Friend of Saints?

When you go to church and church related events, most people put on their best mask so no one will see what they really are. Or in some cases, church-goers genuinely are very clean people with little visible sin in their lives. That is because church is all about trying to fix you up enough that you are presentable to God. To make you good enough to deserve to talk to Him, when in reality you have already been made perfect. Christians warn about being associated with the wrong kind of people in nearly every youth service I have ever heard! I find this incredibly ignorant... First of all if every one that knows the gospel only kept to themselves about it, how would the good news travel? How could we bring peace to others? Secondly, in Matthew 11:19 Christ is called a FRIEND of sinners. He isn't referred to here as someone who associates with sinners, no, he is referred to as their FRIEND. To me being a friend is a lot more than just caring about someone. You hang out together, have fun together, laugh and cry together. Jesus was said to eat and drink with these sinners. Not cool-aid either, Jesus drank wine! Christianity is more moral than Christ!

Should you go out and get trashed, snort crack off a stripper, and then have your way with any woman in town? If I have to answer this for you then you need more help than I can provide.  Obviously that would be stupid. That isn't what Christ was doing. However, he was FRIENDS with these people. I am willing to bet (Oh no, did I just mention gambling? Forgive me God!) that if Christ had a Facebook, his friends list would contain thousands of the earth's "scummiest" people in the eyes of the religious. And if he had Myspace, his top 8 would include the likes of Dirty Steve, Drunken Bob, and Anthony Kiedis. It sure as heck wouldn't have the pope, John Hagee or Kirk Cameron. Does he love them? Yes. Would he hang out with them and drink a couple glasses of wine with them? No, because they would think they were hurting God's feelings by enjoying life.

Don't avoid people just because they seem to not care about the choices they make. Some of the best people I know drink, smoke pot, eat more than the suggested serving size, and even roll through stop signs. You will be surprised at how much more they will receive the message of pure grace.

The Point Is To Live

When I believed in eternal conscious torment, I believed that my purpose in life what solely to help save as many people as I could from ending up there. The thing that kept me from feeling useless was the idea that I was somehow able to save a person's "soul" form being damned to hell for all eternity. Well now, you can see how this became a problem when I realized that God didn't need me at all to save His creation because, in fact, He did it all on His own. When I realized that I was completely useless to God when it came to saving people, I lost my purpose in life. But, then I realized, I have an even greater purpose in life now. Before I was giving people not good news, no not at all, I was giving them an ultimatum, I was selling them fire insurance for something that is yet to happen. I was promising them happiness in the future. If, and only if, they themselves put faith in Christ. But now, oh man, now I am able to bring happiness even in this current evil age! Why? Because now I proclaim GOOD NEWS! The true gospel! That all is taken care of and there, in fact, will be a happily ever after. That is a glorious expectation indeed. Now not only do I have a reason to live, I have the drive to actually proclaim the gospel. Whereas before, I dreaded telling someone that their loved ones could possibly be burning in hell and that they too would end up in hell unless they did something about it. I truly have good news. Our purpose is to tell others this news so that they to can enjoy life to the fullest. Remember when we thought we had to please God by our actions? Wasn't it terrible? Never knowing if you did well enough that day to even talk to God. Thinking He is ashamed of you and upset at you for something you did or didn't do? Ugh, that weight is just awful. You can't enjoy life at all feeling like you have to measure up. But thank God that we do measure up because of what Christ did. We can't screw it up, and that is the Gospel. That is the point. To live freely and fully is the point. Grace is so simple that people think it is too good to be true. When know that God is good, and we know that He is true. Grace will always super-abound.

Past Regrets

Awhile back I did a blog about free will and prophecy. I made the point that if something at all goes out of order in God's plan, then prophecy would not come true. If you are off by the smallest degree while going from point A to point B, you will end up at point WTF. 

The reason I bring this up is because I know a lot of people who either regret their past or feel like they aren't doing things correctly right now. Let me put it this way. If you regret your past, then you are not trusting God's plan for the future. Everything that you have done in this life, everything you are doing, and everything you will do is in accord with our Creator's absolute will. Is this fatalistic? Sure, if you want to call it that. Clyde Pilkington calls it God-ism rather than fatalism, and I 100% agree with that. 

There is nothing at all fatal about our Sovereign Creator and Father being in control. Fatalism should be what we call the idea of free-will. If the clay were in control of forming itself into a pot, what would be the outcome? It would still just be a lump of clay at the end of the day. Clay does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to contribute to itself being formed into a vessel of any shape or form. The Potter is the One that takes care of that. 

We are all just clay in the Potter's hand and we cannot do a single thing to change what God is turning us into. Sometimes it seems like life is spinning out of control. Well maybe that is just the wheel we are on and God is turning up the speed so He can smooth us out. 

Listen if there is anything at all you can say to someone to bring comfort, it should be that God is in control. This was used so many times by my church "family" growing up to try to comfort me. If only I had known it was actually true, oh the relief it would have brought. Sadly though, I thought that God only had a mere influence on humanity and that we could easily thwart his will. 

Fatalism is believe that God's will can be stalled and/or thwarted. Find comfort knowing that this isn't so, and that He will do ALL His good pleasure and one day EVERY knee will bow and EVERY tongue confess. God will be ALL IN ALL.

Cancer of the Soul

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." -- Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:8.

Paul didn't have a degree in psychology that we are aware of, but this passage alone can solve depression and anxiety better than any pill. But just like any medicine or remedy, you need to follow the instructions in order for it to work!

Yes there is some really crappy stuff in this world, and we are surrounded by it constantly. However, there is also some amazing stuff. Look around and you can see it. If you can't find anything good in the people around you, then start looking at nature. The birds, flowers, trees. It is almost time for leaves to start falling and cool breezes to tickle our noses. If you are too cold, enjoy some hot cocoa with the fake styrofoam marshmallows. Relax by a cozy fire. Listen to the crackle and feel the caress of the soothing heat. Do anything other than reading all of the negative posts online. Stop listening to the media and their untrue, dishonest, unjust, impure, ugly, bad reports!

There is good out there, and you don't have to look as hard as you would expect. Change your lenses and see the world from a different view. Remembering all the time that God is in control. 

Comfort

How many of us growing up in religion heard all the time when we were scared or worried that we should just trust God, because He is in control. This would be awesome advice if any of us actually believed that God was in control. However, most of us didn't, so when we were being "comforted" by church members saying that everything would be okay because God is in control, we weren't comforted at all. We would think to ourselves, well if I have enough faith in God then I won't be scared anymore because my faith will make God cause good to happen to me and nothing bad will come. I have to control my future based on how pleasing I am to God. 

The problem is, it is hard to trust God to run the universe if you don't in fact believe that He RUNS THE UNIVERSE. So the recent Ebola scare and ISIS scare, which are most likely government agendas for profit on Pharma-Companies and Oil, etc. Can be scary and, I will admit, last night I was even a bit anxious about all of it. I am not scared of catching Ebola, nor am I scared about ISIS. I was scared of my government and what they plan to do. I kept thinking about the end-time prophecies and other things that could happen to me. 

The media only airs negative stories if you have not noticed. This, I believe is to strike fear and worry into us so deeply, that they can sell us all anti-depressants and vaccines. Then they make sure you keep watching T.V. by giving us something to laugh at or feel good about. It is all about money. Now, I do not condemn television at all. I just want to make aware the stuff that happens that we don't even think about. We need to look into things for ourselves, and by doing this it can definitely cause anxiety and stress, until... you get a reminder that God, the same God that formed you in the womb, the same God that knows every hair on your head, the same God that specifically chose us to know the truth, is the One in control of it all. ALL OF IT. So, knowing that God is the One in control, ACTUALLY IN CONTROL, can be the greatest comfort in this eon. Everything that happens must happen for God's purpose to come into fruition. What is His purpose?

To become All in all.

Where there is a Will, there is no way.

I am sure that everyone is familiar with the saying, "Where there is a will, there is a way." That is entirely true...depending on whose will is being addressed. 

For instance, Jonah willed NOT to go to Nineveh. Yet God willed that he DID go to Nineveh. Where did Jonah end up? God had a will, and his way was a smelly belly of a fish. So the saying is true only if it is in accord with God's. If God wills it, there is a way. If God does NOT will it, there is no way. And if God wills it, there is no way... no way that is isn't going to come to pass, that is.

God wills for all mankind to be saved and come unto a knowledge of the truth. God has a will. His way is through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. There is NO WAY that it will not come to pass.

Most Christians today will NOT that all mankind be saved, because if all mankind were saved, then they would be no better than anyone else! They will say, but I chose you and they didn't, why do they get to come too? Even though they will (lower-case "w") that mankind as a whole is not saved, they have no way to stop it from happening, although they are seemingly doing a great job at hindering its arrival!

The only Will that will ever come about entirely as planned, is God's. So rest assured that no matter how many people "will" that you burn in hell for cutting them off at an intersection, or for telling someone that Christ was a success and that God actually knows what He is doing, His will is certain and it is going to come to pass.

P.S: In-case you are wondering... 17 times. Started to not sound like a word anymore.

The Ghost of Mankind's Future

This topic should be so easy to understand, but the illusion of "free-will" is so strong that most people deny that God is actually, factually in control of everything. Or at least that He set everything in operation to perfectly play out exactly how He planned it.

Think about it. You can either believe in free-will, or you can believe that prophecy has been and will be fulfilled. It is one or the other. IF we have free-will, then it is possible to stop events that were prophesied from occurring. If you have not heard of the "butterfly-effect" it is the theory that says that if you change even the smallest thing about a past situation, the entire outcome of an event can and will occur differently. Take for instance our diet, if we feel hungry and crave an egg, and then we eat the egg only to find out it was rotten, we end up sick and possibly hospitalized. That is only ONE event. Now imagine our entire diet. Everything we eat affects our bodies. Eventually poor diet can lead to all kinds of things and eventually our death. If we changed one thing about our diet it would change our lifespan. Since God knows exactly how long each of us are going to live (because He Himself numbered those day) then our cravings are going to be in accord with what He wills, and if we "decide" that we are going to get fit and start eating right? Well, where do you think that motivation came from? If you haven't seen the movie, "The Butterfly Effect", then you should watch it. It is similar to the Ghost of Christmas Past/Present/Future story in which Scrooge is shown what life would be like if he didn't change. 

If you don't think that even the tiniest little thing isn't controlled by God picture this: God has a plan He has set out to accomplish. There are specific results He wishes to achieve. Now if anything at all happens differently than He intends the outcome will not be the same. Imagine you are traveling in a straight line. You need to get from Springfield, MO to Faith, NC. If you set the co-ordinates to go only in a straight line to NC you had better get them dead on precise. If you are off by 1°, you will not end up in Faith, NC. Heck you may not even be in North Carolina at all! 

Simply put. Either prophecy will be fulfilled, or we have free-will.

Value.

Do you feel worthless ever? Do you sometimes feel like you don't contribute much to anything, that you are kind of just living waiting for God to take us up? Don't feel valuable? Well if you are reading this blog I assume that you believe the truth of Paul's gospel. 

Now why does that matter? Big deal, you believe something that is so simple and plain that a child understands it. Yet look around. How many other people can you name off the top of your head believe that Christ was actually a success? How many do you know that believe all will be made alive, and that God will be All in all?
That God is not counting our trespasses against us?! Well? How many? 

So why do we understand this simple truth when most of the world doesn't? It is because we are chosen. Now I want you to really stop and think what this means... Seriously, don't just read these words. Stop right now and think. God, the Being who SPOKE and there was light, SPOKE and there was Earth, Sun, Moon, and Stars. SPOKE and there were plants and animals. SPOKE and there were HUMAN BEINGS. The Being who controls all of everything who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and who IS LOVE. The Being who feeds and shelters the birds. The One Who loves you and cares for you more than any bird. HE CHOSE YOU! Imagine it! God BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH.... CHOSE... YOU...

If you ever feel useless, if you ever feel un-loved, just imagine God thinking about YOU before the World even began.

License To Sin?

"Well if everyone is going to be saved, why should I even try to be good? Why don't I just go hire a prostitute to snort crack with me? Isn't saying,"Everyone will be saved eventually", just giving them a license to sin?" 

How many times do you hear this when you try to tell someone about the Salvation of All? First of let me say, that if Paul weren't teaching pure Grace and no works at all, than the people he were teaching would not have asked why they can not sin more that Grace would abound. They basically asked Paul the same thing that we get asked. Is that not then a license to sin?

So many people dance around this question because they don't want to sound like they are condoning sin. Yes, in a way it IS a license to sin. Paul said that all things are allowed us, yet not all things are beneficial. Sure you have you can rob a bank, stab a baby, and even eat all of the red Skittles leaving none for anyone else. But, what happens if you do that? You will have serious jail time and, God-willing, horrible remorse for what you have done (especially for the Skittle thing, that's just pure evil).There are very real consequences for our actions. You can not, CAN NOT, out-sin Grace. 

So you can call it a license if you want, but just remember, most drivers that die in car accidents due to wreck-less driving, had a license.

Scars

The people that do the most harm to the Gospel and to the character of God, are not the ones that curse God. They aren't the ones that question God. They are the ones that "represent" God. They make God look worse than ISIS. At least after ISIS kills you, you are dead. God however is not so merciful. He is going to fry anyone that HE HIMSELF didn't give faith to believe the Gospel. Christians are like children that want to help mommy and daddy cook. They think they are helping, but in reality, they are making things much more difficult. 

When Christ was sent to Earth to be our Savior, He had to endure many, many things that He did not deserve. He remained perfect through it all. He suffered for our sake, He was beaten for our sake, and He died for our sake. Who made Him suffer? Who beat Him? Who KILLED Him? Was it "atheists"? Was it agnostics? No. It was the religious. The religious are the reason there are things like 9-11, ISIS, The Holocaust, The Crusades, The Dark Ages, etc. etc. Christ was scarred from the nails that went through His hands. Just as we are scarred emotionally and some of us, myself included, physically and mentally. Christianity and it's horrendous doctrine of eternal conscious torment, the free-will of man, and the Trinity can cause one to go crazy just trying to make sense of them! Let alone truly picturing what "hell" is going to be like if they don't measure up to God's expectations!  We are all scarred, but one day Christ will heal these wounds. 

This world that to us looks like a jumbled mess, is actually just a fraction of the Masterpiece that Jehovah is creating for His own pleasure. One day the finished product will be revealed, and not one soul will be disappointed...

May I?

I am sure that everyone reading this is familiar with 1 Peter 5:8,"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." I have heard this over and over in Sunday School. I was always told to put on the full armor of God so that when I would be tempted to sin, I could resist the devil and therefore maintain God's good graces. But that is not the point I want to make here. The thing I want to point out is the word may in this verse. When I was in school kids would ask,"Ms. Teacher, can I go to the restroom?" And the teacher's response would be something to the effect of,"I don't know, can you?" To which the student would respond, "May I use the restroom?" And the teacher would then allow the student to excuse themselves. This got me thinking. Satan in this passage is said to seek out whom he may devour. Which, to me, implies that he has to have someone's permission. Someone more powerful than himself. Someone who, oh I don't know, operates all things in accord with the council of HIS will? There isn't much to this blog other than a small thought. The thought that Satan can do nothing without God's permission. This thought should provide comfort. Because if God is the One that chooses what Satan can and cannot do, we don't have to worry. Satan is just a child, and soon enough he will be in timeout indefinitely.

Seared Conscience?

If only I would have read this passage in context back when I was in church! I was always taught that a seared conscience meant that I no longer felt guilty or bad for either doing something I knew was wrong or not doing something that I knew was right! THAT IS WHAT I WAS TAUGHT! I was told that if I kept committing a particular sin, then eventually I would no longer feel God convicting me and trying to help me to stop sinning!

That is nearly the opposite of what the passage I am referring to is saying! Here is the passage: 

"But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.…"

(Emphasis mine.)

The ones with seared consciences here are the ones trying to still enforce the law, instead of living in grace! But what really stick out to me here is that they are the people teaching doctrines of demons!

What does it mean to have a seared conscience then? 
My thoughts on what it means are this, having a sensitive conscience means you feel for others, you care for others, you want what is best for others and you won't be satisfied until everyone is happy and safe.

It takes someone with a truly seared conscience to be OKAY WITH THE FACT, THAT GOD IS GOING TO TORTURE MOST OF HIS CREATION IN BURNING AGONY FOR ETERNITY!

Only if your conscience is seared can you accept this heinous doctrine of demons! Only someone with a seared conscience can wake up, casually drink a cup of coffee and go through out their day without a care in the world believing that 80% or more of the people they come into contact with that day will be burning in never ending torment after they die!

To take it one step further, I believe that there are people that may have no conscience left at all! People that hold to a Calvinist theology have seared their conscience so much that there is nothing left! 

Simply put: Eternal Conscious Torment is a Doctrine of Demons!

Tomorrow Doesn't Exist.

Jesus told his disciples not to worry about tomorrow. This is a very hard thing to do in the midst of this eon. With all of the stuff we see happening all around us. Ferguson is a little over an hour away from me, I never thought such chaos would ever happen near me. Regardless though, it is happening all over the world. The Middle-East being the primary source of chaos. However, this is all part of God's plan. 

A thought occurred to me while I was listening to a song called Chandelier by Sia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vjPBrBU-TM). I recommend you watch and listen to this song. Mostly to one line that really stood out to me, where she says she is going to live like tomorrow doesn't exist.

For us, tomorrow really doesn't exist. It hasn't happened and therefore can not be in existence. Do we worry that a unicorn is going to gore us on our way to work? No. Because, sadly, unicorns do not exist. Except for narwhals, those exist. But most of us don't work in the ocean, so we don't worry about that. The reason we don't worry about being killed by a unicorn is because they don't exist. We should not worry about tomorrow for that same reason. It doesn't exist yet. When it does then we can deal with it. Until then, let's focus on today. 

Help for a Soldier!

Selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself! I know that sounds funny. It's like I am saying that selflessness is the ultimate for of selfishness. Which is exactly what I am saying, only without the negative connotation that is attached to the latter word.

When you help yourself, what do you get out of it? You get whatever it is that you wanted in that moment of course. You can also get far in life by helping yourself. I am not condemning the act of helping one's self at all. There is nothing really wrong about trying to make sure you are taken care of and making sure you are putting in the effort to be independent for when no one else can be there. But, we are not independent creatures. We were made to depend on each other, and our very existence depends on the One that made us.  Each breath we take was given to us, every heartbeat, every tear, every laugh, every good thing and every bad thing were all given to us. 

So what do we get out of helping others and being selfless? Well first of all, the people that we help will be affected in more than just a physical way. Our acts of kindness will resonate with them and encourage an attitude of selflessness in them. In us, it will provide a sense of purpose and a sense of happiness. Think about the grand scheme of life. Look at how small we are and how seemingly useless we are. We will continue to feel useless, unless we start to impact others lives. 

I would like to start this movement of selflessness by donating to someone in great need of our help. If you would like to donate to help this man who has been of great influence and of great help in my life and many others, please leave a donation using the link in the top right and attach a note telling me that it is for the one in need. THIS MONEY IS NOT GOING TO ME. (If you would like to know to whom your money will be going to please message me on Facebook, the individual is unaware that I am putting this together and I am not sure he wants people to know that he is in need).

Just think, if everyone were self-less, no one would have to be selfish. Please, if you can help, do so. If not then help others in a different way. It will benefit you as well! =) Thank you guys so much for reading, and please know that the money will be furthering Paul's Gospel and the Message of Grace!

PS: If you can't figure out how to add a note, please Facebook me and I will make sure it goes to him!

True Peace

The myth of free-will seems like a nice thing at first. It makes you feel powerful and in control of your own destiny. It makes you feel like what happens in your life is in your control.  This can be comforting temporarily, until you look out in the world and see all of the chaos and violence. Until you realize that all the pressure is on you to become who you think it is that "God wants you to be." Until all the pressure is on you to save lost sinners damned to hell. Free-will is nice as long as you don't think about all of the responsibility that you have to carry. To be cheesy I am going to quote from my favorite superhero's Uncles. "With great power, comes great responsibility." One of the greatest powers in the Universe is free-will and only one Being has this power. All of the responsibility is on His shoulder's, not ours. 

When I believed in free-will, I was a nervous wreck when I would read about tribulation, persecution, and the end-times. I would walk around feeling as if there was no escape, no peace, no happiness in life. I recently read a description of  depression quoted as having 'arthritis of the soul'. How painfully accurate that statement is. The glasses with "free-will" lenses are horrific to look through. With these glasses the world has no purpose, no reason for it's actions, no plan at all and no happy ending. With these lenses the world is pointless and will end in a sadly defeated Creator who lost control of His creation and was only able to salvage a few incredibly smart and self-controlled individuals. Who were smart enough to know there was a God and self-controlled enough to live a nearly perfect life, despite of what Christ accomplished. With these lenses one can never know peace.

It is only when you truly realize that God actually does have everything under control, that you can truly relax. Yes this world sucks, yes there is chaos, yes there is persecution and yes there is death. But all of this is under the management of God Himself. God's operation is far greater than we can comprehend and when we realize that everything that is going on is in perfect accord with His will, we can stop worrying about tomorrow. Because tomorrow is also in God's hands. I just lost my job two days ago. I was really worried about this fact for he last couple of day. I thought about all of the "if" situations that could happen because of this. Then I realized that I needed to take off my free-will glasses and put on the glasses that God prescribed for me a little over a year ago, when He revealed to me the truth of Ephesians 1:11. 

I am going to leave you guys with this passage that has comforted me in times like this. I hope it comforts you as well! =)

25 `Because of this I say to you, be not anxious for your life, what ye may eat, and what ye may drink, nor for your body, what ye may put on. Is not the life more than the nourishment, and the body than the clothing?
26 look to the fowls of the heaven, for they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into storehouses, and your heavenly Father doth nourish them; are not ye much better than they?
27 `And who of you, being anxious, is able to add to his age one cubit?
28 and about clothing why are ye anxious? consider well the lilies of the field; how do they grow? they do not labour, nor do they spin;
29 and I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these.
30 `And if the herb of the field, that to-day is, and to-morrow is cast to the furnace, God doth so clothe -- not much more you, O ye of little faith?    -- Matthew 6:25-30

Even Satan?!

I know that is one is going catch me a lot of heat from some. However, this question is quite relevant and important to the peace of mind of many people. People that have heard of doctrines such as the "Serpent's Seed" and other similar doctrines can grow uneasy when the thought of God saving all men comes up, because technically not everyone would be included in that, because some would not be descendant of Adam, therefore excluding them from salvation. Making their end either "eternal" conscious torment, or utter annihilation. Neither one of them is a very happy expectation. 

However, we know that there is to be a "Restitution of All Things" Acts 3:21 tells us this. This verse literally spells out that God is going to restore ALL THINGS.  We know that Satan was the adversary from the beginning, but does that mean that he was bad from the beginning or that he was just destined to be the adversary?

I can't say for sure what I believe as far as that goes but here are a couple of passages that stand out to me. "For by Him all things were created that are in Heaven and that are on Earth, visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him." Colossians 1:16

So we know that Satan was created by God. I don't know of anyone that denies that. Next passage:

"Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed, it was very good."

So from this we can't necessarily conclude that Satan was once good. But I believe that it hints at that at least a bit. If this is the case, then Satan had to have gone from good to bad, and restoration therefore would mean that he is going to be restored to good! 

This is just a thought of mine. Nothing to take as solid truth, because I am not myself convinced by my argument. However, the way I see it is like this... If a man catches a fish, he isn't that special. If a man catches 100 fish he is great. If a man catches all but one fish in the lake he is amazing. But he won't be perfect until he catches the last fish, the hardest fish to catch. I believe that God is perfect and that God is able. I don't believe that when we get to be in His presence that He will be telling us the story of "The One That Got Away." 

One, Two, Three

When it all comes down to it, you can believe one of three things about God. Your three options are as follows:

1. God is Love. God is not Sovereign.

2. God is Sovereign. God is not Love.

3. God is Love. God is Sovereign.

Which one does Scripture support? 

Well we know it isn't number 2 because 1 John 4:8 says that God is Love. Notice it doesn't say that our God is a loving God, rather that he actually is Love. Number 2, if you don't know, is the basis of Calvanist Theology. Although they will never admit to it, they have to accept the fact that they do not believe that God is Love. Therefore denying Scripture. At least the understand God's Sovereignty, which is much more than I can say for most of Christendom. 

We also know that it cannot be number 1. Scripture is clear of God's absolute Sovereignty. Ephesians 1:11 says that God is operating ALL in accord with the counsel of His own will. Romans 9 talks about God hardening hearts. From this we know that God is, very much indeed, Sovereign. This group of people are the Arminians. At least they sort of believe that God is love. Honestly though I feel like saying that is giving them too much credit. A god who would torment individuals without end cannot be addressed with the title "Love."

Number 3 is support in Scripture all throughout the pages. We know that God is Love and that He is Sovereign. If these traits are both true (and they are) than the only conclusion we can come to is the truth that Paul risked his life to share. The True Gospel. One that actually is good news. (That is something that I found humorous when I leaned about the eventual salvation of all. The word 'Gospel' literally means 'good news'. What is the good news behind eternal conscious torment for either not choosing to believe or not being chosen to believe????) 

The True Gospel really is Good News. Read all of Paul's letters. You can't miss it! 

Why Did Christ Even Die?

How many times have you heard that Christ died for your sins? Of these many times, how many times did the person telling you this actually believe it? In the same breath, they tell you that you have to believe that He died for your sins, else it doesn't matter that He did. Where is the logic in that? "Oh but there are somethings that we will never understand, they are beyond our comprehension because we are mere humans." The "trinity" is another perfect example of logic-less theology. 

So, my question is this. Why did Christ die if it didn't work? "You don't believe something to make it true, you believe it because it is true." Either Christ died to take away the sins of the world, or He didn't. Now, let me ask. Can any amount of disbelief from you change past events? There are people today that deny that the Holocaust even happened. Does that change the fact that it did? No. If that were the case, the only thing people would have to do to lose weight would be to believe hard enough that they didn't eat McDonald's every day last week. Because if you have enough faith then you can apparently change the past. This is the logic of Christendom. Christ only died for your sins if you believe that He did. Otherwise, tough luck. 

What Christ accomplished is a done deal. It is a fact set in the past that cannot be altered in anyway by belief or anything else. "It is finished." 

The only thing left to do is to rest in this fact. The fact that you can't screw it up. A tormenting thought that I had struggled with my entire life, is that I would screw up my salvation. It wasn't until I really awakened to the fact that I can't change what Christ has accomplished over 2000 years ago that I really found peace. 

"It is finished."
"It is finished."

"It is finished!"

So Much Sweeter

Have you ever eaten a warhead? If you are not familiar with what I am talking about, a warhead is a sweet hard candy coated with a thick layer of hellishly sour glaze. 

Now, when you eat a warhead, you can literally burn your taste buds off. There are videos on YouTube of people taking the "Warheads Challenge", and their tongues are literally bleeding at the end. That is how intensely sour these candies are.

As a child I would buy these and I would eat the first one, I would suffer through the pain just so I could taste the sweet inside. To me there was nothing that tasted sweeter or better than the middle of a warhead. The center made it worth the pain. However, being the clever individual that I am. I decided that I would just run the next few warheads under the faucet until the sour coating had dissolved. It was brilliant, I thought. After running my blue raspberry candy under the faucet, I was so excited to get to the sweet without having to go through the sour. But when I put the candy in my mouth, it wasn't nearly as sweet as it usually was. I was incredibly disappointed. I thought I had found away around the sour and made my way directly to the reward.

So, why didn't it taste as sweet? Because, there was no contrast! There was nothing to prepare my tongue for the difference in sour and sweet, so to me it didn't taste any better than any other candy! 

This goes with life as well. People often ask, "Well, if God is so good, why would He allow evil?" (We know from Isaiah 45:7 that God is actually the creator of evil not the "allower"). The reason that God creates evil in our lives and the reason that we are even on this Earth to begin with (yes Adam and Eve eating the fruit was planned), is because God is bringing us through the sour so that the sweet will be that much sweeter. Without the contrast that we will get from experiencing this life, in our current evil eon, the next two eons would be no big deal to us. 

So yes, God could have let us take the easy way out, He could have rinsed the sour coating off for us. But, thanks be to God, He didn't. Now, the next eons will be THAT MUCH SWEETER!

Hopeless?

Look around. Look at the world. Look at everyone in it, and think. Can it possibly be true that God is going to save everyone? I mean, look at it! Look at the murderers, the drunkards, the prostitutes, the terrorists, look at Hitler, 9/11/2001, look at Vegas and Reno, look at the Middle East, at Pakistan and Israel, look at the White House, Obama, child molesters, the mafia, the hypocrites and the self-righteous. Look at all of the hatred. All of the envy and all of the greed. Look at the persecution from one belief system to another, from one sexual orientation to another, from one skin color to another. Look how corrupt and evil mankind is!

How on Earth can God save every single one of us wretched creatures. How is that even possible! 

I have an idea on how He can save every person that has ever lived. But, why? Why would God save everyone? I mean, look at the horrific things we do to each other. We mock God daily and yet He still plans to save us?

The answer to how God will save all, is the same answer to why God will save all. 

God will save all because He loves us. Now, I don't mean to say that God loves us in the way that we love cake and video games. I mean that God loves us more than we could ever even fathom. Those of you with children, think of how much you love your kids. Now realize, that God loves even Hitler, far more than you love your children... God will save everyone because He loves everyone.

God will also be able to save everyone because of His love. When each individual that wasn't granted faith in this life sees their Savior at The Great White Throne, what is going to be going through their head? They will be ashamed of how ignorant they were and how foolishly they behaved. They will be terrified of what is going to happen to them. But after they are judged, they will learn that even after all they had done. God still loved them. God still sent His Son to die for them, and Christ DID NOT FAIL! They will learn that God's love for them was greater than their hatred for God. They will learn that grace truly does super-abound. And after they awaken from the second death, they will be with God at the Consummation. They will remember what God had done for them despite their disobedience. They will be so consumed by His love and grace, that they will be praising God louder than most. Their loyalty will never again have to be questioned, because they will be transformed by God's love. Because our God is a consuming fire.

See, God likes to take something impossible, and then make it a reality. Walking around in a circle, blowing horns was His big idea on taking down the walls of Jericho? But it worked. Leading Moses and the Hebrew people to the sea with no way out? What happened? Taking someone that is insane, crying and strapped to a bed and giving him life and purpose again.... Christ gave Himself a ransom for all mankind, to be testified in due time. This may seem like a big boulder to move, but remember, all rocks eventually become sand. And sand will move with the slightest breeze.

Christian Terrorism

So I am sure that all of us can agree that Muslim Jihad's actions are appalling. But I would like to say something that might upset a few people. And that is this.... At least their victims are dead.

Now don't get me wrong, I still think what they do is horrid and detestable. Murdering innocent people by the thousands is heinous. But like I said, at least the immediate victims are dead. Gone. Asleep until the resurrection. 

Christian terrorism is far worse. The doctrine of eternal conscious  torment is down-right sadistic. The victims of this teaching (and I mean victims, as in people who have truly thought about unending pain and agony) are tormented day and night for their entire lives!

The doctrine of unending misery and burning is an outrageous affront to our God's Sovereignty and the fact that God is Love. To believe such a doctrine is to believe one of two things:

1. God isn't Sovereign.
      -God wants everyone to be saved, but ultimately human               will trumps the "Almighty's".

2. God isn't Love.
     -God doesn't want to save everybody. Only His elect.

There is terrorism in each of these horrible thought patterns. When I believed in free will I was terrorized by the thought of not measure up, not having enough faith, not repenting enough, and sinning too much.

When I learned about God's Sovereignty but not yet about the salvation of all, I was terrorized by the thought that The God Almighty had no intention what so ever to save me. That He created me solely for the purpose of feeding the flames of "hell".

Christendom's doctrine of eternal conscious torment is, in my opinion, just as bad, if not worse, than the actions of Muslim extremist's...

Why Even Preach The Gospel?

"Why even preach the Gospel, if all are going to be saved eventually?"

Are you freaking kidding me......? Is the a real question? 

How many times have you heard this question after telling people that Christ was actually a success?

This has got to be one of the most ignorant questions I have ever heard. Now, I am not trying to be abrasive or offensive, because I too have asked this question when I was first presented with this message. But, come on!

There are a couple of reasons to preach the Gospel now, and yes, even to the point of risking your life as Paul did.

One reason is because the more people that receive and believe this message, the more people that will have eonian life and will be reigning in the Celestials with Christ. Yes that is a great reason to be telling others the Good News of a triumphant Savior. This alone should motivate us into action.

However, there is more reason than just that. 
There are people out there right this very moment, ice cold to the core with fear, balled up tight and rocking back and forth, staring at a computer screen for hours and hours a day searching for peace. They are absolutely terrified that they are not going to make it into heaven. They are tormented from every single thought that seeps it's way into the very depths of their mind, telling them that they will never be good enough to enter heaven. Telling them that they will never have enough faith to be saved. Tearing away at their sanity chunk, by chunk. There are people shaking so hard with fear that their teeth are breaking. Their palms are damp and chilled to the bones. They cry tears of agony and torment every night until they are finally carried off into the night, praying never to wake again. Maybe even scared that if they die in their sleep they will awaken to eternal flames of agony and an experience even worse than what they are going through right now. There are people that want so desperately to end their own life because of the fear of endless pain and misery, but are too afraid to pull the trigger, or slide the blade, or jump from the chair. Because, if they do... it will only be worse on the other side. 

These people have no hope. No escape. They are trapped in this life, the lesser of two evils. They may have others around them that love them, but they can't feel that. They can't feel anything other than the fear that consumes their mind, every waking moment. The fear of knowing that God Himself is the One responsible for such a place. 

What can they do? There is no changing God. His mind is made up. 

I know that these people are out there today. 

I know this, because I was one of these people. 

The message of Grace and the Salvation of All, brought me back to life. I was not living when I was in that state. No. I was strapped to a cold, flimsy mattress in a psyche ward. I was injected with tranquilizers just to calm me down enough to put even more medicine in me. 

If it weren't for people preaching the True Gospel, Paul's Gospel, I would either still be strapped to that bed, or in a more expensive bed awaiting my resurrection. My wife and kids would be alone. I would have never seen my children grow. Hear them laugh. Hold them when they cry. I would never again tell my wife that I love her. My kids would have no dad to come to. 

The reason we need to still share the Gospel, is because.... I am not the only one that has been there. There are others right now, standing on a chair, or holding a razor, or grasping for a gun. 

All they need to hear is this:

"Christ was successful."

Questions?

Hi everyone! Today I just wanted to address a question I received from a friend.

He asked: Should we as believers be afraid of death? I mean wasn't Jesus afraid of dying to the point he started sweating blood?

My response was this: He wasn't afraid of death I don't think. Christ knew the kind of death that He was going to die. We know this because in John 12:32-33 He says that if He is lifted up from the Earth, He will draw all mankind to Himself. John writes that He said this signifying what kind of death He was going to die. Christ, I believe, was not so much afraid of death, but the process that would ultimately lead to His death.

The reason I am bringing this up is because it gave me the idea to open up a Q&A type process where I can answer a few questions that you guys want to hear my thoughts on. I want to make this blog a more interactive experience for us all. So I am going to post my email address (schlackchris@gmail.com). This way if anyone wants to know my thoughts on a certain passage or topic I can look into it and post my thought in my blog! I will probably post my normal entry and then towards the end of the post is where I will be answering questions. 

Also, I designed a new bumper sticker that I hope to be ordering 20 of in the near future. I will mail these out to anyone that is interested in having one! Just let me know by emailing me if you would like one. Here is what the stickers look like:

Why Pray?

So I am going to be completely honest with you guys, like I always am. I want to be an open book for you guys so you know that I really believe what I write and record.

What I want to confess today is that, ever since coming to the knowledge that God is in control of everything and that free will is not only false but easily disproved using simple logic, I had stopped praying. Almost completely. Just up and quit. I figured, what's the point? Everything is going to happen exactly the way God wants it to anyway, so why bother.

However, last night and right now I felt the urge to pray. This time though, I wasn't asking God for anything. No, I was just talking to God. Just telling God that I was grateful for Him and all He has done. I was thanking God for bringing me to the knowledge of the truth. Thanking God for my children, for my wife, for people like David Improved in other countries hearing this message and being moved to encourage others, thanking God for people like Dan Sheridan, who even though he was betrayed by those that were supposedly friends he continues to teach the truth. For people like Martin Zender who thanks to his Crack O' Dawn reports, started me on my path to the truth. People like Waylan Dabbs who made it possible for Kali and me to attend our first Scripture conference in Alabama. Thankful for Aaron Locker and the Pilkingtons, who thanks to the Study Shelf website can reach others with teachings and testimonies. Thankful for James Flanders whose audios got me through the early stages of doubt about the happy ending that God has in store. Thankful for Rebecca Witherspoon who encourages Kali and me through Facebook. Thankful for Aaron Welch who talks to me almost daily so that I don't get starved of fellowship. Thankful for Heidi Colpo who encourages my sense of humor because I could easily lose it in the midst of all of this. 

Prayer was never made to change things. Prayer is here for us to show thanks to God and to put our minds at ease. If we are worried about something, we should pray about it. Once we have prayed about it we need to realize that it is in God's hands. In fact, it was always in God's hands but sometimes we just need to feel the burden lifted from us and placed on the One who can carry it. 

Thank you all for your encouragement and prayers. Praying doesn't change an event, but does change a person. It is one of the most amazing gifts God has given us and we should utilize it as often as possible!

In Due Time!

1 Timothy 2:3-6 has to be one of my favorite passages. While looking at this passage, I noticed that many translations have tried desperately to hide the truth about the salvation of all. Many translations have this passage worded in a way that makes it seem like the "due time" spoken of has happened and it is in reference to the message of Christ dying for all mankind, as opposed to the factual redemption of all mankind at the consummation!

Have a look:

AMP :6 Who gave Himself as a ransom for all [people, a fact that was] attested to at the right and proper time.

CJB:6 who gave himself as a ransom on behalf of all, thus providing testimony to God’s purpose at just the right time.

ERV:6 gave himself to pay for everyone to be free. This is the message that was given to us at just the right time.

NLT:6 He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.
NIV:6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.

These versions change a future event into a past occurrence! This is a prime example of changing Scripture to fit doctrine instead of changing doctrine to fit Scripture! 

Let's look at a few other versions, including the CLNT and YLT which are literal translations directly from the original Greek.

CLNT: 6 Who is giving Himself a correspondent Ransom for all (the testimony in it's own eras)

YLT:6 who did give himself a ransom for all -- the testimony in its own times --

ASV:6 who gave himself a ransom for all; the testimony to be borne in its own times;

Even the KJV!
KJV: 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

The fact is, due time hasn't come yet! If there is one single human being not ransomed, than God is not finished with His mission. God. Will. Not. Fail.

Make sure when you are studying to use more than one version. You will come across these doctrinal biased translations more often than not. 

God will not stop until every sheep is back in the fold. Until every coin is found. Count on it!

Yellow Means WHAT?!

The other day I decided to teach my daughter what the different colors meant at a stop light. She already knew red and green. "Falyn, what does red mean?" I said. "Red means stop!" She replied. "Good! What does green mean?" "Go!" "Great job, Falyn! Do you know what yellow means?" "Uhhh.... no." "It means GO FASTER!" "Ohhhh, GO FASTER!" Of course that isn't the truth and I was just kidding around with her but I couldn't help but laugh and ask her to tell me what yellow meant. Her reply? "GO FASTER!" At this point Kali is already irritated at me, she looks back to Falyn and says, "No, Falyn don't listen to daddy he is being silly. Yellow means SLOW DOWN!" "Oh, slow down?" "Yes!" Kali kept telling her for a good ten minutes or so in the car ride that yellow meant slow down. Falyn would even start to answer correctly, but do you know what her answer is today..... "GO FASTER!"

The problem is that she believes the first thing that she was taught to be true and to be suspicious of all other points of view and teachings. How many of us were/are like that? I was raised Baptist and was 100% sure that we were right and every other opinion was wrong.

I just believed what I was taught first! I never looked into my beliefs myself because I was certain it was truth! Don't be comfortable in your faith if you have never examined what you really believe. What are the odds that you just happened to be born into a family, that just happened to believe the right things about God, that just happened to be in this region of the world? 

So my challenge to you is to not believe what you believe just because that is what you were raised to believe!

I believed in a vindictive God who had no power and/or no desire to save all of mankind. I believed in many contradictions to logic and Scripture. (Never-ending Torment, Trinity, Immortality of the Soul, Free-Will, etc.)

So in the words of Ice-Cube and Zach Galifianakis, "You better check yo self, before you wreck yo self."  Movie Clip!

"I've got God."

"I've got God."

No.

Wrong.

God's got YOU! And that is far better than you having God. Think about it. When you say, "I've got God." What are you really implying? You have God, but others don't. Do you own the rights to the Almighty? You don't have God any more than Nickelback has fans. And this is fine because, God has YOU. If you had God you could lose Him, what if you left Him in your pants pocket and went on a trip without those pants? TOO BAD you don't have God with you anymore!  Okay I am just being a smart-ass, but really. When someone says they "have God" it irks me.

God has you.

God has everyone.

No one has God.

Undercover Project!

Hello everyone! It's me, Chris! Obviously seeing as how this IS my blog. 

I wanted to let everyone know about a project that I plan to do! I am very excited to be doing this project, but I am going to need some help. 

Financially, I could use the help in getting some of the necessary gear for the project. Mostly one item in particular. Here is the URL: http://www.deluxecctv.com/catalog/hidden-cameras/1080p-hidden-covert-sophisticated-glasses-dvr-hd-spy-camera-2503.html?gclid=CMKk__Snj78CFYQ-MgodmgEAuw.

I will also be trying to raise money to buy multiple copies of "How To Quit Church Without Quitting God" by Martin Zender, to leave behind at each church for those that God gives ears to hear and eyes to see!

My idea is simple. Wear these camera glasses into a different church every week for at least 6 months. I will interview people that are just attendees or "sheep", and also the pastor/priest/etc or "shepherd". I will be recording answers that I receive to simple questions about the doctrines of "hell", immortality of the soul, the trinity, salvation of all, etc. I will also ask them about verses such as 1 Timothy 4:10, 1 Corinthians 15:22, Romans 5:18,etc. I understand that due to privacy issues and things of that nature, I will need to ask the recorded individual for permission to use the footage or I will have to blur them out in the video. 

Now I know most of you will not be able to help financially and that is okay. Here is what else you can do:

1. Message me a list of some questions that you think I should ask. (If you aren't friends with me on Facebook, feel free to add me!)

2. If you know anything about video editing and software that would be useful for this project I could use your help there! 

3. Message me to encourage me! I know this project will test me, mostly it will test my patience with the silly answers I will be receiving.

If there is anything at all that you guys can think of to help me out in this, it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Stop Trying To Earn God's Favor

Are you trying to get on God's good side? Do you feel like you need to strive to maintain God's favor or even achieve His favor to begin with? If so, then you are missing the entire point of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. If you think for one second that you need to do ANYTHING at all to achieve favor in the eyes of God, than you are sadly mistaken. Want to know a secret? God ALREADY favors you! You and everyone else that has ever been born! God is at peace with you. God loves you. Your sin's don't separate you from His grace. You have been conciliated to God. Not by anything you have done, or by anything you will do. You need to stop trying to earn God's favor and realize that....are you ready for this? GOD is trying to earn YOUR favor! 

Let me show you a passage. One of my favorites. It is found in 2 Corinthians, verses 5:18-20. It reads, "Yet all is of God, Who conciliates us to Himself through Christ, and is giving us the dispensation of the conciliation, how that God was in Christ, conciliating the world to Himself, not reckoning their offences to them, and placing in us the word of the conciliation. For Christ then, we are ambassadors as of God entreating through us. We are beseeching for Christ's sake, "Be conciliated to God!" How amazing! God is not counting our offences against us! He is already conciliated to us! We just need to realize that. God has no enmity towards us! It is we who have enmity towards HIM! God says, "I have taken care of everything and now I find no fault in you." You don't trust Him when you feel estranged from Him due to your own shortcomings and sins! You cannot out-sin grace! It is impossible! Romans 5:20, "Yet law came in by the way that the offense should be increasing. Yet where sin increases, grace SUPEREXCEEDS!"

I have been accused of condoning and even encouraging sin. I even had one guy say to me, "Well, that settles it who wants to have an orgy?" My response was, "Not with another guy, thanks though!" 

Paul was even accused of condoning sin! Romans 6:1,"What then shall we declare? That we may be persisting in sin that grace may be increasing?" Paul's response? Romans 6:2,"May it not be coming to that!" 

No I am not encouraging sin, I am encouraging you to GIVE UP trying to please God, and know that He is already pleased with you. If you sin, so what! It was taken care of. That is the entire point Christ's sacrifice. Christ freed us, not so we could be religious zealots carrying the weight of our sins and shortcomings on our shoulders, always worrying if you pleased God enough or if He is mad at you for slipping up. No, Christ freed us so we could be free! 

Are You Limiting God?

Sorry it has been quite awhile since I have blogged! I don't like to blog just for the sake of blogging though. I only blog when something is really tugging at me and I feel the need to post about it. 

Today I want to ask, are you limiting God? The Being who created everything, who runs everything, who formed you from dust (which He formed from a spoken word.) Are you LIMITING either His power, or His love? 

If you believe that God is not going to end up with 100% of His creation reconciled back to Him, then I have some humbling news for you. You are LIMITING GOD.

 If you believe that God WILLS everyone to be saved, (1 Timothy 2:4-6) but that because of man's so called 'free will' he will be unable to do so, then you are saying that creation's will is more powerful than The Creator's. You are also ignoring Ephesians 1:11, which states that God is operating ALL in accord with HIS WILL.

On the flipside, if you believe scripture about the absolute Sovereignty of God, that He is operating ALL in accord with HIS will, then you are limiting His very being, which is Love. God IS LOVE. You believe that God chooses some to be saved and go to heaven for eternity, whilst the majority is destined to be damned for all eternity, simply because God didn't choose them. If this isn't a contradiction of God's very being (Love), than I don't know what is. 

Good news though! You can believe that God is Love and also believe that God is Sovereign. If you believe these two scriptural statements then you will escape religion and it's insane legalism and scare tactics! The only way to believe 1 Timothy 2:4-6 without throwing away Ephesians 1:11 (or vice versa) , is to discard religion and use simple logic. You don't have to discard logic to believe the Scriptures. That is what religion does. Escape religion and let the truth set you free.

Final Thought:
-God wills all to be saved.
-God is operating ALL in accord with the counsel of His will.

You do the math.