Christian

The new master and slaves association

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When we say the Lord’s Prayer we ask for out daily bread. Due to the increase in population hunting and farming became impossible for all to accomplish, so now we have jobs.
The employer is the “master,” who promises to pay you your money needed to go to the store and acquire food to place before you daily. This allows God to provide you your daily bread as you the employee and thus the “slaves” as shown in the Bible.
Ephesians 6:5 – Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. 6 Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. 7 Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 8 Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free. 9 Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.
When you come into work late, when you extend you work break, if you have them, and if you do not perform your job to the best of your ability. You are disrespecting and insulting God. This is why I have stated in the past, it is both faith and works.
So get to your place of employment early. Work with honor and quality, and with respect. For the salary you receive is your daily bread that is given to you by God. All that you do with this money must be God centered, not self-centered.

The Sanctification Trail

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A study of the book “The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification” By Walter Marshall – part one

As I grow in my faith and dare I say “sanctification.” I have been led by the spirit to take a more in-depth look into this part of being a Christian. My research led me to the book written by Marshall and published in 1692. He was a Puritan and suffered persecution by the Church of England when they demanded that only certain teachings be done. He and several other ministers refused to sign the “Book of Common Prayer” and as a result he lost his parishes on Black Bartholomew’s Day in 1662.
After his own struggles with faith and belief as well as fought the hard fight against those teachings that are called Antinomianism. That being the belief that faith alone is all you need to be saved. As well as Neonomianism, which is the legalistic following of the Bible. He reached the point to write the book entitled above.
Direction # 1 – That we may acceptably perform the duties of Holiness and Righteousness required in the Law, our first works is, to learn the powerful and effectual Means whereby we may attain to so great an End.
What struck me the most was his approach to the greatest commandment, which is to love God with all your heart, mind and soul. He states that if you love God you will be willing to sacrifice all, to the point of even abandoning your own desires and wishes. You would follow to the best of your ability all the commandments within the Bible. For as he puts it, are a guideline to the second greatest commandment of love thy neighbor. For by practicing and obeying all the commandments that deal with social interaction and behavior you show your love towards God.
Even I fall short in this department. Why?
Because in today’s society and culture we no longer follow the majority of, as Marshall puts it, the Laws of the Bible. This is not totally our own faults, but those of our parents and their parents. This is something that does not happen overnight, over a few years, but over decades and through generations.
To correct this is to first acknowledge there is a problem with not just how the Bible is taught, but read. Most in today’s society have an Antinomianism understanding of the Bible. This as a result is a key factor in the disintegration of social and cultural behavior in Europe and the United States.
Can it be corrected on whole?
From the way the Bible is written, I would say no. However, for those willing to listen. For those willing to understand that by accepting this path towards sanctification they are in essence signing their own death warrant upon this temporal life we now live.
Is this a drastic statement?
Most definitely, but we must come to that understanding.
Look to what happened to Walter Marshall when He refused to sign the conformity requirements that the Church of England forced upon their clergy in 1652. His life for a short time was shattered. However, he did find a new parish and continued in the good works towards his own sanctification.
As we come into this age that is actually described within the Bible as the signs of the soon return of Jesus Christ. We must accept that by adopting to truly seek after sanctification. By following the commandments, which are in reality laws given to those willing to listen, by God and through His Son Jesus Christ. We face the fact that society on whole will reject us to the point of martyrdom, as is written within the Bible.
John MacArthur said, and I paraphrase, that to live the commandments and not accept Jesus, will not lead to salvation. However, once we are saved we cannot ignore the commandments if we seek after sanctification.
Yet, as mentioned above, most do not even attempt to follow just the Ten Commandments let alone all we truly are required which are in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, which have not been made void by Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. There are many laws that deal with everyday life and interaction with others. Most have in actuality been turned into human laws in most Christian based nations. However, the majority now takes them for granted or are totally ignored.
Few attempt to gain sanctification. Mostly due to not being aware that it is something that is required of all when accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior. I myself was under this same misunderstanding for decades. As a result I drifted further and further away from God and my Savior, Jesus.
It took God literally destroying my life in 2013. Since that “year of Job,” as I call it, returning to God through Jesus Christ as been a goal that has taken me down a road I never thought I would ever see in my lifetime. A life with true happiness, due to God’s blessing as I endeavor to travel down the narrow and least traveled path towards Him.
I have been on a journey within my faith that has led me ever closer to our Creator. The scales have fallen from my eyes and I now see what is causing all the strife and turmoil in the world at large. I know it is due to the abandonment of God by most within this world, and especially those that live within the United States of America.
Most do not even know what “sanctification” is or truly means. I know, because I was one of them.
When I read the words of a man that has been dead for nearly four hundred years and seeing that his thoughts echoed my own. I came to the realization that God’s promise is never ending, never changing. Only humanity forgets this and must learn it all over again. Time and time again. As the Israelites learned to their dismay, over and over.
Comprehending that in the 1600’s people were struggling with the same issues we are today. That his teachings helped become the core of the Puritan’s religious beliefs. A group that led to factions like the Quakers, which led one of these Quakers to be given a land grant by the British king. Which allowed this Quaker to form the colony that came to be known as the state of Pennsylvania. His faith that from his beliefs became that colonies constitution, which led to the lion share of what is now the Constitution of the United States.
This trail should make people reawaken to the need to seek out sanctification by returning to the laws within the Bible and obeying them. Not in a legalistic way like the Catholic and Greek Orthodox Church, but truly following and living all the commandments in the Bible. In faith and love of God and His son the Lord Jesus Christ. To once again treat them, not as suggestions, but what they are: laws, we are to adhere to and follow to the best of our abilities.

A study of the verses covering judging one another (the mote and the beam)

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These verses that are shown within the Bible that millions go about saying to one another when someone confronts another with their misdeeds.
Why pursue studying them?
Because those that throw out this one verse in reply have not studied all the verses related to it. They take them out of context. Plus do not understand the full teachings within the entire Bible. At this time all I can say is those that throw out this one verse in reply are not going to be happy with the results of this study.
Matthew 7:1 – Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
Now let’s take a more contemporary look at this teaching, then we will actually take a deeper look at the actual verses.
So in this hypothetical world we have a team of men setting down at a workplace. Someone approaches and says “Why are you setting when those men are working?” Referring to some of the co-workers that were still doing their assigned tasks.
One of the men turns to the person, and replies.
“We have finished all of our given duties, and as it is, we have new duties we plan on starting shortly. Why do you ask this?”
“Well this man from another team saw you sitting and doing nothing.” Was the persons reply.
The team of men look to where the person that had made the comment was working. The person was nowhere to be found and most of his work was not done. They looked for the person, that had made the comment and who was in need to complete his own jobs. They found him talking to others pointing again to those that were setting.
They approach the man and ask him.
“Why do you accuse us of not doing our work, when our work is complete? We looked to where you should be to talk to you and found you missing and your work nowhere near to being done.
The man grew angry and accused them once again of being lazy and failing to help those in need of help. The team of men turned and walked away.
This is the heart of this teaching that Jesus was speaking of when it comes to judging. It shows that those that judge are in fact hypocrites, and have no need to be accusing others of doing a wrong when they themselves commit the sin they are accusing the other of doing.
So let us look in this teaching in its entire context. Now the biggest issue people have to come to understand is the comparison Jesus uses to the issue of judging. The mote and the beam.
Mote – karphos – a small particle (a splinter of straw or wood); “a dry stalk; a chip of wood;” something dry and light; a “chip or splinter, of the same material with the beam”
Beam – dokos – a large beam (joist) of wood; “a beam of timber;” – “a log on which planks in the house rest (as in the papyri); joist, rafter, plank; a pole sticking out grotesquely;” (figuratively) a huge log (like a plank used in a house) that completely obstructs someone’s vision.
Jesus making this comparison is not by chance. It is specific and pointed out for a reason.
Do not try and take the splinter out of someone else’s eye when you have a beam of wood within your own eye. This means the sin are the same exact sin, as was demonstrated in the situation above. The man accusing those sitting down and resting after completely their work, of having a splinter. Had not done his own work and so had a beam within his eye.
Thus the statement by Jesus: “You hypocrite!”
Judging deals only with hypocrisy, and is shown as such as the sentence continues:
“First cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”
So here Jesus is telling us to first cast out our own sin. Now it is here that people will start to say that Jesus is referring to all sin. Then why the mote and the beam? Why have a particular comparison?
All sin. We are all individuals and so sin in different ways. Yet many that choose to not sin through accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior. With His help cast off sins. Not all sins, for we live within corrupted bodies. However we can cast enough sin from us to live a righteous life. Allowing us to be light into the darkness, which is sin. That is why we have these verses to follow within the Bible:
2 Timothy 4:1 – I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. (KJV)
Reprove – elegcho – to convince with solid, compelling evidence, especially to expose (prove wrong, connect).
Rebuke – epitimao – assign value as is fitting the situation, building on the situation to correct (re-direct).
Exhort – parakaleo – (a) I send for, summon, invite, (b) I beseech, entreat, beg, (c) I exhort, admonish, (d) I comfort, encourage, console; (“personally make a call”) refers to believers offering up evidence that stands up in God’s court.
As you can see, when you accept Jesus Christ and then cast out the beam that is within your own eye. We are then taught to help others by showing them with the Bible that it is something that should not be done. To show them that the beam can be taken out. Then to encourage them to remove their own splinter. Why? Because the person talking to them had removed the beam from their own eye with the help of Jesus Christ.
So the team of workers are free to say for instance to the man in our example above: “You must finish your own work, before you can accuse us of not work.”
Now remove the word work and replace it with a particular sin. As long as you are not doing this sin yourself and show evidence it is a sin within the Bible. You are not guilty of judging, but trying to help someone not to sin.
However, we must realize that not all are willing to accept to the truth and so in turn will throw out that they are being judged. In a way they are, but not by those saying they are sinning. But by the word of God, so as the verse makes clear in 2 Timothy:
“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.”
Those that reprove, rebuke and exhort are not judges, but advocates for the one sinning. They are being their legal defense. Trying to help them not have this particular sin between themselves and Jesus Christ as He sets upon the Throne of Judgment. Because they themselves, with the aid of Jesus Christ have put this particular sin behind them.

Some hard truth: Folks just refuse to see the problem

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In yesterday’s post I spelled out the need to follow the commandments in the Bible and showed with the Bible the foundation for this belief.
Part of my response, due to the how my post was received yesterday is to quote from John MacArthur:
“I cannot be saved by keeping the law, and I will not be sanctified by ignoring the law.”
Just following the commandments alone cannot save you. I completely agree.
He goes on to say this important statement: “I will not be sanctified by ignoring the law.”
What does this mean?
It is very simply. Everything I discussed in yesterday’s post fits perfectly with this.
Only through accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior can we be saved. However once saved and to grow in our sanctification we must follow the commandments, as Jesus Christ Himself said we must do.
As was witnessed by yesterday’s response most do not wish to grow in their sanctification. They would rather live their lives as they deem to be enough. This again is counter to the teachings of the Bible, as I have been trying to point out for the last couple of posts.
There is only one destination with this type of mentality and it is a place that most think they will never encounter, yet as I have made clear this is the furthest thing from the truth. Thus why these articles have been entitled “the hard truth.”
Ponder and think readers, ponder and think.

Some more hard truth

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Today’s society is a culture that in reality no longer qualifies as the word “society.”
Society as defined in the Cambridge dictionary is: people considered as a group, or a group of people who live together in a particular social system.
Today in the United States as well as in Europe, in addition to other countries throughout the world, people may live in the same geographical regions but they no longer follow the same social system.
A social system or social structure is described as: the internal institutionalized relationships built up by persons living within a group (such as a family or community) especially with regard to the hierarchical organization of status and to the rules and principles regulating behavior per the Marion- Webster dictionary.
What is lacking in today’s society is the “principles regulating behavior.”
What were these principles?
They are what is referred to as ethics.
The defining ethical code that originally controlled and governed these nations was Christianity. Christianity worker from the Bible. Within the Bible are a list of rules and regulations that are called commandments. Yet most have decided these commandments are antiquated and useless so as a result nations around the world are falling to chaos and disorder, which results in the beginning sentence of this article.
Jesus Christ said this about the commandments and laws:
Matthew 5: 17 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. 19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
“I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved.”
So the commandments for the most part are still in effect. This does not mean we are to stone people for their sins. That was taken out of our hands by Jesus Himself hanging upon the cross. However we are to follow those commandments or laws as they were defined by Jesus and His apostles within the New Testament, and if they were not listed in the New Testament we were to refer to how they were originally addressed for the most part in the Old Testament. Especially those that deal with personal interaction with others within a society.
Most in today’s world diminish the commandments and their meanings especially within the “societies” we live within. This is witnessed daily as people speed down the roads and highways going faster than the posted speed limit. This is just one minor example of how the commandments of the Bible have become irrelevant. But what did Jesus say was the result of doing this?
“So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
You are making of yourself to be the “least in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Yet millions if not billions do this very thing and think nothing of it. In fact they go about saying that those that say you should follow the commandments are teaching “legalism.”
Yet the true meaning of legalism is to go about performing rituals without knowing or even caring why these rituals are done. A very visual example of these are found within the Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church.
However, why do these two churches now have these rituals? Both of these churches date back to the beginnings of Christianity. So in some way they recognize the need to follow the commandments, even though they have lost their way.
Following the commandments does not require nor is legalism. It required love of God and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 14:15 “If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. 18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. 20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”
Jesus knows that we cannot do this fully on our own, which is why being filled with the Holy Spirit is something we should seek after. For it will help us to fulfil and follow the commandments. For Jesus makes it clear that we must accept the commandments and obey them.
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.” (KJV)
He that hath – echo – I have, hold, possess
Possess – to have or own something, or to have a particular quality.
We are to not just accept but to take as our own the commandments that are within the Bible. To live them and reflect them. Yet most reject this. Most per Jesus Himself are saying that they do not love Him, but in fact love themselves more. They refuse ownership of the commandments and choose to live their lives as they see fit to live it.
They embrace chaos over order and as a result we have the world we now live within. For all evil comes from humanity, while all love and peace comes from God.

Some hard truth

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Most that attempt to read this won’t like it. However, it is not my mission to make you comfortable, but it is to challenge all willing to listen to improve their standing with God.
Right here someone will scoff, saying that we are not required to increase this standing. That God loves us as we are. Then you have just made the Bible moot, and the crucifixion a waste of time.
Matthew 16:24 – Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. 28 And I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
So what does it mean to “give up your own way?”
In the KJV the verse goes like this:
“let him deny himself….”
Let him deny – aparneomai – to deny, looking back to what was originally refused; “strongly reject” (especially the source). That is, utterly refusing to recognize the original source involved. Can imply “ignore, disown, or repudiate”
Now as we live our lives all of us make plans and have desires. Many of these desires are focused upon one thing. Us.
The desires for wealth, for luxuries, for leisure. These are all things that become something to not continue to seek after, but to, if not totally reject, lower their import in our lives. Why? Because you are hanging on to your life, and Jesus Christ made it clear, doing so will lead to you losing your soul, not saving it. This is fortified by 2 Peter 2:
“20 And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. 21 It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. 22 They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit. “And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.”
Humanity will always seek after the here, the now. Yet Christ made it clear that we are not to do this.
Matthew 6:19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”
To store up treasures is seeking to have more money than you need to live, not a comfortable life, but a life that will sustain your existence till you are called unto the next life. To seek after clothing, and fancy vehicles are things that are able to be eaten by moths and rust away. Fancy possession that others would seek to steal are of the world and not needed by those that truly seek to follow Jesus Christ.
1 John 3:16 – We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? 18 Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. 20 Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. 22 And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him. 23 And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.
“If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?”
The answer is: It is not. So if God’s love is not in this person are they still of the vine of Jesus Christ?
John 15:1 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
Many think they are a part of the vine. Yet due to not following the commandments of the Bible are not bearing fruit upon the vine. God Himself cuts them from the vine and they are burnt within the fire. They are no longer apart of Jesus Christ, they are no longer saved, but are of the world. They are cast into the fire of damnation by their own actions and desires for worldly wealth and possessions. The very things they are required to give unto their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, they keep and horde for themselves.
This is how most that call themselves “Christian” are today and they are blind unto the truth, and it is truly something to weep about. For they are the lukewarm, and spit out of the Body of Christ.
Revelation 3:15 “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! 16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! 17 You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. 18 So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. 19 I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference. 20 “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. 21 Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne. 22 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.”
Follow the commandments of the Bible. Live modestly, do not break the laws of man that do not go against the Bible and change those that do. Stop seeking after the here, the now, the contemporary. Seek after the eternal life that we are promised by Jesus Christ and not after the riches of the world. For as long as you do, you seek to lose your salvation, by your own hand.

2 Timothy 4:1-5

Who is the steward of your life?

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The answer is you are. Then if I have already answered the question then why even pursue writing further? Because too many are poor stewards of their own lives. A steward is the administrator of your household or estate or in this case you. Who else should this burden fall upon? If you answered other than no one you are not following the teachings of the of Bible and so are following what the world wants you to do so you will be of the world and not of God.
Jesus discusses stewardship in Luke 16 and even states within the chapter that you cannot follow God and mammon which means money. Where does money come from? The world. So you can not follow God and the world. He states you must love one and despise the other.
If you are able to work but have no desire to do so, but to collect welfare and food stamps and make no effort to end this you have chosen to despise God and the Bible.
There will be times when we have rough times. I myself have been on welfare and food stamps, but I refused to stay upon them for I felt like I was stealing from others. I felt I had been a bad steward to my life, which is true, I had been.
This mentality that you are owed something is lie. No one owes you anything. The only person that owes you is yourself. For we are accountable for our own actions. Not the actions of others be they alive or dead. It is our free-will choices that govern us and our behavior. If we choose not to work and to take from the government then we are refusing to be our own steward and allowing someone else to do so. As a result poverty increases, crime increase, sin increases and God is not happy.
Do not lie to yourselves and feel that if you go to church on Sunday and steal from others the rest of the week that you will be welcomed with open arm by God. For Jesus made it very clear that poor stewards will not receive our eternal reward in the service of God.

Do you need a degree to speak to God?

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Now why even poise such a question? All I can say is this. The other day I encountered a discussion and someone’s reply quoted some man that stated you must have a seminary degree to know the words of God. I was dumbfounded.
As I have explained before I only use the King James Bible*. Why because it is the closest to the original Greek and Hebrew available. I then use Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to get to that Greek and Hebrew to see their meaning of the words and then two dictionaries and these are a luxury. Most people have not had these resources available till recent history, but these items truly do help you understands God’s instruction manual better.
It is dogmatic teachings that someone with more education then you must be the person you listen to allowing you insight into what God desires of each and every person. This is a lie period. It is this mentality that has caused evil to exist throughout the centuries because humans would place their spin on the Word of God for their benefit. It caused the Crusades, Slavery and even in some part contributed to the Holocaust.
It is this thinking that you must go through a person to get to God that is causing so much confusion and even falling away from the church. It is this believe that has caused Atheism. It is this very mentality that Martin Luther confronted in his thesis.
What is required? People actually reading the Bible themselves. Actually taking the time to study it, getting to know it. Will there be some need for aids form others that have studied the Bible longer. I would say yes, but I would also say to take anything they say with a grain of salt and for you to verify if it stands with the Bible itself.
I also refuse to read any versions of the Bible that have been written since after 1960*. Why? Because I don’t trust them. They are a translation of a translation of a translation and as I have witnesses when I did read them the translation was not that, but an opinion.
Too many allow some other human to tell them what God says. That is not their job. God gave these jobs to be done by apostles; prophets; evangelists; pastors and teachers;
The apostle is apostolos ap-os’-tol-os from 649; a delegate; specially, an ambassador of the Gospel; officially a commissioner of Christ (“apostle”) (with miraculous powers):–apostle, messenger, he that is sent. So he is to read the word of God unto those that have not heard it.
Key statement – “officially a commissioner of Christ” this mean chosen by Christ Himself this was the 12 apostles and Paul. I know of no other “apostles.”
The prophet is prokerusso prok-ay-rooce’-so from 4253 and 2784; to herald (i.e. proclaim) in advance:–before (first) preach. So he is to herald the return of Christ.
The evangelist is euaggelistes yoo-ang-ghel-is-tace’ from 2097; a preacher of the gospel:–evangelist. Is someone that Deliver a sermon or religious address to an assembled group of people.
The pastor is of uncertain affinity; a shepherd (literally or figuratively):–shepherd, pastor. Is someone that watches over the congregation and counsels them.
The teacher is didaskalos did-as’-kal-os from 1321; an instructor (genitive case or specially):–doctor, master, and teacher. The one who educates those that accept Christ as their Savior
Now in the times of Jesus they had the Pharisees, Scribes and the Sadducees. These men would equate to well educated men. Yet were they following the Torah correctly? No they were not. If fact Jesus made it very clear that these men make themselves to be of a higher class then of the common person. This is not how it was meant to be. If you read the Old Testament you will find that the judges and the prophets were usually common people blessed by God for what reason? Their knowledge of God and His teachings. These men were self-taught and in some cases tutored by another prophet.
Yet that is not acceptable in today’s world. Why?
If someone studies the word of God correctly and adheres to them and then teaches them yet he had not gone to any theological college. Why is his understanding of God less than anyone else that has gone to a university?
I think it can be at minimum equal, and to some degree better. Why? Because this layman was not exposed to all the doctrinal dogma taught by this religious organization or that religious organization, which I feel frees this person to truly read the Bible correctly.
As another example, does not the Baptist teach that once you are saved you are always saved, yet is that not the opposite of what is taught in Revelation 3:14-22, John 15: 1-8 and 2 Peter 2:1-22? Yes it is. Then this is a false and man-made doctrine and should be removed and replaced with the correct teaching, which states that if you continue to be exposed to the world you can become re-corrupted by it and you will no longer bear fruit and will be cast off by God Himself.
So in reality what is right, the Bible or the Baptist Church? That answer is simple… the Bible.

NOTE: This is not an attack against the Baptist Church, it was just one example of many man-made doctrines that fill many denominations throughout Christendom. I could give examples of many of them but that would take up too much time and space. Please look to the Bible and your denominations doctrines and see if it fits in the Bible correctly or not. If it does not it should not be followed for it is not God-made but man-made.

* – In my posts I use (NLT) the New Living Translation as a tool for the reader. I do not use it when I study the Word of God for the reasons stated above. I have found flaws within this translation and when I do I revert to the KJV when I need to post that verse.

Confessions of a screwed up middle aged man: “There is nothing! Just blackness!”

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These are the words I have heard several times of late. When I hear them it saddens me. For I know. Without a doubt. That there are many that actual believe and accept this to be the reality after the death of the bodies our souls occupy as we live our lives in this temporal plain of existence. Here is the thing that sticks out to me whenever I hear these words spoken.
The person is aware. The person has a conscious recollection and a tangible knowledge of this “blackness.”
Isn’t that interesting?
How is this possible if there is nothing?
I have had two personal experiences in my live that I wish to share at this moment. The first was a few years back. I woke up from my sleep in the middle of the night with what I later found out was an ocular migraine. My left eye was totally shutdown. I was blind in one eye. There was nothing but blackness when I closed the other eye, yet I was aware. I was and am alive.
The second came in a one of my dreams. Thus the name “dreamwalker,” which is associated with Act 2:17.
In this dream I found myself falling within total blackness. I was aware and I knew I could feel myself falling. Several other things took place, but they are unimportant to this article, so I will go on. As this fall neared its end I knew I was approaching what is called Hades or hell.
What is important is that the blackness was in this situation. So could these people actually be experiencing this blackness? I would say yes.
It is God blinding them. Not allowing them to see what is beyond. Why I would not know. I could speculate, but how? I don’t have enough information to give a true idea of what or what is not beyond this temporal world having never had a near-death experience.
However, from what I do have knowledge and experience. I can safely and without doubt know that God is real. Jesus did live, die and rise again.
So is God blinding people that are living in sin or living in an apostate state? I would again say yes.
By God showing them Hades or hell would be He imposing upon their freewill to choose to follow Him with all their heart, mind and soul.
Now there is documentation that shows where there have been near-death experiences of blackness. However there is nearly an equal amount that shows where God has revealed heaven unto people. This again is too allow those in doubt to question, to look, to learn and to come to their own determination about Our Creator God.
I have seen, read and learned enough to know that we are His creation. For this I praise God and His Son.
One thing we have to remember in these times leading up to the return of Jesus Christ is this:
There will be billions that ask and accept Jesus to be their Savior during the Tribulation. Not before, which is the times we are now living. For now we must endure the trials and tribulations that are to come for those of us that confess to be “Christian.” For us we have much pain, anguish and agony in our futures. I pray Christ will give me the strength to endure, for that is His promise unto those that ask.

The great surrender

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This is shown throughout history. Any that deny this deny their very nature. Why this is, is due entirely to the act of Eve eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Each and every human seeks to please only one person: themselves. This is why certain sins are stated within the Bible as to not allowing those that perform them entrance into heaven. For they have no true understanding of surrender.
Yes I said surrender.
We must surrender our desires, our wants, and our lusts. Thus forsaking them for our own survival.
Jesus is asked what are to two greatest commandments.
The first is that we are to LOVE GOD with ALL or our heart, mind and soul.
How can we do this if our first love is ourselves?
The second greatest commandment latches on to this.
We are to love our neighbor, known as all those other humans about us, as we love ourselves!
This is what it means to surrender ourselves, first to God and then to our fellow humans.
Any that seek to dominate, control and influence “Because they know what is best.” Has not surrendered unto God and in fact seek to be their own gods.
Those that say that the unborn has no moral rights are acting as their own god. For they know what is best for the mother of this unborn life. They are in control and so are the ruler, the master, the god.
These are the actions and the words of those on the left in the United States. For they know what is best for the common person. They are what is best for the continuation of the human race. All the wording and actions of those that see themselves in their own minds as gods.
There is only one God and He sent us His Son for our salvation form enslavement to ourselves.
So turn to Jesus Christ and surrender unto everything, especially yourself.