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.

Hatred Toward Christianity

When I first became fully convinced about the Salvation of All, I'll be honest, I was extrtemely  bitter toward Christianity and it's followers. I was angry that they caused me so much much pain and suffering. I then set out to argue with Christians and to question their beliefs. Which in itself is not wrong. However, I didn't do it solely to spread the truth. Part of me (a big part) just wanted to win an argument, I just wanted to show that I was right and they were wrong. I wanted to wage war against "Christians" who caused me to literally go insane. I was determined to prove them all wrong, and this is okay at a healthy level, it motivates you into action, however, I was consumed with hatred. That is not what Christ would want. I listened to a couple of audios from James Flanders (http://www.jamesflanders.com/3/post/2013/01/open-arms-romans-141-14.html and http://www.jamesflanders.com/3/post/2012/11/seeking-god-or-seeking-to-win-an-argument.htm). These were eye opening audios and they really made me think about my stance toward Christians. I know they mostly have good intentions, and that they are only doing God's perfect will. They don't know what they are doing. Jesus prayed for these exact people while dying on the stake. "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." If that was Christ's attitude towards the apostates, shouldn't that be ours too?

Free Will Would Suck! (My Testimony)

I know I should have started my blog with my testimony, but to be honest I am lazy some days and I just didn't really feel like typing it all out! But here it goes. I used to be really involved in my church, I was a counselor/staff member at our church camp for a couple years. I was in the AWANA program at our church, I went on outreach trips with my church group every Monday and Wednesday, and on Friday's I was involved in a church addiction program. It was a Baptist Church that I had gone to literally since my first Sunday into the world. It wasn't until I talked with somebody from the Church of Christ denomination that I really started worrying about my personal salvation. I was always taught OSAS ( once saved always saved ). When I talked to him however he mentioned striving for our salvation. This worried me because I was living in sin and knew that I should be trying harder to please God (so I thought). So then I started questioning if I was truly saved and/or if I could lose my salvation. This is what really started my anxiety. So the thought came to my mind... "What are the chances that I just happened to be born into the right denomination?" So I started looking into other denominations. They all preached "grace" with their mouths but works with their attitudes. I could never accept that works were a part of salvation so then my problem was faith. I wanted to know ,"How Much Faith Do I Need." When I asked my pastor how much faith I needed, he would just respond, "Just enough." I would then ask, "How much is enough?" No answer he eve gave me was satisfying. So then I had major panic episodes because I was convinced that I would never be able to conjure up enough faith to be saved. It scared me so much that I was admitted to the psychiatric ward for a time. When I acted well enough to get out the ward, things only got worse. I asked my grandpa (who is very religious) how I could know I was saved and if I wasn't saved, what could I do to make sure I was saved. His answer surprised me. He told me that we don't choose God, He chooses us. I used to fight tooth and nail trying to prove that we had "free will". Granted, this was because the first time that I heard that we didn't have free will it was from my grandfather and uncle who are newly reformed baptist, meaning they told me that God chose who would go to heaven and who would go to hell to burn in agony and torment for "eternity". The main reason I fought so hard for "free will" is because I felt angry and offended that someone would be so bold to tell me that our loving God, would purposefully create some of His own children just to stoke the flames of hell! I wanted "free will" to be true so that I had a say in my salvation. I was afraid that if God didn't choose me, I was going to burn "forever". I was absolutely terrified. I had a mental breakdown and a few psychotic episodes. I ended up in a psych ward again, diagnosed with Psychotic Depressive Disorder with Psychotic Breakdown. I was wanting to commit suicide but I was too afraid to because I was convinced that I wasn't chosen and therefore the moment I killed myself I would find myself in never ending torment. I was living a hell on earth but if I killed myself I would be living in another more intense version of hell. I was stuck. So I sat crying in a corner alone in the psych ward banging my head on the wall wishing for unconsciousness. I stayed this way for what seemed like hours until I was brought to my room with a bed. There were no trash bags in the trash cans to prevent suffocation. We had to wear sweat suits with no strings, shoelaces, or belts. To prevent strangulation. It was terrible... I had to fake getting better once again to get out. Once I was out I started my search again. This time I set out to disprove Calvanism, I watched many pro-Arminianist videos, but I still couldn't get over Romans Chapter 9. There was no denying that God was in control of it all. I was terrified to find out that I didn't have a say in my salvation at all! I was fully convinced that God didn't choose me and that I was going to burn in a never ending torment! Then I came across a video on YouTube... It was a video that compared Calvanism to Arminianism. However at the end of the video, there was a surprise. One that changed my life forever. At the end of the video I was introduced to a different view... The view of our apostle Paul. The idea that God is going to save everyone! I didn't believe it! I couldn't! It was too good to be true! So I decided not to think about that as even being possible. But the thought just wouldn't go away! I "stumbled" upon Martin Zender's Crack O' Dawn Reports. (I put stumbled in quotation marks because I know now that God is the cause for everything). I couldn't deny how much sense he made! The video that really changed my life was Faith in Faith vs Faith In Christ. It completely changed my perspective. Martin was the first teacher that changed my life for the better. Now I have Martin, Dan Sheridan, Clyde Pilkington, Waylan Dabbs, and James Flanders as my biggest inspirations in my journey. God put them in my life for this and I can't thank them enough for being God's vessels of honor ( As if they had a choice!) So thank God I don't have free will because if salvation was up to me... well let's be honest, I would never make it!

John 8:31-32

John 8:31-32
Young's Literal Translation (YLT)
31 Jesus, therefore, said unto the Jews who believed in him, `If ye may remain in my word, truly my disciples ye are, and ye shall know the truth,
32 and the truth shall make you free.'

Nothing I have ever come across has truly set me free like the truth of Paul's gospel and the Salvation of All. I was raised Baptist and of course we always CLAIMED that salvation was based on faith alone and no works, but none of us REALLY believed that. There were always people telling us that if we didn't produce fruit than we weren't truly saved. Regardless of us truly believing the gospel. Paul's message is pure unadulterated GRACE! Something that most of us as humans find TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE! But I ask you this, is there anything TOO GOOD for OUR GOD not to be able to do? Many reject the salvation of all with this same reasoning. "It's too good to be true" they say. I am reminded of Sarah when she is told that she will bear a child. She LAUGHS, doubting that God can accomplish what He promised! Just a thought for the day: Nothing is too good to be true when it comes to OUR GOD!

Isaiah 29

Isaiah 29:10 For Yahweh has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, the prophets; and he has covered your heads, the seers. 11 All vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is educated, saying, “Read this, please”; and he says, “I can’t, for it is sealed:” 12 and the book is delivered to one who is not educated, saying, “Read this, please”; and he says, “I can’t read.” 13 The Lord said, “Because this people draws near with their mouth and with their lips to honor me, but they have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which has been taught; 14 therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men will be hidden.”

A few things that I take out of these verses is that the religious leaders and theologians mentioned here have been blinded by God himself. I believe that is the case today. I believe that the "wisdom" of theologians today will perish.

The second thing I get out of this is found in verse 13: The Lord said, “Because this people draws near with their mouth and with their lips to honor me, but they have removed their heart far from me, and THEIR FEAR OF ME IS A COMMANDMENT OF MEN WHICH HAS BEEN TAUGHT;"

Christians today preach a "turn or burn" "gospel" when the true gospel is that Christ is the Savior of the world. Yes I believe that God will judge sin and I don't believe it will be a pleasant experience. However, I also believe all the scriptures that teach the salvation of all. From what I gather of this passage, God doesn't want us to be AFRAID of Him. Yes we should have a reverent fear of Him but the fear that is being taught by these people was meant to scare people into their beliefs. Sound familiar?