Destroyed for a Lack of Knowledge

We are living in an interesting period of time which has been unknown to the many generations which has come before. It seems like a new Dark Age is upon us where traditional Bible-based Christianity is systematically being phased out by a more progressive liberal spin, by Social Justice Crusaders trying to meld Christianity with academic racial philosophy, or by evangelical atheism. Where are the voices of Bible-believing Christians in a time like this? It seems like too many Christians are either hiding or compromising at alarming rates. On my social media feeds, I receive constant links to blog posts about how the old ways of Christianity are either too harsh or too hateful for different groups to bear. It seems the Word is not as important as the feelings of individuals.

A Psalm of God's Brilliance Seen within His Creation

My heavenly Father, the omnipotent Creator, 

whose thoughts on all of the Earth are equal with your machinations? 

You have stretched out the firmament in equations 

and, in formulas, you have developed the processes of life. 

In Your wisdom, oh Lord, You have written the genetic codes

and in Your understanding You have set the universal constants. 

Humanity thinks himself to be something

and attempts to imagine a cosmos without Your intelligence;

yet, does mankind not know 

that he follows the same rules You have set up to govern physical existence? 

 The microscopic complexities speak to Your brilliance, 

the vastness of the universe speaks to Your magnificence. 

Oh Lord, there is no scientist on Earth 

who exhibits intellectual abilities comparable to Your knowledge. 

You have designed creation in a form of completion 

but human design must start from the inception of an idea.

Oh heavenly Father,You deserve constant recognition. 

You have created the human mind with the ability to understand mathematics.

You deserve the utmost respect.

You have blessed humanity with a comprehension of biology. 

Thank you Father for the mercy you have bestowed upon Your creation.

May you always be praised.  

   

Condemnation Theology: An Enemy of Christian Preparation

Part 3 in a 3 Part Series...

Part 1: There Comes a Time in a Person's Life...

Part 2: Oh How the Mighty Have Fallen!

It might seem peculiar to think that the doomed history of the first century Church and the bleeding of youth from the Christian culture have anything in common, but all will soon become clear. I mentioned in part one of the series that many parents and youth groups fail to cause their young to embrace a Christian identity due to a lack of preparation in both a knowledge of God’s Word and a development of a living, breathing relationship with the Heavenly Father. Throughout this article, we will explore the relationship aspect and the role condemnation plays in stunting our ability to see ourselves as children of God.

Oh How the Mighty Have Fallen!

Part 2 in a 3 Part Series 

Part 1: There Comes a Time in a Person's Life...

What do I mean by singling out a Christian zeal for the Law as a problem? Well, that and the condemnation of Christians which followed suit with such a doctrine led to the downfall of the first century Church. We see the beginnings of this downfall in Acts 15.

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. –Acts 15:1-2

There Comes a Time in a Person's Life...

Part 1 in a 3 Part Series...

There is no question that the Church is facing dire circumstances with today’s youth. No matter how one looks at it, it is estimated that between 59% (Barna Group, 2013) and 70% (Stetzer, 2014) of young adults leave the faith right out of high school. Whether they come back to the Church is irrelevant to the fact that we tend to lose these precious individuals during one of the most pivotal moments in their lives. Psychosocial development as outlined by Erik Erikson defines the crisis of individuals between the ages of 12 and 18 years as identity vs. role confusion (McLeod, 2008). During this stage of development, McLeod (2008) observes of adolescents, “They explore possibilities and begin to form their own identity based upon the outcome of their explorations. Failure to establish a sense of identity within society (‘I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up’) can lead to role confusion.” Obviously, something is not clicking in the Church which is translating into a youth whose Christian role becomes confused between the ages of 18 and 19. This youth, in turn, cannot resist the lure of the big words and temptations perpetuated by the evangelical atheist crowd.

God's Leadership in the Old Testament: A Loving Manager

Part 1: The Many Warnings of Zedekiah

Part 2: Humanity's Disobedience

What many individuals do not understand is that God was practicing the art of progressive discipline in management thousands of years before text books ever described the process. The act of progressive discipline as outlined by Heathfield (2014) is as follows: counseling or oral warning, verbal warning in employee’s file, suspension, and termination. Fallon and McConnell (2014) further add that documentation is key throughout the whole process to ensure a successful and legal process of discipline.

God's Leadership in the Old Testament: Humanity's Disobedience

Check out Part 1: The Many Warnings of Zedekiah

I like to call the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, the books of warning because they are filled with warnings against the kings and the people of Judah and Israel of what was about to befall them and even through all of this, God supplied a way to escape the fate he was foretelling through His prophets.

Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. –Isaiah 5:25

God's Leadership in the Old Testament: The Many Warnings of Zedekiah

Richard Dawkins once wrote in his The God Delusion (2006), “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it…” I apologize for alluding to this man however unpleasant his views are, but he seems to be the self-appointed poster boy for all arguments against Christianity in this modern era. In 100 hundreds, if Christ has not returned yet, another man will be appointed by the adversary to do exactly the same as Dawkins does today and one constant will still remain, the Word of God.

Who Really are the Intolerant Ones?

“Many times, I have found atheists to be more tolerant than Christians.” Does this sentiment sound familiar? Chances are it does due to the fact that almost every Christian has said the statement at one time or another. I know exactly why we do too. It can be said to show solidarity with the unbeliever telling them we know we have some problems in the Church, it can come after a talk about intolerance (i.e. the Westboro Baptist Church, abortion clinic bomber) where we don’t know how else to defend our viewpoint, or we may say it because we know an atheist or agnostic who doesn’t seem so bad and we don’t want to rile him or her up. No matter the reason we state that atheists are more tolerant, it can be one of the most dangerous and damaging statements we can ever make.

Using the Title of God in the Trivialization of Humanity

Humans have a tendency to call anything greater then themselves god or a god. Just about every force of nature has gotten the god treatment: the sun, moon, Earth, wind, etc. If it was mysterious, powerful, and huge to the ancients, it was a god or had a god attached to it. In the modern world, humanity still has this tendency and we see it a lot in in fiction. For example, Superman and other superheroes are routinely called gods in comic books and, cases in point, the inspiration for this article, Godzilla. In the King of the Monster’s new self-titled movie, an explanation of his name suggests that he is something of a god to us because of Godzilla’s immense power. Even humans themselves are not immune to being called gods, as we tend to pin the title on very talented individuals (i.e. metal god, guitar god).

While the term god might have been bandied about quite a bit in the previous paragraph, the point is that the word is very commonly used in trivial matters which results in a big problem. Additionally, I believe the devil has intentionally encouraged the use of the term throughout human history to destroy its overall meaning. The Word of God tells us there are two gods in this universe. “Two? I thought there was only one?” is something you are probably asking. Well, let’s take a look in the Bible, shall we?

First the Word proclaims the name of Yahweh, Jehovah, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ:

One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. –Ephesians 4:6

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; -2 Corinthians 1:3

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: Deuteronomy 6:4

The second god is our horrible, evil, and despicable adversary, satan:

 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. -2 Corinthians 4:4

Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: -Ephesians 2:2

The important thing to note is that both God almighty and, shall I say it, the devil are more powerful than anything man routinely identifies as a god or goddess. This is exactly why satan likes to beguile humanity and perpetuate the use the word because its utilization causes three things: it limits God, understates the devil’s power, and trivializes humanity. That last point might surprise you because you might be thinking that the physical person is helpless in the spiritual battle of good against evil, but we will cover that point in just a bit.

The common use of god limits the most high, almighty God in our society because he is associated with any person, thing, or character which happens to be seen as more than human. However, He is much more powerful than we can ever imagine.

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. –Isaiah 40:21

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! –Romans 11:33

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? –Numbers  23:19

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. -1 Corinthians 1:25

I could go on forever in His Word, but I think you have caught a glimpse of God’s matchless power. Superman or the moon does not hold a candle to the awesome power, wisdom, and majesty God, the Creator of the heavens and the Earth, has displayed and continues to show even as we speak. In fact, He warns that humans would worship His creation rather than His almighty hand.

And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. –Romans 1:23-25

Does this not sound like antiquity, who attached a god to any force of nature and worshipped it?

The second god is not even close to the power of the First most High, however he merits mentioning because of his power over the natural man. A physical human not born again of the incorruptible seed under God cannot hold a candle to the power and deceit with which the tempter tempts.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: -1Peter 5:8

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. –Revelation 12:9

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? –Isaiah 14:12,16-17

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: -John 10:10

As we see, the devil is evil and a great deceiver, he has destroyed kingdoms and men alike through his beguilements and temptations. Humanity has no equal with the devil; however, new life given to us through God’s Son Jesus Christ, gives us the upper hand as it says in 1 John 4:4, “Greater is He [Christ in you, the Hope of glory], than he [the devil] that is in the world.”

The third point of the trivialization of humanity might seem weird but it is very prescient. The devil has done a good job of hiding the power even the basic person has to control his way on the Earth. Have you ever wondered about something that you have greatly feared which has befallen you just as you “knew it would” or have you ever received something that you concentrated on and just “knew you would get?” Well, each episode is no coincidence and is actually the subject of The Secret. In The Secret, secular philosophers and physicists ponder the reality of “what you believe you will receive.” They call this principle the Law of Averages.

Though to the Christian, this law of averages should not be a secret at all because Jesus Christ and Paul described this concept many times in what is known throughout Christianity as the Law of Believing.

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. –Mark 9:23

Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.  –Matthew 21:21-22

And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith [believing]? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. –Matthew 8:26

 Now faith [believing] is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. –Hebrews 11:1

Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. –Philippians 4:6

What is the point Philippians 4 is trying to make about asking God with thanksgiving? It is to show us we are thanking Him that we have already received what we are asking for demonstrating belief for our desires to come to pass. What is amazing is that these preceding verses point out that believing is one of the main tenets of human existence yet almost nobody, Christian or otherwise, knows much about it. Believing encompasses everything we do, great fear can manifest in horrible things happening in our lives while positive believing can give us all the desires of our hearts.

Another thing to realize is that the law of believing applies not only to the Christian but to all of humanity. Jesus Christ was not talking to Christians (He couldn’t because He hadn’t died and rose again yet) when He was talking about believing. Hebrews 11 contains a whole collection of believers before Christ who were not Christians. However, our salvation gives us access to a whole reality of faith that the natural man is not privy to.

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. –Mark 16:16-18

Calling men and those things slightly better than human god helps to destroy the whole notion that humanity has a stake in this spiritual battle through believing.

Putting God Back Into the Equation

As students of the Word of God, we receive many disparaging remarks about our precious Holy Bible. I can’t tell you how many times individuals have approached me, telling me how man alone wrote the Bible and use the fact that there are countless extraneous books left out to fit an agenda of modern Christianity. The Gospel of Judas, Thomas, Mary Magdalene, Jehoiakim, or whatever person is the flavor of the week in scholarly circles, are constantly brought up as being withheld from apocrypha. Academically, the argument against many of these works can be found in Gnosticism from the mid to late second century, Saint Jerome, or any other historical points. However, one place from which we never seem to argue is that of God’s involvement in dispersion of His Word. All too often, God is taken out of the Biblical equation altogether.

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. -2 Peter 1:21 

So, according to His own Word, God is responsible for telling His men what to write. If this is the case, why isn’t God brought up in more Biblical authorship debates? I think many times we humans think on a solely physical plane and can sometimes forget about God’s point of view. Arguing from the perspective that God has decided what books should stay and go in His own Word, might seem like a counterproductive argument against atheistic sentiments. This perspective is not counterproductive because atheists and agnostics argue from purely naturalistic and humanistic positions. Why can’t we as children of the ultimate spiritual Force in the universe argue from spiritual perspectives? Let’s stop taking God out of the equation.

God Will Never Give Us More Than We Can Handle Unless We Want to Go It Alone

I came across a blog post while perusing my facebook news feed: God Will Give You More Than You Can Bear. While the blog post eventually makes it to a point of placing our cares on God, one issue really irked me. The title is a play on 1 Corinthians 10:13 which the author mentions in her blog. 

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. -1 Corinthians 10: 13

The author goes on to say that this verse is talking about escaping from temptations so that we can bear them, but she totally misses the first part of the verse, “but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able,” which is where we get the sentiment of God not giving us more than we can handle. When the going gets tough, it is easy to throw out the Word you don’t agree with. It really comes down to whether you think God is a liar or not because He clearly says He will not suffer us to be tempted above which we are able.

We see in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 how people will bend the Word to say what they want to hear:

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.  

The itching ears in this passage refer to individuals who will make doctrines that are comfortable to them. This is not the Word but the doctrines of men. In light of the subject of bearing temptations, the next verse in 2 Timothy 4 is very interesting. 

But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. -2 Timothy 4:5 

It is quite amazing that the next verse in 2 Timothy refers to enduring afflictions because it is within afflictions and tribulations we are most prone to changing the Word to fit our “reality.” Another interesting fact of this verse is that it is a command to us. There are many commands laid out by God in His Word. Some examples include:

Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you. -1 Peter 5:7

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. –Proverbs 3:6

Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. –Philippians 4:6

Every one of these verses is a command for us to go to our Heavenly Father for help.  1 Corinthians 10:13 states, “but God is faithful…” The word “faithful” implies that He is honoring effort placed by another party, the Christian. He is faithful to those who cast their cares upon God, acknowledge Him in all their ways, or are anxious for nothing. All too often, we as Christians want to believe that God should come to our level and handle our problems with no effort from us; then, at the same time we like to blame God for not handling said problems when we do not place our worries upon Him and ask Him for help. One thing we need to understand is that God cannot overstep free will. If His child wants to bear the full burden of a problem, then who is He to argue. We need to apply the rightly divided Word to realize that if we are having experiences that we feel are too much to bear then we are not casting our care upon God. We always need to remember that God is never the problem. The problem is our human inclinations.

Check out God is Not Down With The Sickness for more on God’s love versus the devil’s desire to destroy us.     

God, Time Travel, and the Multi-verse.

It’s the New Year yet again and the concept of time is a very present issue with depictions of Father Time and talk of starting over by not wasting minutes fulfilling a resolution or two. This brings to mind other questions of chronology like the idea of time travel. Movies and books have pondered these questions and told great stories concerning this very inquiry. In reality, the theoretical science involved in such a concept is enough to make a person’s head explode and mine has almost on a few occasions. When I was younger and trying to write science fiction, I remember attempting to come up with scenarios involving characters who travelled back in time but I would run into the basic problem that I want to present today. Would God ever allow humans to travel into the past?

As Christians, we believe in a God who created and set universal constants like gravity and the speed of light for governing all sorts of physical forces with the whole universe fitting in the palm of His hand. To God one day is as one thousand days while the human lives within the ticks of a second. I have a hard time believing that a God this powerful would ever let the imperfection of humanity touch the space-time continuum.

Another issue brought up through time travel is the problem of paradox such as the infamous grandfather paradox. The grandfather paradox concerns the notion of a person travelling into the past and killing his or her grandfather preventing the birth of the time traveler. Preventing one’s own birth is an impossibility and has initiated many theories concerning its solution. However, the Word addresses the role impossibility plays in human reality. 

But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.  –Matthew 19:26

According to this verse, men and women do not reside inside the realm of the impossible and therefore lack the ability to create time paradoxes. Another problem with paradoxes and time travel is a lack of free will. If humans are able to travel to the past, how is any decision we make freely chosen when we could possibly change the outcome. The lack of free will is an anti-Biblical view and thus cannot coexist within Christian belief. 

A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.  – Proverbs 16:9

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.  – Joshua 24:15

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. –Romans 12:2 

God makes it plain in His Word that humans choose their own paths through free will whether it be the will of God or not. This notion also puts to rest any ideas of parallel universes because if each choice is made by a different version of oneself in another universe than what does each decision matter in the long run? Additionally, parallel universes would contain timelines where men of God did not act according to what the Word described intricately paving the way for the birth of His Son and the ultimate redemption through Christ Jesus. So, the next time you see or read a science fiction story using time travel or parallel universes as plot devices know that it is only fiction and something the God would never allow.

Atheist Assault on Christmas: They've Lost the Battle and the War.

It’s that time of year again. No, it’s not the time to increase your giving and spread Christmas cheer. Well, actually it is that time of year and please let’s be jolly, be giving, and be spreading our Christmas cheer. Though, I am really talking about the annual assault on Christmas from the militant evangelistic atheist crowd. Idiotic organizations like the Military Religious Freedom Foundation try to remove any nativity scene in military bases they can find, while the American Atheists organization is erecting billboards advocating the removal of Jesus Christ from “Christ”mas. The argument has been made countless times that the removal of Christian influence and tradition from state institutions in the name of religious freedom really is combining church and state into an atheistic fundamentalism. This is an argument I agree with wholeheartedly and I want to take it a little step further and say that it is quite perplexing the atheist hatred of all things Christian when they are probably the best students of Christian evangelistic ideology and strategy. I actually go as far as saying, “If it wasn’t for us Christians, there would be no atheists.” 

Wait, what?! No way this could be true. Aren’t militant atheists the enemy of anything to do with Jesus Christ? I would have to answer yes and at the same time I have come to see that atheistic fundamentalists can’t get away from the Son of God or His followers. Try visiting any poorly run or ecumenical Christian message board on the internet and you will find these sites are populated with many atheists ready for a debate and hoping to make life miserable for the would-be Christian theologian. When I was younger and a frequenter of these types of sites, I would often ponder as to why atheists would spend so much time on a Christian site. I realized that the atheist is performing the same act of evangelism a Christian exhibits when going to similar atheist message boards and debating. 

What is also surprising is the atheist’s need to gather with other likeminded people on Sunday. It is very ironic, which sadly is not realized by the partakers, to read articles about atheistic “mega-churches” and realize many of the congregants are supposedly vastly opposed to the church going Christian crowds. Just like the atheists who have copied evangelism from Christian actions, these atheists congregate just as Christians do on Sundays to hear sermons and sing “praise” songs. All of this leaping of Christian traditions should drive a person to question that if these evangelistic, fundamentalist, and congregational atheists are so adamant to spread their religion, then what exactly are they selling? 

At least Christianity offers everlasting life through belief in Jesus Christ and a certain happiness and joy that goes along with the promise that God will never leave you nor forsake you. Even through suffering, we have wonderful passages like 1 Peter 5:8-10 to get us through the day:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.  

   

What does the atheist have to offer? They offer nothing positive. The most positive thing one of the aforementioned billboards has said is, “There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” I don’t know about you but that sentiment is not very comforting, does not help to stop worrying, and only increases uncertainty. The message is not very sure of itself. There probably is no God? Obviously they don’t want to anger the Deity if He does in fact exist, but also it is not very concrete. Contrast this with the Word of God which is very clear in Its message. One of the most commonly referred to Bible verses is John 3:16 and there is no “probably” in the verse’s text: 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

   

Atheists have no similar promise of salvation or hope of an end to suffering. All they can offer is a phrase found in Isaiah 22:13, “…let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die.” It is actually quite funny to realize that God outlined atheistic sentiments thousands of years before the movement began. So, how would you like to spend your holiday season? Do you want to spend your time worrying about whether God exists or not and realizing the implications of your meaningless life if He doesn’t? Or do you want to be secure in the thought that God is alive and well and has sent His Son, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, to save us from our sins with the hope of His Return? 

Merry Christmas!