Stop Hating

This world is hurting. It is crying out for hope. Crying out for love. Only to be answered with hate and despair. We are supposed to be bringing good news to people. The GOSPEL. We are supposed to be freeing people from the chains of religion, hate, and rules. Instead we offer a message of "hope" by threatening people with a never ending torment should they refuse God's gift. There is a fake gospel out there. And it is being preached in the name of love. Turn or burn is the "gospel" I am referring to. It goes something like this: God loves you so much that He sent His son Jesus Christ to die for you. However you must choose to believe in this sacrifice otherwise Christ's payment doesn't apply to you, and you will burn forever in a place called hell. God's love is unconditional, however there is one condition. You must CHOOSE to accept His payment. Also, once you accept this "free gift" you must abide by certain rules or at least try your hardest, because if you don't then you either aren't TRULY saved because if you were you would follow the rules, or you are going to LOSE your salvation. It is free but only if you maintain it. Why can't we just learn to preach truly good news? The gospel that Paul, our apostle, taught? Paul never used the word hell in his writings (hades, sheol, gehenna, or tartarus). He even called God the Savior of all mankind. 1 Timothy 4:10. He uses parallel passages such as Romans 5:18 and 1 Corinthians 15:22 to compare Adam's act and effects with Christ's act and FULLY REVERSING effect. If you have faith in Christ's sacrifice you can thank God for that faith. It is not out of you. Ephesians 2:8-9. We as a race will never be able to LOVE like God calls us to love, until we realize that people are just the way God wants them to be and made them to be to fit perfectly in His perfect plan. Yes, that means that Hitler was part of God's plan. Ephesians 1:11 says that God is operating ALL in accord with His own will. That means you can love everybody JUST THE WAY THEY ARE. That heroin addict? That drunkard? That homosexual? That prostitute? (if it is a guy, That prositdude?) EVEN the hypocritical Christians that are mixing hatred with their so called "gospel". God is using them all for His own purpose. So let us stop judging and start loving. You will find that it is much easier to forgive people when you realize that God is in control of it all. Stop threatening homosexuals and drunkards and prostitutes, etc with "hell". Stop following your pastor blindly. Wake up to the TRUE GOSPEL. To TRULY GOOD NEWS. Read 1 Timothy 4:10, Romans 5:18, 1 Corinthians 15:22-28, Romans 11:32, Colossians 1:20, 1 Timothy 2:4-6. Etc. STOP HATING, STOP JUDGING, START LOVING!

Greater Faith

Simple question. Who has greater faith?

 1.The man who has heard of Christ's sacrifice and believes it, then tries the rest of his life to please God and make Him happy in order to maintain his right standing with God. This man goes to a church building every Sunday and Wednesday, gives 10% of his income to the offering plate, doesn't say a naughty word ever, never enjoys a beer, wouldn't dare look at a woman and admire the sight, and if he catches himself starts begging God for forgiveness for he is afraid of what God might do to him. He spends the rest of his life avoiding anything that could potentially be a sin because if he messes up God will not be happy with Him.

2. The man who hasn't even HEARD of God but believes in his heart that God loves everyone just the way they are. He ENJOYS his life not being afraid of what God may do to him if he doesn't live up to a certain expectation. This man LOVES others because he believes that whatever God we all come from loves everyone just the same. This man also happens to get drunk every once in awhile, he may even watch pornography. But he isn't afraid of what God will do to him because he knows that God loves him no matter what he does.

I believe that Man 2 has stronger faith. He BELIEVES that God loves him no matter what. Man 1 believes in a god with conditional love whereas Man 2 sees God's love as unconditional. I don't condone sinful activity but if it came down to two choices, one being to believe that Christ did literally EVERYTHING needed to save you, thereby FREEING you to ENJOY life without worry of condemnation (no matter what you do). The second being to believe that Christ paid for your sins but you must make an effort to stop sinning the rest of your life or His sacrifice was in vain. I would choose to rest in what Christ did and enjoy my life.

Galatians 5

Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

5 In the freedom, then, with which Christ did make you free -- stand ye, and be not held fast again by a yoke of servitude;

2 lo, I Paul do say to you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing;

3 and I testify again to every man circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law;

4 ye were freed from the Christ, ye who in law are declared righteous; from the grace ye fell away;

Christ freed us, not to enslave us under fear of condemnation, no. He freed us to be FREE! So if you must sin, sin boldy. In the words of Martin Luther, "Sin boldy! But let your trust in Christ be bolder."

Have Not Love

1 Corinthians 13

Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

13 If with the tongues of men and of messengers I speak, and have not love, I have become brass sounding, or a cymbal tinkling;

2 and if I have prophecy, and know all the secrets, and all the knowledge, and if I have all the faith, so as to remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing;

3 and if I give away to feed others all my goods, and if I give up my body that I may be burned, and have not love, I am profited nothing.

4 The love is long-suffering, it is kind, the love doth not envy, the love doth not vaunt itself, is not puffed up,

5 doth not act unseemly, doth not seek its own things, is not provoked, doth not impute evil,

6 rejoiceth not over the unrighteousness, and rejoiceth with the truth;

7 all things it beareth, all it believeth, all it hopeth, all it endureth.

8 The love doth never fail; and whether [there be] prophecies, they shall become useless; whether tongues, they shall cease; whether knowledge, it shall become useless;

9 for in part we know, and in part we prophecy;

10 and when that which is perfect may come, then that which [is] in part shall become useless.

11 When I was a babe, as a babe I was speaking, as a babe I was thinking, as a babe I was reasoning, and when I have become a man, I have made useless the things of the babe;

12 for we see now through a mirror obscurely, and then face to face; now I know in part, and then I shall fully know, as also I was known;

13 and now there doth remain faith, hope, love -- these three; and the greatest of these [is] love.

This passage of scripture is, in my opinion, a very neglected passage. The religious today put more emphasis on works and sometimes even faith (which they claim to have mustered up themselves) than they seem to ever put on love. In fact love towards other sinners is seen as heresy in some cases. If you are a "Christian", God forbid you love others as Christ loves them.. no, no, no. They are gay?! Well they can not come worship God in THIS church. That man is a drunk?! Well if he were closer to God than he wouldn't be that way. The church and the religious system as a whole is built around self-righteousness and hate. Christianity condemns sins such as drunkenness, homosexuality, adultery, etc. However, it promotes two of the greatest injustices in the history of the world. Hate and Self-Righteousness. They go hand in hand. If you believe that you are righteous due to any effort at all on your part, you will become judgmental, because in your mind YOU did something right, whereas Bob across the street didn't. The myth of "free will" promotes self-righteousness and hate. Both of which the Lord despises.

So many today put so much emphasis on faith, yet forget it is GOD who gives them that faith. Listen to what Paul says though, "and if I have all the faith, so as to remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing;" You can have all the faith in the world! But if you don't have love, you are nothing.

When you realize that you play no part at all in your salvation, and that God through Christ has done EVERY ounce of the work for you and for everyone else that has ever lived, is living now, or ever will live, then (and only then) can you be free from self-righteousness and hate. Then you will truly be filled with the love of Christ and you will be free to share that love with everyone around you, regardless of their sexual orientation, habits, beliefs, and whatever else people are judged for.

Remember, you can have all the faith in the world. But without love, you are nothing...

More Than You Can Handle

Have you ever heard the phrase, "God will never give you more than you can handle?" I am sure most of you have. This is supposed to be an encouraging phrase, in order to motivate you to follow through with something, or to help you during a rough time in life. However, I believe this phrase to be inaccurate and quite amusing. In fact I find it to be completely false. People who use this phrase are missing the point of trials. God WILL give you more than you can handle. If you could handle everything thrown your way, why would you ever want to know God? What motivation would you have to be close to God? God gives people more than they can handle in order for them to rely on God.  Without impossible circumstances we wouldn't need God. Do you think Moses could handle delivering the Hebrews out of Egypt if it weren't for God's help? Imagine if Moses tried to do it alone, with no help from God. Nothing would have happened. Pharaoh would have laughed and went back to drining his tea. With God all things are possible, without God, nothing is.

Regret

Don't forget that regret is a two way street, there may be MANY things you regret doing. But there will always be more things that you can end up regretting NOT doing. Also, you have to remember that the mistakes you have made in your life were planned all along. Everything is going according to God's plan, including your mistakes and failures. So stop beating yourself up and start realizing that you are just a handful of clay in God's hands. Everything that happens and everything you do is part of the bigger picture. Ephesians 1:11 and Romans 9.

Why Does Religion Exist

As much as I have been frustrated as of late by the religious, I stopped to think about it today. Religion today is much like the law that was given in the Scriptures. Paul calls the law a ministry of condemnation. 

2 Corinthians 3:6-9

Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

6 who also made us sufficient [to be] ministrants of a new covenant, not of letter, but of spirit; for the letter doth kill, and the spirit doth make alive.

7 and if the ministration of the death, in letters, engraved in stones, came in glory, so that the sons of Israel were not able to look steadfastly to the face of Moses, because of the glory of his face -- which was being made useless,

8 how shall the ministration of the Spirit not be more in glory?

9 for if the ministration of the condemnation [is] glory, much more doth the ministration of the righteousness abound in glory;

The law was given so that we would get frustrated by how difficult (impossible) it was to keep, it is all about contrast. We were meant to TRY as hard as we could and STRIVE for perfection that we would never attain. Churches and the religious today teach the same thing. they will say that it is all of grace but if you don't produce good works too than you must not really believe or some will even say that it is grace plus works that makes you righteous. God chose to put us through the religious life before bringing us to the truth that Jesus Christ PAID IT ALL and there is nothing left for us to do but rest in the finished work of Christ.

Now take a moment to look back at your life of religion and doubt and works. Without that experience would you feel so free now that you know the truth? Would you feel as peaceful as you do now?

Picture this: A homeowner comes up to you and says, "If you work really hard and save all the money you earn you will be able to buy this house which was custom made to be your dream home." You take this advice to heart and begin working as hard as you possibly could, and you finally save enough money to buy this house. You go to the homeowner and tell him that you finally have enough. He replies,"Well I see that you have been trying really hard, but the price has just gone up." You get really discouraged but you REALLY want this house. So you keep working. Once again you have saved enough for the house but once again the homeowner has raised the price. This happens several more times and finally you are just ready to give up... you walk away with your head hung low and your dreams crushed, KNOWING you will never be able to pay for that house. Right when you are about to exit the building a man comes in. He looks at your desperation and your brokenness. He knows you have given up all hope. He lifts you chin and asks you what is wrong. You tell him the story of the house and how you know it is impossible to afford it. He smiles and walks over to the homeowner. He asks,"How much for the house?" The homeowners response,"More than you have." The stranger smiles, pulls out a check book and signs a blank check. He hands the check to the homeowner and tells him that he can fill in ANY amount at all and the check would cover it. The homeowner takes the check and signs the deed over to the stranger, then the stranger turns to you. "This is for you." He says. "It is a gift, now stop working so hard and start resting." Tears come to your eyes as you feel the weight of life lifting from you and joy swallows up your soul. You immediately fall down and thank the stranger for this amazing gift. You ask how you could ever repay him. His response, "You can't, and I don't want you to even try. I did this so you could find rest."
I was so frustrated with religion for the first few months after learning the truth about grace and God's gift to ALL MANKIND. However, today it really hit me. That wthout the legalistic religious experience I went thruogh, I wouldn't feel as free and joyful as I do today. I thank God for the religious, because they helped provide the stark contrast to make my life what it is today. Remember Winter sucks in order for us to enjoy Spring!

Adam and Christ

Romans 5:18

King James Version (KJV)

18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

There isn't much to add to this verse. This verse by itself should bring incredible peace to your hearts and minds. Thinking of loved ones that weren't given the gift of faith before they died. Speaking of death, they are not in either heaven or fiery torment, they are dead, asleep, unconscious. There are many verses that speak of the true state of the dead and I will do a post on that at a later date.

What most "Christians" say this verse says is that Adam screwed us all over and now we are all condemned to burn endlessly in a place called hell, but if we choose to believe out of our own free will in Christ's sacrifice, then we will be saved from that and we will go to heaven instead.

Their version might read:
"Therefore because of Adam's one act we are all condemned to unending fiery torment; but because of what Christ did for us we have a chance to save ourselves by believing in Him."
- ACV (Apostate Church Version)

However, what we actually see in this verse is a parallel. We see that Adam's sin affected all of humanity. Then we see that Christ's action also affects all of humanity.

Unless you are ready to admit that Adam's sin was greater than Christ's sacrifice. You must submit to the truth that Christ really is the Savior of the WORLD.