What Is Hell?

Hello Guys and Gals!

What is Hell? First I'd like to explain that there are two 'places' which are translated into the word Hell in the English language: Hades and Gehenna!

Now Hades is the Greek word and Sheol is the Hebrew word for the same place. This place is where the souls of the departed go to stay until the great white throne judgment which happens in Revelation 20:11-15. But there are two aspects of Hades as well. There is Hades before Christ came and Hades after Christ.

Before Christ came, all the souls of the departed were in Hades but divided by a great chasm where on one side were those who trusted and believed in God and the other side for all the others and that no one can cross from one side to the other.

Yet we also know that there was a change in the place where departed believers went from Ephesians 4:8-10. All departed believers are now in the presence of Christ! Yet the non-believers are still in Hades!

Gehenna on the other hand is literally translated to 'of fire', in the Greek language. It also refers to a place in the Valley of Hinnom where, anciently, human sacrifices were offered (2 Chronicles 33:6; Jeremiah 7:31) and where the continuous burning of rubbish illustrated for the Jewish people unending judgment upon the wicked. Jesus used this term as a most solemn warning and described the place where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched'. (Mark 9:48) It is most often referred to as the 'Lake of Fire' or the 'Second Death' referring to the death of the soul!

But what makes Hell truly so bad? The key element in the 'Second Death' that makes it such a horrible place is the withdrawal by God of His presence from those whom He is punishing for their unbelief and rejection of Him! (Revelation 20:14) Please note that this is not an annihilation or total destruction, but eternal torture forever and ever. It states that after 1,000 years in the Lake of Fire, Gehenna, the beast and false prophet are still there, personally existing. (Compare Revelation 19:20 with 20:10) We also see Satan thrown into Gehenna in verse 20:10!

So that is a brief description of Hell. But what about Hell on Earth? Is there such a place? I say that there is and I will give you a simple definition of it. Hell on Earth is when a person does not believe or rejects God! They are not fully separated from God in their sin until tossed into the Lake of Fire, but there is still a separation there.

As we see in Romans 1:28, in reference to sinners who did not see fit to acknowledge God any more, that God has given them over to a depraved mind and to do those things which are not proper. I believe that when God gives you over, that is a form of separation from Him. For God is so holy that sin cannot enter into his presence. Which is the whole need for a sin offering to cover our sins. This is what I believe Hell on Earth to be: living in your sin so that God has given you over to the depravities of your own mind!

How shall we then escape Hell? Even Hell on Earth? There is only one answer: Jesus Christ! Jesus paid the full price of sin and is the only one who truly knows what full separation from God is! In Matthew 27:46 we see Jesus on the cross crying out, 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?' which is, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?' This was the full punishment of sin! God withdrew His presence even from Jesus Christ so that Jesus would know the full price of sin and take the punishment of it onto Himself so that we might be saved!

There is only one way to escape Hell, that is to have a relationship with Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ is the only way to escape from Hell, either in Hades, Gehenna, or even here on Earth!

God bless you all this day!

Be True To Yourself? Really?

Hello Guys and Gals!

I am writing this post for a friend of mine who is to remain unnamed. Everyone always says, 'be true to yourself!' I don't really like this statement. Let me tell you why. The reason why is that what if you're being true to yourself but you haven't figured out what yourself truly is? Then you might say that you need to 'find yourself!' Again, what if you're not looking in the right places? All these self-help politically correct sayings are just simply bull corn!

The truth is, there is only one thing that works and that is being true to God! If you are being true to God, all them other things in life like being true to yourself and finding yourself come as a result of being true to Him! Let me be clear! I'm not talking about some pagan god like Allah or Buda or even Ra who was the Egyptian god! I am talking about YHWH, Who became flesh and dwelt among us as Jesus Christ! There is only one God! All the other 'gods' of other 'religions' have nothing in common with Jesus! Do you know why? Because He is risen from the dead and no other 'god' can claim that! No other 'god' has eye witnesses to the fact that they walked, talked, ate, and drank among the living after being dead! But in Jesus we have that!

If you seek first the Kingdom of God, then all other things shall be added unto you! Seek God! Seek Jesus Christ! Go and find out who He really is! This means digging into what He said and did when He was among us. This means studying the Word of God and getting to know Him on a personal level. Are you doing this?

Now the person I am writing this for is a very dear friend of mine who is going through a hard time right now. This person has lost something very dear. My message to this person is stay seeking after Jesus. The things that have been taken will be restored again. But you must stay true to God first so that the lost will see integrity when they look at you!

I know it is tough as you walk through the fire of God's cleansing. But it is a purging fire and all the impurities and bad things that you have will be cleansed with His holy fire! I know it hurts. But it also heals! And best of all, Jesus will be right there with you as you go through this pain you are now feeling!

I ask that all who read this post today please to pray for this person who is already doing God's will and that He upholds them in their effort to remain in Him!

God bless you all this day!

To All My Friends Who Do Not Believe!

Hello Guys and Gals!

It has been on my mind that many non believers may be offended by my posts about God or Jesus or what I believe about what the Bible is saying on a particular subject. I want you to know that I am not trying to hit you over the head with my bible in an attempt at bringing you into the Kingdom of God in chains. That is the furthest thing in my heart for what I am trying to do!

I am simply trying to share my joy that I feel because God has forgiven me of my sins and given unto me Salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ!

So please, do not be offended by what I am saying or posting. I will still continue to speak the truth about what I believe. I will continue to do it in a loving way. But it is not my intent to bring you pain.

I love all you guys and gals out there who are my friends whether or not you are saved or not. I will continue to pray for your salvation. But I will also continue to be your friend!

With all the love in my heart, I pray that God shows you the truth about the joy that I feel for myself and for having you as my friend!

Christmas Message!

I have thought long and hard about what to say for Christmas. I thought that I should comment on the Christmas Story, or maybe a truth that not everyone sees. I thought that maybe I should write about something in a plea to you in order that you may find salvation in Christ. I did not choose to do any of that. What I have chosen, is to thank you all for being my friends!

About two years ago God reached down from His holy throne and convicted me of all the sin in my life. He told me that He was tired of my riding the fence of being saved and yet still sinning. So I changed my life and I started with a vow to be a man of integrity, where what I say and what I do are in perfect alignment.

Many of you did not speak to me or were not in contact with me back then. I was not a nice person. Some of you can be witnesses to that very fact of the wretch that I was. But every single one of you gave me a second chance. Every single one of you said that you would be my friend again.

So I thank you today, during this Christmas Season, for being my friend! I love each and every one of you and hope that I can somehow fulfill the hope that you see in me when you look at me and speak good words of me.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

The Truth About Vengeance!

Hello Guys and Gals!

Have you ever wanted revenge on another? I sure have. I have even taken it a time or two.

Deuteronomy 32:35 reads,
'Vengeance is Mine, and retribution,
In due time their foot will slip;
For the day of their calamity is near,
And the impending things are hastening upon them.'

Have you ever wondered why the Lord states that vengeance is His and His alone? I must say that I have given this much thought. I have fallen prey to the weakness of wanting to repay vengeance upon my enemies. I say that I have fallen prey to it and I call it a weakness for a reason. The fact is, we all desire revenge at some point in our lives for what others have wronged us with in some way! Another fact is, we all have done others wrong and rightly deserve any revenge executed upon us!

But why does God not want us to take vengeance upon others?

Is it because He likes to torture others? Not at all in any way!

Is it because He is doing to them what they rightly deserve? I don't think that is it either!

I believe sincerely that He wants to protect us! For in us is a desire to HURT others for what they have done to us. And giving in to that desire brings us into a place where God does not want us to be. We see them suffer at our hands and we eat their suffering and take it into us like a poison. Now we either vomit up that poison and learn our lesson through our own self inflicted suffering because we willingly ate that poison by our execution of revenge upon another; or after we take the poison into us, it becomes a part of us and we willing embrace that part of ourselves that goes down the wrong path!

Either of these situations is not pleasing in God's eyes. And I believe the second one leads us further into sin where the first one is like a stop sign on the path to further sin. In both cases though, we have already stepped into sin!

See, God knows us. He knows how we are built. He knows our temptations and weaknesses. So the reason God states that vengeance is His is very simple; He does not want us to suffer like He knows we will if we try to enact vengeance upon another. But vengeance, as we see it, is simply judgment as He has the right as our Creator to enact upon ALL who act against Him and His ways! And a more righteous judgment does not exist. If you think you have the ability to judge better than Him, alas you are mistaken and already on the path to sin. Please turn away from that path and return to a wonderful and life fulfilling relationship with Jesus, Savior and King!

God bless you all this evening!

Refuting the Lie that Paul was not an Apostle!

Let's look at what an Apostle is. An Apostle is one who has been chosen by Jesus to spread the message of the Gospel. So at the time Jesus was alive, there were twelve. So Judas then betrayed Jesus and was no longer counted among them. And in Acts 1 we see the eleven choose another to be counted among the twelve. I do not know if this man is truly an Apostle and have my own doubts about that because Jesus did not personally choose him. But it is not for me to say.

However at Paul's conversion, he was blinded for 3 days. But the Lord spoke to a man named Ananias and told him to go lay hands on Paul and pray for him. It is true that no one was named at the actual conversion on the road to Damascus. But Ananias was a well respected man of the Christian community. He is a witness to the Lord speaking directly to him and telling him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” Acts 9:15-16. And when Ananias laid hands on him, scales fell from Paul’s eyes and he was filled with the Holy Spirit! So the fact that there were no witnesses that were named may be true while Paul was on the road, but it is not true of Paul’s conversion.

Even later, Acts tells of how Barnabas, who was also well known and respected in the Christian community, took Paul to the Apostles who listened to his story of conversion and that he moved freely in Jerusalem with them speaking boldly in the name of Jesus.

Later on, we see Peter, also known as Cephas, of whom Jesus said, ‘upon this rock I will build my church’ being reprimanded by Paul in Galatians 2 and Peter accepted that reprimand and changed his ways. Also, the Acts of the Apostles, what we now know as Acts today, which was written by Luke is mainly about two people: Peter and Paul! Most of it is about Paul.

So I say that there are a great many witnesses to Paul’s conversion and the fact that Paul had the Holy Spirit with him during his missions! So anyone that preaches that Paul is not an Apostle or that he wasn’t converted as so many gave testimony that he was, is preaching a gospel that is not of Jesus Christ. Be careful here for all of you who are listening to anyone who says Paul is not an Apostle. Those who Jesus chose before his sacrifice clearly knew that Paul was chosen by Jesus Himself on the road to Damascus and they did not doubt that Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit which is another testimony to his calling. Anyone who is listening to people who change the Gospel are in dangerous territory!

God bless you all this day!

Do you know? And does it scare you?

Hello Guys and Gals!

It's been a while and I apologize for that. I have had a lot going on medically and RL stuff so please forgive me.

So tonight I'm asking you a question. Do you know what you're capable of doing? And does it scare you?

I sometimes watch movies or TV shows where people or soldiers or criminals push the limit on what is acceptable behavior. While watching them I sometimes catch myself rooting for the bad guys, or the good guys, or the guys with nothing to lose. I think I always root for the guys most who have nothing to lose and they're risking it all on some gamble they're making.

The thing is, when watching those people in those situations, I know that I am capable of doing every single thing they've done! I know this because when the poo hits the fan, my blood turns to ice. What I mean is, when trouble is happening, my conscience goes away and is locked up inside me and I do not let it out again until the situation I'm in is over. I become very cold and calculated and very 'get this done no matter what it takes'!

And this scares me!

In the very depths of my being, I know that I am capable of doing ANYTHING it takes to fix a situation. I shut off all emotion, pain, and even mercy.

If you wonder why I try to have a good relationship with each and every one of you, it is because I have seen what it is to hurt someone in the very depths of their soul and not care about it. When I finally do let out my emotions again, I break! Literally break inside me! My very heart hurts with the pain of the things I have done! Even now as I write this, I remember and tears fill my eyes! I don't like to hurt others. I have done it way too many times! And even the faded memory is way too much for me to bear.

Jesus is my Lord and Savior for one reason and one reason only. He loved me when NOBODY else did! He came to where I was and He put his arm around me and walked me out of that desolate place! Some may think that I make it up when I tell people I've seen Jesus, literally, walking beside me at my most painful times in my life. This is not a lie. It is truth! One time He even took me in a dream to the foot of the cross with Him hanging from it. And you know what I saw? I saw a broken man in severe pain, struggling for His every breath, and He looked down on me and then all I saw was love in His eyes. His love for me. When He hung on that cross, He did it solely for me and me alone and He told me it was worth the price!

If you do not know Jesus this way, then fall to your knees and pray that He helps you to come closer to Him as He helped me. This is my Jesus, my Lord, my God, my Savior! He is the holy, holy, holy one of Israel and He died so that you may have life. I'm not talking the life of desolation and shame that you now live, but the life of being freed from sin's embrace. Free to love and cherish others as He loved and cherishes you.

Remember always, it doesn't matter how far down the path of sin you have gone. All you have to do is repent, literally turn around, and you will find Him there ready to take you back to the path of His righteousness!

May God draw you closer to Him this very night through the love of His Son, Jesus Christ my Lord!

I Know My Fate!

For many years now, I have seen what my fate is to be coming clearer and clearer before my eyes. I did not want to accept it. I knew what it was supposed to be and yet I resisted.

I cannot point to any given thing that has emphatically told me in precise words that this is my fate. Yet it seems to me that God has always spoken to me through many outlets such as His Word, Pastors, Evangelists, other Christians, Non-Christians, even animals and the very things that make up Nature! They have all pointed to me and told me what my fate will be. And yet still I resisted.

So I lived the life of a sinner. A Liar, Adulterer, Blasphemer, Drug Dealer, Thief, Slanderer and many, many other sinful things was I. Those of you that know me, know some of those things about me. Those of you who do not know me, you are more than welcome to go through my blogs on here and find out what you may.

I bet many of you are curious as to what that fate actually is. Well, I'll tell you. My fate, as I know it to be, is to give my very life for Jesus Christ! I'm not talking about living it to Jesus. I'm talking about standing up against all that is against Jesus and speaking the Truth about Jesus, not giving a single inch in my stand, and having my life taken because of it! The life in this very body extinguished! I know this to be a fact that will happen. Again, I cannot point to any one thing that has told me this, but I know it to be a fact none the less. I take it on faith. The faith I have in God, in Jesus, in the Word of God to accomplish that which I have been told is to come.

I surrender to my fate completely! I surrender myself and the very breath of my life to this fate knowing that God's Will will be furthered along with my last breath! I surrender it into your hands my Lord and Savior, into your hands Jesus Christ, into your hands Lord God Almighty!

I know that I may not die tonight. I know that I may not die tomorrow. I know it may not happen next month or next year. I simply know it will happen. But then, it has already happened in one sense as well. The sense that I had to die to all that I desire in my life in order to accept all that God wants for me in my life.

I had to come to realize that my life was nothing but vanity. I had good looks once. I had a fit body also. I had brains. I had a good job. I had a loving wife. I had great friends. Then God showed my the truth about my life. He let me ruin myself in order to show me that my life was nothing but vanity and even that which I did have, I could lose through my vanity. I lost my good looks. I lost my fit body. I even lost my ability to think clearly. I was without a job. My wife divorced me. My friends no longer talked to me. I had even lost my will to live. I truthfully did not think of any reason to go on living. The thing is, the more I thought about what I had lost, the harder I tried to find just one reason to live. I failed in that quest!

God was with me even then as well. He had never left me. I just had turned away from Him and was ignoring His attempts to get me to turn around and see Him once again. I came to the end of myself. When I mean the end, I mean there was nothing left of me. All that I had valued and cherished that I had accomplished through all my efforts was gone. I no longer had any reason to go on living.

I prayed that I would die! It hurts me even now to admit that. But I prayed and prayed and prayed that God would snuff out my life so that I would not feel the pain of all that loss any more. He heard me. He heard what I was praying for and He answered me. He took my life. I willingly surrendered it to Him. Then He said, 'Not yet!' and He started to transform me. He restored my intellect. He restored my friends. He restored my faith in Him. He took this ruined husk of a shell and He poured Himself into it and started transforming me into an image of His Son, Jesus Christ. I am far from complete. But He is still pouring Himself into me. He keeps pouring and pouring and pouring.

As I now live His life, not mine anymore but His, I find that all those things that I thought I had accomplished of my own will, they were never mine to begin with, but His! And now He is putting them back into my stewardship and guiding me on how to care for them. I can't tell you how much He has restored to me. My life has meaning again. But then, it's not my life anymore, but His!

The Jay that all of you knew from before is dead! The Jay that lives now is not the former Jay, but instead, Jay is the Jay that Jesus has made. This new Jay lives for the sole purpose of doing the Will of Jesus Christ. And the best part of all you ask? The best part is that my life is better than it ever has been before! I cannot tell you of the joy and peace and everything that comes from Him.

I wish for each and every one of you to know Him like I know Him! Do you live for yourself? Do you live for someone else other than Jesus? If you do, then stop and die because the life you are living is dead anyway. Go talk to Jesus! Right here. Right now. Ask my Lord to be your Lord. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. And all those people who you were formerly living for, they will be better off with you having Jesus Christ as your Lord and them being second in your life instead of first. They will know joy and peace like never before.

Yet I still know that the death of this body is to come. I even know that this body will die in defiance against something that will be assailing me for the sole reason that I have Jesus Christ as my Lord. When that will be I do not care. I do not care if it happens tonight. I do not care if it happens thirty years from now. The only thing I do care about is that I give it willingly for Jesus!

May my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, reach out and touch your heart this very moment and let you know that He loves you!

Amen and Amen!

Can you go too far?

Hello Guys and Gals!

For most of my adult life, I was a hedonist. I did things simply for my pleasure and that was my motivation for doing anything. During this time, God was working on me. He called me to follow Him completely and I never did. Even my own family and friends kept telling me I needed to grow up and start taking responsibility for my life. I was told time and again that I needed to be a man and correct the bad things in my life, you know, grow up!

Now that I have committed myself to God completely in all that I do, and I'm speaking His Word, spreading the Gospel, and standing up for the Truth, relying on His strength for my integrity, I ask the question, 'Have I gone too far?'! Can you go too far in following Him? Is what I now am distasteful to others because I follow Him so completely? Now I'm not saying that I'm perfect or even close to it, but I am committed to Him and doing His will in my life and the lives of others. But have I gone too far?

I remember posting about how if I lost everything, including family and friends, and if I still have Jesus, then I have the world and more because He is all I need! Well, I believe now that He tested me in this. When I have a confrontation with my brother, I was tested in how I would react. I did the right thing and stayed calm. When my brother got violent, I called the police and let them handle it. During this event and the following conversations with my family, I learned that my brother lied to my family about many things concerning that event. He has also told many others that he will catch up with me one day and then the score will be settled. I spoke the truth to my family, the police, the District Attorney, and even the Judge on the stand at court. Yet my brother has bragged to people that my family has essentially disowned me and how pleased he is by that. My family says they haven't, yet none of them call me. The only one who does is my mother every couple of months or so.

I stood up for the truth and did not lie even about how I was feeling during the time of the event and after. I was called a liar by many in my family. This hurt me very much. Even now I can feel the pain of it all. I had to tell my mother that so long as my brother intends to do me harm, that I will have nothing to do with either him or anyone else who associates with him in any way. This was very difficult for me to do. But then, there was only my mother calling me at that time anyway. I fear that my brother will somehow find a way to find out where I now live and other ways to cause me harm.

But through it all, every single second of it, Jesus stood by my side and gave me His strength to handle this trial I am going through right now. Jesus lets me know every single day that He is by my side as I struggle with everything that I am struggling with. Even through all of this, my life has improved. My health is getting better, even if it's doing so slowly. My finances are improving. My home life with my friend Corey is awesome. He's one of the best friends I have ever had. And even my devoted time to Jesus and His Word has improved by so much it cannot be measured.

But again, let me ask, did I go too far? I don't think I did! I am relying on God more than ever before and He has proven Himself to be faithful again and again...oh yeah, even again after that! Jesus, you are my true Lord and I happily get down on my knees before you every morning. You are my savior and I am forever thankful that you loved a wretch like me enough to pull me out of the hell I was living in and restore to me all that You have. You are my God and I will forever praise you saying, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!

Here is the whole point of this post, you can never go too far when you're going towards Jesus! The simple truth is, no matter how far you do go, He is always with you and encouraging you to come even closer to Him. Even when I am living in His holy city, being every day in His presence for ten thousand years, He will still be challenging me to come even closer to Him! I love him so much that my heart literally aches at the thought of being able to walk up to Him and fall to my knees before Him and thank Him for being Him!

If you feel that Jesus is challenging you to come closer to Him, then take up that challenge and see what He has in store for you. Yes, I am still struggling with this issue in my life and I pray daily for restoration of my family, but just having Jesus is still more than enough for me! I pray that you also find this kind of relationship with Him in your life as well!

May God give each and every one of you a special blessing this day!

I Still Have Jesus!

Hello Guys and Gals!

I have been thinking about what if I lost something. It has been mulling over in my mind for a while now. One of the things that I hold most dear is the knowledge I have. My intelligentcia if you will. But what would I feel like if I lost my ability to think clearly? To analyze? To even understand?

Well, I have come to a conclusion about this. If I lose everything, my intelligence, my health, my ability to walk, to talk, to process thoughts, if I lose it all and I still have Jesus, whom by the way can never be taken from me, then I have still won! I win salvation which is a free gift from God through my faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. This means that I will never suffer of the Second Death which is the death of the soul. I will never be cast into Gehenna, the Lake of Fire. I will never know what total separation from God is. And this means I win life eternal with Him!

Thank you Jesus, my Lord, my Savior, my God, and my friend! I love you!

If you do not have this kind of a relationship with Jesus Christ, and you would like to know God personally as I do, please contact me here, by e-mail, by phone, or just come over and talk to me. I will not judge you. I have probably done worse than you could ever do. If Jesus can save me, then He certainly can save you as well. God loves you! Jesus loves you! He wants you to have eternal life and even better life than what you are now experiencing. He wants to give it to you freely. You only have to reach out to Him and ask Him to come into your heart. You can do this alone, or with someone else, or with me. Either way, or whatever you do decide to do, please seek to find out what God wants for you.

I love all of you guys! God bless you this day!

An Ongoing Debate!

Hello Guys and Gals!

I'm going to post some things I have commented on in the past couple weeks that has been an ongoing debate covering the issues of being gay, judging, what the word of God truly is and how much of it we follow and other things.

First of all, if you're going to quote the verses of the bible, you have to take into the context of the quote the following: Who was the author? Who was his audience? What was happening at that time to prompt the message? and lastly, What is the whole point of the message?

You cannot take just one verse here or there and apply your own interpretation to it. If you do such a thing, then you are not using a logical argument and therefore your whole argument is illogical and false!

I believe that we can talk about tough subjects such as this without resorting to hateful behavior such as 'removing' people from friend lists just because they do not believe as you do. Anyone who does remove others from friend lists for a differing belief is simply showing to the world what a small minded person they are for not being able to accept the fact that theirs is not the only opinion or belief on any given subject.

I believe that if we talk about these hard topics more often that they will become less difficult to talk about and that the truth about all aspects of these hard subjects will become known and people will be able to converse about them without resorting to anger, violence and belittling behavior. Be open minded, not saying you have to accept the other's beliefs, but more that you should listen to them just as they also listen to yours.

How can we know what He views sin to be? By the Word of God! 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states, 'All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.' He has already given to us the definition of what sin is in Leviticus. The original poster does not want to discuss Leviticus because she believes it does not apply today. But the purpose of the Law was to convict the sinner of sin by giving them the knowledge of what sin is. It gives us the knowledge that we have sinned against God and through the Law we know that we need someone to save us from the wrath of God. Galatians 3:22-24 reads, 'But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.' So the purpose of Leviticus is to give us knowledge that we have sinned and to lead us to Christ!

Many people say that we are not to even speak to her about Leviticus or Deuteronomy or any of the texts in the Old Testament which speak about the homosexual lifestyle. But they still do apply whether she wants to believe it or not. She also commented that she did not fully trust the Apostle Paul's letters to be the Word of God! Let me ask you this, if God is almighty, which He is, do you think that He would have let Paul's letters be a part of His Word for so long if they were not inspired by God? The actual translation from the Greek in 2 Timothy 3:16 is more to the effect of 'God breathed'! That means that Scripture, all of it, every last word of it, is breathed directly from the mouth of God the Father, Himself! These people are therefore discounting the very Word of God in her statement. As for their translational efforts of the Greek language in respect to homosexual behavior in the New Testament, it is very clear that they have never studied Greek in any of the ancient dialects and that their understanding of Greek comes from a person who does not have a clear understanding of how the Greek language is to be read or even translated.

What about judging people? I do agree we are not to judge. But we are to discern. There is a difference. Please remember that the 'judging' that the bible refers to as being a sin is one in which a person 'judges' another as being sinful and goes about trying to separate themselves from that sinful person! These are the types of 'judging' that the bibles says for us not to do for that is the sin.

But we ARE supposed to discern! We are to use our judgement to discern the truth which the bible has already defined to see whether another person is sinful or not sinful. So what if we DO discern that they are sinful? Then we go and HELP them free themselves from that sin in love!

Too many people who ARE living in sin use the 'don't judge me' statement as a weapon to try and defend themselves in their own attempt to justify their sin, and yes it is sin, to themselves and the rest of the world.

If a person is truly happy being 'gay', what difference does it make if someone else says their behavior is sin or not sin? The difference is that they KNOW it is a sin and are seeking to justify their living in that sin to themselves and the rest of the world.

But make no mistake, we ARE called to the truth! The truth is that homosexual behavior, meaning the physical act of men lying with men or women lying with women, is a sin! Just like sex outside of marriage, defined as one man and one woman joined in a union under God, is also a sin! Sin is sin and truth is truth! We are to discern the difference and stand up in love against those who would try and subvert the truth from being told. Jesus said, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.' John 14:6! If Jesus is the truth, not a truth, but the truth, then those things that are not the truth are not of Jesus and those things that are the truth are of Jesus! So stand up for Jesus! Stand up for truth! And do not let those who would subvert the truth sway your thinking into thinking that a sin is something acceptable in God's eyes!

But what about what we are called to do as Christians? As for what we are called to be as Christians, we are called to stand for the truth! Jesus said, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.' John 14:6. Therefore with this statement, we know that Jesus is 'the truth', not 'a truth' among many truths, but 'the truth'! Satan is know as the Father of Lies. Therefore we are called to stand for the truth, in love, and help those whom we have discerned to be in sin, out of their sin by showing them the way to Jesus Christ. But this does not mean that we cannot discern the truth! So stand up for Jesus. Stand up for truth. Stand up for the fact that practicing homosexuals are living in sin, the same as those who are having sex outside of marriage, or those who are doing drugs! Yes, drugs is spoken about as sin in the bible, only the translations translate it to the word Sorcery. I was living in sin for the longest time in my own life because I had sex outside of marriage and I did drugs and I told lies and spoke not the truth! That time is over for me and I speak the truth that is the Word of God, Jesus Christ! Matthew 5:17-19 states, 'Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls (or changes) one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.' Jesus Himself spoke about how we are not to attempt to change or teach a changed scripture. I certainly do not want to have to face Him and try to justify why I changed His Word to justify my lifestyle. Do you?

Please do not look at this post as a statement against any of you who might still have sin in your life. We all still have sin in our lives! This is why we need Jesus, who has called us all to His righteousness.

Let me be very clear, I will stand with anyone against any bullying of anyone. But standing against bullying just because it is the GLBT crowd, I will not do! If the GLBT crowd is a part of the victim crowd of bullying I will stand, but not if they're wanting me to stand with them to somehow give them justification that the life they are living is right or honorable in God's eyes!

May God bless you all this day!

Open Honest Discussion About Worldviews!

Hello Guys and Gals!

What is your worldview? Do you know? What do you think about what you believe? Do you know the reasons you believe the way you do?

One of the great things I've ever done in my life was research the reasons as to why I believe what I believe. I did this a little bit before college. But while in college was when I truly committed myself to learning and discovering what I truly believed and why I believed it.

Have you done this? If not, why not?

Not only that, but why can we not have an open and honest discussion about what we believe and fully explore the reasons for believing what we believe? Let's talk about politics, religion, gay rights, homosexuality, marriage, diversity, God, creation, evolution, the big bang theory, and anything else that may come to mind as to why you believe the way you believe and what exactly are the reasons you believe that!

My question is why are all these topics off limits in today's society? Why can we not discuss them? Are we so filled with rage that we cannot have an open and honest discussion about these topics without someone getting angry or resorting to violence? I believe that we can. And the more we talk about these topics openly and honestly, the easier it will become to do so.

So speak freely about what you believe. Ask questions if there are areas where you're not sure about what you believe. Do some study to figure out the different arguments for every side of every topic that you can think of. Figure out which topics are the most important to you and study them first. Because even the order of priority of your beliefs contributes to your worldview!

Let's discuss it and be open and honest about it and not get mad and delete someone from your FB friend list just because they express an argument or disagrees with what you say. We're smarter and better than that! We don't have to be small minded in order to discuss our beliefs. We can do this! Just start and see what you find out about yourself and your friends.

May God bless you all this day!

Taking The Name Of The LORD In Vain!

Hello Guys and Gals!

I would like to once again apologize to you for not being able to write as much as I'd like to in my blog. I have been suffering from a sinus infection that has been very debilitating to my thinking process and when I am feeling foggy headed, I do not want to write in my blog for fear that I may say something that isn't clearly stated for you to understand. I am on a new course of antibiotics that seem to be working very well and as such I have a clear head this morning to be able to write this.

Sunday, my Sunday school class were going through the Ten Commandments. The teacher, Dwayne Moensche, went off on a word study on the Hebrew word which translates to 'vain' in the Old Testament where God gives Moses the commandment to not take the Lord's name in vain. I learned something then that sort of shocked me a bit in my understanding. The word in the Hebrew, and I did not write it down but I will try to find it, meant not simply just using God's name in an inappropriate use, but meant specifically to attribute to God something which God did not do. So taking the Lord's name in vain is more precisely defined as attributing to God works that are not of God! That is all it means. It does not mean any slang that people use involving the 'D' word at all.

Now this got me to thinking. Have you ever heard of the unforgivable sin? The unforgivable sin is attributing to Satan the works of the Holy Spirit. Refer to Matthew 12:31. It has also been translated as blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Now think about these two things. Taking the name of the Lord in vain and blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Both of them are attributing to one, either the Lord or Satan, the works of the other. This is very important I believe.

God says it is a sin saying that works not of His hand are being attributed to Him!

Jesus says that it is an unpardonable sin to attribute the works of the Holy Spirit to Satan!

Do you see how the two are related? I am beginning to see the relation but I am also aware that there are things here that I am not fully aware of. I do not claim any special wisdom on this subject. But I do say that there is a relation here between the two that is very similar. I believe that both God and Jesus, yes they are one in the same but I am referring to Them separately so that clear understanding of who said which is more accurately stated, gave these two instructions to us so that we are aware of yet another aspect of Their Godly Nature.

For the longest time, I used to think that taking the Lord's name in vain was simply speaking His name in any capacity that did not promote the advancement of His will. I was so wrong! How many of us think that what I used to believe is the true meaning of what God meant when He told us not to take His name in vain? But now that I have learned the truth about taking His name in vain, and right away saw the correlation to what Jesus said about attributing to Satan the works of the Holy Spirit, I immediately see how this is the correct and true meaning of taking the Lord's name in vain. It is so simple and yet our translation, being inadequate as it always seems to be, has hindered our understanding of the truth.

So all those times when you think that you have taken the Lord's name in vain and have concluded that you have sinned because of it, may not have actually been sinful. I thank God for granting to me the full understanding of little tidbits of information about His word that fill me with His wisdom and understanding. It is an amazing thing to be loved by God who is constantly showing me something new about His nature! Thank you Jesus for the little tidbits!

May God bless you all this day!

Because Of Him!

Today I remember a man. I remember this man for a very particular reason. I was judged and found guilty. This man told the Judge that He did not want me to be punished and said to the Judge that He would take the punishment for my evil acts. The Judge accepted this and gave the man the harshest punishment and poured out His wrath upon this man for my sins. This man died on the cross of my shame but the grave could not hold Him for such was His Spirit that even death had no hold upon Him. He rose from the grave and I am alive forever more with Him, one Jesus Christ, my personal Lord and Savior!

If you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal savior, all you have to do as talk to Him as you would your best friend. Tell Him that you acknowledge Him as the Son of God and that you are a sinner. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins and also ask Him to come into your life and transform you from a sinner to a saint. He died on the cross by the wrath of God poured out onto Him for our sins so that you may have life, redemption and a personal relationship with Him! All you have to do is reach out to Him. It does not matter where you are in life, all you have to do is turn around and He is right there waiting for you to call His name, for there is no other name under Heaven by which man can be saved and His name is Jesus Christ!

God bless you all this day!

What Have We Lost?

Hello Guys and Gals!

I want to ask you a question today. The question is, what have we lost? I want you to think back to what you know about the founding of our nation and try and place yourself into that culture and then look at today's culture and ask yourself what we have lost.

Back then, we didn't have bars or coffee houses, we had public houses. In those public houses, the two main topics of any conversation were politics and religion. It was through these very public houses and the conversations and debates our forefathers had back then that lead us to the very principles upon which we founded this great nation.

Today, it is a common thing to say don't discuss religion and politics. People say this because they don't like to talk about subjects that are intensely personal to them and they think that these things should be kept to oneself. Why? If it is so intensely personal to you, wouldn't you want to share your beliefs with someone else? Wouldn't you want to discuss their beliefs as well?

Now I'm not advocating going out and beating someone into submission with your beliefs. I am advocating the free discussion of those beliefs in an open exchange with all comers to the discussion. This means that not only will you be able to discuss your beliefs openly with others who will listen to what you say, but others will also be able to discuss their beliefs openly with you as you listen to what they say. You have to be willing to listen to someone who's opinion opposes your own in order to be able to defend your own opinion regarding their opinion will full confidence.

It was through discussions of politics and religion that people were able to understand other religions and political machines that existed in order to discern and develop how we wanted to shape our country. People listened to the beliefs and practices of other people with an open mind and discussed all the possibilities and ramifications of the whole spectrum of beliefs in those conversations. In other words, if we do not know what others are thinking, how then will we be able to say that their thinking is right or wrong? How will they be able to say your thinking is right or wrong if you don't share your thinking with them as well?

So I ask you to remember what you know of the days of the founding of the United States of America. I ask you to look at what they did back then. I ask you to look at what we're doing now. I ask you to ask yourself if we have lost something valuable by not discussing politics and religion.

I think we have!

God bless each and every one of you this day!

Are You Drawn To Jesus?

Hello Guys and Gals!

I guess it's been a while since I blogged. I have had so much going on and my head spins around at times.

My question for you today is, are you drawn to Jesus? What I mean by that is have you felt His magnetism drawing you closer to Him, His word, and a real relationship with Him?

See, I think that Jesus had a powerful magnetism about Him. Not only as a person, but also as God. In Matthew chapter 4, Jesus tells Peter and Andrew to follow Him. They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Think about this. A man whom they've never met comes up to them and tells them, not asks but tells, to follow Him. And they do! Powerful! In Mark chapter 5, it talks about a large crowd following Him. Again, powerful magnetism!

In church this morning, my pastor talked about being drawn to Jesus which queued this whole chain of thought for me. He wasn't preaching on it but stated it during his sermon. I thought about this. I know that Jesus has drawn me to Him. I know that I feel this magnetism from Him whenever I read my bible, talk about Him to others, listen to a sermon about Him, and definitely now when I'm writing about Him. I know that others have testified that they feel this powerful drawing of themselves to Him as well.

So again, my question to you today is, are you drawn to Jesus?

Today, in this culture we are all striving to exist in, there are powerful forces lined up against Jesus Christ and His Church, us believers in Him. And we're being told that our beliefs are wrong on the basis of their beliefs. Yet when we try to tell them that their beliefs are wrong, then we're accused of being intolerant. We need more people who have been drawn to Jesus to stand up for Jesus and His Church against this oppression that is assailing us! We need to stand up, doing it in love, but also in truth, against all these forces opposing us and say, NO! You are wrong! Jesus is the ONLY way to heaven! And no matter what the consequences may be, no matter what danger we may face, we need to stand up for Jesus and His Church and tell the world that this is where we stand and we will not be swayed into thinking that our beliefs are wrong or that the truth that is Jesus Christ is wrong!

So if you are drawn to Jesus, and have been saved by His sacrifice, then stand with me against all that assail Jesus and His Church!

God bless you all this day!

I Remember What It Was Like!

Hello Guys and Gals!

I just finished watching a movie about some teens in high school that came out in 1987 the year I graduated high school. In watching this movie, I saw the various cliques that we all were part of at that time. I saw all the emotions we were all being bombarded with. I saw love infatuation and power struggles and culture clashes and all the different hair styles from back then. I saw the different emotions of each of the characters as they interacted with each other. I saw confusion in the character's attempt to understand the others who were interacting with him in the movie. I saw realization dawn on the main character's face when he finally realized that what he was looking for was not in the very pretty girl from the elite side of the school, but instead it was right there with him all the time and he was just too blind to see it.

I remember what all that was like! I remember my own struggles as well as my own treatment of others. I know I was probably more like the guy who sought to demean those not in his clique rather than the guy who just wanted to be accepted and not be the outcast. But I also remember some of the feelings the outcast guy went through. I remember how at times I felt humiliated. I remember how at times I caused the humiliation to others. I remember the awkward feelings in asking someone on a date. I remember how those feelings spiked high when the girl said yes. I remember it all very clearly.

What a confusing time it was. I don't know if you remember those times as well, but maybe if you tried you could. I think even more now than ever before that all that stuff is much more difficult today for kids in school than it was in my day.

But just because I remember, does not mean I want to go back. I know that God has changed my heart, my mind, my character, my very nature. I know that I am a better person today than that silly, shy, obnoxious teenager that I used to be back then.

Do you also remember? Do you think that you are better or worse or even the same as you were back in high school? What do you remember?

The movie I watched was 'Some Kind of Wonderful'! It did bring back all those memories and emotions for me. Maybe you guys should watch it as well and see if it does the same for you.

God bless you all this day!

A Beautiful Reminder!

Hello Guys and Gals!

I was saving some things to be able to use should something bad happen. I do this type of thing as a subconscious act for the most part on my behalf. The things I was saving were not valuable but they were useful. Well, they were tossed out this past weekend. When I asked my friend about them, he tells me, 'Why don't you just use these other things?' Then I said to him that I didn't want to take them up in using them when he might have need of them. He tells me that he bought them for 'me'!

It hit me like a ton of bricks! Here I am working towards a 'just in case' moment and with that statement to me, he showed me that I would never even have to worry about a 'just in case' moment with him! I know I'm probably reading more into it than is really there, but yes, it meant a lot to me.

With all that I have been through in my life, even with my own family, I never really expected to find someone who takes friendship that seriously, as seriously as I have taken it. It was a beautiful reminder that God can and will bring good people into my life!

God bless you all this day!

Hypocrisy on the Left!

Hello Guys and Gals!

Have you guys seen the new Newsweek magazine cover? On it, it has all these labels by which conservatives view President Obama. The story then goes into depth on how these labels are 'definitively' wrong and that President Obama is none of these labels. Now I'm not going to talk about the story, that is for you to go read and use your discretion as to whether you believe the author or not. What I am going to talk about is the reaction from this story.

On the right, Conservatives are upset because it assumes that it has the authority to declare America's definitive answer to those inquiries about President Obama. But on the left, Liberals/Progressives are upset because these labels that Newsweek used, even though they were used by the author to prove a point and make a statement, they will 'STICK' to President Obama in a bad way simply because of the shock value of the cover.

What gets me is that the Liberals/Progressives have been using this shock value for years. Their politicians and spokesmen have been making outlandish statements about a topic or person in order to deliberately label them with the shock value aspect in an effort to make it stick to that topic or person. They know the value of shock! They also know that if they say a lie loud enough for long enough, then the public begins to view that very lie as the truth because all they seem to catch is the shock value statement or story.

Knowing all this, the Liberals/Progressives are very upset with Newsweek for using this shock value against President Obama because they KNOW that it will have the same effect on him that it does on their intentional targets. This screams 'HYPOCRISY' in my mind so loudly that I cannot let this pass without commenting on it.

But let me be very clear about this next point! We, as Conservatives and especially as Christians, should not use shock value in an attempt to discredit someone. However we should be truthful and stand up against this type of mudslinging that is going on. We should also make sure we do our homework and research into the truth or lies behind any story by any author and be discerning with our own judgment as to whether or not any story is an attempt at mudslinging or simply good reporting attempting to get the word out about any person or issue that happens today.

Pray daily to God and make sure you treat Him like your BFF, Best Friend Forever, and go ahead and talk to Him about the little things in your life as well as the big things. But also ask for a discerning heart and mind so that you can find the truth in what you are hearing and seeing. I believe that if we keep God involved in our lives, and we seek to do His will, then we will be just fine with whatever trouble comes our way!

God bless you all this day!

Some Medical Issues!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while my friends. I have been having some medical issues, not the leaky kind but issues as in problems, that have been keeping me kind of groggy. When I can think clearly enough to give a logical post, I will post again. Please keep tabs on me and pray for me. Thank you guys so much for your loyalty in reading my musings!

God bless you all!

Thankful!

I am thankful today. I have been in contact with many of my friends growing up. I am thankful to God that He has brought them back into my life. Now I know that I have made many mistakes in my life. I have also burned many bridges with the things I have done. Yet, today, God has shown me that even a burned bridge can be rebuilt.

Are you also thankful for the blessings of God in your life? Even in today's political and religious climate, we can have that sure knowledge that God is working all things for the good of those who love him and follow his commandments.

God Bless you all this day!

Is Being Gay A Sin?

Hello Guys and Gals!

I'm going to comment on another difficult topic today. The question is, Is Being Gay A Sin? Let's see what the bible does say about this first.

'You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.' Leviticus 18:22.

Here we see that God has it in the Law that it is a sin for a man to lie with a man or a woman to lie with a woman.

'For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.' Romans 1:26-27.

Here Paul talks about how God gives those who do exchange the natural for the unnatural over to their passions and lets their sin rule their lives and as such they receive their 'due penalty of their error'.

'Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.' 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. (Note: effeminate in this instance refers specifically to effeminate by perversion.)

'For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.' Ephesians 5:5.

Paul speaks here about how those who are unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. More to the point, those who are in these sins will not go to Heaven.

Okay, so now that we know what the bible says about this, let us discuss this in more detail. I'd like to point out that every person, be they man or woman, are born along a scale of effeminate to masculine. Everyone falls onto this scale some where. Men can be either effeminate or masculine or anywhere in between. The same can be said for women.

But does this make you gay? I say no. But that is not the question we are talking about. The question is, Is Being Gay A Sin? But what do we then mean by 'being gay'? I believe that people define this as a man who is effeminate or a woman who is masculine who prefer the company of their own sex instead of the opposite sex. I may be wrong about this definition, but that is how I will define it for the purposes of this discussion.

I think that God loves all of us. Yes, even gay people! But what is it that he hates? As we can see above, He hates the ACT of a man lying with a man and a woman lying with a woman. In other words, He hates the sexual immorality aspect of the thing. Let me be clear, He hates the act, not the person!

But does being effeminate as a man or masculine as a woman make you gay? Well, in today's society it does imply the stigma that is associated with that word. But I still think it falls to the choice of the person. See, the sin is not being on the wrong end of the effeminate to masculine scale; it is not even enjoying the company of the same sex as opposed to the opposite sex; it is more the CHOICE that each person makes to be immoral, or actually commit the ACT, and do that which is unnatural that is the actual sin and that is what God actually hates.

Now I do not have anything against any 'gay' person. I believe that if you're 'gay', then you are facing issues of sin just like a straight person faces issues of sin in their lives as well. We all face these issues. It's just that the issues are different for each person. But it is how we approach these issues and how we deal with fixing these issues that makes us having these issues in our lives sin or not sin. God knows your heart. God knows your actions. Do your actions match up with what is in your heart? Only you and God knows this.

So the question again, Is Being Gay A Sin? I say no it is not! I believe it is the ACT which is a conscious CHOICE of the individual that is actually the sin in God's eyes! So choose not to commit any immoral act and choose by doing so, not to sin!

God bless you all this day!

Terroristic Regimes And Their Shields!

Hello Guys and Gals!

I am concerned today with something that is definitely going to be a touchy subject. But just because it is difficult, does not mean that we should not talk about it. I want to talk about fighting against countries or regimes that seek to do America harm but at the same time hide behind the lives of the 'innocents'. You notice that I put italics around that word. I did this because I don't think that all of them are all that innocent.

I recently read a book about a regime that hid a nuclear warhead factory underneath a hospital in an effort to keep it not only hidden, but if it was ever discovered, also to keep America from destroying it because the hospital had 'innocent' people in it. This is a very deliberate and deceptive thing to do.

First off, we know that the regime does not have the welfare of their own people in mind by the very evidence of them placing the facility there in the first place. What do they have in mind then? They have in mind the thought that even if America were to take out the facility, then they would be able to tell the rest of the world that America purposely targeted civilians and innocents.

Secondly, the people who live under such regimes do know what is going on. You can not tell me that they are not as smart as Americans. Therefore having some modicum of intelligence, they do know what type of people run the regime that they live under. They know their motivations, their true intentions, and they also know that the regimes purposely place these facilities using their people as a shield against those who would stop their aggressive actions against the free peoples of the world.

Yet we live in a society where our freedom was bought and paid for in the blood of our soldiers and sailors who serve to keep that freedom in place. They also know that they stand up to protect the right of every citizen in America to express their beliefs freely without oppression. Yes, they even protect the Liberals and Progressives who protest against the very soldiers and sailors who are protecting their right to do so! Our soldiers and sailors know this and they choose to protect even them from tyranny!

So now the Liberals and Progressives take a stance against any military action that would threaten the lives of those 'innocent' people who work at the hidden facilities and are being used as a shield against those who would put an end to the regime's tyranny. This confuses me because these Liberals and Progressives are ultimately protecting the very regimes that would seek to end their right to speak out against anything. Why would you support any regime, in any way, that is seeking to put an end to you and the very principles you stand for?

These shields, or 'innocent' people, who are being used by these regimes KNOW they are being used by the regimes. As such, they are no longer innocent but accomplices to the very aggression against the free peoples of the world. If they do not want to be viewed as accomplices to these terroristic regimes, they can do something about it. They can speak out. They can quit their jobs. Or they can simply leave! They have no excuse whatsoever when they stay and support these terroristic regimes and act as a human shield protecting them in their aggressive terrorism!

The simple fact of the matter is, they are using America's Liberals and Progressives in an effort to keep terrorizing the free peoples of the world without fear of retaliation. Yet these very regimes that are doing this do not hesitate to make Total War against America! They will not hesitate to bomb civilians, women, children, and elderly people in an effort to promote their causes. How then do we as Americans not have the right to make Total War against them? If we did make Total War against them, and the peoples of the world knew that Total War was imminent when America is attacked with Total War, then the terroristic regimes of the world would be more hesitant to attack America knowing that we would retaliate with the full force of our might as they did against us!

I know that many Liberals and Progressives will probably say that I am wrong for my beliefs. Well I will simply say back to them that they are wrong for their beliefs. What's that? You mean to say that they have the right to tell me I'm wrong for believing what I believe, but I can not tell them that they are wrong for their beliefs? Sounds a little hypocritical to me! The simple fact is, we did not start the aggression and the swifter we can put an end to the aggression, the more lives will be saved in the long run. So let this serve as a warning to any who would target America, we will use the same type of tactics against you that you use against us. If you bring Total War, then we should retaliate with Total War. And to those 'innocents' out there acting as shields, you are not innocent and you are just as guilty as the terroristic regimes who are bombing America and the free peoples of the world!

God bless you all this day!

Are You Guilty Of Feeling Guilty?

Howdy Guys and Gals!

I wanted to talk to you today about guilt and all that it encompasses. But first, I'd like to explain some things that some may not be familiar with.

The Law of God was first given to Moses so that the Jewish people would know when they sin and also what to do to enter God's presence after they have sinned. It is a very complex and codified law. Yet it can be summed up in four sentences which Jesus said to us. "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole of the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22:37-40. So now we know the whole basis under which the Law operates.

But who is under the Law? The Jewish people are under the Law! Those who are directly descended from Abraham, through Isaac, and through Jacob are the only people on Earth that are under the Law!

But what about the Gentiles? The Gentiles, or those peoples who are not of the Jewish people, are not under any law at all! 'Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves: she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free: she is our mother.' Galatians 4:21-26. So we see here that if a Gentile does want to be under the Law, then they would be slaves under the Law!

Is there a third category? Yes there is! Those people who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and are under the Law of Grace! 'We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be! For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God." Galatians 2:15-19.

Why then the Law? The Law is there to show us our need for Jesus Christ and the Grace of God for we are unable to become righteous under the Law and Jesus is the only way to achieve righteousness in God's eyes by God's Grace through Faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. 'Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to who the promise had been made.' Galatians 3:19.

Okay, so Christians, having come from either Jewish or Gentile backgrounds are under Grace and not the Law. The Law then, was there to convict us of sin so that we might see our need for the Savior, Lord Jesus Christ. But once we have accepted Him into our lives, do we then live in freedom as He desires for us? Or are we still feeling the guilt from our past sins and even our current sins? We are to release that guilt once we are saved so that we can go on to be the light of the world for Jesus Christ!

'What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.' Romans 6:1-7.

So if we are dead to sin, then are we not also dead to the guilt of sin? Therefore sin and the guilt from sin should no longer have any control over our lives. So why then do we hold onto the guilt from our sin that has been forgiven by God. Maybe it is because we think that we still have to feel bad about how we have sinned against someone else or even God. This is not true! For if we have been forgiven by God, who is there to say that we have not been forgiven?

You are forgiven! 'As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.' Psalms 103:12. If our sin has been taken away, then why do we still operate as if we are still sinful in His eyes? Rejoice! For your sin is gone and is no more!

Start today in living your life without sin and show the world the light that is in you so that it may pierce the darkness of the world that is sin!

God bless you all this day!

A Call To Integrity!

Hello Guys and Gals!

By now, you know how important I think a person's integrity is. Not only that, but how important I find it to be a man of integrity in my own life. Let's look at the definition of integrity.

Integrity - in·teg·ri·ty   [in-teg-ri-tee] – noun

1. adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.

2. the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished: to preserve the integrity of the empire.

3. a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition: the integrity of a ship's hull.

This definition comes from Dictionary.com. I prefer another definition for integrity that I have heard. Christ says that your tongue is what makes a man unclean because the words of his mouth proceed directly from his heart which show his true motives. With this in mind, my preferred definition of integrity is as follows:

The state of a man or woman where their words and deeds are in perfect alignment, meaning what they say and what they do have no conflict in their eyes and in the eyes of anyone looking upon them.

I prefer this definition because it makes my own personal resolution extremely clear!

'O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a reprobate is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; he swears to his own hurt and does not change; he does not put out his money at interest, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.' Psalm 15:1-5 The man who abides with God!

This is an amazing Psalm. I think that it mirrors the definition of integrity which I gave above.

'Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.' Psalm 26:1. This psalm goes on in detail about King David's integrity in the Lord! This is the kind of integrity I am speaking to you about today.

So now, if you fully understand the type of integrity I'm talking about, then I call you to be a person of integrity. I challenge you with the same challenge I have challenged myself with. I call you to stand in your own integrity. If there is any part of your life that you feel you fail in your integrity, then fix that problem and start now being a person of integrity not only in that part of your life where it is lacking, but in your whole character and being. Stand with me in the truth and integrity that is Jesus Christ. Will you take up my challenge?

God bless you all this day!

Anger! What happened to our right to be angry?

Hello Guys and Gals!

I would like to talk about anger today. Is there ever a time when anger is appropriate? Or is it always inappropriate to be angry with anyone? I think anger is an emotion that has become politically incorrect. In today's society, you do not have the right anymore to be angry. It does not matter how much wrong someone has done to you, if you get angry with them, they use your anger against you by accusing you of anger and thereby minimizing their own abuse of you in the process. Does anyone else see this as being wrong other than me?

When Paul talks about Christian living he says in Colossians 3:8, 'But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.' It is clear that Paul does not condone anger. Even James tells us in James 1:19-20, 'But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.' But James does not say that we do not have appropriate times to be angry. He says be slow to anger, not do not get angry!

Even Paul talks about anger in his letter to the Ephesians, 'Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.' Ephesians 4:26-27. Paul is very clear here that it is okay to be angry, but he also goes on to say that you should not go to bed angry or let the sun go down on your anger.

What then do we say on whether or not we have the right to be angry? I think anger is not something we should condone. But neither should we prohibit it. I think anger should be reserved for those times when it is right to use it to show others how they have truly wronged you.

But let me be very clear here, just because I believe anger is appropriate at times, never do I believe that it is a reason to do violence! Never should anyone resort to violence! Even more so if they are angry! When you are angry, the very last thing you should do is violence of any kind! I know it seems like the two go together, but they should be separated and kept apart on purpose. Anger with violence always leads to sin.

But more to the point, anger has become a politically incorrect thing in today's society. Today, one of my health care providers did something wrong. As a result, I got angry with them. In expressing my anger to them, my voice raised up an octave or two. They accused me of 'yelling' at them. I explained to them that just because my voice was raised, that it did not mean I was yelling. I told them also that I could provide a good example of me yelling if they did not believe me. I also explained that their attempt to minimize their fault in doing me wrong was unappreciated. Since when do we not have the right to tell someone how they have wronged us when we are angry? I don't remember ever giving up that right.

Here is the definition of yell:

yell   [yel]

–verb (used without object)

1. to cry out or speak with a strong, loud, clear sound; shout: He always yells when he is angry.

2. to scream with pain, fright, etc.

You'll notice that both definitions include either the word shout or scream. Just because you raise your voice to someone does not mean that you are shouting or screaming at them. Anyone who is being reprimanded for being at fault in some way or another uses the term 'yell' in referring to their reprimand. Why do they do this? It is an easy answer in my opinion. They do this in an attempt to draw the focus away from their own fault in the matter and try to place the focus on something that is seen to be more politically incorrect in today's political climate, that of anger!

What about the politicians of today? They get elected to office making promises they never intended to keep. As a matter of fact, they go in the complete opposite direction of those promises. Yet anyone who gets angry and speaks against them is ostracized for being angry and the attention is drawn away from their lies and toward the angry person's remarks.

I say that we have a right to be angry! I say that we should be slow to anger, but when we do get angry, we should use that anger to show the truth of the offending person's actions who brought out the anger in you in the first place. Again, I say that we should never resort to violence of any kind when we are angry! Anger and violence always lead to sin! The two should never be grouped together. But do not give up your right to get angry! Stand with me in telling the world we have a right to be angry at people who do us wrong without being ostracized for our anger!

May God bless you all this day!

My Motives!

Hello Guys and Gals!

It has been said of me recently that I am using this blog as a grandstand for a conflict I am going through. It has also been said that I am like the Pharisees of old which are all pretty on the face but corrupt inside. It was also said that this blog is all about me and the question was raised of what about other people. I tell you this so that you know that I am hiding nothing from you who follow this blog.

The whole purpose of this blog is to tell you of my walk in becoming a Christian Man of Integrity, where what I say and what I do are in alignment with each other. It is about what I am going through to seek after that goal. Therefore this blog IS about me and my walk! That is the whole reason for this blog. I hope that others who follow this blog also find what I go through and how I deal with it applicable to their own lives as well. That would be a very wonderful outcome of this blog.

But I am not here to preach to anyone about their walk with God. I believe there are only two relationships anyone should be concerned with. The first is one's relationship with Jesus Christ. The second is one's relationship with their neighbor. I will never tell anyone that you should be concerned with another person's relationship with God other than to try and lead them into a personal relationship with Him. Leading someone to Jesus is not the same as judging and correcting someone on their relationship with Jesus. I feel that if someone is judging or trying to correct someone else's relationship with God, then they need to pull the plank out of their own eye first and fix their own relationship with God!

A good friend of mine called me today when I was feeling down about these accusations against my motives for this blog and other things in my life. He reminded me that Satan attacks you the hardest when you are actually doing a good work in God's eyes. Satan is simply trying to get you to stop doing the work which you are doing.

Dear Satan, I will not let you stop me in this work I am doing for the sake of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I will stand against you and call you out for your lies O Father of Lies! I will wear the whole armor of God and I will stand in defiance against you O Evil One! This is where I draw my line and let him try as he might, I will not abandon my work in Jesus Christ!

Thank you Sam for your encouragement of me and my motives and my work this day!

May God bless you guys this day!

A Mighty Fortress Is The LORD!

Hello Guys and Gals!

I'd like to start by apologizing for not writing for this long. I was first in the hospital for a kidney stone operation and then after I recovered from that, I went on a trip to Texas for three days. Can we say...Jet Lagg? Anyway, I'm back now and recuperated so I should be posting more often again.

During my time in the hospital and what I faced while in Texas, I found out just how strong the Lord is in keeping me safe and feeling peace no matter what is attacking me.

'I love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.' Psalm 18:1-3 by King David.

'He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust!"' Psalm 91:1-2.

Look at these two psalms. Both of them say that the Lord is a personal fortress for the authors of the psalms. The Lord is a mighty fortress. One we can rely upon in our darkest hours or our times of need.

The urologist informed me that a man with a kidney stone is dealing with the same intensity of pain that a woman giving birth goes through. I remember the pain of my kidney stone that was removed last week. I also remember praying between the grunts of pain and trying to catch my breath. They shut the glass doors on my emergency room because my prayers and groans were so loud that they feared me being too loud for the other patients to suffer their ER traumas in peace.

They finally took the stone out on my third day in the hospital. They put in a stint. Yes it was in my urethra and when I urinated, the stabbing pain that I had suffered from the kidney stone came back. Also, the stint was causing me to have to urinate much more often than normal. I can tell you that the pain I was going through was some of the worst pain I've had. But Jesus was right there with me. He comforted me through my pain. I knew, even though the pain was as intense as it was, that I could bear it because Jesus was there helping me through it.

Then, just a few days later, I have to fly down to Texas to testify against my older brother for attacking me back in January. I have testified solely for the reason that I saw it was a way for my brother to start getting the help he needs to control his uncontrollable temper which he refuses to get help for.

During my time on the stand, my brother was staring me down and smirking the whole time I was testifying. Whenever he thought his attorney made a point about my testimony being at fault for one thing or another, he would raise his eyebrows at me, smile real big, and nod his head vigorously showing his complete and utter contempt of me as I was relaying the truth about his attack upon me and my property that day.

Let me be clear here. I did seek after a judgement on him. Yet I know that I will probably never receive anything out of it. But I am hoping for a stipulation in his sentencing that will require him to seek medical and/or mental help. I do love my brother and the rest of my family. They are not talking to me right now because they think that I am wrong in testifying against my brother. I can only do what my heart is telling me to do, and that is striving to get him help in the only way I see it being possible.

Prior to the trial, on the night before, I was unable to sleep well. I was so tense that I was just not feeling completely right. I remember praying to the Lord about Him being my rock, my mighty fortress, Who leads me to still waters and makes me lie down in green meadows under shady trees. I know that this probably is stated by many different authors in the bible. However, it became very important for me to cry out to God in my time of need. He heard me and comforted me during this time.

I was able to stay calm through my testimony and simply relate the truth of that day back in January. I found a peace up there on the stand that day. It was a peace directly from God. One where, as I told the truth, I knew that the truth would be shown and that God was supporting me in my relaying of that truth.

'In my distress I called upon the Lord, yes, I cried to my God; and from His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for help came into His ears.' 2 Samuel 22:7. This is just one of the verses from King David's song of deliverance.

Another one is this, 'The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock; and exalted be God, the rock of my salvation, the God who executes vengeance for me, and brings down peoples under me, Who also brings me out from my enemies; You even lift me above those who rise up against me; You rescue me from the violent man.' 2 Samuel 22:47-49.

I feel that these verses apply directly to me and what I went through down in Texas. In my time of need, the Lord God was there for me. He placed Himself around me and becoming for me a mighty fortress, unassailable by those who would seek to do me harm. He kept me safe!

I pray for my brother and my family every day. I ask that the Lord heals that which is broken and restores the relationships that were damaged in this affair. But I did what the Lord led me to do and I was found blameless in the eyes of the court and my brother was convicted on both counts he was charged with. I hope they order some sort of medical or mental treatment for him so that he can get better. But through it all, the Lord was my fortress!

I cannot tell you what comfort I have that the Lord is willing to protect me like this. I hope that you also find this wonderful comfort in knowing that the Lord is a mighty fortress in your life as well.

May God bless you all this day!

The Love In Jesus' Eyes!

Hello Guys and Gals!

Many years ago I had a dream on the night before Easter. In this dream, I felt as if I was taken from where I was and placed at the foot of the cross of Jesus while He was being crucified upon it. This was one of the most vivid dreams I have ever had. I saw Him up on the cross in His tortured state. And when I looked up at Him, He looked down upon me and told me, 'I am doing this for you!' When He said that to me, He looked upon me with love in His eyes that I have never seen before and will only see again when I meet Him in heaven.

It was one of the most personal personal, heart piercing, dreams I have ever had. In that moment, I knew that Jesus had died on the cross for me alone. Everything he suffered was for me and me alone. He wanted me to know that I was worth all that suffering to Him and I felt it in His loving gaze.

It is the same for each and every one of you! Jesus also died for you and you alone! If He had to do it all over again just for you, He would! That is how much Jesus loves us. Each and every one of us.

It is my prayer today that you can see the love in Jesus' eyes as I have seen and know, beyond any doubt, that He sacrificed all in loving you and me!

God bless you all this day!

Kidney Stone!

Sorry for not writing in the last few days. I am suffering from a kidney stone and do not want to write while on pain meds.

God bless you guys today!

David and Peter!

Hello Guys and Gals!

I wonder if any of you have ever wondered what David and Peter had in common? Both men were great leaders of faith under God! But what did they have in common? They both, after serving the Lord faithfully, fell short in something, and were admonished for it and went on to continue to serve the Lord!

Let's look at David first. In 2 Samuel 11, it tells about how David stayed home from the battlefield and chanced upon Bathsheba bathing from the roof of his house. He inquires of her and finds out that she is the wife of Uriah. He sends a messenger to Joab telling him to place Uriah in a place where fighting is very dangerous. In so doing, Uriah dies in battle. After the time of mourning, David takes Bathsheba for his wife.

Now let's look at what happened. First, David was not at the battlefield where he should have been. Second, when he saw Bathsheba bathing, instead of averting his eyes, he found her beautiful and inquired after her. Third, he sent a messenger to Joab to place Uriah in a very dangerous place essentially murdering him. Fourth, not only did he sin against God and Uriah, but also led Joab to sin against God and Uriah as well.

In 2 Samuel 12, it tells about how the prophet Nathan tells a little story to rile David's wrath against the sinner of the story. Then Nathan tells David that the sinner in the story is none other than David himself. Because of David's sin, the Lord said that the sword would never depart from his house and that the Lord would raise up evil from David's own household and even take David's wives before David's eyes and give them to his companion who would lie with them in broad daylight.

Now David immediately repents of his sin and the Lord immediately takes Davids sin away and David does not suffer the punishment of the sin by dying! But the consequences that the Lord said would happen because of David's sin are still there! Just because David repented does not mean that he does not still suffer the consequences of his sin.

Let us now look at Peter. In Galatians 4, Paul opposes Peter to his face. Why? Because Peter, when eating, would eat with the Gentiles. Yet, when certain circumcised persons would attend, Peter would hold himself aloof fearing what the circumcised persons would say about him. In doing this, other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy. It says that even Barnabas was carried away by the hypocrisy. So Paul, in front of everyone said, 'If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?'

Now we know that Peter went on to become the 'rock' upon which Jesus would build His church. But we also see here that he too was fallible.

Why have I place both David and Peter together? Because both men were Godly men who did great things in His name both before and after their sins! I want to say to you that sin does not prevent us from doing great things in God's name. Now we may have to suffer the consequences of the sin, or may have to deal with the scars that sin leaves upon our lives. But that should not keep us from doing His will!

So what that you have sinned. So what that you have a stain on you from that sin. 'Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.' Hebrews 4:16. This has to be one of my favorite verses in the whole bible! It tells us that it does not matter what your sin is, but come boldly to the throne of God's grace. Why? So we may receive God's mercy AND find grace within ourselves to help others in their time of need! What an amazing witness. God has turned our sin into an avenue by which we can help others who are in need!

So if you're facing a sin that you think is preventing you from doing God's will, get up and boldly go to God's throne of grace! Do it right now! Do not let sin win in your life. Let God turn your sin into a witness for Him!

God bless you all this day!

Our Trials and Tribulations!

Hello Guys and Gals!

Have you ever wondered why you were going through a particular trial or tribulation in your life? Have you ever thought God to be unjust by putting you through it, or allowing you to go through it? Boy, I sure have!

I have been through many trials and tribulations in my life. With each and every one, Jesus has been there right by my side. Yet I only seem to realize this after the fact. I think one of the reasons we go through troubling times is to build our faith in God. He wants us to know that He is the one we should turn to in times of need and knows that by us putting our trust in Him to get us out of this troubling time, that we strengthen our faith in Him.

But surely that is not the only reason. Then I've considered some of the trials or tribulations I have been through and looked at them separately. What was the trial about? How did going through this trial help me? I looked at one in particular. About five to six years ago I started having panic attacks. This is one trial that was particularly tough for me. You see, my ex-wife used to have panic attacks, and when she did, I used to tell her to pull herself out of it and that it was mind over matter and she was way too smart to be having something stupid like panic attacks. So here I was, years later, having the very things I said she should be able to control. I thought I was helping her when she had her attacks. Now I was having panic attacks and I could do NOTHING to stop them from happening.

I think that God allowed me to go through this so that I would see what a defeating event they are in people's lives. I also believe that they helped me see that, no matter how small you think a problem may be, that this very problem could be very huge to the person suffering from it. I had not been seeing the problem from their eyes but my own. If I have ever done this to any of you, I apologize most sincerely.

Now I do not know if there are more reasons as to why we suffer trial and tribulations. But I know this, with just these two reasons, I thank God for putting me through each and every trial and tribulation I have faced. Thank you Lord Jesus for also being there with me through them!

God bless you all this day!

Just Be Yourself!

Hello Guys and Gals!

I wanted to write this message today more from my heart than from any research I've done over the years. When I was younger, all I wanted to be was 'cool'! I worked very hard at trying to do that, but it wasn't the real me. I felt that if I showed the real me to people that they wouldn't like me much.

So as I went through my teens, twenties, thirties, and so on, and so on...

All I did was change one definition of cool for another! I went through many stages in attempting to be in the cool crowd. Now I wonder how much different it would have been if I had just let myself be myself.

I changed in the last year or two. I changed immensely. Not that I haven't been changing over the many years as well. It's just that I finally realized that it didn't matter what other people think if I'm truly being true to myself and to God! I started giving my whole self to God, not just parts of me, but all of me. In doing so, I found out who I really am. What an awesome revelation. To discover the real me after all these years. And on top of that, find out that my real identity of myself had always been rooted in God!

Listen up Guys and Gals! Be true to yourself. Quit worrying about what others may think of your true personality. Quit worrying about what others will say about your hobbies and habits and anything else that you may have this concern in.

Be yourself! Figure out who you are and be that! Enjoy that! Live that! I encourage all of you to search in God's Word first to discover your true self. That is where I looked last and wish I had looked there first! Any way you do it, do it! Find yourself and be true to yourself by living and doing what gives you true happiness. For me, it's all about restoring relationships that I've had in the past, strengthen relationships I have now, and seek out new relationships with people I meet in the future! In all of this, I'm NOT seeking to destroy, but to build!

God bless you all this day!

The Whole Word Of God!

Hello Guys and Gals!

I want to talk to you today about the Holy Scriptures also known as the Word of God!

'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it.' John 1:1-5.

Many people think that the Word of God was made by men. Also, they believe that it is just a set of rules or principles made by men of old that instruct man on how to live a good life. This is not true! We can clearly see that the Word of God existed before anything else and it was with God and it was God!

'And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.' John 1:14.

This passage testifies to the fact that God became man so that He could bring us both grace and truth! Jesus Christ is the very embodiment of truth. The Word of God is nothing more than a representation of who Jesus was when he dwelt among us. The truth of the Word of God is the truth of Jesus Christ given to us by God so that we may know the truth and no longer dwell in darkness.

This means that the whole of the Word of God, every last jot and tittle of it, is part of what God wanted us to have.

'I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.' Exodus 20:2-6.

This is a difficult passage to understand completely. It talks about bringing Israel out of bondage in Egypt. If you are a Christian, then you have been adopted in to this very family through Jesus Christ, so that their history is also the history of your family! You could even take it a step further and say that the bondage God brought you personally out of was your bondage to sin.

It talks about idols. What is an idol? I'll give you the most simple definition of an idol I can think of; an idol is anything that you put in your life that hinders your relationship with God or you put before God in all that you do! Do you have any idols in your life?

Now comes the hard part. We know that God desires a personal relationship with each and every person on the Earth. He created us and desires it for us. Yet, in the above passage, God talks about visiting the iniquity, or sins, of the father onto the children for up to the third and fourth generation. Here is the key part, 'of those who hate Me'! God visits this iniquity on the father and his children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Him! God is punishing those who hate Him for the sins of their grandfathers. Hard stuff huh? Yet this is only for those who hate Him!

The good part comes next. God tells us that He will show loving-kindness to those who love Him and keep His commandments. There are many people out there who claim to love the Lord, yet they do not keep His commandments. God has clearly stated that you not only must love Him but also keep His commandments.

Jesus said, 'If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.' John 8:31-32.

How can we know we are doing what His Word says? James says this about it, 'But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.' James 1:22-25.

Do you do what the Word of God says? Or are you just a hearer of the Word? Yes, I am talking about the whole Word of God. Here is what I am getting at with this whole post. Many people today are saying that certain parts of the Word of God are no longer applicable today because society has advanced. This is not true!

When Paul talks about how women should be silent in church because they are subject to their husbands, this still holds today. When the bible talks about the act of a man lying with another man or a woman lying with another woman being an abomination in His eyes, this still holds today!

I know many of you will think badly of me for saying this, but I believe in the whole Word of God and not just a part of it. I also know that some will go to their bibles and start pointing out little points of contention here and there. And I say to them that when they consider the author's intent, the audience he was writing to, the history of what was going on then, and the actual full message being told; all these things together that the Word of God is still fully applicable and fully true today as it was when it was first written!

I want you all to know that all believers are under Grace, or the law of liberty, and not subject to the Law as it pertains to Israel who does not believe in Jesus as their savior! Everyone falls into one of three categories as pertaining to the Law.

The first is people who are descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob but have not accepted Jesus as Lord. These are the people under the Law!

The second are Gentiles, or those not descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These people are not under the Law and live in darkness.

The third are both descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Gentiles both who have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. These people are neither under the Law or living in darkness, but are under the law of liberty, or law of Grace.

Through grace and our love of Jesus Christ, we live in such a way that our very words and actions establish the Law that Israelites attempt to live under. But we must know the whole of the Word of God in order to do His Will. This means all parts of it with no omissions just because you don't like it or you think that it doesn't apply today!

For if you strive to know and do the whole of the Word of God, then the blessings of God will flow over you. Now this does not mean that there won't be struggle as well. But through that struggle, you will gain strength in God and a certain knowledge that He will always be there for you!

God bless you all this day!