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!
13 December 2010
11 December 2010
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!
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!
27 November 2010
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!
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!
08 November 2010
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!
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!
01 November 2010
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!
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!
28 October 2010
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!
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!
15 October 2010
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!
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!
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!
10 October 2010
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!
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!
01 October 2010
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!
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!
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