Considering the direction the world is going and the fact that most government leaders are in office at the will or consent of the majority of their constituencies, I therefore,, must conclude that .... I am peculiar, different ... abnormal. I am not in agreement with the majority of the world's people. Whether inferior or superior is not the question here. The question is, do I agree or disagree with the majority of the human race. The percentages of various religions in the world, rounded off, are approximately this .... 7 % in a host of lesser religions, 7% Buddhist, 13% Hindus, 14% Atheists and Agnostics, 24% Muslim, 32% "professing" Christians and 3% lost in the shuffle. So, if all 32% of "professing" Christians were indeed born again disciples of Christ, I would still be in a 1/3 minority. But that isn't the case. I probably don't closely agree (Doesn't mean that many of these others aren't saved) with more than ten percent of professing Christians. Which means I am in a minority of about 3% of the world's population. So I am not in agreement, at least concerning my faith, with 97 % of the people in the world. You can't call that "normal". So I am abnormal.
The majority obviously chooses minimal security and food in preference to freedom. The majority prefer Socialism, Communism, fascism or some other 'ism' to free enterprise. Judging by what the majority demands of TV programming, movie pornography and public sexual display, abortion and same sex unions ... I must conclude that .... My beliefs are those of a small minority. But, after three and a half years of ministry, miracles and holy majesty, Jesus only had 120 gathered in the upper room before he was crucified. That was a smaller minority than I am part of. That was even more abnormal than me. No wonder the majority of the world dislikes Bible believing Christians more than any other religion. Jesus said to those early Christians in John 15:18-20..."If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you .... "
Since Jesus forewarned us eight or ten times that his disciples, his followers, would be persecuted, if we choose to be his disciples, we should expect his warnings of persecution to be true. So "voluntarily" following Jesus is asking for trouble from the world and is not "humanly" normal. That means it is abnormal. If you are a Bible believing, born again Christian, you too are abnormal and as peculiar as I am.
My conclusion to these realities is .... Jesus Christ was and is, among the world's populations, also in a minority and I am in His minority ... exactly where I want to be, where I must be. But I would not exchange my relationship to Christ for all the gold, silver, precious stones, money, power and fame in the world. I would not exchange it for the whole world itself, the universe, or a million years of perfect health and happiness or even eternal life ... without Christ. What is "normal" about that? So I might as well confess it ... I am abnormal, odd, peculiar, strange .... But my problem is not that I am so terribly abnormal, but that I am not nearly abnormal enough.... more like Jesus. What about you? RB
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Monday, May 25, 2015
Mustard Seed Faith Hears Mustard Seed Voice, Sees Mustard Seed Light
Mustard Seed Faith, Voice, Light
If God speaks to us in that "still small voice",
As he whispered to Elijah of faith and right,
He can reveal himself for your free will choice
By candle light in this latter day dark night
And if that small voice or light cause to rejoice,
We need no louder voice, no brighter light.
So Seek your Savior... His light, His voice.
........ Rayburn Blair at 84........
"And Jesus said unto them .... verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." Matt. 17:20.
"And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he ... stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?" 1 Kings 19:12-13.
"The same (John the baptist) came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe ....That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." John 1:7&9.
"Every man" means:
"EVERY MAN"... EVER WO MAN ... EVERY HU MAN. RB
If God speaks to us in that "still small voice",
As he whispered to Elijah of faith and right,
He can reveal himself for your free will choice
By candle light in this latter day dark night
And if that small voice or light cause to rejoice,
We need no louder voice, no brighter light.
So Seek your Savior... His light, His voice.
........ Rayburn Blair at 84........
"And Jesus said unto them .... verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." Matt. 17:20.
"And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he ... stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?" 1 Kings 19:12-13.
"The same (John the baptist) came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe ....That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." John 1:7&9.
"Every man" means:
"EVERY MAN"... EVER WO MAN ... EVERY HU MAN. RB
Monday, May 18, 2015
I Profile Snakes, Spiders, Very Young Drivers, And Judge Greasy Cafe Floors, Electric Wires, And Toilet Talk
When God sent Samuel to interview the sons of Jesse to choose a new king of Israel, Samuel started with the oldest, tall, dark and handsome, and most obvious choice, and then worked his way down to the youngest, and least obvious choice. God rejected each of his older brothers. God's choice was David. If God hadn't been there, Samuel would have anointed the first son king and would never have seen or cared to see young David. But God was there and told Samuel, a very good and spiritual man, he was wrong and instructed him ...."... Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." 1 Sam.16:7.
We understand that God looks beyond the flesh, the "outward appearance" into the heart to the true, inner feelings, thoughts, lusts and ambitions of a person. It is much more difficult for we humans to understand that the outward appearance of a person does not usually reveal much about the true inner character. We cannot see the mind or heart, the love or hate the faith or doubt, the sincerely or deception within someone. We can only see or hear what a person does or says. We see their actions, clothes, cleanliness, tattoos, and rings in their noses or tongues. We cannot hear their thoughts or beliefs. We hear their words, comforting or cursing, lying or laughing. So if we cannot see the true person, inside the flesh, all we have left is, as God said, "the outward appearance", plus our past experiences with them, and God's word, to judge who and what they really are. And be sure, we will judge people if we have any dealings with people at all. You will judge the "baggy britches gang" of cursing, sneering, young men, wielding guns, and coming toward you in the Detroit ghetto you get lost in some night ..... The con-artist who calls you on the phone and won't let you say no but rattles off his sales pitch on and on. The guy or gal at work who continually hits on you.... or your wife or husband. The other guy who constantly wants to borrow more money.... The guy who curses every other word. We will judge people. But Jesus said "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." Jn.7:24. The word "appearance" is limited to what we see. How can we "Judge righteous Judgement" if we cannot see into the heart and mind of a person? He must mean to judge people only by the standards of God's word. Jesus was looking into the hearts of the religious leaders, of that day, when he said...."Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness." Matt.23:27. These men looked holy on the outside, in their religious regalia, but inside were full of rottenness.
Good works are mostly outward, visible things like giving, helping, teaching, witnessing, encouraging and showing kindness like the "good Samaritan" in Luke 10. A traveler was attacked, robbed, beaten and left for dead on the Jericho Road. A very religious priest came along and walked around the wounded man. A religious Levite walked by, looked the man over and went on his way. Then an outcast, half-breed Samaritan came along, treated the man's wounds, put him on his donkey, took him to an inn, took care of the man, then left money for the inn-keeper to care for him until he was well and promised to repay any extra when he stopped there the next time. If you looked upon the "appearance" of the priest and Levitt in their religious vestments and upon the common, outcast Samaritan, who would you judge would have showed compassion and helped the helpless man?
James, the half-brother of Jesus, challenged, "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: (but) shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Jm.2:18. James went on to say, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." Jm.2:26. Faith itself is invisible, but the "works" of faith are clearly seen by everyone. And yet good works do not necessarily reflect a good heart. Even so, good works, an outward show of true faith, is all we can see and know of a professing Christian's inner faith, heart and commitment to Christ. Those things cannot be seen except by the person's outward actions.
Good works are mostly outward, visible things like giving, helping, teaching, witnessing, encouraging and showing kindness like the "good Samaritan" in Luke 10. A traveler was attacked, robbed, beaten and left for dead on the Jericho Road. A very religious priest came along and walked around the wounded man. A religious Levite walked by, looked the man over and went on his way. Then an outcast, half-breed Samaritan came along, treated the man's wounds, put him on his donkey, took him to an inn, took care of the man, then left money for the inn-keeper to care for him until he was well and promised to repay any extra when he stopped there the next time. If you looked upon the "appearance" of the priest and Levitt in their religious vestments and upon the common, outcast Samaritan, who would you judge would have showed compassion and helped the helpless man?
James, the half-brother of Jesus, challenged, "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: (but) shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Jm.2:18. James went on to say, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." Jm.2:26. Faith itself is invisible, but the "works" of faith are clearly seen by everyone. And yet good works do not necessarily reflect a good heart. Even so, good works, an outward show of true faith, is all we can see and know of a professing Christian's inner faith, heart and commitment to Christ. Those things cannot be seen except by the person's outward actions.
The only way to judge the danger of a spider or snake is by outward appearance.
When my son Rex, his mother and I were discussing this, he saw a small woolly black spider on the door. I looked the spider over (profiled him) and said "He isn't a Black Widow or Brown Recluse so he is probably harmless." Then I realized I was judging that spider by his "outward appearance" not by his little heart which I could not see into. I judge snakes the same way. There are only four poisonous ones natural to the U.S. If the snake isn't a Rattler, Moccasin, Copperhead or Coral, he is not poisonous so I pardon him for looking evil, and let him live. Like it or not, almost everyone judges certain characteristics of people, unknown to them, as a good sign or a bad sign of that person's potential for good or harm and much of the time we will be wrong.
The Apostle Paul warned us to ..."Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil." 1 Thess.5:21-22. We have to judge a thing if we are to "prove" it and "abstain" from it, and if that thing is being offered to us by someone, we have to judge them to be wrong in what they are doing. "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God...." 2 Cor.10:5. Sometimes we have to judge or discriminate or conclude that a person is not the kind of friend God would have us run with. Parents must help their children cull out certain friends whose words and actions reveal who they really are inside. It isn't enough for you teens to second guess your parents by saying, "Just because he curses, lies, does drugs, steals and gets drunk doesn't mean he is all bad.... nobody is perfect". The parents opinion is nearly always more perceptive, but even when wrong, they are still God's appointed authority over you.
"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." Eph.5:11. "fellowship" signifies at least one other person. So he is saying, you must determine or judge if the actions and lifestyle of that other person are "unfruitful works of darkness" and then "have no fellowship" with that person but "reprove them". Tell them what they are doing is wrong.
"Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly...." 2 Thess.3:6. Are you judging him if you tell him he is wrong and "withdraw" from him? Not if you are judging his actions or words, as contrary to God's word, and are not condemning him but "reproving" him. I think that would be, in the
words of Jesus, "righteous judgement". Jn.7:24. RB
Sunday, May 17, 2015
How Are We Like Our Creator God ... And Heavenly Father?
The beginning of the human race, of each of us, in the loins of our first father and mother, is recorded in Genesis 1:26-27. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Clearly, God made human beings in His own "image and likeness" and commanded that we have "dominion", or sovereignty, on earth over every other creature as He has sovereignty over the universe and everything in it. He intended us to be His Children, the King's sons and daughters, princes and princesses to love Him and be loved by Him.
The word "image" in v.26 is the Hebrew word "tselem" and it means "a visible appearance or presence". Adam and Eve "looked kin to" their Creator, Father, God. A related Hebrew word is "tselel" and means the "shadow" of a visible person or thing of substance and presence. Real things of substance and presence make shadows. One of the attributes of God is Omnipresence or All-presence. Our Father, God is an infinite presence and we are a tiny finite presence in His "image". This word "image" is exactly the same word which the Prophet Daniel used when he interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar's dream and said, "Thou sawest a great image...." An "image" is an iconic replica of something else. We are, in appearance, in the image of our Father God.
The second word, in v.26 regarding our similitude to our Father, God, is "likeness". The word likeness in Hebrew is "demuth" and means more like "a life in action, emotions, seeing, hearing feeling, tasting, loving and reasoning. We are a finite "image" of our Infinite Creator, Father, as children are in the image of their earthly father. And we are a finite "likeness" of our Infinite heavenly Father's mind, emotions, knowledge, power, presence, talents, reason sovereignty, and free will. He created us sinless as He is sinless but gave us a finite free will to choose, as He has an Infinite Free Will To Choose. We are not God or gods but are "Children" of our Father, who is God.. We have a small "presence" and small "likenesses" of our Heavenly Father. God is Omnipresent; We are mini-present. God is Omnipotent; We have mini-powered, God is Omniscience; We are mini-knowledgeable. God is OmniSovereign; We are mini-sovereign. God has OmniAgape Love; We can receive His love and in turn give a smaller bit of His Agape Love to others. God has OmniWill; we have a mini-will.
The words "image" and "likeness" are two different words. "Image" has more to do with God's outward appearance. "Likeness" has to do more with His inner attributes of character. Likeness is a much deeper characteristic than image and speaks of God's marvelous, inner qualities.
So, since it was our Creator God's infinite, sovereign will, when He made us, to give us humans a tiny, earthly bit of His universal "dominion", or sovereignty, for our use, free will choices, and responsibility, He will not overrule Himself. His own sovereign will created us with a will that we might be thinking, decision making, likenesses of Himself , as his children to voluntarily obey and serve Him.
Man's God-given free will to choose was first exercised in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve chose, by their own human sovereign will, to disobey God and do what He told them not to do. We can't blame their free will, disobedient sin on God. It was His sovereign will that they have a will to decide, but it was their choice to sin ... not His. God allowed Adam and Eve to sin; He did not make or want them to sin. He wanted "children" who would choose to love and obey Him not just images but likenesses of Himself to love and be loved as children not will-less dolls, puppets or pawns.
As a pastor, I have been asked many times, "Why does God let wickedness happen?" The answer is that He, in His sovereign will, gave us a bit of sovereign will and will not override His own sovereign will with another sovereign will. If He did it would mean He made a mistake and was wrong in giving that bit of His own "likeness" to us. He does not make mistakes.
That is why he came to earth as the Son of God, in a human body, so that body of flesh could die and pay His own determined price of sin, death, in our place for our sins. Thus, He opened the door of redemption that "whosoever will" may be saved. Rev.22:17. He paid the price and bought us back to restore us, as He first created us in the Garden .... as His children, in His image and likeness .... if we will accept Jesus Christ's death to cover our guilt of sin. RB
The word "image" in v.26 is the Hebrew word "tselem" and it means "a visible appearance or presence". Adam and Eve "looked kin to" their Creator, Father, God. A related Hebrew word is "tselel" and means the "shadow" of a visible person or thing of substance and presence. Real things of substance and presence make shadows. One of the attributes of God is Omnipresence or All-presence. Our Father, God is an infinite presence and we are a tiny finite presence in His "image". This word "image" is exactly the same word which the Prophet Daniel used when he interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar's dream and said, "Thou sawest a great image...." An "image" is an iconic replica of something else. We are, in appearance, in the image of our Father God.
The second word, in v.26 regarding our similitude to our Father, God, is "likeness". The word likeness in Hebrew is "demuth" and means more like "a life in action, emotions, seeing, hearing feeling, tasting, loving and reasoning. We are a finite "image" of our Infinite Creator, Father, as children are in the image of their earthly father. And we are a finite "likeness" of our Infinite heavenly Father's mind, emotions, knowledge, power, presence, talents, reason sovereignty, and free will. He created us sinless as He is sinless but gave us a finite free will to choose, as He has an Infinite Free Will To Choose. We are not God or gods but are "Children" of our Father, who is God.. We have a small "presence" and small "likenesses" of our Heavenly Father. God is Omnipresent; We are mini-present. God is Omnipotent; We have mini-powered, God is Omniscience; We are mini-knowledgeable. God is OmniSovereign; We are mini-sovereign. God has OmniAgape Love; We can receive His love and in turn give a smaller bit of His Agape Love to others. God has OmniWill; we have a mini-will.
The words "image" and "likeness" are two different words. "Image" has more to do with God's outward appearance. "Likeness" has to do more with His inner attributes of character. Likeness is a much deeper characteristic than image and speaks of God's marvelous, inner qualities.
So, since it was our Creator God's infinite, sovereign will, when He made us, to give us humans a tiny, earthly bit of His universal "dominion", or sovereignty, for our use, free will choices, and responsibility, He will not overrule Himself. His own sovereign will created us with a will that we might be thinking, decision making, likenesses of Himself , as his children to voluntarily obey and serve Him.
Man's God-given free will to choose was first exercised in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve chose, by their own human sovereign will, to disobey God and do what He told them not to do. We can't blame their free will, disobedient sin on God. It was His sovereign will that they have a will to decide, but it was their choice to sin ... not His. God allowed Adam and Eve to sin; He did not make or want them to sin. He wanted "children" who would choose to love and obey Him not just images but likenesses of Himself to love and be loved as children not will-less dolls, puppets or pawns.
As a pastor, I have been asked many times, "Why does God let wickedness happen?" The answer is that He, in His sovereign will, gave us a bit of sovereign will and will not override His own sovereign will with another sovereign will. If He did it would mean He made a mistake and was wrong in giving that bit of His own "likeness" to us. He does not make mistakes.
That is why he came to earth as the Son of God, in a human body, so that body of flesh could die and pay His own determined price of sin, death, in our place for our sins. Thus, He opened the door of redemption that "whosoever will" may be saved. Rev.22:17. He paid the price and bought us back to restore us, as He first created us in the Garden .... as His children, in His image and likeness .... if we will accept Jesus Christ's death to cover our guilt of sin. RB
Friday, May 15, 2015
Suspicion, Surmising, Gossip, Rumor, Accusation, Arrest And Conviction Of Innocence
It is hardly true that "things are not always what they appear". Things are never exactly what they appear. Situations are far too complicated for all their facets to appear ... on the surface. People are always, at least somewhat, different in public than at home and even more different in their heart of hearts than even there. Only God and they know their true self. That is why Jesus cautioned us, "Judge not, that ye be not judged". Matt.7:1. The Judging person will always judge either too harshly or too leniently ... but never exactly accurately.
We are all complicated and uniquely designed, widely and variably experienced, and each exposed to millions of differing environments and associations, thoughts and responses.
Of necessity we must draw certain personal conclusions and suppositions of situations and of people, in order to make decisions. But human surmisings are never quite on target and must, therefore, be controlled lest they become unjust, suspicious and "evil surmisings". "He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings ...." 1 Tim.6:4.
It happened to Jesus. He was mistrusted, then suspected, then rumored, then accused of being a "glutton", of being a "drunkard", of being allied with "evil" associates, and finally of being possessed of the devil and was crazy....
Matthew 11:19 "The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners." It got worse in John 10:20 "And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?"
All of these accusations, no doubt, played a part in the public outcry that Jesus be executed. Now, how do you suppose God judged those judgers of Jesus?
We must be very careful about suspicions, "gossip" and "evil surmisings". This means guarding our thoughts, our tongues .... and our ears, against hearing, thinking or gossiping about others. The consequences are far too destructive and we shall give an account for "evil surmisings", and "gossip" to our great judge. Each of us has control or what we think and say to the detriment of others. RB
"And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets." 1 Cor.14:32.
We are all complicated and uniquely designed, widely and variably experienced, and each exposed to millions of differing environments and associations, thoughts and responses.
Of necessity we must draw certain personal conclusions and suppositions of situations and of people, in order to make decisions. But human surmisings are never quite on target and must, therefore, be controlled lest they become unjust, suspicious and "evil surmisings". "He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings ...." 1 Tim.6:4.
It happened to Jesus. He was mistrusted, then suspected, then rumored, then accused of being a "glutton", of being a "drunkard", of being allied with "evil" associates, and finally of being possessed of the devil and was crazy....
Matthew 11:19 "The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners." It got worse in John 10:20 "And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?"
All of these accusations, no doubt, played a part in the public outcry that Jesus be executed. Now, how do you suppose God judged those judgers of Jesus?
We must be very careful about suspicions, "gossip" and "evil surmisings". This means guarding our thoughts, our tongues .... and our ears, against hearing, thinking or gossiping about others. The consequences are far too destructive and we shall give an account for "evil surmisings", and "gossip" to our great judge. Each of us has control or what we think and say to the detriment of others. RB
"And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets." 1 Cor.14:32.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Just One Remedy For This Terminal Condition
Be sure of this .... If you allow a sin, any sin, to remain in your life, without dealing with it, like a single cancer cell, it will reproduce itself, compounded into a multitude of other cells or sins ... and eventually destroy your life. That is why God's word declares flatly ... "The wages of sin is death...." Rom.6:23.
Sin, unrepented to God, destroys our closeness to Him, if not his love for us. The word "death" literally means "separation". Physical death is separation of the spirit (life) from the body. Spiritual death is separation of life and body from God for eternity and is called the "second death" in Rev.21:8. "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."
Sin has become the substance and punch line of most comedians. It is the cause of most divorces and the reason for wars, crime, drug addiction, prostitution and all manner of corruption and dishonesty. As bad as all that is, it does not even begin to reveal the full measure of it's awfulness, in the mind of God. Heb.1:9 says, "God hates iniquity...."
There are only three ways to measure how much God hates sin. One is by the enormous consequences He assigns to it. "Death ... the lake of fire ... for eternity. Eternal damnation upon all sin unrepentant of and unforgiven of God. That is sin which has not been washed away under the blood of Christ's crucifixion which only happens to those who have not repented and accepted Him as their Savior. That is what the entire Bible and Christs first coming is all about.
That brings us to the second means of measuring the awfulness of sin, in God's mind. And that is by the price He was willing to pay to redeem us from our sin's equally awful consequences .... the hellish pain and horrific death of His only begotten Son on that Roman Cross, in our place, for our sins, to save us sinners.
Finally, the third way to measure the awfulness of sin .... the amazing grace and the amount of agape love God had to have for us sinners that would cause Him to be willing to pay "the wages of sin" for us with the awful agony and death of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
All of that being considered, within our limited ability to even comprehend it, it makes no sense and deserves no mercy upon sinners who neglect or reject God's only remedy.... Christ's death... "...So that they are without excuse." Rom.120.
An Intellectual once asked me, "Blair, doesn't it bother you that sophisticated people might think you ignorant for believing that stuff?" My answer, as best I remember, was ... "There are several tribes of fire ants in my back yard, all of whom believe only in the circle of their territory, what they can see, eat and defend ... within the bounds of their senses and brain power. In their brains, my yard is all there is and the rest of the world, the sky, the Bible, God and eternity do not exist." RB
Sin, unrepented to God, destroys our closeness to Him, if not his love for us. The word "death" literally means "separation". Physical death is separation of the spirit (life) from the body. Spiritual death is separation of life and body from God for eternity and is called the "second death" in Rev.21:8. "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."
Sin has become the substance and punch line of most comedians. It is the cause of most divorces and the reason for wars, crime, drug addiction, prostitution and all manner of corruption and dishonesty. As bad as all that is, it does not even begin to reveal the full measure of it's awfulness, in the mind of God. Heb.1:9 says, "God hates iniquity...."
There are only three ways to measure how much God hates sin. One is by the enormous consequences He assigns to it. "Death ... the lake of fire ... for eternity. Eternal damnation upon all sin unrepentant of and unforgiven of God. That is sin which has not been washed away under the blood of Christ's crucifixion which only happens to those who have not repented and accepted Him as their Savior. That is what the entire Bible and Christs first coming is all about.
That brings us to the second means of measuring the awfulness of sin, in God's mind. And that is by the price He was willing to pay to redeem us from our sin's equally awful consequences .... the hellish pain and horrific death of His only begotten Son on that Roman Cross, in our place, for our sins, to save us sinners.
Finally, the third way to measure the awfulness of sin .... the amazing grace and the amount of agape love God had to have for us sinners that would cause Him to be willing to pay "the wages of sin" for us with the awful agony and death of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
All of that being considered, within our limited ability to even comprehend it, it makes no sense and deserves no mercy upon sinners who neglect or reject God's only remedy.... Christ's death... "...So that they are without excuse." Rom.120.
An Intellectual once asked me, "Blair, doesn't it bother you that sophisticated people might think you ignorant for believing that stuff?" My answer, as best I remember, was ... "There are several tribes of fire ants in my back yard, all of whom believe only in the circle of their territory, what they can see, eat and defend ... within the bounds of their senses and brain power. In their brains, my yard is all there is and the rest of the world, the sky, the Bible, God and eternity do not exist." RB
Monday, May 4, 2015
Denzel Washington An Avowed Christian?
I haven't been to a movie in many years so I am not aware of the parts Denzel Washington plays or anything else about him except that he is a famous actor.
His pastor father and his mother are obviously Christians ... but what about him?
A secular news source, The Political Insider, did the following story about him in which he testifies to being a Christian. If he has the courage and conviction to admit it publically, in spite of Hollywood's influence, he very well might be.
Jesus said, "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Matt.7:1. Remember this is being reported on by a secular news source, The Political Insider. RB
Famous Actor Denzel Washington
Said THIS About the Bible
From The Political Insider
There are plenty of reasons to think famous actor Denzel Washington would be a liberal. He’s a talented black actor who has been a success in Hollywood (two Academy Awards!). Statistics would make him highly likely to be an Obama-supporting secular liberal.
But that’s wrong! And Denzel’s comments about the Bible and his relationship with the Holy Scripture are extraordinary. He is a patriot, and is unafraid to reject the radical atheists on the Left Coast.
As he said in an interview, Denzel Washington is a proud Christian:
“I read from the Bible every day, and I read my Daily Word,” he told a reporter, adding that it was not difficult for him to grow up as the son of a preacher. “He wasn’t a taskmaster, but there were certain things you couldn’t do,” Washington said. “He had his own church, and it was a long Sunday, because you had to be there all day.”
“Everyone I grew up with didn’t have a father,” he continued. “I had a father. My father was a decent man. He was a very spiritual man and a gentleman.” He didn’t like going to Church when he was younger. But then he had a truly personal experience with Jesus Christ. And the rest is history!
“The minister was preaching, ‘Just let it go,’” Washington recalled. “I said, ‘I’m going to go with it.’ And I had this tremendous physical and spiritual experience.” “It did frighten me,” he said. “I was slobbering, crying, sweating. My cheeks blew up. I was purging. It was too intense.” He had plenty of questions – like any Christian does – and he continues to pray on a daily basis to guide him through his career:
“It almost drove me away. I called my mother, and she said I was being filled with the Holy Spirit,” he recounted. “I was like, ‘Does that mean I can never have wine again?’” Ever since that day, Washington has been a proud Christian, even going so far as to consider becoming a preacher.
“A part of me still says, ‘Maybe, Denzel, you’re supposed to preach. Maybe you’re still compromising,’” he said during a 1999 interview.
In the end, Washington decided to stick to playing preachers in the movies. He did, however, offer some creative advice for staying close to God every day.
“Put your slippers way under your bed so when you get up in the morning, you have to get on your knees to find them. And while you’re down there, start your day with prayer. Ask for wisdom. Ask for understanding,” he said. “Don’t aspire to make a living, aspire to make a difference.” What a role model! He looks to a higher power, and is humbled by his God-given talents. By showing others how he lives his life, he is a great example for young people who might try to make it in Hollywood. No matter what, prayer and a personal relationship to God are essential to live a good life.
His pastor father and his mother are obviously Christians ... but what about him?
A secular news source, The Political Insider, did the following story about him in which he testifies to being a Christian. If he has the courage and conviction to admit it publically, in spite of Hollywood's influence, he very well might be.
Jesus said, "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Matt.7:1. Remember this is being reported on by a secular news source, The Political Insider. RB
Famous Actor Denzel Washington
Said THIS About the Bible
From The Political Insider
There are plenty of reasons to think famous actor Denzel Washington would be a liberal. He’s a talented black actor who has been a success in Hollywood (two Academy Awards!). Statistics would make him highly likely to be an Obama-supporting secular liberal.
But that’s wrong! And Denzel’s comments about the Bible and his relationship with the Holy Scripture are extraordinary. He is a patriot, and is unafraid to reject the radical atheists on the Left Coast.
As he said in an interview, Denzel Washington is a proud Christian:
“I read from the Bible every day, and I read my Daily Word,” he told a reporter, adding that it was not difficult for him to grow up as the son of a preacher. “He wasn’t a taskmaster, but there were certain things you couldn’t do,” Washington said. “He had his own church, and it was a long Sunday, because you had to be there all day.”
“Everyone I grew up with didn’t have a father,” he continued. “I had a father. My father was a decent man. He was a very spiritual man and a gentleman.” He didn’t like going to Church when he was younger. But then he had a truly personal experience with Jesus Christ. And the rest is history!
“The minister was preaching, ‘Just let it go,’” Washington recalled. “I said, ‘I’m going to go with it.’ And I had this tremendous physical and spiritual experience.” “It did frighten me,” he said. “I was slobbering, crying, sweating. My cheeks blew up. I was purging. It was too intense.” He had plenty of questions – like any Christian does – and he continues to pray on a daily basis to guide him through his career:
“It almost drove me away. I called my mother, and she said I was being filled with the Holy Spirit,” he recounted. “I was like, ‘Does that mean I can never have wine again?’” Ever since that day, Washington has been a proud Christian, even going so far as to consider becoming a preacher.
“A part of me still says, ‘Maybe, Denzel, you’re supposed to preach. Maybe you’re still compromising,’” he said during a 1999 interview.
In the end, Washington decided to stick to playing preachers in the movies. He did, however, offer some creative advice for staying close to God every day.
“Put your slippers way under your bed so when you get up in the morning, you have to get on your knees to find them. And while you’re down there, start your day with prayer. Ask for wisdom. Ask for understanding,” he said. “Don’t aspire to make a living, aspire to make a difference.” What a role model! He looks to a higher power, and is humbled by his God-given talents. By showing others how he lives his life, he is a great example for young people who might try to make it in Hollywood. No matter what, prayer and a personal relationship to God are essential to live a good life.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Where Is The Righteous Premium?
The rich sometimes think their wealth is the best measure of human success, purpose and ... even righteousness. The educated often see higher education in the same light ... as godliness. The famous are also susceptible to that same illusion. Strangely, a similar illusion exists in some people who are in poverty, uneducated or feel like they are nobodys. They sometimes worship the wealthy, highly educated, famous, movie stars, sports idols and even preachers, which is worse. There are even people in poverty or ignominy who think their lack of wealth, fame and education is a sacrificial, righteous order of some kind and see the rich and famous as their enemies.
The truth is, there is no special premium or goodness in any of it ... in God's eyes. God so loved the whole world that he gave Jesus to die that whosoever believes on him will receive everlasting life. God puts the premium on believers in Christ and obeyers of His word. More exactly, righteousness is not so much what is seen, outwardly, as it is an inner grace of God in the heart and mind. "... The LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." 1 Sam.16:7.
The "righteous premium" is accurately measured only by God and never by man or woman. And that righteousness is not even their own, who possess it, but God's righteousness bestowed upon them when they repent and are converted. As Isaiah testified in Isaiah 61:10.... "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." All true righteousness is God's righteousness ... within Himself or bestowed upon those who were created to be in His image and likeness before sin marred us. Jesus came to restore us to that image and likeness. Here is where eternity hangs, not in our personal goodness, not in our self-righteousness. RB
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Image Of The Beast, Cyber Person & New Human Information Warehouses
Common Sense Commentary: Technological developments and recent signs of the latter days are somewhat like a heavily loaded freight train going downhill with brakes burned out. Its speed, regardless of braking, continues to increase as it descends, faster and faster to the bottom ... where the track ends. Enjoy the trip ... Jesus will return before this trip terminates at the bottom of time.
The Image of the Beast
Revelation 13:13-15
"And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed."
The "Image of the Beast" is probably a technological means of replicating the mind and global agenda of the Beast in a virtual, cyber, robotic form. RB
Another Brain/Machine combination
development article I found in the
British, Daily Mail under Science &
Tech, is this: RB
The real-life Matrix: MIT researchers
reveal interface that can allow a
computer to plug into the brain
.
It has been the holy grail of science fiction - an interface that allows us to plug our brain into a computer. Now, researchers at MIT have revealed new fibers less than a width of a hair that could make it a reality. They say their system that could deliver optical signals and drugs directly into the brain, along with electrical readouts to continuously monitor the effects of the various inputs.
HOW IT WORKS
The new fibers are made of polymers that closely resemble the characteristics of neural tissues. Combining the different channels could enable precision mapping of neural activity, and ultimately treatment of neurological disorders, that would not be possible with single-function neural probes. 'We're building neural interfaces that will interact with tissues in a more organic way than devices that have been used previously,' said MIT's Polina Anikeeva, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering. The human brain's complexity makes it extremely challenging to study not only because of its sheer size, but also because of the variety of signaling methods it uses simultaneously.
____________________________________
The absolute global control the Antichrist will have on the entire world of people would seem to indicate his use of ultra high-tech computer development which enables him to maintain a detailed record of every human being on Earth and all human necessities and services. This global ID system will obviously give the beast or Antichrist the ability to not only "equalize" goods and services globally, but also give him the means of cutting off those things to people unmarked, unidentifiable, uncooperative or undesirable.
Even now our government and those of other countries are developing human records warehouses of personal information. They are letting out contracts to hi-tech companies to develop and run these so called "Information Warehouses". RB
This From The Weekly Standard
National and Global Warehouses of personal Information being developed on every human being on earth.
Feds Looking for Company to Run 'National Data Warehouse' for Obamacare, Medicare
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is looking for vendors to run its "National Data Warehouse," a database for "capturing, aggregating, and analyzing information" related to beneficiary and customer experiences with Medicare and the federal Obamacare marketplaces. Although the database primarily consists of quality control metrics related to individuals' interactions with customer service, potential contractors are to "demonstrate ... experience with scalability and security in protecting data and information with customer, person-sensitive information including Personal Health Information and Personally Identifiable information (personal health records, etc.)." Vendors are also instructed that one of the requirements of a possible future contract would be "ensuring that all products developed and delivered adhere to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance standards."
For a number of years, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the division of HHS responsible for Medicare and now Obamacare also, has maintained a "national data warehouse" (NDW) related to the 1-800-MEDICARE helpline. The passage of the Affordable Care Act and subsequent establishment of the Marketplaces has expanded the scope of the NDW. The CMS notice explains the NDW as follows:
The NDW acts as the central repository for capturing, aggregating, and analyzing information related to the beneficiary experience with Medicare and the consumer experience with Marketplaces. The NDW also serves as a foundation for operational and management reporting to support improved decision-making, business practices, and services to callers.
The type of data included in the NDW "includes information for CMS’ Virtual Contact Center operations including, but not necessarily limited to" items such as "Workforce management data,""Quality monitoring," "Medicare disenrollments," "Beneficiary satisfaction surveys," and "Web Chat metrics." The NDW is part of CMS's larger $15 billion "Virtual Data Center" program awarded to multiple vendors in 2012. The eventual vendor for the NDW must be able to integrate and share data with the other Virtual Data Center vendors.
The description for the "NDW Functional Requirements" included thirty-six items, several with multiple subpoints, and even this list is not meant to be "all inclusive" according to CMS. In addition to these functions, the "contractor shall implement a security program that adheres to CMS security standards." Interested vendors have until January 19, 2015, to respond.
_______________________
And this from Discover Magazine.com
Avengers: Age of Ultron’ and
Technology enhanced with artificial intelligence is all around us. You might have a robot vacuum cleaner ready to leap into action to clean up your kitchen floor. Maybe you asked Siri or Google—two apps using decent examples of artificial intelligence technology—for some help already today. The continual enhancement of AI and its increased presence in our world speak to achievements in science and engineering that have tremendous potential to improve our lives. Or destroy us.
At least, that’s the central theme in the new Avengers: Age of Ultron movie with headliner Ultron serving as exemplar for AI gone bad. It’s a timely theme, given some high-profile AI concerns lately. But is it something we should be worried about?
Artificial Intelligence Gone Rogue
How bad is Ultron? The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe lists his occupation as “would-be conquerer, enslaver of men” with genius intelligence, superhuman speed, stamina, reflexes, and strength, subsonic flight speed, and demi-godlike durability. The good news is that Ultron has “normal” agility and “average hand to hand skills.” Meaning if you can get in close to an autonomous robot with superhuman speed, you should be good to go. At least briefly.
But perhaps most importantly, Ultron represents the ultimate example of artificial intelligence applications gone wrong: intelligence that seeks to overthrow the humans who created it.
Subsequent iterations of Ultron were self-created, each one getting stronger, smarter, and more bent on fulfilling two main desires: survival and bringing peace and order to the universe. The unfortunate part for us humans is that Ultron would like to bring peace and order by eliminating all other intelligent life in the universe. The main theme in Age of Ultron is this fictional conflict between biological beings and artificial intelligence (with a mean streak). But how fictional is it?
Thinking Machines
The answers are found in scientific research related to the fields of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and artificial life. These are fields that continue to expand at a ridiculous, if not superhuman, pace.
One of the most recent breakthroughs was a study in which Volodymyr Mnih and colleagues at Google DeepMind challenged a neural network to learn how to play video games.
The point was to see if the software (rather ominously called a “deep Q-network agent”) could apply lessons learned in one game to master another game. For more than half of the games examined, the deep Q-network agent was better than human level. This list includes Boxing, Video Pinball, Robotank (a favorite of mine), and Tutankham.
And though arcade games may seem trivial, the takeaway here really had nothing to do with games per se. The relevance is that an AI system could adapt its skills to situations for which its programmer had never prepared it. The AI was effectively learning how to apply skills in a new way, basically thinking on its own. Which is relevant in considering the possibility of an AI going rogue.
IBM's Watson computer is a well-known instance of AI. Credit: Clockready IBM’s Watson computer is a well-known instance of AI. Credit: Clockready Sounding an Alarm
So, is this a problem? Coverage in popular media often seems to give the spin that machine learning and artificial intelligence are things to fear. There is a boundary that separates helpful applications of AI—imagine a scenario of robot-conducted surgery performed in a remote community and overseen by a physician in a distant location—from truly frightening scenarios of near-future military applications. Imagine the combination of current combat drone technology with artificial intelligence computer engines giving independence to machine warfare.
The real problem is that we don’t often recognize that we have crossed these kinds of boundaries until we are already on the other side. In science we often push to discover and apply things before we truly understand all the implications—both positive and negative—that will accompany them. We often do things because we can without fully considering if we should, in fact, do them at all.
It’s a sentiment that has been surprisingly echoed among various tech cognoscenti in recent months. In late 2014, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told an MIT symposium, “I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I had to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, it’s probably that.” And in January he put his money behind the cause, donating $10 million to a non-profit for AI safety.
Bill Gates revealed his reservations about AI in a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session later that same month, writing, “I agree with Elon Musk and some others on this and don’t understand why some people are not concerned.”
And last year, Stephen Hawking co-authored an article on the risks of AI, saying it could be the “worst mistake in history.”
A Different Vision
Central to these concerns is artificial intelligence’s theoretical independence from human regulatory interaction. To avoid such extreme independence—and that sci-fi end-game of Ultron—maybe we’d be better off adopting the approach of “collaborative intelligence” as computer scientist Susan Epstein proposed in a recent study.
We traditionally build machines because we need help, Epstein writes. But perhaps a less-capable machine could be equally helpful, by allowing humans to do things that they’re better at anyway, such as pattern recognition and problem solving. In other words, built-in inabilities in our intelligent robots could allow them to perform their jobs better while keeping them in check—though at the cost of requiring more interaction with their human overseers.
In the tradition of sci-fi futurists Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and Isaac Asimov, the future is “supposed to be a fully automated, atomic-powered, germ-free utopia” Daniel H. Wilson wrote some years back. A collaborative view of AI, on the other hand, equates to thinking about robots as tools—sometimes very smart ones—that humans can employ and work with rather than a replacement for humans altogether.
This view, though, is at odds with the imperative to instrument and mechanize operations of all sorts wherever they are found. The end game—as Ultron’s creators discover—has disastrous ramifications. We all get to enjoy watching this dystopian future play out on the big screen this week. Luckily for our future selves, in the real world these conversations are still happening as we continue to progress toward smarter and smarter machines.
But maybe not too smart. I still want to win at Robotank.
Top image courtesy Marvel
Avengers: Age of Ultron’ and
the Risks of Artificial Intelligence
Technology enhanced with artificial intelligence is all around us. You might have a robot vacuum cleaner ready to leap into action to clean up your kitchen floor. Maybe you asked Siri or Google—two apps using decent examples of artificial intelligence technology—for some help already today. The continual enhancement of AI and its increased presence in our world speak to achievements in science and engineering that have tremendous potential to improve our lives. Or destroy us.
At least, that’s the central theme in the new Avengers: Age of Ultron movie with headliner Ultron serving as exemplar for AI gone bad. It’s a timely theme, given some high-profile AI concerns lately. But is it something we should be worried about?
Artificial Intelligence Gone Rogue
How bad is Ultron? The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe lists his occupation as “would-be conquerer, enslaver of men” with genius intelligence, superhuman speed, stamina, reflexes, and strength, subsonic flight speed, and demi-godlike durability. The good news is that Ultron has “normal” agility and “average hand to hand skills.” Meaning if you can get in close to an autonomous robot with superhuman speed, you should be good to go. At least briefly.
But perhaps most importantly, Ultron represents the ultimate example of artificial intelligence applications gone wrong: intelligence that seeks to overthrow the humans who created it.
Subsequent iterations of Ultron were self-created, each one getting stronger, smarter, and more bent on fulfilling two main desires: survival and bringing peace and order to the universe. The unfortunate part for us humans is that Ultron would like to bring peace and order by eliminating all other intelligent life in the universe. The main theme in Age of Ultron is this fictional conflict between biological beings and artificial intelligence (with a mean streak). But how fictional is it?
Thinking Machines
The answers are found in scientific research related to the fields of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and artificial life. These are fields that continue to expand at a ridiculous, if not superhuman, pace.
One of the most recent breakthroughs was a study in which Volodymyr Mnih and colleagues at Google DeepMind challenged a neural network to learn how to play video games.
The point was to see if the software (rather ominously called a “deep Q-network agent”) could apply lessons learned in one game to master another game. For more than half of the games examined, the deep Q-network agent was better than human level. This list includes Boxing, Video Pinball, Robotank (a favorite of mine), and Tutankham.
And though arcade games may seem trivial, the takeaway here really had nothing to do with games per se. The relevance is that an AI system could adapt its skills to situations for which its programmer had never prepared it. The AI was effectively learning how to apply skills in a new way, basically thinking on its own. Which is relevant in considering the possibility of an AI going rogue.
IBM's Watson computer is a well-known instance of AI. Credit: Clockready IBM’s Watson computer is a well-known instance of AI. Credit: Clockready Sounding an Alarm
So, is this a problem? Coverage in popular media often seems to give the spin that machine learning and artificial intelligence are things to fear. There is a boundary that separates helpful applications of AI—imagine a scenario of robot-conducted surgery performed in a remote community and overseen by a physician in a distant location—from truly frightening scenarios of near-future military applications. Imagine the combination of current combat drone technology with artificial intelligence computer engines giving independence to machine warfare.
The real problem is that we don’t often recognize that we have crossed these kinds of boundaries until we are already on the other side. In science we often push to discover and apply things before we truly understand all the implications—both positive and negative—that will accompany them. We often do things because we can without fully considering if we should, in fact, do them at all.
It’s a sentiment that has been surprisingly echoed among various tech cognoscenti in recent months. In late 2014, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told an MIT symposium, “I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I had to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, it’s probably that.” And in January he put his money behind the cause, donating $10 million to a non-profit for AI safety.
Bill Gates revealed his reservations about AI in a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session later that same month, writing, “I agree with Elon Musk and some others on this and don’t understand why some people are not concerned.”
And last year, Stephen Hawking co-authored an article on the risks of AI, saying it could be the “worst mistake in history.”
A Different Vision
Central to these concerns is artificial intelligence’s theoretical independence from human regulatory interaction. To avoid such extreme independence—and that sci-fi end-game of Ultron—maybe we’d be better off adopting the approach of “collaborative intelligence” as computer scientist Susan Epstein proposed in a recent study.
We traditionally build machines because we need help, Epstein writes. But perhaps a less-capable machine could be equally helpful, by allowing humans to do things that they’re better at anyway, such as pattern recognition and problem solving. In other words, built-in inabilities in our intelligent robots could allow them to perform their jobs better while keeping them in check—though at the cost of requiring more interaction with their human overseers.
In the tradition of sci-fi futurists Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and Isaac Asimov, the future is “supposed to be a fully automated, atomic-powered, germ-free utopia” Daniel H. Wilson wrote some years back. A collaborative view of AI, on the other hand, equates to thinking about robots as tools—sometimes very smart ones—that humans can employ and work with rather than a replacement for humans altogether.
This view, though, is at odds with the imperative to instrument and mechanize operations of all sorts wherever they are found. The end game—as Ultron’s creators discover—has disastrous ramifications. We all get to enjoy watching this dystopian future play out on the big screen this week. Luckily for our future selves, in the real world these conversations are still happening as we continue to progress toward smarter and smarter machines.
But maybe not too smart. I still want to win at Robotank.
Top image courtesy Marvel
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
How Did John Baptist Know Messiah's Arrival Was Imminent, Preached It And Baptized Converts Before The Fact?
The word "baptize" is an English transliterated word from the Greek word "baptizeim" meaning to dip, immerse or bury".
Webster defines "baptism" as .... "To dip or immerse in water".
Wikipedia says of baptism "The usual form of baptism among the earliest Christians was for the candidate to be immersed...."
John the Baptist distinguished his baptism in water from the Holy Spirit's baptism, or immersion, of repentant believers, into Christ and the body of Christ, His church. "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire." Matt.3:11.
"The Apostle Paul declared to the Colossian Church that we are, "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead." Col.2:12. He repeated that to the Roman Church in Rom.6:3-4 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."
Jesus included water baptism as an ordinance His church could perform as a testimony every new Christian could give of his salvation and death, burial and resurrection with Christ.
My question is, "How did John Baptist know about the soon coming of Messiah/Christ, the necessity of repentance followed by baptism? All this he knew before Christ's ministry ever began and before he baptized Jesus himself as an example for us to follow? How did he know?
My answer to the question is this ....
1. His father, Zacharias, was priest in Jerusalem and his mother, Elizabeth, was a godly woman. Both of whom knew the Old Testament prophecies and taught them to their son, John. Luke 1:67-80.
2. Their home country was in the desert wilderness east of Jerusalem near or maybe at Jericho or Qumran on the eastern shore at the northern end of the Dead Sea. Luke 1:80. When Zacharias' term as priest in Jerusalem was finished, he and Elizabeth, in their old age, moved back to their desert hill country home near Jericho and Qumran. Lk.1:23. Elizabeth and Zacharias, like Sarai and Abraham, had been praying for a child for many years and God had miraculously heard their prayer and she was six months pregnant when the virgin Mary conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Mary, cousin to Elizabeth, traveled 60 miles from Nazareth to visit them at their home in the wilderness, and stayed the 3 months till John the Baptist was born. Lk.1:39-40. John grew up in the desert wilderness and dry hills around Jericho Qumran, the southern end of the Jordan River at the northern end of the Dead Sea. It was there that He began his ministry as forerunner of Messiah/Christ, preaching repentance and baptizing converts where the Jordan runs into the Dead Sea, at it's nearest point to Jerusalem. Lk.3:2-4.
3. Qumran is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in cliff side caves overlooking Qumran. and the Dead Sea. Here is what Wikapedia says about Qumran and the Essenes who lived there.
"The remains at Qumran were left by a sectarian religious community. Using his excavations as well as textual sources, including the Dead Sea Scrolls and the historical accounts recorded by Pliny the Elder, Philo, and Flavius Josephus. De Vaux's conclusion was that the inhabitants of the site were a sect of highly ritualistic Jews called the Essenes. This .... suggests that the original residents of the settlement were the Essenes, and that they established the site in the desert for religious purposes. He interpreted the room above locus 30 as a "scriptorium" because he discovered inkwells there. A plastered bench was also discovered in the remains of an upper story. De Vaux concluded that this was the area where the Essenes could have written some of the Dead Sea Scrolls. De Vaux also interpreted locus 77 as a "refectory", or a community dining hall, based on the discovery of numerous sets of bowls in the nearby "pantry" of locus 89. Additionally, de Vaux interpreted many of the numerous stepped cisterns as "miqva’ot", or Jewish ritual baths...." Wikapedia.
It is thought, by a few scholars, that at least one of these ritual pools was in fact a baptistry. Neither the Jews nor Wikapedia nor anyone else I have read associate John the Baptist with the Essenes but there is no doubt that John was at least aware of the Essenes in Qumran and may have been one of them. They were the Jewish Fundamentalists of the day, separated from the worldly cities and ways of life, majoring on the written word of God, making copies of it and preserving it on scrolls in sealed clay jars, baptizing believers and this ... Their primary message was of the soon coming of Messiah/Christ. John came preaching the exact same message ... and baptizing repentant believers, preparing the way for Jesus.
The Essenes in Qumran were about 6 miles from Jericho and 2 or 3 miles from where John the Baptizer began his ministry preaching "Prepare ye the way of the LORD", and baptizing converts in the fresh waters of the Jordan River where it enters into the northern end of the Dead Sea. Was he in fellowship with the Essenes at Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found? I cannot prove it but it seems very likely.
During one of the Jewish uprisings against Rome, the Essenes were later driven out of Qumran by the Romans. At about the same time, a similar sized group of Jewish believers took over King Herod's summer retreat on the top of a high, steep mesa called Masada, overlooking the Dead Sea and very near Qumran. I have been there too and saw the ruins of Herod's quarters, a vast network of water collecting channels with filled caverns of mammoth capacity ... and a baptistry carved out of the rock by these renegade Jewish believers who were eventually rooted out and all executed by the Roman army. RB
Webster defines "baptism" as .... "To dip or immerse in water".
Wikipedia says of baptism "The usual form of baptism among the earliest Christians was for the candidate to be immersed...."
John the Baptist distinguished his baptism in water from the Holy Spirit's baptism, or immersion, of repentant believers, into Christ and the body of Christ, His church. "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire." Matt.3:11.
"The Apostle Paul declared to the Colossian Church that we are, "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead." Col.2:12. He repeated that to the Roman Church in Rom.6:3-4 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."
Jesus included water baptism as an ordinance His church could perform as a testimony every new Christian could give of his salvation and death, burial and resurrection with Christ.
My question is, "How did John Baptist know about the soon coming of Messiah/Christ, the necessity of repentance followed by baptism? All this he knew before Christ's ministry ever began and before he baptized Jesus himself as an example for us to follow? How did he know?
My answer to the question is this ....
1. His father, Zacharias, was priest in Jerusalem and his mother, Elizabeth, was a godly woman. Both of whom knew the Old Testament prophecies and taught them to their son, John. Luke 1:67-80.
2. Their home country was in the desert wilderness east of Jerusalem near or maybe at Jericho or Qumran on the eastern shore at the northern end of the Dead Sea. Luke 1:80. When Zacharias' term as priest in Jerusalem was finished, he and Elizabeth, in their old age, moved back to their desert hill country home near Jericho and Qumran. Lk.1:23. Elizabeth and Zacharias, like Sarai and Abraham, had been praying for a child for many years and God had miraculously heard their prayer and she was six months pregnant when the virgin Mary conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Mary, cousin to Elizabeth, traveled 60 miles from Nazareth to visit them at their home in the wilderness, and stayed the 3 months till John the Baptist was born. Lk.1:39-40. John grew up in the desert wilderness and dry hills around Jericho Qumran, the southern end of the Jordan River at the northern end of the Dead Sea. It was there that He began his ministry as forerunner of Messiah/Christ, preaching repentance and baptizing converts where the Jordan runs into the Dead Sea, at it's nearest point to Jerusalem. Lk.3:2-4.
3. Qumran is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in cliff side caves overlooking Qumran. and the Dead Sea. Here is what Wikapedia says about Qumran and the Essenes who lived there.
"The remains at Qumran were left by a sectarian religious community. Using his excavations as well as textual sources, including the Dead Sea Scrolls and the historical accounts recorded by Pliny the Elder, Philo, and Flavius Josephus. De Vaux's conclusion was that the inhabitants of the site were a sect of highly ritualistic Jews called the Essenes. This .... suggests that the original residents of the settlement were the Essenes, and that they established the site in the desert for religious purposes. He interpreted the room above locus 30 as a "scriptorium" because he discovered inkwells there. A plastered bench was also discovered in the remains of an upper story. De Vaux concluded that this was the area where the Essenes could have written some of the Dead Sea Scrolls. De Vaux also interpreted locus 77 as a "refectory", or a community dining hall, based on the discovery of numerous sets of bowls in the nearby "pantry" of locus 89. Additionally, de Vaux interpreted many of the numerous stepped cisterns as "miqva’ot", or Jewish ritual baths...." Wikapedia.
It is thought, by a few scholars, that at least one of these ritual pools was in fact a baptistry. Neither the Jews nor Wikapedia nor anyone else I have read associate John the Baptist with the Essenes but there is no doubt that John was at least aware of the Essenes in Qumran and may have been one of them. They were the Jewish Fundamentalists of the day, separated from the worldly cities and ways of life, majoring on the written word of God, making copies of it and preserving it on scrolls in sealed clay jars, baptizing believers and this ... Their primary message was of the soon coming of Messiah/Christ. John came preaching the exact same message ... and baptizing repentant believers, preparing the way for Jesus.
The Essenes in Qumran were about 6 miles from Jericho and 2 or 3 miles from where John the Baptizer began his ministry preaching "Prepare ye the way of the LORD", and baptizing converts in the fresh waters of the Jordan River where it enters into the northern end of the Dead Sea. Was he in fellowship with the Essenes at Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found? I cannot prove it but it seems very likely.
During one of the Jewish uprisings against Rome, the Essenes were later driven out of Qumran by the Romans. At about the same time, a similar sized group of Jewish believers took over King Herod's summer retreat on the top of a high, steep mesa called Masada, overlooking the Dead Sea and very near Qumran. I have been there too and saw the ruins of Herod's quarters, a vast network of water collecting channels with filled caverns of mammoth capacity ... and a baptistry carved out of the rock by these renegade Jewish believers who were eventually rooted out and all executed by the Roman army. RB
Monday, April 20, 2015
The Open Secret To John 3:16's Unequaled Impact
It was not God's Omnipresence, Omniscience, Omnipotence, or even His Omniholiness that moved Him to give "his only begotten Son" to die in our place for out sins. It was His agape love for us. Agape is the deepest spiritual love of total committment.
We ignored His presence, rejected His knowledge, doubted His power and violated His holiness ... but He still loved us. We were created in His own "image and likeness" to be His children, but because of our fleshly rebellion and sin nature, inherited from Adam and Eve, and willfully embraced by each of us, a new birth, a spiritual birth became necessary. That new birth, devised by our Creator, would only take place when we, as lost sinners, repented of our sins and within our spirits believed on and accepted His remedy, "His only begotten Son", as our Savior. This miraculous cleansing means of redemption from hopeless, lost sinners, to hope full, forgiven children of God, comes about only through true faith in Jesus Christ and by God's grace, a fruit of His agape love.
We, then, having been "spiritually" born again, due only to His agape love, believe His knowledge, feel His presence, yield to His power, and seek His holiness. And like our Father, who's agape love moved Him to provide us a means of Salvation, we, as His children, are moved by that same love to worship Him, obey Him, and seek His will in prayer and Bible study; And through that same agape love tell others about Him. Agape love is the motivating factor in all true Christian service which is empowered by God's own presence in our lives .... and which comes to us in the person of His Holy Spirit when we are born again.
We ignored His presence, rejected His knowledge, doubted His power and violated His holiness ... but He still loved us. We were created in His own "image and likeness" to be His children, but because of our fleshly rebellion and sin nature, inherited from Adam and Eve, and willfully embraced by each of us, a new birth, a spiritual birth became necessary. That new birth, devised by our Creator, would only take place when we, as lost sinners, repented of our sins and within our spirits believed on and accepted His remedy, "His only begotten Son", as our Savior. This miraculous cleansing means of redemption from hopeless, lost sinners, to hope full, forgiven children of God, comes about only through true faith in Jesus Christ and by God's grace, a fruit of His agape love.
We, then, having been "spiritually" born again, due only to His agape love, believe His knowledge, feel His presence, yield to His power, and seek His holiness. And like our Father, who's agape love moved Him to provide us a means of Salvation, we, as His children, are moved by that same love to worship Him, obey Him, and seek His will in prayer and Bible study; And through that same agape love tell others about Him. Agape love is the motivating factor in all true Christian service which is empowered by God's own presence in our lives .... and which comes to us in the person of His Holy Spirit when we are born again.
Friday, April 17, 2015
What Succeeded Then Will Succeed Now ... Given Time
To speak of a "Christian Businessman" is more than simply a title. It is a way of life and, therefore, a way of conducting all of the affairs of life including business.
Whether as a customer or a business owner, "Christian business" methods are the same. Be consistently fair to everyone equally. Be an example of diligence, hard work, organization, and wisdom in purchasing and in pricing. Keep your word no matter what it costs you. Care about other people's needs and problems and help them accomplish their goals. Pray for them and do not hesitate to be a witness for Christ to them. Above all, be honest no matter the cost or loss to yourself. Making a profit is not a sin. Not making a profit is a quick exit into bankruptcy. Living well is not a sin. Not caring whether others live well also is a sin. Christian Business practices will and do lead to a successful outcome of any worthy venture but do not think it will come quickly. You must be proven to prospective customers. They have all been deceived, lied to and taken advantage of by other, more unreputable business people. Stay the course, do not compromise your Christian principles and keep on keeping on. You do not have to pursue business success. If you pursue Christ and His teachings long enough, success in business will pursue you. Isn't that the kind of people you want to do business with? Everyone else feels the same but it is very difficult for them to break old ties. But they will .... given time and a better deal. RB
Here is the classic example of Christian
Business success ... J.C. Penny.
J.C. Penny reached it's zenith until he died and they soon lost their rudder.
In this day when business in America seems to be all about money and when there is crookedness in both high and low places, it is refreshing to think of businessmen who have put God first. James Cash Penny (1875-1971), founder of the J.C. Penny stores, is an example. His father, a Baptist pastor, died when James was a teenager, but not before he was instilled with biblical principles of living.
When the young James got a job with a grocer, he bragged one night at supper to his mother and father about how "foxy" his employer was in selling low quality coffee for the price of expensive coffee. Even though jobs were rare in that small town, James' father told him to quit. Though he was dying of tuberculosis and they needed the money, the preacher would rather that his son be unemployed than associated with a crooked businessman.
At first the J.C. Penny stores were called Golden Rule, because he was "dedicated to following the Golden Rule as a basic commercial principle." The Golden Rule refers to Christ's principle of "thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Penny offered quality products at fair prices and treated the customers with respect. He kept the profit margin small. He tested every policy by asking if it was "right and just?" He made his managers part owners of the stores in order to share the wealth. Yet though he was Christian in name, he didn't come to saving faith until he was older.
Penny gave millions of dollars to Christian charities. He said he would rather be known as a Christian than a merchant. In an advertisement he said: "Business is therefore as much religious as it is secular. If we follow the admonition to love God, and our neighbors as ourselves, it will lead us to understand that, first of all, success is a matter of the spirit." This is the attitude that will permeate Christ's coming kingdom, and it is the attitude that should permeate the lives of those who belong to Christ in this present world.
Whether as a customer or a business owner, "Christian business" methods are the same. Be consistently fair to everyone equally. Be an example of diligence, hard work, organization, and wisdom in purchasing and in pricing. Keep your word no matter what it costs you. Care about other people's needs and problems and help them accomplish their goals. Pray for them and do not hesitate to be a witness for Christ to them. Above all, be honest no matter the cost or loss to yourself. Making a profit is not a sin. Not making a profit is a quick exit into bankruptcy. Living well is not a sin. Not caring whether others live well also is a sin. Christian Business practices will and do lead to a successful outcome of any worthy venture but do not think it will come quickly. You must be proven to prospective customers. They have all been deceived, lied to and taken advantage of by other, more unreputable business people. Stay the course, do not compromise your Christian principles and keep on keeping on. You do not have to pursue business success. If you pursue Christ and His teachings long enough, success in business will pursue you. Isn't that the kind of people you want to do business with? Everyone else feels the same but it is very difficult for them to break old ties. But they will .... given time and a better deal. RB
Here is the classic example of Christian
Business success ... J.C. Penny.
J.C. Penny reached it's zenith until he died and they soon lost their rudder.
In this day when business in America seems to be all about money and when there is crookedness in both high and low places, it is refreshing to think of businessmen who have put God first. James Cash Penny (1875-1971), founder of the J.C. Penny stores, is an example. His father, a Baptist pastor, died when James was a teenager, but not before he was instilled with biblical principles of living.
When the young James got a job with a grocer, he bragged one night at supper to his mother and father about how "foxy" his employer was in selling low quality coffee for the price of expensive coffee. Even though jobs were rare in that small town, James' father told him to quit. Though he was dying of tuberculosis and they needed the money, the preacher would rather that his son be unemployed than associated with a crooked businessman.
At first the J.C. Penny stores were called Golden Rule, because he was "dedicated to following the Golden Rule as a basic commercial principle." The Golden Rule refers to Christ's principle of "thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Penny offered quality products at fair prices and treated the customers with respect. He kept the profit margin small. He tested every policy by asking if it was "right and just?" He made his managers part owners of the stores in order to share the wealth. Yet though he was Christian in name, he didn't come to saving faith until he was older.
He had become embittered at churches in his youth when his father was fired for wanting to start a Sunday School. (Primitive Baptists officially hold to extreme sovereign election and often do not believe in gospel missions.) After experiencing a financial crash during America's Great Depression, Penny's health broke, physically and emotionally, and he ended up in a sanitarium. There he attended a Christian meeting and saw that he had been trusting his good works rather than God's grace in Christ. Through the words of the hymn "God Will Take Care of You" and Christ's invitation in Matthew 11:28-30, J.C. Penny was converted. He recalled, "I can't explain it. I can only call it a miracle. I felt as if I had been instantly lifted out of the darkness of a dungeon into a warm, brilliant sunlight. I felt as if I had been transported from hell to paradise. I felt the power of God as I had never felt it before. From that day to this, my life has been free from worry. The most dramatic and glorious 20 minutes of my life were those I spent in that chapel that morning."
Penny gave millions of dollars to Christian charities. He said he would rather be known as a Christian than a merchant. In an advertisement he said: "Business is therefore as much religious as it is secular. If we follow the admonition to love God, and our neighbors as ourselves, it will lead us to understand that, first of all, success is a matter of the spirit." This is the attitude that will permeate Christ's coming kingdom, and it is the attitude that should permeate the lives of those who belong to Christ in this present world.
Monday, April 13, 2015
"IF" Is At Once The Biggest Little Word In Any Language
The little word "if", a conjunction of condition, incorporates limitless possibilities and immeasurable imagination. "To" points in one direction and means one thing. "Is", a verb, makes a single, flat statement of fact. "At" identifies a single point of placement. "I" means one thing ...me. "A" is always followed by a single thing such as a flock or a bird. "It" speaks of one thing. But "if" opens an infinity of time, space, question, condition, possibility, imagination or negative point of debate.
The Apostle Paul was a highly educated man, whose teacher was Gamaliel, a celebrated teacher and Doctor of the Law, in Jerusalem. Paul was well trained in the Old Testament Scriptures, including the Law given by God to Moses. He had been taught the rudiments of debate and used that skill in his reasoning with the Sadducee converts in the Corinth Church. Sadducee doctrine had taught them that resurrection from the dead is impossible, which, of course, it is, but "with God all things are possible" (Matt.19:26). So they still did not believe in a resurrection, though they professed faith in Christ. In First Corinthians Paul was dealing with a long list of errors in that church. One of which was this problem with these former Sadducees. In his argument, he used the "If" negative approach to the question. His use of "if", a conjunction of condition, does not reflect any doubt in his own mind but did in theirs. In other words, "If what you believe is true, here are the consequences". So here is his case for the fact of a resurrection: "Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept." 1 Cor.15:12-20.
Many of you know that my favorite poem is Rudyard Kipling's "IF".
.................. If by Rudyard Kipling ..................
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired of waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise.
If you can dream and not make dreams your master;
If you can think -- and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken;
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them; "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And -- which is more -- you'll be a man, my son!
Rudyard Kipling was not just a good poet, he was a fine Christian. I first read his poem, "IF", when I was a young preacher in Seminary. This was the most impressive thing that really spoke to my sense of what a man should be, except for my father's example and Scripture. "If" is the biggest, little word in any language. Everything henges on this one syllable word. The "Law of First Mention" says that the first mention of a word in the Bible has special significance in defining what the word means in all the rest of its uses following the first. Our word "If" is first used in Genesis 4:7...."If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted ? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door...." The last mention, in the Bible, of "if" is in Rev.22:19, and is God's final warning. "If any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take his part out of the book of life...." Jesus, Himself, put forgiveness of sin, redemption and eternal life in the simplest, shortest possible form, when He said, "I am the door: by me, .if any man enter in, he shall be saved...." John 10:9. In all three of these verses, "IF" is the pivot point of ETERNITY. "If you do well (believe),"Heaven". "If you do not well...."Hell". Every good and bad thing has a big if between them. Every right and wrong has that big if to deal with. That one little two letter word standing there in the crossroads of the most important decisions of life and you must make the choice..."which way shall I go?" "Shall I follow Jesus or not?" Life and death issues are decided here..."IF". Eternity itself is decided here...."IF". "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Rom.10:9
Thursday, April 9, 2015
The Seed And Root Of The Jewish ... Muslim Conflict
The Middle East is a boiling caldron of Muslim division and contradiction, popping and spitting out molten hatred, burning, wounding and killing its own and anyone else with a different opinion. This is not a new, strangely perverted religious conflict. It's toxic roots reach all the way back to Ishmael, the illegitimate son of Abraham and his wife's maid servant, Hagar. God promised Abraham and Sarai a son who would pass the seed of Abraham through many generations and eventually bring forth the virgin-born Jesus. This son of Mary was the body in which the Jewish Messiah/Christian Christ would live in this world, deliver the truth of God and die for our sins. Satan knew that and violently opposed it. Abraham and Sarai were impatient with waiting upon the Lord for that son and they presumed to help God fulfill his promise. Sarai suggested and Abraham gladly accommodated and lay with Sarai's young hand maiden. Her resulting baby, Ishmael, became the first in what is now over a billion people composing 48 majority Muslim nations. There is just one predominately Jewish nation ... Israel.
When Sarai finally gave birth to her promised son, Isaac, the lineage of the Jewish nation began ... and nineteen hundred years later God's promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, was born in Bethlehem. The descendants of Isaac and those of Ishmael, though half brothers, both sons of Abraham, are total opposites. As the descendants of Ishmael are almost all Muslim, the descendants of Isaac are almost all Judaic. God promised to bless the world through Isaac with the Messiah/Christ and predicted conflict through Ishmael's descendants. The basis for this problem is recorded in Genesis 16 of which the central verses are Gen.16:11-12 "And the angel of the LORD said unto her (Hagar), Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."
This conflict will not end until the end of time.
When Sarai finally gave birth to her promised son, Isaac, the lineage of the Jewish nation began ... and nineteen hundred years later God's promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, was born in Bethlehem. The descendants of Isaac and those of Ishmael, though half brothers, both sons of Abraham, are total opposites. As the descendants of Ishmael are almost all Muslim, the descendants of Isaac are almost all Judaic. God promised to bless the world through Isaac with the Messiah/Christ and predicted conflict through Ishmael's descendants. The basis for this problem is recorded in Genesis 16 of which the central verses are Gen.16:11-12 "And the angel of the LORD said unto her (Hagar), Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."
This conflict will not end until the end of time.
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
If You Can Open Your Mind To This.... You Too Can Believe
There is a time in most people's lives when they come to grips with these two most important questions anyone will ever face. What is the truth as to how we, the earth and universe came to be? And if God did it, what does He expect of me? The Bible has the answers, but if you doubt those answers, do this ....
If you can open your mind to the fact that it is scientifically and physically impossible that the infinite, complex universe, dirt's content and Earth's atmosphere, the human mind and body, life itself and 10,000 other miraculous facts of existence, EVOLVED FROM NOTHING VOID OF ANY KIND OF INTELLIGENCE, .... your only other alternative is a Creator God. Believing in God, based on the inerrant Bible, intelligent observation of creation and the Spirit of God convincing us, is not an unreasonable faith, as unbelievers like to accuse us of. But their own totally illogical and impossible theory of evolution, based on A GIGANTIC ACCIDENT IN WHICH EVERYTHING EVOLVED OUT OF NOTHING...., without Any Intelligence input .... IS "an unreasonable faith".
If believing in the existence of a Creator God is inconceivable to you, the non-existence of a Creator God is a thousand times more incomprehensible and illogical. Think about it. Settle this question and faith in Christ will follow. RB
If you can open your mind to the fact that it is scientifically and physically impossible that the infinite, complex universe, dirt's content and Earth's atmosphere, the human mind and body, life itself and 10,000 other miraculous facts of existence, EVOLVED FROM NOTHING VOID OF ANY KIND OF INTELLIGENCE, .... your only other alternative is a Creator God. Believing in God, based on the inerrant Bible, intelligent observation of creation and the Spirit of God convincing us, is not an unreasonable faith, as unbelievers like to accuse us of. But their own totally illogical and impossible theory of evolution, based on A GIGANTIC ACCIDENT IN WHICH EVERYTHING EVOLVED OUT OF NOTHING...., without Any Intelligence input .... IS "an unreasonable faith".
If believing in the existence of a Creator God is inconceivable to you, the non-existence of a Creator God is a thousand times more incomprehensible and illogical. Think about it. Settle this question and faith in Christ will follow. RB
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Blood Moon This Easter Weekend On Jewish Passover Sabbath
The Earth, Moon, and Sun are aligned at a rare, historic and critical moment of world events.
Something is very different, something big impending. The entire world is quickly changing.
The loneliest job in the world is not that of Obama or Putin but atop them all is Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamine Netanyahu. Here is a man who sits in desperate detachment from the whole world, alone at the desk of final decision, and at the center of the most critical moment in history. He is surrounded by over a billion Muslims, armed to the teeth, with hearts full of hatred of Jews, and sworn to annihilate Israel and to kill every Jew on earth. Netanyahu's hour of decision rides him like the weight of the world and he must make that earth-shaking decision ... now. He only has two options. One is to attack Iran's nuclear capability and neutralize their constant, threatening determination to turn Israel into a holocaust heap of nuclear ash. But if he attempts to pre-empt Iran's nuclear attack by attacking it first, the world would retaliate and Obama has publically warned he will shoot down Israel's planes if they try it. Netanyahu's only other option is to do nothing and leave his homeland exposed to Iran's almost certain nuclear annihilation of Israel as soon as they are ready. Either way, Netanyahu will be blamed for the horrific consequences which will befall Israel. Of all the appalling, ghastly jobs in the world, I would not want to be in Netanyahu's shoes, but I would rather be in his than in Obama's. RB
"Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever,
saying, The LORD of hosts is the God of Israel ...." 1 Chron.17:24.
The god of Islam, Allah, hates the Jews. Jehovah God loves them.
Even the "religious curiosity" of CBS has been given print space.
From CBS SF Bay Area April 1, 2015
(CBS SF) — Get ready to feast your eyes on an extra special and rare total lunar eclipse Saturday morning that has some Christians worried this Easter weekend. For the third time in less than a year, the moon will dip into Earth’s shadow, turning its bright white globe a deep coppery red in a matter of minutes. The action begins at 3:16 a.m. PST on the morning of April 4 when the edge of the moon first enters the amber core of Earth’s shadow. For the next hour and 45 minutes, Earth’s shadow will move across the lunar disk, ultimately covering the entire moon at 4:58 a.m. PST. The total phase of the lunar eclipse will only last about 5 minutes, making it the shortest lunar eclipse of the century on the morning of Easter Vigil, traditionally observed as the period between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The eclipse also falls within the first night of Passover, observed by Jews worldwide beginning Friday at sunset. Some total eclipses last for more than an hour, in this case, totality spans just 4 minutes and 43 seconds since the moon will be skimming the outskirts of the Earth’s shadow, rather than passing centrally through it. The moon’s red tint is caused by the Earth covering the sun. This red light from the rim of the Earth then beams onto moon, transforming it into a giant red orb. Lunar eclipses usually come in no particular order, but sometimes the sequence is more orderly. When four lunar eclipses are all total, the series is called a tetrad. This Saturday will be the third of four total eclipses in the 18-month long tetrad series. Previous eclipses occurred on April 15, 2014 and. Oct. 8, 2014. After Saturday, the next one is expected on Sept. 28, 2015. Such a closely-spaced succession of eclipses is a fairly rare occurrence.
Some Christians believe the blood moon lunar eclipse tetrad could be connected to Jesus’ return — or signify a world-changing event about to take place. According to the King James Bible, “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord comes,” (Joel 2:31). Regardless of your religious beliefs, it will be a breathtaking spectacle you’ll want to wake up early to see. Just make sure to be outside no later than 4:58 a.m. PST to watch the transition.
_________________________________________
'Blood Moons' a special message
........to America?
Something is very different, something big impending. The entire world is quickly changing.
The loneliest job in the world is not that of Obama or Putin but atop them all is Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamine Netanyahu. Here is a man who sits in desperate detachment from the whole world, alone at the desk of final decision, and at the center of the most critical moment in history. He is surrounded by over a billion Muslims, armed to the teeth, with hearts full of hatred of Jews, and sworn to annihilate Israel and to kill every Jew on earth. Netanyahu's hour of decision rides him like the weight of the world and he must make that earth-shaking decision ... now. He only has two options. One is to attack Iran's nuclear capability and neutralize their constant, threatening determination to turn Israel into a holocaust heap of nuclear ash. But if he attempts to pre-empt Iran's nuclear attack by attacking it first, the world would retaliate and Obama has publically warned he will shoot down Israel's planes if they try it. Netanyahu's only other option is to do nothing and leave his homeland exposed to Iran's almost certain nuclear annihilation of Israel as soon as they are ready. Either way, Netanyahu will be blamed for the horrific consequences which will befall Israel. Of all the appalling, ghastly jobs in the world, I would not want to be in Netanyahu's shoes, but I would rather be in his than in Obama's. RB
"Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever,
saying, The LORD of hosts is the God of Israel ...." 1 Chron.17:24.
The god of Islam, Allah, hates the Jews. Jehovah God loves them.
Even the "religious curiosity" of CBS has been given print space.
Blood Moon With Total Lunar
Eclipse & Eerie Biblical Message
Rising Over U.S. Easter Weekend
From CBS SF Bay Area April 1, 2015
(CBS SF) — Get ready to feast your eyes on an extra special and rare total lunar eclipse Saturday morning that has some Christians worried this Easter weekend. For the third time in less than a year, the moon will dip into Earth’s shadow, turning its bright white globe a deep coppery red in a matter of minutes. The action begins at 3:16 a.m. PST on the morning of April 4 when the edge of the moon first enters the amber core of Earth’s shadow. For the next hour and 45 minutes, Earth’s shadow will move across the lunar disk, ultimately covering the entire moon at 4:58 a.m. PST. The total phase of the lunar eclipse will only last about 5 minutes, making it the shortest lunar eclipse of the century on the morning of Easter Vigil, traditionally observed as the period between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The eclipse also falls within the first night of Passover, observed by Jews worldwide beginning Friday at sunset. Some total eclipses last for more than an hour, in this case, totality spans just 4 minutes and 43 seconds since the moon will be skimming the outskirts of the Earth’s shadow, rather than passing centrally through it. The moon’s red tint is caused by the Earth covering the sun. This red light from the rim of the Earth then beams onto moon, transforming it into a giant red orb. Lunar eclipses usually come in no particular order, but sometimes the sequence is more orderly. When four lunar eclipses are all total, the series is called a tetrad. This Saturday will be the third of four total eclipses in the 18-month long tetrad series. Previous eclipses occurred on April 15, 2014 and. Oct. 8, 2014. After Saturday, the next one is expected on Sept. 28, 2015. Such a closely-spaced succession of eclipses is a fairly rare occurrence.
Some Christians believe the blood moon lunar eclipse tetrad could be connected to Jesus’ return — or signify a world-changing event about to take place. According to the King James Bible, “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord comes,” (Joel 2:31). Regardless of your religious beliefs, it will be a breathtaking spectacle you’ll want to wake up early to see. Just make sure to be outside no later than 4:58 a.m. PST to watch the transition.
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'Blood Moons' a special message
........to America?
From WorldNet Daily
“The Bible talks of the times we are living in. Here we have the re-establishment of Israel as a nation in 1948 and the return of Jerusalem into Israel’s hands in 1967. Now we have the signs in the heavens where the sun is turning to sackcloth and the moon to blood on the biblical holy days, warning both the nations and Israel against a two state solution,” he said.
“The Bible talks of the times we are living in. Here we have the re-establishment of Israel as a nation in 1948 and the return of Jerusalem into Israel’s hands in 1967. Now we have the signs in the heavens where the sun is turning to sackcloth and the moon to blood on the biblical holy days, warning both the nations and Israel against a two state solution,” he said.
The discoverer of the blood-moons phenomenon, Biltz says there’s no way to get around the fact that Israel is at the center of God’s plans for events to come.
In an interview with WND, the author of the theological blockbuster “Blood Moons: Decoding the Imminent Heavenly Signs” suggested astronomical signs show Americans are living in “prophetic times” and the fate of the Jewish state is central to God’s plan.
“People need to realize the Middle East problem is not a political one but a religious one. They need to realize that Allah and the God of the Bible are not the same being. One hates and wants to destroy Israel, and the other loves Israel. Until this is understood, you will never have peace in the Middle East.”
The “blood moon” occurring this weekend is a lunar eclipse that will make the moon appear blood red for a short time on Saturday morning, April 4. It is the third in a tetradShabbat, or the Jewish day of rest.
But Biltz and others say it is not just the timing of the Passover blood moon that is remarkable but the length of the eclipse.
Biltz said the eclipse will last for just under five minutes, the “shortest lunar eclipse ever recorded in human history on the night of Passover.” For that reason, Biltz is calling on Christians to pray for Israel and the peace of Jerusalem for four minutes and 44 seconds during the eclipse.
He is joined in this effort by Bob O’Dell and Gidon Ariel of the educational foundation Root Source, a group that provides Christians access to Jewish teachings online. Root Source was responsible for discovering how the March 20 solar eclipse darkened the sun just in time for the sunrise at the North Pole in what some biblical experts called an unmistakable sign of judgment to the whole world.
In a statement provided to WND, Biltz pointed out that according to Jewish tradition, a solar eclipse is seen as a sign to the whole world, while a lunar eclipse is seen as a sign to the Jewish people specifically.
Biltz says of the prayer effort, “We want all the Jewish people worldwide to know on this Shabbat the nations are praying for them and thanking them for guarding the Torah for the last several thousand years.”
The blood moons by themselves are significant signs that mankind should wake up. But a skeptic of the blood moons phenomenon wrote to me recently and asked the following question: ‘What if, after these celestial events take place, nothing much happens involving Israel?’ But let’s first look at what has already happened and what appears to be on the horizon in full view right now.”
He said: “After the first blood moon, we’ve had the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, we’ve had the advance of ISIS, a two-month war between Israel and Gaza, the Ebola plague, the overthrow of Yemen, upheaval in the Middle East, and economic meltdowns coming. We still have over a year to go. More judgment coming anytime in 2016 as well is what these blood moons are referring to.”
Gallups also warns that events around the world and especially in the Middle East testify to the continuing relevance of prophecy.
“The scriptures foretold of a certain coalition of nations that would form in the last days to attempt to expel the ‘returned Israel’ from the land. We are now watching that coalition form – for that precise purpose – openly and unashamedly stated on our television sets and computer screens, almost daily. The scriptures also speak, according to numerous Bible scholars, of a time when that returned Israel would eventually ‘stand alone’ against its enemies … those who desire to see them utterly exterminated.”
At such a time, says Gallups, it is critical for American Christians to stand with the Jewish state and turn to God.
“I have been appalled to watch President Obama’s sordid dealings with Israel and her leaders, at the same time watching his obvious deference toward practically all things Islamic – including the sheer numbers of Muslim Brotherhood affiliated..... (with the White House).
The blood moons by themselves are significant signs that mankind should wake up. But a skeptic of the blood moons phenomenon wrote to me recently and asked the following question: ‘What if, after these celestial events take place, nothing much happens involving Israel?’ But let’s first look at what has already happened and what appears to be on the horizon in full view right now.”
He said: “After the first blood moon, we’ve had the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, we’ve had the advance of ISIS, a two-month war between Israel and Gaza, the Ebola plague, the overthrow of Yemen, upheaval in the Middle East, and economic meltdowns coming. We still have over a year to go. More judgment coming anytime in 2016 as well is what these blood moons are referring to.”
Gallups also warns that events around the world and especially in the Middle East testify to the continuing relevance of prophecy.
“The scriptures foretold of a certain coalition of nations that would form in the last days to attempt to expel the ‘returned Israel’ from the land. We are now watching that coalition form – for that precise purpose – openly and unashamedly stated on our television sets and computer screens, almost daily. The scriptures also speak, according to numerous Bible scholars, of a time when that returned Israel would eventually ‘stand alone’ against its enemies … those who desire to see them utterly exterminated.”
At such a time, says Gallups, it is critical for American Christians to stand with the Jewish state and turn to God.
“I have been appalled to watch President Obama’s sordid dealings with Israel and her leaders, at the same time watching his obvious deference toward practically all things Islamic – including the sheer numbers of Muslim Brotherhood affiliated..... (with the White House).
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