Worst of the Worst: WOW Factor

Acts 8:1 "And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word."

"I'm too bad to be a Christian!" some say. Others think "Why waste my time praying for him. He's so bad that he'll never change!" And even others "Before I can get saved I need to clean up my act!" All these are lies that Satan spreads to diminish Jesus!

You see Jesus is King, but Satan is a Pretender to the Throne. Throughout history monarchies, which have kings, most of which are legitimate and of the royal blood line; and oftentimes, those who "pretend" to the throne because they are not legitimate heirs or not the designated heir.

Jesus is legitimate:

John 18:37 "Pilate therefore said unto him, 'Art thou a king then?' Jesus answered, 'Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice'."

Satan is an impostor:

2 Corinthians 4:4 " In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."

Satan then has two purposes (as discussed in an earlier commentary): 1) Prevent you from following Jesus, or 2) Destroy your faith in Jesus. When that notion comes into your mind "I'm too bad to be saved." or "He's too bad for salvation." That's what Satan wants you to think!

Now review Acts 8 above.  Saul, that's Paul, consented to the death of Stephen, God's disciple. And then from verse 3 "As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison."

Saul hated Christians. He was however, a Jew and a Pharisee. As such he believed in God yet hated God at the same time. Although Judaism awaits a Messiah, when he came, the Jews rejected him. The Pharisees were very religious. They were the first to criticize and persecute anyone who was a threat to their narrow view of tradition (the laws). Since Jesus claimed to be God, and did wonders which only God could do, they wanted to snuff out not only Christ, but any memory of Christ. Saul was the worst of the worst (The WOW).

The casual Christian in apostolic times would say "No way will Saul become a Christian. He's too hateful!" But nothing is too hard for God. Even after Saul was saved many of the apostles failed to accept him until others vouched for him!

Acts 9:20 "And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. 21 But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests? 22 But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ."

Saul had a transformation (commentary in a later blog). He changed from Saul to Paul, but that was a name only! He went from being a zealot in the persecution of Christians to being a zealot in telling others about Jesus. Before he denied God, then after his transformation, he taught that Jesus is God. You see Paul signified that Saul was a new creation. As a new person Saul changed. His name change was symbolic of his spiritual change. He went from WOW to BOB (best of the best), not in a human sense, but inside! His spirit changed. He now loved what once he hated!

People often say "I won't change for anybody. They'll have to accept me as I am!" Jesus does accept you as you are, but guess what?  When Jesus accepts those who submit they WILL CHANGE! If there is no change, one needs to reflect on their own sincerity. I suppose that Saul's thoughts were "I am a Jew, I won't change for Jesus." Then he changed and then he loved!

Some of us have been hard-hearted. We have been so sinful that Christians give up on us. My own Father prayed diligently and unceasingly for all his children. Some were harder than others. Jesus himself raised up Saul, who was the WOW. Jesus can change Saul, he can change _______ (fill in a name you ahve given up on). What's in it for that hard-hearted person? Love:

Luke 7:42 "And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? 43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged."

Paul became a zealot. His zealousness was a demonstration of his love  for Jesus. Why? Because Jesus forgave him the most. This, my friends, is the true WOW factor! That is when Jesus takes the WOW and wipes clean all the dirt. That old relic becomes the BOB! (The Gambler on "Storage Wars" has little idea what the 'WOW Factor" is all about!).

There is nothing too hard for God. There is no heart too hard for God:

Jeremiah 32:17 "Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee..."

Now for that person for whom you quit praying because "He's too far gone!" Go pray!

Bringing It All Together: The Old and New

Read Acts Chapter 7 in its entirety while focusing on these passages:

Acts 7:51  "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: 53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. 54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 55 But he (Stephen), being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God..."

"Bringing it all together" is "internal consistency". For any statement of scientific thought to be credible, the first test which is must pass is "Is it internally consistent?" Internal consistency, if there, is a measure of correlation between items of the same test. In layman's terms, "If items of the same test are in disagreement with other items, then the test is not internally consistent and is not a valid test." Philosophy is the same if it's indeed a science. Psychology is the same if it is to be a science. Specific philosophies and fields in both must also be internally consistent.

Internal consistency does not make a test valid or credible, it merely means that it doesn't make it's own argument against itself. Tests for validity in both philosophy and psychology by operationalization (applying quantities to measure when testing) are attempts to make religious thought scientific. Yes, both of those fields are "other religions" with others gods (both have an unknown go as Paul claimed; The "Self").

Psychology and philosophy are both dynamic. As scientists get new tools to study and do more studies, those religions change with time. Even if they are "internally consistent" they are not "eternally consistent?

Christianity IS "internally and eternally consistent"! Before we check for the former, let's first examine the latter. But before anything what is "the test"?

The Test of Scripture:

Test: The Bible is God's Word and is true, and truth is unchanging, everlasting and is never at odds with reality.

First off, the Bible, unlike other "philosophies" doesn't claim itself to be scientific in a sense that it's testable. God's word is all about faith, having hope in things unseen, thus outside this material universe.  The others are about measurements, but require much the same faith since it's not possible to prove a hypothesis, especially things they claim that happened eons ago or things which are in disagreement with science itself. Have you ever thought of that? Science is not internally consistent! Such inconsistencies are called "discontinuities" because they are not scientifically possible (ex: The Big Bang THEORY).

The purpose of this commentary is not to address what skeptics claim are internal inconsistencies on minute details. Theologians have aptly addressed most perceived "contradictions". The immediate intent is to demonstrate that the message of the Bible is consistent from cover to cover.

Because of an omniscient God and a unchanging God, the plan from Day One must be the same as the Plan for the Last Day. God had no Plan B. Since we know that THE PLAN is Jesus Christ, it was the same plan on Day One. An all-knowing God who claims perfection doesn't need alternate plans! With that said, Plan A is eternal.

Eternal Consistency:

Revelation 22:13 "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last."

Malachi 3:6a "For I am the Lord, I change not..."

Psalm 119:89 "For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven."

God has been around for ever and always will be. God is the same then as now and the words God spoke to prophets and apostles are the same and can never be rewritten! When one claims that "things are different now", first off "No they're not!" and secondly, knowing about the "changes" were part of God's plan!

Internal Consistency:

Scripture makes many claims. The first claim is that it is the very words of God!

 Jeremiah 1:9 "Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth."

Another claim is about truth itself:

 John 17:17 "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."

If you don't believe this verse, then your claim is "God is a liar!" Why read lies? Part of faith is that believing God is the ultimate truth! What the philosophers are still searching for "that unknown god", Paul proclaimed to them!  (Acts 17:23). The next thing about "the word" (scripture) is that it's God's words merely transcribed by men:

2 Timothy 3:16 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness..."

At the time of the apostles what was scripture? The Old Testament.  (OT). The OT was written by men inspired by God and it's right or truthful ("instruction in righteousness"). The New Testament (NT) is included in modern "scripture" and together they are called "canon". Canon is the incorporation of Christian writings which are "internally consistent". "Canon" are the measurement of what's truthful and is closed. It cannot be changed. (i.e, truth is a constant). Jewish writings have been incorporated into Christian canon because the OT is internally consistent with the coming of Christ!

Here is the tie between "God" and "Jesus", among many many:

1 Corinthians 8:6 "But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him."

Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."

 John 10:30 "I (Jesus) and my Father are one."

Jesus himself made the claim that he is indeed God. Paul said to the Corinthians that "all things" are from God and he said the same about Jesus, implying that they are identical. Then Paul told the Jews that Jesus (God) never changes! These statements validate the premise of this test! All scripture is all about God. All scripture is all about Jesus. On Day One it was Jesus who walked in the Garden and on the last day it's still Jesus who is firmly planted in the heavenly Garden! In between it's Jesus who lives in you! (Christians).

Judaism never existed! Scripture has always been about Jesus and the prophets  of old were Christians in that their faith was always in Jesus. As Christians, they received the Holy Ghost and it was he who inspired them! It was the Holy Ghost who the Jews always resisted (Acts 7:51b).

Stephen's last words were revealing God's Plan from the beginning until that point. Stephen was teaching the "internal consistency" of scripture! Stephen looked toward the heavens and he too was inspired by the Holy Ghost to see Jesus there at the right hand of God! This was the same vision which David had centuries previously!

Their fathers' always rejected the teachings about the Messiah which the prophets foretold as inspired by the Holy Ghost. Likewise, in Stephen's time and now, Christians (sic) reject the Holy Ghost.

Scripture shows that not only is all the scripture about Jesus, but the Holy Ghost was one of those from "created in OUR image". The Holy Ghost always was and just as Jesus has always been rejected, so has the Holy Ghost. The eternal existence of the Holy Ghost points toward the "eternal consistency" and the "internal consistency" of the scripture, old and new.

Stephen's role in scripture was to tell the Jews that the unknown God they claim to worship is now made known. Stephen spoke of consistency of Holy Scripture, that Jesus is the one Jews were always to have faith in, and that the Holy Ghost is the one who "comforted" them all those centuries!

After his mission was ended, Jews had a decision to make: "Do we accept truth or do we continue on with hardened skeptical hearts?" We all have that decision to make, but even today many Christians (sic) reject the Holy Ghost because to do so would make them Pentecostal "holy rollers"!

The Holy Ghost is "Emmanuel" (God With Us), just the same as Jesus was called! You see they are one and the same. We must honor the Holy Ghost because he is God who lives in those who accept him into their own living temple. As they make themselves "a living sacrifice" the soul is emptied and occupied by the Holy Ghost! If you don't believe in the Holy Ghost, your temple is empty!... or maybe it's filled with another spirit!

Stopping the Ears: Early Ray Barones

Acts 7:48 "Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, 49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? 51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears (the high priest and Jews) , ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.54 When they heard these things (about their own rejection of the Holy Ghost), they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 55 But he (Stephen), being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58a And cast him out of the city, and stoned him..."

The Holy Ghost didn't make his grand entrance at Pentecost! Some will say that is heresy! The Holy Ghost returned to Christians at Pentecost. He had been around for a really long time. However, from the time of Malachi to the time of Jesus was around 400 years, hence the "400 years of silence". All the prophets of the Old Testament were inspired of God (The Holy Ghost) to prophecy. After Malachi that all ceased!

Those who are inspired by God are guided by him. As an example consider the following:

Mark 12:36 "For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool."

David, filled with the same Holy Ghost of whom Stephen was filled saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God, just as Stephen did! In effect David was a Pentecostal before pentecost. From the second day of Passover until the celebration of the harvest was seven weeks. The following day of Pentecost made 50. Hence, "Pentecost".  It was "the day of firstfruits". It's when the best of the harvest was brought forth. Only this time it was God who brought the firstfruits; the return of the Holy Ghost!

There are twelve fruits of the spirit (Revelation 22:2). Scripture only names nine!

Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance..."

From scripture the Holy Ghost came of the day of Pentecost. That was the day of "first fruits". Could it be than the filling of the Holy Ghost was one of the twelve and that he preceded all the others? The Holy Ghost is power!

Acts 1:8a "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you..."

The Holy Ghost is power! And why do Christians need power? "To overcome the world!" (1 John 5:4).  It does make sense that the Holy Ghost himself is the first fruits who bears the other eleven fruits. His power does result in love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance! Surely "power" is the first fruit if the other fruits.

Now read from Acts (above) again. Considering that temple worship had been replaced by synagogues is part of the story. There were no longer "temples" in which the Holy Ghost dwelt. There was no building, for God was never there anyway (verse 48), and there were no human temples either. God's 400-year silence, was a short vacation for the Holy Ghost! It turns out that God never ever lived in the temple, but his is a cosmic kingdom. The Spirit of God isn't contained by walls, but dwells freely everywhere until new temple's are created in the hearts of men! David's "heart" was the temple of the Holy Ghost as were the prophets with whom God communed!

The Jews resisted the Holy Ghost as "their fathers did". This NT conversation validated that the Holy Ghost was the power on whom the OT patriarchs had faith! It's the same Holy Ghost who spoke for Moses so powerfully in the face of Pharoah as was the Holy Ghost spoke to so powerfully to people so they could understood in their own tongue. There are not two Holy Ghosts. He was there at the creation as well. He was one of whom God made man "in our image"!

In effect Pentecost was the filling of the souls of those who had faith in Jesus Christ with power: the power to love, be joyful, be peaceful, etc.! Because men weren't inspired for 400 years, souls had been empty up until the time of John the Baptist anyway. John had the Holy Ghost because he spoke with power and was inspired of God, being anointed before he was born!

Jesus was Fathered by God's Spirit, the Holy Ghost. I believe his soul was already filled at birth. Because he was filled meant that he could not be filled again (John 1:33). There it is said that the "Spirit descended and remained on him". Then immediately he resisted the devil" filled with the Spirit"! He was born powerful, and I suggest that the Holy Ghost came down and somehow energized that power that he had since birth. It would seem his baptism started a transformation which was enhanced at the transfiguration and finished after he had returned to his Father after the resurrection.

The Jews rejected the Holy Ghost as they had in the time of their fathers.  When confronted with the facts, they did what children do: 1) cried out, 2) stopped up their ears, and 3) persecuted Stephen. This is the M.O. of those in rebellion still today! When people who are wrong in their beliefs and actions are confronted, they cry out (usually with name-calling), stop up their ears (as they close their eyes and hum), and then get vicious! That is the M.O. of liberals today as they reject the truth about Jesus.

When facts (truth) fail those attacking, they always resort to these tactics. Why? Because they hate Jesus who says that he is the only way! They hate the Holy Ghost because he is the Power behind the name of Jesus and the power which makes people do God's will!

And what's all this got to do with Ray Barone? Not much! But that's how he behaves when Debra, his wife, tells him the facts! (Everybody Loves Raymond).

Spiritual Math

Wrong-doing adds up, but truth is not additive.

Some who are 90% truthful are not honest. They are 10% liars.

Two people who are 90% honest are not 180% honest. They're not even 100% honest!

Lies multiply. Sin adds!

Two people who are 90% honest are only 81% honest because when they come together each must defend their own by furthering the deception. 0.9 x 0.9 = .81 (x100) = 81%.

If a person is alone only "x" amount of lies need to be told to make the self feel secure. That x% appeases their idol, "the self", who is "fooled". That's called rationalizing. Rationalizing is cloaking the truth in excuses. It's the opposite of "justice" which is the revelation of truth.

When two people are together each has doubts about the other. Neither wants their true self revealed because their self-god is prideful. He (or she) desires to acts with integrity, but the "self" is not full of integrity. Some deceit lies within... always! It's the deceit that by definition must be hidden otherwise it's not deceit; it's flagrant lies. The "self" doesn't want any of the other gods to know that their god is deceitful, so each god lies to conceal the deceit that lies within. "2x" lies are forthcoming!

Therefore two 90% honest people who get together are 81% honest because more lies must be told to keep the deceit of each hidden from the other. Lies multiply and sin adds up! "Sin" is the pleasure of their god. One person has iniquity in their life and two people have two iniquities. Two are twice as bad as one, but to cover up that truth deceit is used. Two "selfs" who are each 90% truthful when they multiple by coming together are only 81% truthful.

"Good" is 100% honesty. It's even for those who admit that they have evil within. They do wrong, but are honest about it. Thence, they are 90% "good", but their confession makes them closer to good than without repenting.  Since "only God is good" he's 100% and that's called "righteous". God doesn't even have iniquity which he must confess. He is 100% good as Jesus said.

Since one is not on par with God we all have some percent "not good". Most people conceal the "not good" from everybody else so that they appear 100% good. Everybody knows that only God is 100% good and realize that those who fake 100% good are good liars. In fact their numerous lies to conceal what everyone already knows multiplies. Sin begets sin and sin adds up!

Whereas God is 100% truth and 100% good, each of our gods is much less than that. Because we each are imperfect, the world is in sin. All of us deceitful liars grow in number as sin becomes more acceptable. Billions of liars throughout the world makes this a sinful world. If we look at the "good" in each subject of the population, since it's multiplicative, the good in the world is null since even ,9 to the billionth power is as near zero as can be,

That makes sense since deceit it of the devil and the world is Satan's realm. Nothing in the world can save us because the world is essentially all bad. Therefore, we must turn to things "not of this world" for salvation! That's God. If we again do the math, we're not truly any good at all because we have all sinned. Even one sin is as if we sinned all of them. Therefore, we delude ourselves by even claiming to be 90%!  We fall short of that. God is glory. We don't approach his glory. We fall way short. As a humble person I admit "There is little 'good' in me since only God is "good". I'm not truly any god at all, but my pride builds me up.

An honest person will say "I fall way short!" Perhaps we are at .01 rather than .9. That's way short. Others are also at .01 and if we multiply the two then we have .01 x .01 = .0001  0.01%. We're much worse than we think and when two come together to deceive each other, we're really bad!

Let's give the benefit of the doubt. If one person tells the story what they say may be even 90% truthful. It's the worst lies they conceal so as not to appear to the audience as bad people. Nobody wants another to think bad of them since their god (the self) is a protective god who doesn't want to be toppled in the face of truth (read about Dagon; 1 Samuel 5). Therefore people lie so that their god won't be revealed as a fraud.

One person lies about another person to protect their "self". When confronted, the other person must protect his god too! Let's say that this second person is 90% honest too. He tells mostly truth, but conceals the bad parts which might make it appear that his god is weak!

When both are brought together and each confronted with the untruths of their alibi's, the more honest will confess. That's not human nature, though, and each tells more untruths to protect his (or her god). Rather than having 90% x 2 truth, we have that 81% or less! That's how lies multiply, and that's not what God meant when he said "go forth and multiply"!

I protect my "self" when my inner self is in danger of being exposed. I can protect me from others, but God is another story. In the presence of God, Dagon toppled. When I am in the presence of God my self-protection is revealed. My priest (me) is a false prophet. God knows that this priest protects a false idol because we all idolize ourselves. You have the same mechanism to protect your god because we are all sinners. God topples my 'self'.

God can topple our Dagons. When we fall, we are prostrate to God. That 90% truthful god has fallen. It may as well be only 1% truthful because it's deceit is exposed. It's a pretender god. However, while we're on our knees to the True God, if we're sorrowful and contrite, we do what we have to do! We say "God, my god is a fraud. I'm sorry for the pedestal I have placed it upon. Please accept me in my humanity because I am no god!"  Then God lifts the humbled"self" and says "I accept your living sacrifice. That's all you have to do!" Then as our god, the old creation, returns to the dust, a new creature emerges who no longer worships "the self".

What we now have is 100% - 0% = 100%. That's good math! What that means is that our "0" good is covered by God's 100% good until we are covered 100%. It's the blood spilled by Jesus which makes us 100%, but no "effort" is in the equation. What we do is not added into what God does because that would be erecting our "god of self" again. Our part is 0%. God's is 100%. The difference is a gift to us called "grace".

Satan doesn't like that! He uses modern math, actually the old math reinvented. He says 100% + 0% is not 100%. You must add in something to make it add up. That's "works". "But", you say, "I want to give God 100%:. You can do that. That's how you show love, but it's not in the equation which saves. It's extra credit for a crown in heaven some day!

Satan also says "God's math is wrong!" God doesn't make you 100% "good". You've still got bad in you and he ignores it because, after all, you're not really a "god". You're human. You say "That's true! I just treated myself as a god. My god is capable of doing wrong." Then because Satan tells you that you can still sin and be covered 100%, that you can go ahead and sin.

We listen and do that. However at some time, since sin multiplies, we forget about God being 100% and make him 1% or even 0%. Satan's old math still works too and we have 0% divided by 100% is 0%. God's still there, but he's at the bottom now and out of mind. We give 0% and are lost to infinity. That's called apostasy!

Scripture speaks of  two who are in disagreement and come together in the presence of two more with witnesses:

Matthew 18:16 "But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established."

This is the process that new math is made traditional!  We take two Christians who are being 90% truthful and put them out for others to evaluate. Knowing that Christian  brothers who are aided by the Holy Spirit aren't easily lied to nor fooled, the intent is to motivate honesty.

Tradition math is 1 x 1 = 1 ! One hundred percent truth from each gives 100% truth. The Holy Ghost has a constant which motivates each Christian to truth. It''s called "guilt". Guilt is added to dishonesty to make one more truthful. The goal is to:

.9 x .9 + 1/G = 1 "G" (guilt) is in the denominator because guilt causes the truth to be more forthcoming!

When two people who have disagreements want to get it resolved, and Christians must seek that, then they go to two other people of integrity to make the math right. "G" exposes what we have concealed (under the divisor) and we two become whole (1). That's unity in Christ and is "good" math.

For the math to work, the witnesses are not to judge. Chances are they are less than 90% truthful themselves. They must understand that no one is a perfect "1" except God. The intent is to reform, not convict!

Truth is God's will and one who seeks truth is made whole! That''s unity with God and that's unity with our brother. Anythings less is the devil's doing and he is constantly throwing random numbers into the equation to disrupt the true answers.

Angel Face

Acts 6:15 "And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his (Stephen's) face as it had been the face of an angel."

Stephen had an aura about him. He was truly filled with the Holy Ghost! Stephen fully realized something few did in apostolic times, and proportionately few realize even today: "Scripture is all about Jesus!" Scripture, at that time, was the Law, poetry and prophecy. When Stephen's face beamed, the next thing he did was relate all the actions of the patriarchs to the coming of Jesus. Stephen was telling the doubters who professed belief in scripture "What you believe about God missed the point entirely!"

Stephen had an epiphany. The Holy Ghost revealed to him "the mystery of Christ". I have written on that "mystery" twice recently: The Mystery of God: The Mystery of Christ and Everybody Loves a Mystery.  Stephen then told about it!

An "epiphany" is "a sudden and striking realization." (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Let me tell the reader of my epiphany:

I was making my weekly drive to Michigan from Indianapolis on business, thinking about Abraham and his willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac. All of a sudden I realized the significance of his willingness to do this awful thing to please God! That's right! My previous thought was that it was terrible that God would ask Abraham to do such a dire thing and merciless of Abraham's willingness to do the cruel deed! (Please read Genesis 22).

God tested Abraham! Abraham passed the test. He was willing to sacrifice his "only son" and because he was willing to, Abraham had faith in God! In the New Testament "the faith of Abraham" is the standard for the Christian! My epiphany, however, was not about a test of faith, but that Abraham's sacrifice of "his only son" was symbolic of God's sacrifice of his ownly son, Jesus! Not only was it symbolic, but archaeologists believe that Mt. Moriah was the same place as cavalry! I asked myself "Why didn't anyone ever tell me this before? Why haven't preachers ever preached this?"

My epiphany resulted in a method of standardized study. I no longer merely read scripture; I asked "What does this have to do with Jesus?" All the Old Testament has something to do with Jesus! That's what the entire Bible is about! My face lit up! I was illuminated. Because the Holy Ghost revealed to me the mystery of Christ, I had seen the proverbial "light". Now, I write. My blog is because I'm an "angel", not in behavior, but in the sense that I'm a messenger (what an angel does).

Stephen went on to present his message. He made a parallel to the Jews between Judaism and the faith of who were to be called "Christians". The mystery of which he told was that the patriarchs all had faith in the Messiah, that salvation was for everyone and it was always by faith! That's why his face shined! He knew the mystery and was about to share it! Jews were saved as a result of the apostle's revealing the "mystery of Christ" to them.

Most of what I write is to reveal the mystery to modern Christians. It seems to have been forgotten over the years that salvation has always been through faith in Jesus and is available for everyone! The patriarchs have greater faith than we do (the faith of Abraham, Noah, Moses, etc) because they believed in "what will happen" whereas we believe in "what did happen". Who has "the greater faith"?

Romans 4:16 "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all..."

Grace was for those "of the Law" and it's the same for those who have faith, just like Abraham had! What was "the faith of Abraham"? He realized that because God would sacrifice his only son for the salvation of mankind, that Abraham was willing to do the same as what God would do! Abraham was willing to do it, but God actually did it! Abraham had faith in the sacrifice of Jesus for the sins of mankind and that was the  way and only way anyone ever was or ever will be saved!

Acts 4:12 "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name (Jesus) under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

Luke didn't say "Before Jesus came." or make any exceptions at all! Salvation is and was by Jesus and Jesus only! Believing in God the Father is not even sufficient because his son and his sacrifice for our sins is ignored! Abraham was in heaven when Lazarus died. It was by Jesus' name and blood that Abraham resides with God yet today!

Stephen knew that, and as an "angel", that was the message he spilled in Acts Chapter 7!

Visualize the end from the start

"Beginning" is eternal and cyclic for each moment is a new beginning, and it never ends!

This quote (first said here) is truth. There are many beginnings, but no end... ever! You might quote scripture to dismiss the point, but that's not what it means:

Revelation 1:8 "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."

"I am" is who God IS. He is without a name in the true sense of the word; he just IS and has always been! He's called "God" for our benefit.

  Exodus 3:14  "And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you."

In essence God is saying because "I AM", I am reality (I Am That I Am).  Because God is with us, that validates his existence, God doesn't need for us to call him a formal name. After all, since he's "The One True God", how many others are there? None! We don't have to distinguish between Gods because there are no other Gods!

You might say "Well, God commanded that we have no other gods before him! (Exodus 20:3) .There must be others!" Not so! God refers to himself as elohiym in the Hebrew. He also refers to other gods using the same word. It's the context which distinguishes between "true God" and pretenders. Translators distinguish between Gods using a capital "G" for the One True God and small "g" for all the others who are not true.

Elohiym (Elohim) is the name the Hebrew people called  El. Elohim is plural, not that there are multiple Gods, but that there are three aspects of God who theologians call the Trinity (the Godhead), and refer to the three aspects as "persons". (I believe that the concept of "persons" is what confuses people about the Trinity. It sounds as if there are three people, since persons designates "beings". God is one "being"! He is "I Am" with "am" defined as "present first person singular of 'be'." (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). God is saying "I Am because I Be", designating himself as a "being", not multiple beings!

Incidentally Jesus referred to himself when he walked in water as:

Matthew 14:27 (YLT) "...and immediately Jesus spake to them, saying, `Be of good courage, I am [he], be not afraid.'"

Jesus called himself "I Am" "eimi ego" transliterated from the Greek.  This is better than saying "My name is God" because he was merely CALLED Jesus and Immanuel (God With Us).  Like He said to Moses: "I Am".  Jesus is "I Am" as God is "I Am' because Jesus IS "I Am"! Jesus is "I Am" in the flesh and is the same One who spoke to Moses. (See John 1).

No let's go back to the Hebrew word transliterated as El. Elohim is the plural. El means "Strong One". "God" is not His name. God is the Hebrew JHVH (English characters for the Hebrew) which means "to be". Thinking back at what was said before, "to be" means "I Am"! From JHVH comes  the Latinized word "Jehovah". Jehovah is not God's name for he has no name. It means merely that "He Is".

Since, we're not to use God's name in vain, it's the names which we have given him that we're not to use without reverence. His mere existence is enough to warrant not be frivolous!

"I Am" means he "is". God had no beginning. He just always "was"! God has no end either. He always "will be". Therefore, there was never a time when God wasn't and there never will be a time when God isn't!

From the viewpoint of God, "beginning" has no meaning. For us it began with God:

Genesis 1:1 (YLT) "In the beginning of God's preparing the heavens and the earth --"

The KJV is not as clear.  "In the beginning" was not God's beginning, but it's the beginning of matter. Before matter, what existed was boundless never-ending "nothingness" along with God. (Oh, how lonesome God must have been!)

Therefore, for mankind, there was a "beginning"! It's when Adam was created. Our individual beginning is abstract! I know what you're thinking! "It's at birth!" How wrong that is!

Jeremiah 1:5 (I Am speaking)  "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee (Jeremiah); and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."

We existed as "beings" before we were ever born, according to God. This is reinforced by the spiritual communion between John the Baptist and Jesus while each was in the womb! (Luke 1:41). Therefore, a trait of human beings is our person-hood in the womb. When does "personality" or person-hood start? It commences with the other systems of the body. Person-hood starts at conception! Most orthodox Christians believe life has sanctity and exists at fertilization when each system of the body begins to develop. At birth the baby has personality and systems which are in proportion to each other and support one another. That's the norm!

Now let me exercise that brain which God gave you to use! Females are born with one to two million immature eggs. One of those eggs became you. God planned your existence in your mother when she was born! Think on this! Not only did God know you in your mother's womb, but he planned you in your grandmother's womb for that is "you" when he "placed" the egg that would be you. Using iteration in this manner, God knew you in the beginning! Hence, I contend that your beginning was with the creation of Adam and Eve!

Do you think that's far-fetched? God promised Abraham that Jesus was to be his own seed 42 generations before Jesus was ever born! Furthermore, God planned the physical birth of Jesus when he cursed the serpent! (Genesis 3:15).

So you thought that "you" began at birth! How gullible you are! That's why we're all special! We were born in the image of God (remember who God "Is"):

Genesis 1:26 (YLT) ' And God saith, `Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness..."

"Our" needs some further explaining! We know that "The Word" (called Jesus after he was incarnated; John 1) was with God in the beginning. Two of the three of "Ours" is at least "The Word" and "I Am".  Because of who God "Is" (Spirit) it would appear that mankind was made in the pattern of God: Mind, Body and Spirit (of which the soul is the cup). I contend that with his foreknowledge that we were made in the physical image of Jesus, not the other way around! God knew in advance how Jesus would be constructed and we are an image or shadow of him, not the other way around. (Bursting your bubble!)

My point is this; God knew what I would look like when Adam and Eve were created. He knew what you would look like. Not only that, but God knew your mind and spirit  back on Day One! God didn't wait until you were born. His is truly "planned parenthood" and because he loves you, that makes you special! Special people (or God's creatures) should never be destroyed. It's man's attempt to put asunder what God has made!

The reason we were created was for ETERNAL communion with God! That means there is no end! We are for his pleasure and his love. When Adam was raised from the clay, I was raised up with him and so was you! God had joy in his creation, being an excellent craftsman. However, he had to make a tough choice: Were we to be automatons who blindly followed how he programmed us, or would we be loosed without a defined path? In his wisdom, God didn't want mere followers; he wanted love! Love is not a resource to be programmed. It's a cause and effect relationship for us. We love God because he first loved us! (from 1 John 4:19). He was the pattern for us. God patterns love for us and it was from the beginning!

If we love God, it's because he did something for us! God died for us. It wasn't anybody else on the cross, but God himself. "I Am" made the sacrifice "I Did" is what he was for us! Don't think of Jesus as another person or even another being! It was God who died on the cross experiencing the same emotions which we experience. We were made in his image. He felt our pain just as we do because we were made in his image.

I have made my point: "We have a beginning, but it was with God's initial plan... to make me in his image... and you!" Our beginning was when Adam was made flesh. That's when I believe that the person who I would be was assigned a soul, being made in God's image. At that time, God had a plan for me!

I saw a quote today: "...Visualize the end from the start." (Nabil M. Jamal). It was on a sign at the high school. God had a plan. He visualized it from the start. It was for him to have company for eternity. What God saw from the start was eternal life for his creation! His "view" of us was that we would live forever. We, created in His image, will never end!

John 3:15 "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."

"The end" which God visualized at "the start" was that there would be no end! When I was "born-again", from this "new start" I had this vision "There will be no end!"Wise men would say "Visualize 'no end' from the new start!"

On the flip-side, there is "no end" for everybody! If unbelievers think "This life is all there is!" what they see at the end is "nothing". With a view of nothing at the end, they never start. Those who have a faulty view of eternity, are never born again. As such they never get to the starting line! Why worry about the finish with nothing to motivate? Because there is an "end" for non-starters. It's eternal death. It's not "death" from a deterministic standpoint, but a living death... FOREVER.

Before I got to the starting line I looked at what I thought would be "the end". There was no ending in sight. I would face eternity! What turned my mind's eye is a fiery hell in isolation. I looked upon eternal life and said "That's my hope!" I visualized "the end" and that motivated me "to start". The hope I visualized at the start was that there would be no end!

1 Thessalonians 5:8 "But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation."

It's "hope" I saw at the starting line and I'm running a great race because God is my trainer! Way to go God! You have a great plan!

Charity to Others

Acts 6:1 "And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.
3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.
7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

We learned earlier that there were three factions of Jews in Judea. Hellenists, or Greek speaking and influenced Jews, traditional Hebrews and common Hebrews, consisting of the majority of the Jewish people. The "Grecians" were the elite of the population. They were highly educated and controlling. Because of their distance from Athens, they were the most refined, but in this "barbarian" culture, they could be generalized as "those who know best". Their murmuring against the Hebrews was class warfare. Their accusation is that these apostles care little for the plight of others, niot even taking care of their own widows.

It is to be noted that the Grecians were Jews as well. However, they were secular Jews! They made no attempt to help the widows themselves, but pressured the Hebrew leaders to do so. This can be viewed in two ways: 1) It was bad because they weren't generous themselves, or 2) It was good because there were needs that needed to be met! The outcome was the right thing to do: The Sanhedrin didn't legislate taxes and entitlements, but the Hebrews agreed with the need and took care of it themselves without further ado.

Caring for those burdened became a hallmark of Christianity:

James 1:27 "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit (look out for) the fatherless and widows in their affliction (hardship), and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

The pure Christian does two things: takes care of the unfortunate and does the will of God! These two things can be summarized by "Love God and love others!" It's fulfilling the Greatest Commandment.

"Loving others" is "doing for others"! Part of the requirement, we find elsewhere, is the test for need. Obviously, those who can do for themselves would not need help. Even young widows were to support their own families! Christians just need to be discerning in identifying those with true need so that those less needy do not rob the needs of the afflicted!

Deacons were established to run the business of the church. Part of their job description was to procure help for the hardships of others and make the distribution to those in need. It's an important job and had qualifications: "honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom" (verse 3). In effect, these seven were co-ministers whose job was more to minister than to preach! The apostles were to pray for them and to teach them scripture, hence establishing a relationship which still exists unto this day!

As a gesture of unity the apostles "laid their hands on them" as they prayed. (verse 6). As a result of their love and charity their numbers multiplied, even Hebrew priests sensing their love were converted and Stephen was empowered to work miracles.  There is power in love!

There is no mention of any selfish apostles here nor mean-spirited apostles. They were one in the Spirit. The hallmark of Christianity and the work of the Holy Spirit is being of one accord!

Why doesn't the church grow today? It's because of lack of love between Christians, divisions among them, dissensions, hard-heartedness, selfishness, pride, and non-scriptural priorities. The Holy Ghost doesn't come on Christians who are at odds with one another. That grieves me and should you as well!

The lack of charity within the church clarifies why (unlike the priests of this era) people don't want to be a part of the church!

Our ministry, when we had the best blessing, was when I was still working. Our role was to befriend new people coming to the church After one time, the second time they came, we would take them out to dinner on us. It was a sacrifice for us and charity to them. We have made many new friends and have been blessed. Loving people is as important as loving Jesus because loving others is how we demonstrate our love for Jesus.

On the flip-side, those who aren't charitable to others are not loving Jesus! "Charity" is more than giving money or goods; it's loving even the unlovable! Loving and charity isn't an option. It's an obligation because Jesus commanded it!

What do Christians need to do? We need to CHANGE. We're supposed to be "new persons" yet the "old person" is what the "Grecians" (the world) sees! It is time for a change and it's us who must!