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.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Monday, November 24, 2014
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.
Monday, November 3, 2014
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.
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.
Friday, October 24, 2014
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.
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.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
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.
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.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
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.
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.
P.S: In-case you are wondering... 17 times. Started to not sound like a word anymore.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
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.
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.
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