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!"