Thoughts

The point of refraction

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What does refraction have to do with belief in God?
Actually when looked at it with the correct concept, everything.
In the history reported within the Bible is the story of God’s promises to a single group of people, the descendants of Abraham through Isaac. At this time there is approximately sixteen million Jewish people now living upon this planet. They are the light of God unto the world before Christ.
God promised that the One who would allow all of humanity the ability to stand before God would come through them. That is Jesus Christ, the prism, the point to which the light of God was aiming at.
Then Christ went onto the cross. An innocent and sinless being died the most horrid and seen as the death for only the worst of the worst upon the planet at that time. This was the point of refraction within the prism. On the third day Christ arose from the dead and upon that day the light escaped the prism to shine into a rainbow.
Now there are 7.3 billion people on this planet and everyone one of them due to the rainbow that left the prism have the chance to be seen and accepted by God.
All due to the point of refraction, Jesus Christ. All they need do is ask Him to be their Savior.

Confessions of a screwed up middle aged man: the temp

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Where I work time to time they let people that are from the production floor temporarily step up to being a manager.
In many cases this is something that is good for those that do it. Then there are times when it is best that they never stepped up to the plate.
You must also understand that where I work we are in a down turn in business, but that is another story all together. The only reason I mention it is any chance of stepping into a permanent management position in this environment is not going to happen. So once the temp role is no longer needed the person goes back to the floor.
Now you also ask what does this have to do with Christianity. That I am getting to.
At this time I have over my area a temp manager due to the areas main managers being sent overseas for a National Guard deployment.
Now I started talking to this temp and he professed to be a Christian. An additional fact you need to know about myself is that for twenty plus years I was involved with management as well. So much so I no longer have any desire to partake of it, especially where I now work.
Now that I have established those two points I will continue.
As I said he stated he was a Christian. So out of some friendly advice I gave him the best counsel I could.
“Always place you team members as your priority even over upper management.”
When you are a true Christian you would apply the teachings of the Bible into all that you do.
Christ Himself established how leaders should behave. They should make of themselves servants to those they lead. As you can see my advice and the Bible are in sync.
Now I also understand that when it comes to those in upper management especially if they are not living a Christian life have not concept of this. Their only goal is to reach those desired numbers for any given period. Placing a company over humans is one of the greatest failings in today’s society and work environment.
Needless to say in every opportunity for this temp manager to show his true focus, that being God or himself and his career it was himself that he chose.
Now in his defense he did state that he was new to Christianity and he has to learn to change the way he thinks, but still, when I was able to talk to him and did establish that certain actions of his were not in line with the Bible. The comments and suggestions I made went in one ear and out the other.
I later found out that when on the floor he would like to go up to his manager and converse in Spanish ratting out his fellow employees. Also when one person on the team accidently over ran some hours on one procedure within the tasks assigned to them he ran and informed the second level management. Again this is not the actions of someone who professes to be Christian. All his actions said “me,me,me!”
As I have stated in the past that all sin originates through selfishness and being self-centered. When all you care about is your own goals and rewards here in this temporal existence. Then this is all you shall ever have. Eternal reward can only be achieved by placing God at the center of everything you do. From how you act with those you have been asked to manage to how you interact with those above you.
Every time he has the chance to absorb some comment from upper management to protect those under him, he failed. Especially when those he did not take the brunt of the attack for were performing their jobs in a timely manner and with good quality. As a result he lost their respect. What is worse is that he will return to the floor and may be placed in a position alongside those he has lost the respect of. Do you think they will join him in co-worker comradery?
A Christian has a tough line to follow in such real life situations, but God never said the path to salvation would be the wide and easy road, but the narrow and rough one. I truly feel sorry for this young man. He has a long way to go in his growth toward Christ if he is even truly headed down that narrow road, it is hard to tell at this time.

An Open Letter: To those Republicans being offended by the vulgarity of Donald Trump

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First off let’s get this straight from the beginning. I have not nor will I ever be a supporter of Donald Trump.
This open letter is to address those that are now thinking of rejecting Trump for president.
This worldly man has been this way the entire time and you are just now publicly seeing the truth. This is the “October surprise” from the Democratic Party.
If this is the best they can come up with then they have nothing in comparison to their crimes.
Prime and very visual comparison. The results of Hurricane Matthew upon Haiti. As the death toll nears 900, how many of these now dead would be alive if the housing promised by the Clinton Foundation would have actually been built after the earthquake that stuck that nation in 2010?
Here is the thing. During the primaries people had the chance to pick someone else, but instead everyone ran to Donald Trump as their savior. As you now see he is just a man. He also has been.
Now the die is cast. It is Trump or it is the criminal Hillary Clinton that per the wording of FBI director Comey shouldn’t even be running. He listed off her crimes and then stated that they would not press charges, but IF ANYONE ELSE were to commit these crimes they would be charged. This shows that the entire government is corrupt and she should have been charged and not allowed to run.
The fact that they are trying to influence people with these surprises shows that they cannot rig the voting machines. They can however commit voter fraud in other ways as the recent mall terrorist showed us by illegally voting in the last three elections. The fact that they are even trying to influence your vote shows that we the people can still pick our leader and they fear that you will pick Trump over the person that shouldn’t even be running at all.
As we now see Trump is exactly as I have always known him to be. The worst candidate ever, but we must remember this also. He is not the first to be crude and vulgar. Lindon B. Johnson was crude and vulgar as well as openly committed adulterous acts right in front of his wife Lady Bird Johnson and he was a Democrat.
To those that call themselves “Christian” and chose this man to follow, and are now offended by him. Remember it was your vote, if you voted for him in the primaries, which helped place him in this position. It was your abandonment of the teaching of the Bible that caused this man to be your savior. A mere man over the Son of God your true Savior. You are now seeing that you are hypocrites. Now you must deal with the consequences of your choice. Repent and return to God, but understand you must now face the choices that you have made for at least four years. By now rejecting your “savior” you choose to support those that wish to remove God altogether from this nation.
When you do not vote for Trump, you support those that happily support the murder of the unborn. You support those that openly support sins which are stated clearly within the Bible will not be allowed into heaven. When you support an organization, the Democratic Party, which supports corrupt and is proud that they lie and care for nothing but their own wellbeing. You help choose the breaking of the covenant that our founding fathers made with God for this nation. The result will be sorrow to all.
Understand this though. No matter which candidate wins, Trump or Clinton. This nation, this world will still suffer for the next four years. Due to the continued rejection of God. But the degree to which the United States in particular suffers will be which of these two people becomes president. It will be worse for the U.S. under those that openly reject God as the last eight years have already shown everyone.
So now decide. Take your pick. The vulgar or the criminal, which is it to be?

Ok time to listen

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Do not assume.
Read the Bible yourself
I don’t mean read a verse here or there. I mean READ the Bible.
Learn the meaning of the words as they were originally written in the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. (Bet you didn’t know parts of the Old Testament were not all in Hebrew.)
Take them in context to the events and teachings be taught by Christ or the writers of the books within the Bible. The only exception to this is Proverbs.
An example of context: This woman I encountered kept throwing out to me “Go sell all your good and give to the poor!”
She had no concept of that within what it was referring to within the Bible.
Another example: “You shall not judge!”
Again out of context.
The first was the story of the rich man and Jesus. The rich man said he followed all the commandments. Christ believed him. Jesus said that he needed to do one more thing, go sell all his property and possessions, give them to the poor and follow Him. By the way the guy didn’t.
As to the “judgment card” as I love to call it.
In 2 Timothy 4:1-5 we are instructed to reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. This, people take as “judging.”
The verse that discusses “judging” is about hypocrisy. The person accusing his fellow of sin was living in the same exact sin. Christ instructed the person to remove their own sin before confronting others.
I must add that when you reprove, rebuke, and exhort, you are doing so using the Bible as a foundation thus the word “doctrine.” So when someone actually accuses you of “judging” they are in actuality accusing God of judging them, not you, when you are grounded in your stance with the Bible. These are just two examples, yet there are many more. Too many more.
To know you are on the right path. You must be willing to accept that even though saved you will still sin. However this is not a license to remain in this sin. You must strive to remove this sin from your life. Some sins will be easy to get rid of. Other sins, especially sin that actually not only affect you but those that you have ever been in contact with or ever will be in contact with. Sins I have called “overwhelming sin,” are sins that can be extremely difficult to leave behind.
When we are instructed to repent. We must understand that repentance is an action that God requires those committing the sin to do to show that they truly seek to place God at the core of their life.
In the New Testament there are two versions of the word repent used.
Most of the time it is the word “metanoeo” defined as:
“I repent, change my mind, change the inner man (particularly with reference to acceptance of the will of God), repent.” From Biblehub
The other version is “metamellomai” again from Biblehub it is translated as:
“I change my mind (generally for the better), repent, regret”
Note both times it is the person making the change, not God, but the person turning to God through Jesus Christ.
Once someone with all their heart commits to following God and ask Christ to be their Savior, just accepting the salvation is not enough. It requires works.
The Bible states faith alone is not enough it is faith and works.
James 2:14 – What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? 17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. 18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” 19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? 21 Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. 23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. 24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. 25 Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. 26 Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.
Any who tell you all you need is to believe and nothing else is sentencing you to damnation, not salvation.
If you live in sin and have no desire to remove the sin from your life, then the question must be asked: Are you even really saved?
When you are manifestly changed by your broken and heartfelt choice to follow Christ. You will choose on your own to turn from sin.
The Bible shows prove of this:
1 Corinthians 6:9 – Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, 10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. 11 Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
If two thousand years ago these people could turn from their sins, some very extreme sins, why can’t you?
The answer is you can and will desire to do so if you truly accept Jesus Christ as your Savior.

So we are all going to heaven???

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Interesting.
Well that is what a recent poll states that says 69% of the Evangelicals surveyed stated.
There is just one big problem with this.
God made it clear that not all would enter into His service in the eternal life to come.
If fact the Bible makes it clear that more will reject God than accept God.
The road is wide and smooth to damnation and the narrow road is rough and hard for those that will find salvation.
Also, yes I agree there is a Heaven, but this concept that this is where those that do go there will stay there forever. This again is not stated in the Bible.
We are told that Paradise a.k.a. Heaven is there and in use in this time, but once Jesus Christ returns those that were seen as worthy servants will find themselves back upon this very planet helping to rule the nations for one thousand years in direct interaction with Jesus Christ Himself who will rule the entire planet in this time.
At the end of this thousand years will come the great White Throne Judgment. It is in this time that those that did not make it all the way will face the Judge, the Trinity.
Those that never knew God, those that denied God and those that rejected God will face their verdict.
They will either be accepted, or for the most part, might I add, rejected and sent into the pit of fire.
This is definitely not heaven.

Confessions of a screwed up middle aged man: the letter

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What is to follow is a letter I just sent to someone I consider a friend. The names have been removed from the person and the church to protect those involved:

It has been a year and a half since I severed my ties to the {omitted}. Many, not just you, were listed on my friends list in Facebook. I have also removed them form my friends list just this last week.
{Omitted} cut me off from receiving my post soon after (unfriended), because in his eyes I became too “radical” in my thoughts soon after I left the church.
As I delved ever deeper into the word of God I found I could not live in a grey or as Christ put it a “lukewarm” existence. As the Bible states it can only lead to one point, removal from God’s blessing and salvation. This was made clear by John the Baptist in Luke 3, reinforced by Christ Himself in John 15 and made perfectly clear in Revelation 3:15-16 by the Glorified Jesus Christ.
A lukewarm existence will lead away from God and His eternal love and blessing and those that live it are seen as even worse than those that deny God outright.
When I received posts on Facebook, what few there were. The trend was never toward God, but further and further away from God.
Watching people I care for deeply falling further and further away from Christ just got me to a point of complete sorrow and I even started entering into depression.
I know I cannot save everyone, but it was my personal attachment to those from the {omitted} that just made it unbearable to continue to watch those I considered friends to be heading not toward God, but away and into certain loss.
It is made very clear within the Bible. It is love God or love the world. You cannot be both.
I have reach out to those that would hear, you being one of them, but still I could not watch the descent any longer, it was too heartbreaking.
There are those like {omitted} that thought it was due to politics, this was never the point. Even though it was the behavior of many during this election that showed where their true state of understanding the Bible and God stood.
These times we are in are truly the end of times for human rule of this planet, and any support of sin, no matter how minor it may seem is actually an acceptance of the world and a rejection of God.
Those of the {omitted} like yourself are in my prayers and it is never too late to awaken from the downward spiral. A spiral I myself was in at one point but awakened only when God placed me through the harsh trial I had gone through in 2013.
Since that awakening I have been coming closer and closer to God through Christ, I wish those I call my friends not to have to go through such a harsh pruning has I had to experience.
If you wish to be friends still I will friend you again in Facebook, but understand I may get harsher in my rhetoric.

We are to compare all we hear to the Bible for it is the words of the Groom

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When you accept Christianity and ask Jesus Christ to be your Savior you are entering into a covenant. Christians are described as the bride of Christ. It is a marriage. When you look at the relationship of marriage between humanity within the Bible it states that those marrying will depart from the parents and join together to be one. To be of one mind and one flesh.
To be of one mind we must know how the other person thinks and feels. How do we do this with Jesus Christ? The answer to that is simple we read the Bible.
Now many use the excuse that they do not have time to read the Bible. Other say that they go to church and listen their pastor, priest, minister. Neither of these methods is acceptable. For it is up to those that asked Jesus into their hearts to learn and have a personal relationship with Him. This can only be accomplished by knowing the Word of God ourselves. That way we cannot be led astray when someone says something that is not Biblical.
Yet millions call themselves “Christian” and have no idea of the true teachings of the Bible.
In James they are called what they truly are: adulterers, for they have betrayed their vow unto the Lord and have embraced the here and the now. The objects and places within this temporal world. They lust after that which will be eaten by moths and rust into nothingness. For that is truly what it is nothing.
They crave the momentary satisfaction over the eternal and everlasting.
Yet if you confront them with the truth you are the villain, you are the enemy, and you are the evil one for you cannot be right. Yet your foundation is the Bible. Your firmament is the Son of God. So if we are the villain and we are evil, yet we are of Christ, who are they calling the villain and evil? It is not us, but Christ Himself. Any that calls Christ the enemy has a different master and lover. That master only desires to tear you down and destroy you yet all the time sweetly talking to you and lulling you into weakness so you can be overwhelmed and destroyed.

Confessions of a screwed up middle aged man: other voices in the wilderness

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For those that have been reading my blog time to time will note that there are times I get preachy, harsh and some even say I am an odd ball.
Well to be honest on the last description. I really don’t care if people choose to think that way about me.
Here is the thing that caused me to write this article.
Today I once again heard Rabbi Jonathan Cahn speak. He echoed everything I have been saying about this time in world history. He confirmed that too many are lukewarm. That many have slipped into apostasy. He spoke of signs and events, some of which I myself was unaware of yet solidly confirms we are in the last days.
He is another voice in the wilderness crying out for all to awaken and repent. However, he knows in his heart, as I know in mine, that most will not listen until it is too late.
He reaffirmed that it is through peoples visual actions that shows where they stand within their faith, or the lack of, for God.
To have my concerns and my own reasons for reaching out to the lukewarm corroborated tells me that I am truly gaining insight into the Word of God.
Yet at the same time due to my own sin nature I still fear I will miss the Rapture or even enter into the eternal service of God. However, I will continue to strive to be a true reflection of Christ, as best I can, even though I know the mirror is tarnished and dirty. I will continue to seek to overcome my sin with pray and supplication unto my Lord and Savior, and yearn it will suffice.
If you have never read my articles before I suggest you do so. Read, think and come to your own conclusions, but do not hesitate. For Christ will return like a thief in the night.
I know the time is not yet here, for there are still things that need to occur, but we are definitely in the beginning of the soon to come end of this civilization as we now know it.

The Judas dilemma

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When we look to the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ we see humanity coming face to face with God.
We see their willingness. We see their desire to shine above the rest. We see their bickering and arguing at times as well. Simply we see a true reflection of man, while on the other hand in Jesus we see the God who has become man and see he is different.
However, that is not the main point of this article.
The main point is we can also say even though they were flawed and did not at first act correctly. For the most part their hearts were in the right place, for they had been called by name, by Christ Himself.
Now in this light we can in essence say they were “saved.” Even though Christ had not yet died for their sins. How they acted after in another story for another day.
What we are going to deal with is the fact they were called by Christ to be taught by the Son of God Himself. Before it was over they came to know and understand that yes He was the Messiah. Yet, one still clung to the world, still desired the riches and notoriety of this temporal existence.
This one even though knowing Christ was the Son of God chose the world instead. That was Judas.
He saw the miracles, and may have even performed some himself, yet he could not understand or grasp the reality he himself was experiencing.
Was he overwhelmed? I do not know.
Was he beyond caring for the truth before him? Again the answer of that is beyond my knowing or understanding.
Even though he was seeing, even though he was doing. Still he could not comprehend the reality of God. The power of God. The understanding that we were created by God. That all he saw, that all he did was only due to being part of the overall plan of God’s tapestry, woven throughout the known universe, which itself is just now being seen as that very thing, a woven tapestry.
Many today are like Judas and in many cases aren’t even aware of their own rejection of the Christ. Thus the dilemma. They do not see God nor His Son as who they truly are. They worship the world yet say they are His children. Showing nothing but contempt towards He they said they would surrender their life to. They seek out their own thirty silver in the form of fancy houses, cars, and then turn and spend their blood money on unnecessaries, instead of giving to those in need. They bury their wealth hording it and refusing to release it.
They are the new Judas’s and in most cases even if they realized the truth as the original Judas did wouldn’t even do has he did, kill himself. For even though they had seen Christ’s grace and glory the world is more what they now lust after and desire for it satisfies them and their own selfish desires and lust. Unaware that the Day of Judgment will come and they will be standing before Christ as they say:
“Lord, Lord.”
And He will say,
“I never knew you.”

Confessions of a screwed up middle aged man: “Dear younger me.”

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As I listened this morning to this Mercy Me song I started thinking, for at time in my past I have contemplated desiring to do that very thing.
Then I really thought, and I really reflected upon my fifty plus years of live within this temporal plain of existence, and I came to a startling conclusion.
For the most part, I wouldn’t want to talk to my younger self.
“Why?” you question.
Would I have given myself some finical advice? If I had, would I have ended up where I am now? No, most likely not. Then I would not be happy where I now am for no telling what riches would have done to me.
Would I have given myself romantic advice? For the most part I again would say no. Even though I am now into my third marriage, and might I add, my final one. For without going through the two previous marriages I would not have the children that are now within my life, nor would I even be living where I now live, and had the opportunity to have met my current spouse.
The real question comes down to my spirituality then. That is the toughest of all to answer. Would I have been equipped to serve God and His Son if I did not go through all I have gone through? There was a very long pause here just for your information.
Again I have to say no, I would not say a thing. Have I been though some rough patches? Yes, most definitely yes. However, I honestly feel I had to experience these minefields to be able to make people understand that what is within the Bible is real. That every word when taken in context and applied to ones live as well as the very acceptance of Jesus Christ as my Savior is something that is real and required to achieve spiritual growth and understanding of what God has mapped out for us in our lives.
So, I can say this without doubt or question.
I would never wish to talk to my younger self, for the road he took brought me here, to now, to this place, to God.