory. I am an honest person; there is no proof that the universe was created. Without proof, that too takes great faith. Religion is having faith in some "Thing." What better "thing" to have faith in than the Cause of existence. Theists did not create God, but they did describe him with a noun because He is the ultimate reality. The word "God" and the pronouns referring to Him are capitalized out of respect and to indicate His oneness. There is but one God!
     With only one God, why would He need a name? God is not His Name, and He is not even a "He." On the other hand, as Creator of mankind, he is paternal, thus "Father" is used to describe Him and male pronouns are used. Who is the Creator God? Existence! He always was, is, and always will be. He is not created and will never be destroyed or even die. He was there before space and time. He is without origin. As such, "God" said, "I AM THAT I AM" (Exod 3:14). "AM" is the first person present tense of the verb "BE." BE means Existing. God Is Existence!
     On the other hand, in evolution theory, before the origin, nothing existed. Every "thing" came from no "thing." They created their own "Existence" and named him Higgs Boson. That "thing" was an elementary particle which somehow was excited enough to escape from the Higgs Field (Onyisi, P.; 23 October 2012. "Higgs boson FAQ". University of Texas ATLAS group.) From where did the Higgs Field and the massless particles originate? The Big Bang - another theory. From where did the Big Bang come? The imagination of scientists. It was a discontinuity in the physical laws. In other words, scientists created their god, he lived for a short time, and then he was through. Afterwards, their "God" was Deistic as he allowed the creation to develop on its own and nourish itself.
     Theism seems ludicrous to skeptic minds, but they seldom question the ludicrosity of evolution. What makes it palatable, even credible? Fossils. They are life forms frozen in time, it seems, and are a cross-section of existence. Fossils of earlier extinct life-forms create doubt in the minds of theists. Many of us have questioned our faith because of fossil evidence. Evidence, however, is not proof. Fossilization does indicate that earlier, now extinct, life-forms did exist. What raises doubt is the dimension of time.
     There are two types of evolution; for simplicity I will refer to them as evolution to life and evolution of life-forms or evolution to the species and evolution of the species. It doesn't take science to understand that species evolve. To be sarcastic, Obama evolved over time, developing from against same-sex marriage to supportive of same-sex marriage. Evolution of the species can be seen physically in karst-dwelling life-forms. Not needing light, they have no further need of eyes and their color has become more neutral. That is the type of evolution that Charles Darwin observed in nature. Later evolutionists expanded on his origin of the species.
     There is an "old earth" theory in creationism. I prefer to call it the "mature earth" theory. Just as God created a mature Adam (man), I believe that He created a mature earth. In other words, time is not a dimension in creation theory. Indeed, with rhetoric, God's Word says that for him one day is as a thousand years and vice versa (2 Pet 3:8). In other words, God's clock is not ours. If He is indeed almighty enough to create our existence, He is almighty enough to do it in no time!
     What about the fossils? If God can create life, he certainly can create death. Why would God fossilize living things? For the same reason he created Satan - to test the faith of His creatures.
     I believed in God as a child. As an engineer, the sciences caused doubt in my mind. The Serpent's M.O. is to raise doubt by taking truth and twisting it a little at a time. After four-years of remolding, I had considerable doubts. I studied the laws of physics after graduation. They did not support evolution but refuted it! The First and Second Laws of Physics soundly invalidated evolution theory. Even probability and statistics infer that existence could not happen by random happenstance!
     Then, seeking the truth, I began to believe the Bible. It offered much evidence to support creation theory. I had merely accepted it before by tradition. The inspired Word of God does not prove anything, but it does provide reasonable evidence of a planned and implemented existence. I wasn't "born again" immediately; it took considerable time for me to be persuaded. I started to write fully persuaded. I am imperfect; I don't know that I know that I know as some prevaricate. We all have doubts. However, I do look at the plan, the prophecy, the fulfilment and the evidence, and conclude that God exists and is not a liar! It is imperative in theism to believe that a Supreme Being we call God created physical existence.

Moderation and Naivete

      "Moderate" is a middle position between conservative and liberal ideologies. There is also another kind of moderation:

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (Phil 4:4-6)

    In that context, "moderation" is equitable - "dealing fairly and equally with all concerned" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary.) Thus, spiritual moderation is the Golden Rule - "as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." (Luke 6:31).
    Physical moderation is another case. God, according to the prophet Joel, provides rain in moderation for the best and most bountiful crops. Drought or deluge are extreme and hazardous conditions. An overabundance of a good thing - rain - destroyed the earth, and people are often starved to death because of drought. That was what Joel was writing about (Joel 22:22-24).
    It seems that moderation in some things is an attribute. On the other hand, God picked zealots for prophets and the Lord selected zealots for apostles. For instance, they all left their lives behind, picked up their crosses and followed Jesus (Mat 16:24), and doing that made them worthy of Jesus's grace (Mat 10:38).
     Paul, then called Saul, was a zealot for the Law. He actively pursued Christians to have them killed. The Lord appreciated his misguided enthusiasm for justice, and needed only to show him what justice and truth were all about. The zealot Saul - "questioning" (Jesus) - was renamed Paul - "humbled" (by Jesus), but he was still the same zealot for God. A zealot is fanatically uncompromising. In  modern times, Paul would be called a "right-wing Christian." That is principled to the extent that it is the Lord's way or no way! Indeed, few will walk the way of Jesus (Mat 7:14).
     The Way of Jesus is right doctrine. (2 John 1:9). Some of the Doctrine of Christ is moderate, for instance gentleness, kindness, and perseverance. President Bush called that "compassionate conservatism." On the other hand, there is no moderate penalty for sin; it's either Heaven or Hell. People wish there was an in-between, but that's not what scripture says.
     We think of Jesus as loving, and he is. His love is bountiful; he does not love moderately. "He so loves the world" (John 3:16). His love is so great that he even desires that no one perish for eternity (ibid). Think on that: What if Jesus's love was only moderate? He would be just as unprincipled and apathetic as we are!
     The other day I was listening to a conversation: Meaning well, two women were discussing the travesty of third-trimester abortions. The first woman said, "The problem is that there are two extremes on that issue." The second lady proudly said, "I am a moderate on abortion." I could not remain quiet; my response was, "My morals are not my own, as a Christian, my standards are God's." With that said, silence ensued. I had revealed my principles! They understood with no further discussion that I am a right-wing Christian; I am a zealot for God's authority!
     On the issue of abortion, "moderation" does consider the taking of a life as serious business, but taking the life early is less serious. Consider God's doctrine: "Thou shalt not kill" (Exod 20:13). Hopefully, everyone understands "not." It should need no further discussion. On the other hand, neither Adam nor Eve understood the concept of death. They thought, right this moment, and when they didn't die right then, God seemed to be the liar. God meant after they had aged. We find out later that Adam died after 930 years and Eve before him. Thus, killing is time dependent but is wrong this instant or later.
    What does "kill" even mean? Paraphrased, it is pre-meditated assassination or accidentally causing one to die (Strong's Lexicon). In order to understand "kill," life and death must be understood. "Life" is becoming a "living soul." The "breath" God breathes to make a living soul is the Holy Spirit (Gen 2:7). The soul is immortal; it always did and will continue to exist forever. God planned us, "before the foundation of the world" (1 Pet 1:20). Ultimately, "killing" is putting asunder what God has joined together (Mat 19:6). That was referring to marriage, but it says, "what," meaning whatsoever.
     When the ovum is penetrated by the spermatozoa, that is a type of marriage, and coitus in ancient Jewish culture commenced Holy Matrimony, if and only if the object was to be and create a family. I believe that in God's doctrine, abortion is akin to divorce; and both are unholy. If that is the case, the sanctity of life is a holy precept just as Holy Matrimony. Life and marriage are holy divine regulations.
     Before a Christian argues that divorce is recognized by God, admit that it was never ordained by Him. We find from scripture that divorce is a grievous offense, and Christians take it too lightly. Likewise, abortion has become insignificant to most and praiseworthy by many! Christians must review the outcomes: divorce ends a marriage, but abortion ends a life. Both are pardonable, but murder is a cardinal (greater) sin because it has been equivocated with hatred (1 John 3:15).
     Spiritually "killing," then, is putting asunder the body from the soul. Abortion does just that! Doing that early in time is the same as later in time. Early, or first-trimester abortion, is not moderation, it is assassinating early on and is no less significant than the third trimester. Abortion, in all cases, tears the body from the soul; it rips it asunder.
     Zealots are uncompromising, and moderates compromising. We have been trained to believe that compromise is a good thing. "Compromise" is two parties agreeing to do non-optimal activities. Both sides, having opposite ideologies, agree to do something both consider wrong! Moderation is foolishness. Barry Goldwater said during the 1964 presidential campaign, "“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!” I believe that God would agree with that for Christian liberty. 
     Goldwater also despised religious zealotry: "Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them." The hallmark of Christianity is that Christians, if they truly are, will not compromise on moral issues!  Abortion is not a political, or even a social issue; it is a moral issue. The difference between barbarian and civility is the sanctity of life. Moderation is semi-barbarian. The Bible even has something to say about moderate Christians:

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Rev 3:15-16).

     Luke-warmness is moderation. God has no use for a moderate Christian.

     So far, the synopsis has been on aborting with moderation - assassinating only the most innocent.  Christians are also becoming moderate on homosexuality. They do it out of fear of reprisal. The argument against Holy Matrimony and normalcy in sexual activity is tolerance. The most "tolerant" call everyone who disagrees names! Name-calling is not a logical and reasonable thing to do but it sure is intimidating. Christians have been all but silenced. Even conservative churches hesitate to preach against sin, and liberal churches have been bullied into praising sinners!
     In modern times, the moderate position on homosexuality is, what they do in the confines of their bedroom is no business of mine. That response is cowardly. God's Word is to teach, correct, reprove, and even instruction in righteousness (2 Tim3:16). Why would Christians even have a desire to reprove and correct homosexuals? So that neither will they perish because God loves them so (John 3:16), and Christians are expected to love them in the same manner. As for myself, I will not tolerate hiding the truth from homosexuals to protect their feelings, when by doing so, they are destined for Hell.  Love is cherishing the soul of another to protect it from dying forever. Those politically correct damn those they claim to love by tolerating what God condemns!
     Moderate people kill homosexuals as well by fearing to offend their behavior. Extremism in the defense of righteousness is no vice, and moderation in the pursuit of saving is no virtue! Christians must be zealots, or they are not in the defense of rightness. Moderate Christians are Christians with compromised principles. God would have had no use for moderate prophets, apostles, nor teachers. If He had, Christianity would have died as soon as Jesus was put in the tomb. Moderates would have thought the audacity to defeat death was arrogance. Somehow, the left would have twisted grace to be hatred, and the moderates would have became part of their herd if not mob!

Alter Ego; The Screech Owl

     Yesterday I wrote on the alter ego of people in general as double-minded persons. Today, I write on Eve's alter ego, or alternate personality, not to be confused with the psychological dissociative identity disorder (DID), also known as multiple personalities. Although both DID and alternate personalities are alike, ontologically speaking, one is chaos in development and the other spiritual chaos.
    Alter ego and alternate personality are not identical, but similar. Abnormal people have pronounced alternate personalities, but many people, including the normal, have alter egos. If the alter ego is pronounced and distinctive it can become an alternate personality in a spiritual sense.
     It seems that Eve was accused of having a pronounced alter ego. Psychologists would consider that an abnormality, but I see it as a spiritual dissociation. Isaiah Chapter 34 is a chapter of history and prophecy. Directly, it is the historic doom of Israel by Nebuchadnezzar, but it is also a preview of  the great and terrible day of the coming of the Lord (Isa 34:8). The Lord's indignation is upon all nations (Isa 34:2). Eve is the mother of all mankind (Gen 3:20), and hence, she is the lead person in the genogram of all people.
    Adam gets his share of the blame for the disorder of sin (Rom 5:12). Eve is often neglected. Her independent spirit is revealed in all her offspring down to this generation and will be thereafter. Eve is what Karl Jung called an "archetype". Both Adam and she were archetypes of mankind. It seems that the propensity to sin and receive pleasure is from Adam, and independence from authority from Eve. If that is so, then the independent nature of mankind was inherited from Eve. Man was created in God's image, and re-created in Eve's. God was the pattern from which Adam was made, and Eve the pattern (archetype) for mankind.
     In analytical psychology, everyone is a composite of their antecedents. We are who we are because everyone from which our bloodline came molded who we are - thus archetypes. It should be obvious that Jung as well as Freud borrowed heavily from Holy Scripture but misappropriated it. Moses wrote about that years ago: "The Lord... visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation." (Num 14:18). Of course, "third and fourth" are surely rhetorical, indicating it was to be for perpetuity since all people suffer the sins of Adam and Eve.
     Today, though, the intention is to disregard Adam at this time, and take a closer look at Eve. Eve's sin was different than Adam's; hers was by deception and Adam's with eyes wide open. God explained Adam's sin: "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life" (Gen 3:17).
     In that verse are the cause, the effect, consequences, and duration of Adam's sin, "for all the days of his life." Since then, sin is passed down from generation to generation, and life for all mankind has been tribulation. Adam molded who we are today, and because we have his sinful attitude, we still suffer the consequences of his sin. We are Adams.
     Likewise, because Eve is the mother of us all, we are Eve's. Our independence comes from her. Typifying modern women, Eve misunderstood what God said by adding to "do not eat" the words "or touch" (Gen 3:3) the Philosophy Tree (My name for it for brevity.)
     Men were to have dominion over the animals (Gen 1:26). The role of men was as provider and protector. They were to be the "priests" as such. The Serpent tempted Eve. Adam's role was to respond to the serpent. Years later, we find out that Eve should have remained quiet (1 Cor 14:34). It seems that passage reinforces the idea that men are to be the priests, and certainly that Eve was out of line defending spiritual things with the Devil!
     It seems that Eve was not only independent as a person but as a woman as well. She took it upon herself to perform the role of Adam who was to take care of the Garden (Gen 2:15). Eve usurped Adam's manhood. As such, I proclaim her the first feminist. Not to be biased, Adam was the first wus who allowed a woman to do what God assigned to man. The man is to be, by design, the religious leader of the family. However, we have benefitted much from women who do that when the men fail to.
     That independent nature of the female of the species comes from Eve's interaction with the Serpent. Adam's sin was because, "He hearkened unto the voice of his wife." Hearkened, in that context, means "to give credibility to what she was saying." Eve misunderstood death: Look Adam; I ate and did not die, so you eat as well! Because she was not privy to all the words God had spoken to Adam, she didn't have a clue what spiritual death is!
    Many theologians believe that when Isaiah spoke to the Jews, his speech was to all mankind. Therein is a clue to Eve's alter ego: "The satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest" (Isa 34:14; italics mine). A "satyr" is a lecherous man. Those of Isaiah's time represent sinful Adam. The "screech owl" represents, it seems, Eve, and I'm speaking of both their alter egos, or sinful personalities.
     The transliterated word for "screech owl" from the Hebrew is Lilith. The Jewish sect of Kabala believes in two creations; I don't. They believe that Lilith was the first wife of Adam (Gen 1) who left him because of her female independence. In that deception, God was sorry for his "mistake" and created for Adam another wife - Eve - who became the mother of all mankind. Feminists have adopted Lilith as  their archetype. Indeed, she surely was!
     On the other hand, Lilith was not another wife of Adam, but possibly the sinful nature of Eve, as I believe. She was the "screech owl" inside Eve using her larynx to dissuade Adam from remaining faithful. As such, Lilith may have been the alter ego of Eve, as Freud would say.
    Unlike Freud, who believed that only some people have alter egos, the Lord indicates they all do. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would" (Gal 5:17). Alter egos are personalities acting contrary to what righteous people want and appear to be.
     Think of Christians who sin in secret. It is that contrary spirit of independence from Eve which may be in them. Even Christians, when alone, "do what is right in their own eyes" (Deut 12:8). Freud revealed the hidden person in some, Paul revealed our alter ego in everyone when he wrote, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" (Mat 26:41).
     When Eve was misled by the cunning Serpent, she was willing to please God. Because she was deceived, but willing to obey, her sin was less than Adam's. Because she was from Adam, his sin was accounted to her as well. Temptation made Eve weak, The Serpent offered her tantalizing fruit, which may have been oversize figs (from sacred literature), but was symbolically lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). The fruit may have been sexual independence (ala feminism) since they immediately covered their genitals with fig leaves. (I believe that rather than having coitus for reproduction, they did it for pleasure, which is fairly well what the feminist movement is all about. I have that idea because of the command was to reproduce, not pleasure.)
     Lilith, Eve's alter ego, is alive and well with the majority of western women. Lilith came out of the closet with the feminist movement. (I'm not disparaging those who want fair wages, respect, and authority - Eves - but the radical feminists - Liltiths - who deceive.) Feminism has lived up to what it is - screech owls - intimidating forgiven Eve's, and men still hearken unto them!

The Man With Two Brains

     Several years ago I watched the movie The Man With Two Brains starring Steve Martin as the brain surgeon who fell in love with the brain that he had removed. He kept "her" in a jar of solution, and they fell in love.
     Well, that seems entirely fictional to the point of silliness. Indeed it was funny. He loved her mind because that was her only attribute. They communicated their love by telepathy.  If that could happen, it would be cause for concern. However, is it truly that strange?
     People have two loves. They love who they want to be and who they are. Just as the doctor hid his affair with a brain, many Christians hide their affair with their other "brain." I'm writing of the dualism inside Christians of which Paul wrote: "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" (Mat 26:41).  The unregenerated have one mind; their thoughts are on the satisfaction of the flesh nearly all the time. On the other hand, the regenerated have a spiritual mind as well. They want to be righteous but their alter-ego interferes. Sinning Christians have two personalities; their ego is in love with their alter ego. Hence, the man with two brains.
     A Christian's ego wants to be content and feel safe. On the other hand, his alter ego desires pleasure and plenty of it. Speaking for men, that love affair is a huge problem, and I gamble that it is for women as well. Christians keep their alter ego in a dark closet and only let them out when no one else is around, except when in the presence of another person with two brains. Sinning Christians are Jekylls and Hydes. The world calls them "hypocrites", and they have a right to. Satan has the unregenerate already and they have nothing to hide!
     Christians feel a sense of shame when they fail God. That is guilt. If you remember, Adam and Eve made aprons of fig leaves (Gen 3:7). They were covering their shame with aprons but much of the flesh was still exposed. By grace, God killed an innocent animal, likely a lamb, and made them coats of skin (Gen 3:21). Their entire alter ego was covered except for their brains. They retained their love affair with themselves although God "saved" their skin. Christians still do the same thing.
     Don't be hard on hypocrites. All Christians are. Most try to cover their love affair with their alter ego with fig leaves but it shows. A really crafty Christian puts on a coat of righteousness. Unfortunately, most don't want to do that but are ashamed that they still love themselves more than God. Paul wrote of that as well (I use the English Standard Version for this passage because the King James is even harder to comprehend):

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. (Rom 7:14-20, ESV, italics mine)

     Paul struggled with his alter ego. He was a man with two brains. He was attracted to the things of the flesh but he wanted not to be. That was from a righteous man. He admitted it, and was not a hypocrite. I admit my love for my alter ego, and fight every day with my unrequited love. Although I am in love with my other mind, that mind does not love me. I am not loved by my flesh because I emancipated myself by regeneration. My other mind did not like that, so it pesters me. My alter ego is male, so his love is for females. He's a fickle mind as he loves power, wealth, and prestige as well as carnal pleasures. He and I wrestle every day, and nearly all the time!
     Those who have not been born again have a lover as well. They love their alter ego so much that they refuse to cease the relationship. Their self-love is so great that they at best hide their alter ego from the world, and have a covert relationship. They are the hypocrites because they keep their other mind in the closet. The most honest are the reprobates who proudly display their alter egos even to the extent of parading. Their self love is reprobate. Sure, it seems that they love the person of their affection, but deep down inside their conscience, they are in love with themselves.
     Adam and Eve were ashamed of their self-love and used fig leaves to conceal the romance. They were foolish as they exposed themselves by using the leaves of the very tree of which they had just fornicated (It is likely the Tree of Knowledge was a fig tree.) God saw right through their scam, and made them a durable coat to cover and protect. From there on, they lived in safety. Their super ego was still there, but they were ashamed of self-love.
     One mind desires lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and has the pride of being alive (1 John 2:16). The other mind wants to please God. One mind is unwilling and unrelenting while the other mind is willing and persevering. Serving God is putting the alter ego on the cross and crucifying him or her. God does the deed, but Christians must submit.
     Why are Christians to do that? We are all guilty of attempted murder of God, and for that the mind that did that must be destroyed. God judges the mind and provides the justice. People don't want to see the old fellow go; they keep looking back at the fun they had together (Lot's wife, for instance), and die because they won't submit their second love.
     Jesus is to be our first love (Rev 2:4), but even Christians have a second love. Jesus knew that, and it is spiritual fornication with ourselves. Rather than please God, most Christians attempt to please themselves. Christians feel the sensory pleasures obtained from their second love, but try to enjoy contentment with their righteous mind. What is your pleasure? To have fun and still feel safe from death. That is the mind serving two masters (Mat 6:24). You are going to abandon the master of one mind or another.
     Sanctification begins when Christians hand their alter egos over to God for crucifixion. It takes a lifetime to crucify the alter ego, but God can and will do that.
     Some prefer to cohabitate with their alter egos. They are spiritually adulterous!

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. (Jas 4:7-8).

    The beginning of a right relationship with Jesus is taking the mind with whom you pleasure, and submitting him or her to God. Purification of the heart is circumcising that old guy or gal away (Rom 2:29). You take the sword of the Word (Ephes 6:17) and allow the Spirit of God to cut the old guy's flesh away. That is Jesus crucifying the alter ego.
    The first step is admitting that you have two loves. Those who love the flesh, hang onto the old guy, and just won't submit. If that is done too many times, the new guy's heart becomes "calloused" and the old guy still lives within. That situation may result in a change of masters  - apostasy. With that, there is no longer resistance to the Devil, and you may be his.
     Double-mindedness is what Orwell called "doublethink" - holding two conflicting thoughts at the same time. Double-minded Christians want to be willing but are rebellious. They enjoy the flesh but desire the safety of the Spirit. It's as if the soul went to a brothel, enjoyed the pleasures there, but hid from God in shame. Wait a second; that's what Adam and Eve did when they fornicated against God! Truly, there is nothing new under the sun.
     Doublemindedness or doublethink has a psychological description as well; it is "cognitive dissonance." People actually kill themselves because of the chaos in their minds. God is the Creator of order, and Satan changes what was "very good" (Gen 2:29) into chaos. He does that in the minds of people, and their identity is the alter ego. The ego is not God-centered; think how evil the alter ego is!
     I have admitted; at times if someone read my mind they would scream. I'm not proud of that, but ridding oneself of the other mind is hard work. Steve Martin, to be faithful to his wife, should have handed that brain in  a jar to the garbage man. We should hand our double mind over to the Holy Ghost. He knows what to do with garbage!

Spiritual Deafness

       I hear only about half of what is said because of tinnitus - a ringing in the ears commencing when I was a child. I get only half the message when anyone speaks unless I watch their facial expressions and mouth movements. Many times I have responded foolishly because although the word was spoken, I did not hear. Of course, I heard some of it, but not enough for intelligent recourse. Sometimes I respond with foolishness because I heard something differently than what was spoken.
     Christians often half spiritual tinnitus. The Word is spoken but they either don't get the message, or get a garbled one. The source of my tinnitus was probably injury from a firecracker when I was about five-years old. Spiritual tinnitus is from injury as well; it is called original sin. That genetic malady was self-inflicted by our ancestors, and passes down from generation to generation. I can blame my difficulty in hearing on tinnitus, but even without that, my entire family hearing problem is genetic. Likely, your spiritual "hearing" problem is genetic as well.

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. (Ezek 12:2)

     In that passage, "son of man" is not Jesus; he is everyone, or sons of Adam. The "rebellious house" is the world. There is something in the atmosphere of the world which causes blindness and loss of hearing. By grace, God created Adams with eyes and ears for the purposes of seeing and hearing. The eyes are for seeing God, and the ears for hearing Him. That we can see the world and hear those within it, is incidental. Our entire purpose as a created being is to love and serve God; some forgetting that, and only fearing Him.
     Mankind all have spiritual tinnitus. Tinnitus is hearing sounds when no sound is present. It is always present, but most noticeable when everything is silent. I often busy myself so as not to hear the ringing in my ears. If not, then I would be nearly insane. Sometimes, I think that I prefer death to the incessant ringing. The same applies to my spiritual tinnitus; I don't like it either but must put up with it until I die!
      Iniquity is spiritual tinnitus. Iniquity is the nature of mankind to prefer sin to righteousness. Everyone has at birth a predisposition to hear only the spiritual noise, and not spiritual harmony with God. We all are sort of spiritually tone death to truth, and even when we know the truth, we can "hear" only iniquity; it drowns out everything.
     The first case of spiritual tinnitus was with Eve. It is presumed that Adam told her what God commanded, Don't eat of the Philosophy Tree (my words for the Tree of Knowledge). Because of spiritual tinnitus, Eve added, nor touch it (Gen 3:3). The Serpent had put that noise into her mind to deceive her!
     Think on that: It makes sense that eating of the tree might harm her, but just touching it; surely that would not harm. She valued the noise the Serpent had made with his rattles than what the Word had plainly said. This was the first instance of the "telephone game." Most have played that; to wit, the first person says something, and as it is repeated, the content changes, until the last person who repeats it, says something entirely different. Ironically, "voice" in the Greek is phone. God said the Word to Adam (Gen 2:16-18) before Eve was even created! Then with dominance, Eve repeated it to the Serpent, and after three transmissions, the message mutated. If evolution exists, but it does not, it would be toward disorder, not order!
     The point to this is that most hear and perceive the message wrongly. Often, I hear the message better because I'm forced to hear it by intense concentration. I hear things despite my hearing loss, and understand because of discernment. My tinnitus is a physical handicap overcome by discernment and effort.

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Cor 2:14).

     The "natural man" is the "son of man" referred to in Ezekiel 12:2 above.  Paul explains why men are deaf to spiritual things: They are foolishness to natural ears because of spiritual tinnitus - iniquity. That silent "noise" the Serpent still spews is, you are gods, do as you please, and think as you will, a paraphrase of Genesis 3:5. That noise is generated so as not to hear the spiritual Voice saying, why did you not do My Will? (Gen 3:10-11).
     People even Christians, do not see or hear because they just don't want to! Doing our will has a higher amplitude than listening to God's will. Satan supplies the distortion to the Word, and one must listen intensely to make out the Voice.
     I am disheartened even with Christians. I sense it in many preachers as well. Preachers, as do I, study for hours each day to present the Word to whoever will listen (or read). The Word, we should know from John chapter one, is the "Voice" of God called Jesus. Scripture is Jesus still speaking to mankind. Why would God's Word be written down? So that mankind could "hear" Him forever. The "Man" Jesus is the Voice of God who could be seen and heard and now discerned by those with his Holy Ghost. That's one of the two reasons God came down into the world. (Christians should know the second reason!)
     Each day, Christians write and say stupid things:

• I need to learn to love myself.
• I just do the physical part of Yoga; I don't take it seriously.
• I believe in evolution because creation is a myth.
• Jesus was just a man with a good message.
• There is no Hell; just a Heaven.
• I've been good.
• This is too hard for God; I went for psychological counseling. (Yes, I actually heard that said!)
• I have low self-esteem (said by narcissistic people).
• God would not send anyone to Hell. (That is partially true because Satan does the sending, and sinners go willingly. That's what the Serpent implied to Eve.)
• Christians don't need to attend church.
• There is nothing wrong with using alcohol, marijuana, or whatever.
• I'm getting closer to God; I got a tattoo with the word "Jesus." (I really heard that one!)
• I'll enjoy the world until I'm old, then I'll ask God to forgive me (I actually thought that when I was young.)
• God will forgive me when I'm ready. 
• I will forgive but never forget.
• I don't hate anyone (knowing inside that we all have a hatred problem.)

     You, hopefully, get the point. Your system has been cheaply remanufactured. It is of low fidelity, and noise distortion is great. Your system has spiritual tinnitus, and Satan took a nearly perfect system with the potential for high fidelity and put distortion in the system.

     It is important to hear the truth. Why so? It will "make you free" (John 8:32). First off, as sin leads to more sin, truth leads to more truth. I have experienced both! Although, I still have tinnitus, the Lord's message comes through clearly. He gave me the gift of hearing and discernment. I hear the Word well despite the interference of worldly sounds. 

    For instance, when I was doing graduate studies in psychology, I read my Bible through, and tested psychological theories to Divine Truth, and heard what God said, despite the interference from the philosophy of the world. Thanks to the Word which I heard and understood clearly, I lost my infidelity. (Yes, at one time I trusted the words of men above the Word of God, but the Lord fixed my system!)

     Eve didn't have a reason for eating the forbidden fruit. She had one excuse; I listened to the Serpent (Gen 3:13). She implied that the Serpent had distorted the Voice which is the sound of the Word. Then God asked Adam for his reason. He too used an excuse: The woman gave it to me, but God quickly corrected him truth: "Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife..." (Gen 3:17). God rejected Adam's excuse and pointed out the true reason! One of my favorite sayings is my own: A multitude of excuses do not make one good reason. God thought that way too!

    God attenuated Eve then Adam. He insisted that they know the truth, and did an adjustment in their attitude. He cast them out into the world where tinnitus was greater to continually test their fidelity. The entire Book of Job is God allowing Satan's interference and truth maintaining Job's fidelity. He does that to all Christians. Indeed, life is a period of general tribulation. That tribulation is the spiritual tinnitus Satan always transmits as "prince of the power of the air" (Ephes 2:2). His power is resistance to God's will. He interrupts the truth to which our eyes and ears should respond, and like nearly deaf person me, we often hear what we want to hear, and oftentimes fail to hear God at all!

     There is nothing wrong with the Sender nor the Medium of transmission - Jesus's Holy Ghost. The problem is with the receiver - our flesh - which the Serpent still uses for his distortion. All he need do is offer a little pleasure, and our spiritual system loses fidelity. 

     Thinking that you don't  love yourself is distortion from the Philosophy Tree. What does the Tree of Life say: " For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it" (Ephes 5:29). Read that aloud. Now do you hear it? I wrote that to another Christian, and surely her mind "heard" the message, but she said, "I interpret it differently than you." 

     Satan distorted the message between her reading the truth, and not perceiving it. What distortion was that? She wanted to believe what she already thought. God's word interfered with her own distorted view. Like Eve, she allowed the Serpent to distort her "hearing" and she continued to believe the lie. Someday that excuse will not be accepted by God, and he will mercifully show her the real reason. She has spiritual tinnitus; she can't hear God's Voice for Satan's distortions.

     Hearing the Word is important. Why so? When everyone hears the Word of the Lord preached, the end of the world is near:

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Mat 24:14)

    Some will stand before God and he will ask, Why did you sin?  A few will answer, I was deaf to your Word; I heard it but did not listen!  By grace, God just might cover that reason. On the other hand, most will say, The noise from the Serpent overwhelmed me, and I just did as I pleased. To them the Lord will say, "I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Mat 7:23).
    In summary, the Word is important. On the other hand, actually listening to the Word and performing to the precepts of God is imperative. Words mean things. Every Word in the Bible is significant to God or it wouldn't be there, but even Christians can't get past the tinnitus which Satan creates. For instance, why is it wrong to pierce, cut, and tattoo? That is God's Word and is God's will, but why do even Christians fail to do God's will? It is because of spiritual noise: God doesn't care about what we do! You surely won't die or whatever. Of course, God is gracious; He may put up with those things but they still are not His will.
     Did you "hear" what I wrote? Did your mind perceive truth? Why not cut and tattoo ourselves? Because we are not gods, but we decorate ourselves as if we are! (Gen 3:5). I don't want to put the focus on things we do, but face it, things we do are a reflection of what is in our hearts. 
     Those whose minds are on God do not have their minds on themselves, with one exception - to do His will.

Psychobabble

     Psychologists do much good in treating people who are mentally and emotionally "sick." They also do many good things working with special needs children. On the other hand, much of their philosophy is contrary to Holy Scripture. Psychology is another religion. Please don't stop reading; I shall explain.
     My graduate studies were in psychology. I completed the requirements except for the internship. When I was told that I would be required to counsel homosexuals to feel good about their behavior, I transferred to the department of education. I could not teach that abnormal behavior was normal and genetic; that conflicted with both behaviorism and scripture. Homosexuality had even been moved from the list of abnormal "diseases" to acceptable behavior, and normal thinking to the category of abnormal behavior, or homophobia. When the American Psychiatric Association (APA) changed their diagnosis under pressure from the mob, it was the very "newspeak" of which the Orwellian book 1984 referred! Since that time, newspeak twists truth to suit the mob, as do the silent influences behind the mob as prophesied: "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isa 5:20).
     The "political correctness" movement is largely from psychobabble; that is the language of psychology, and what their "preachers" preach.
     Before the reader will accept psychology as a religion, their eyes must be opened. I saw that in my graduate studies and remarked to my psychology professor, "Psychology seems to be just another religion." She confirmed my enlightenment when she replied, "Are you just now figuring that out?" "Psychology" is the study of the soul, which they call the psyche. The contents of the psyche is turmoil controlled by the conscience. The governing moral regulation is one's own standards. People must feel good with who they are! Ironically, their first step is to make the client a victim.
     I've been discussing psychology with a friend who seems to be enthralled with the idea that she hates herself. She has made herself a victim of life. Indeed, everything she writes is about herself. Those who are self-absorbed are narcissistic; life is all about them, and they make themselves out to be the gods while feeling sorry for their incapacity to be gods. I believe those who wrestle with things in their own mind have "cognitive dissonance." That is similar to the Orwellian notion of "doublethink" - holding conflicting ideas as true at the same time. "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." (Jas 1:8). Such thinking will make people "sick" emotionally and spiritually.
     That nice, well-intentioned lady is in turmoil; she is a Christian, I believe, who is deceived. She is Eve!  As Eve failed to understand her conscience and death, this lady fails to understand truth and who is controlling her thoughts. The professor also said, "Our job is not only to teach but to remold." Remolding the psyche (soul) is instilling new standards.; it is replacing, in the case of Christians, God's will with their own wills. Psychology is in reality Theosophy whose tenet is "Do what thou wilt," and be guilt-free from doing what the individual believes to be right. Doing one's will is humanism. Humanism, and thus Psychology, is the religion of the world camouflaged as science. The very word "psychology" is truthful but its meaning concealed. That is the technique of psychobabble.
    Why psychobabble? It is the use of jargon to purvey psychological theories. There's that word "theory" again. Those are hunches people accept without sufficient evidence. My own honest textbook said that, there is no evidence that anyone was ever improved by psychological counseling. Improvement, like beauty, in their mythology is when people feel comfortable with their abnormal behavior and thinking. Abnormal people develop their own standards, live by them although they are dynamic, and feel comfortable being the way they are.
     The reason that I abandoned psychology is that it conflicted with the moral code God set down for mankind - the Law of God which is a set of moral precepts that God wills for mankind to do. In psychology the person develops their own moral precepts, doing what they wilt. That code is the "law of sin" and the precepts of Satan. In fact, Satanists label their morality as doing what thou wilt.
     Keep in mind that the law of sin is not black and white. They have fifty times fifty shades of gray. That is the M.O. of Satan; he presents falsehoods through the cunning use of truth (Gen 3:1). Foolishness is believing the psychobabble of the Serpent. He makes things sound good when they are not! The Serpent seemed to be right when he said, "You shall not surely die" (Gen 3:4). Have you examined that confusing statement? He said it as fact. What did he mean by "surely die?" He confused Eve with ambiguous language; she had no idea what death even was, and the Serpent told her not to worry about it!  That's the method of psychology. Ambiguity is their process to deceive.
     They disguise the fact that their philosophy deals with the soul by concealing "soul" with a substitution from the dead language Latin. What patient truly understands that their psychoanalyst is looking at their soul and planting bad seeds within? That's how Satan deceives. Sure, people feel better when they have no regrets for their lifestyles, but are they truly better off?
     Much of psychology comes from two sources: (1) philosophy which Paul condemned, and (2) eastern religions. Yoga is recommended by many psychologists. They encourage stressed people to perform traditional Hindu worship to make their life easier. "Yoga" means "union" and Christians fail to ask a pertinent question: "Union with whom?" It is union between the self and Brahma. They don't care about having other gods besides God; they do what they wilt despite wat God wills. The same is true of self-love. They teach self-esteem, and God's will is Christ-esteem.
     Even Christians get angry when psychology is tested by scripture. They know that it fails the test, and that finding will invalidate their false belief that psychology helps.
     I had a chemistry teacher who convinced me that "good" things are not always healthy things. He brought me a ten-pond box of my favorite chocolates; and provoked me into eating until I was sick. He made a point; some things are good but their goodness disguises badness. Psychology operates in the same fashion. It's not Christianity which is the Marxist "opiate of the people" but the religion of psychology.
     Why babble? That's so people don't understand. When they say "transference" for instance, many of the ill-trained people merely think, That sounds impressive! It does because it is psychobabble. Righteous people at one time had one understandable language, and at Babel it was confounded. The philosophers of psychology still speak their own spiritual language which is meant to confound.
     This commentary condenses to, Who do you believe, the philosophers or God?

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. (Col 2:8).

     Never in my life have I seen so many confused people; those who listen to the vain philosophy of men. It seems that psychologists swell with pride as they diagnose spiritually sick people as merely out of balance with their own thinking. They teach that they can balance internal "forces" which they fail to mention is accepting the law of sin as supreme to the Law of God.  Being in union is psychological and spiritual; stretching for Brahma is taking a mocking knee to Jesus (Mat 27:29).
     I changed my field of learning because I tested psychological theory with biblical truth, and found it lacking. They know not their god but believe it to be themselves. Paul proclaimed to the early "psychologists" the known God. (Acts 17:23), and that He is Jesus. The question still remained? Were they persuaded? We don't know. Will you be persuaded by this commentary? Probably not because the truth is frightening; to find out that you trust wrong ideas is certainly out of your comfort zone. That "zone" is the wide path most taken.