My Thoughts

My Thoughts on Christianity and Other Things

Archive for the category “Christianity”

22 Jul 2013

Telling Others About Jesus

Mark 16:15-16
15 And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.
New Living Translation

I try to do this, but it’s hard to do at times. Most of the time I’m quiet. I say nothing. However sometimes I do speak up and tell others about Jesus. I defend the scriptures. However unlike some with other religions; I don’t defend God because I rely on Him to defend me. But this too is difficult. I am human with a sinful nature.

I have never gone to a Bible college, or a seminary. I have never had any Bible training at all. (except for some home Bible studies) basically I am untrained in speaking, teaching, preaching, or anything about the Bible. Compared to many of you, I am uneducated.

However I have many times over the years told people about Jesus. I have told people about Heaven and Hell. About God’s judgment and more importantly His grace. Grace that we can not earn but can have freely from God. I have talked openly about the true Living Lord Jesus to anyone who comes to my door.

So if I, an uneducated man, have done this, and if many of you never have; what is your excuse for not telling others about Jesus? So many of you are much more qualified than me.

Some may say “What if I mess up?” All of us mechanics as well as Do-It-Yourself people have scraped our knuckles. Does that stop us from ever working on something again? No of course not. We love building or fixing things. What if someone on a bicycle (there are lots of people riding bicycles in the Northwest) take a tumble on the road or the trail? Would that person never ride again? If that person loves riding, of course he or she will ride again. What about those of you who loves baking? If you burn something you will still keep baking? Of course you will.

Years ago I asked someone why he didn’t tell people about Jesus. He said that here in America everyone has already heard the Gospel. They already know the truth and just need to believe. That’s like saying that since everyone has already heard of Ford and Chevrolet, these companies no longer need to advertise. Right now I’m sure that the CEOs, and business owners, and managers are laughing at the idea of not advertising. We must not keep God’s word a secret.

John 3:16-18
16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.

One day a Mormon asked me, “Would a loving God send anyone to Hell?”
To that I answered, “YES, because of our sins, our wrong doings. That is why He sent us Jesus. To save us from our sins. (our wrong doings) If we believe in the true Jesus, the Lord Jesus, we will be saved from Hell. But only through Him and Him alone.”
Of course he didn’t like my answer.

A long time ago I used to have a canoe. Since we used to live only a few hundred yards from Puget Sound, I would often go canoeing after work. One day a childhood friend of my wife wanted to go for a canoe ride but was afraid. She had heard that all canoes were tipsy and that she would tip over into the water. My wife and I told her she was safe, but she wouldn’t believe it. Once when she finally got into the canoe with me, the canoe rocked back and forth. She was scared. I told her to turn around and face me. She did. I told her to hold on tight and watch. I then rocked the boat just as hard as I possibly could. The water came up to about two inches from the top and no more. “See? We won’t tip over.” I told her. She then turned around and enjoyed the ride.

If we believe in Jesus, we too will be safe. From judgment.

I believe so much in this, that I almost got out of the National Guard because of it. Back in the 1980s I thought if I went to war, (there was no war then) and if I shoot and kill someone, I could for the most part, be sending that person to Hell.

I must add that a pastor that I knew and respected from British Columbia said that it is a good and honorable thing to protect your country and your love ones. If I wanted to stay in the military, it’s OK. Those who choose to not believe in our Lord has made their choice. But don’t stop telling others in love about Jesus.

If a Christian dies, then that Christian will go to be with Jesus. However if a non-Christian dies, the that person is judged for their wrong doings. (Everybody has done wrong. That is why we need Jesus.) The non-believers will then be thrown into a lake of fire.

We must tell more people about Jesus in hope to save them from God’s judgment. And yet as I type this, I am reminded that I too have fallen down on the job, way too much.

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06 Jul 2013

Hoo Hoo Hoo-aaoo

Is it ‘hoo‘ or ‘hoot‘?

Leviticus 19:14
“Do not insult the deaf or cause the blind to stumble. You must fear your God; I am the Lord.
New Living Translation

Once in a while someone would ask me about hearing loss. There are so many things I could say, I have no idea where to start.

First, even though I do have problems hearing, I’m not deaf, and there are lots of different kinds of hearing loss. The kind I have is different than most. People with severe hearing loss are at times mistreated. And the deaf are treated worse.

Imagine being in school and your teacher gives you homework. The next day you find out that you did the work wrong. Either you did the wrong questions, didn’t read what you should or who knows. You just got it wrong. Now you’re labeled stupid, lazy, or both. Some of your friends may think of you as stupid even though an IQ test shows you’re not. Also, in high school, even though you may want to take a certain class that you know you would really like or go into a certain field of work you are told “Don’t bother”. I know a woman with severe hearing loss who wanted to be a nurse. Her nursing teacher told her not to bother because she would never make it. Well she did and even retire from being a nurse after many years. This was a long time ago before accommodations for disabled people were as standard as as they are today. Thanks to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Once I had a temporary job at a place where all we did was removed old printers and replaced a few with new ones. One day a man asked me something. I was busy and didn’t understand the question. He asked again. I stopped and then realized he was asking why I was taking away ‘his’ printer. I knew he was the supervisor for that part of the office, which means he was the one that passed out the memo from the corporate office to people telling about us taking away the printers. He should have known what I was doing and why. So, why should I stop what I’m doing and concentrate on his blabbing? Thinking he was an idiot, I simply said “Because I was told to” and continued with my work. After all; why should I waste my time explaining it to him? He was supposed to know. A few months later I found out he told a few people that I ‘wasn’t too bright’ because I couldn’t understand his question and because I gave a simple answer.

But right now I’m thinking of the deaf and what they go though. According to www.silentblessings.org “Nearly 95% of all deaf children have hearing parents and only about 10% of those parents ever learn enough sign language to hold a conversation with their children.” I believe it, and it’s not acceptable. There are people out there who can’t even ask their deaf brother or sister if they want a cup of coffee.

I have known deaf people both from college and socially. In both cases people often ignore them. I have seen socially, where the deaf would just sit off to the side by themselves. Once in awhile someone would try to communicate with them using a paper and pencil. This is good that they try to communicate, but I wonder about some who have honestly known a deaf person for over 50 years and still can’t ask if they would like some coffee using language. I know I will be in trouble for writing this; but it’s true. The deaf are alone.

The hard of hearing (I have to remember to add the word ‘of’ in hard of hearing) have another problem. They’re not hearing and they’re not deaf either. This often cause other problems, both emotionally and socially. They can often hear some things but not other things. Many people don’t understand this.

Mark 16:15
And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.

Christian have been going all over the world following this command. We have learned new languages and cultures and have been willing to sacrifice to tell others of Jesus. All this is good. But, what is our excuse for not reaching out to the deaf?

I don’t like talking about myself, but as I have said earlier, my hearing is different than most. All through my life I could hear noise but not always understand what it was. Yet I have served 14 years in the US military, been a mechanic for many years, was even certified in electronic technology, and ran my own business. Still in high school I got a ‘D-‘ in music, and was about to fail. Even though sometimes I like to hear music, it’s not the same for me as maybe for you. Only a few years ago I was told that I may have Auditory Processing Disorder. I don’t like talking about this. But I was told that as I get older my hearing will get worse. Because of my type of hearing loss, hearing aids are of little or no value. I tried it once and I honestly couldn’t tell the difference, except when the hearing aid tech finally cranked up the volume so much I got feed back as I climbed into the cab of my pickup.

So if I loose more of my hearing, will I became isolated or shunned by people? I don’t know. My wife and I have talked about this from time to time. I should study more ASL. (American Sign Language)

Oh, by the way; about the title of this post. “Hoo Hoo Hoo-aaoo” is what I hear sometimes on TV. But sometimes I’ve wondered if it was Hoot, Hoot, Hoot-Owl. Trying to be wise and solve a crime may seem to fit the show if you use your imagination. Close Caption shows it as Who, Who, Who are you. It’s part of the theme song for CSI. I tried to find a website with the captioned theme song, but I couldn’t. Maybe some of you can. So I will end this with:

Mark 16:15
And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. (including the deaf)

Posted in Christianity, Hearing Loss and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
01 Jul 2013

They Came to My House

Last week, there was a knock at the door. Thinking that it was a customer coming to pick up a part I’ve ordered for him, (I repair lawn mowers at home part time) I went out through the garage to meet him. But instead of finding the customer; I found two Jehovah Witnesses. A man and a woman.

Now what? I know many people would politely or not so politely close the door on them. But what should we do as Christians? Well all through the New Testament Christians were going out into the world spreading the Word. But what do we say when the Jehovah Witness or Mormons comes to our door? First be nice and show respect. After all most of them are respectful, and so should we. We must also stand firm on God’s true Word. And remember these people are not the enemy; these people are in the need the true Jesus.

The true Jesus? If I told you that I believe in President Obama because he’s a fine Chinese-American man who grew up in Texas; you could say that I really don’t believe in him, because I don’t know the first thing about him. Well it’s the same with the Lord Jesus. Many claim they believe in Him and yet don’t know the first thing about Him.

I heard once that both the Jehovah Witness and Mormon are trained to answer questions; that they are suppose to teach. Good, we’ll start there.

The man of the Jehovah Witness said something about doing good. I quickly interrupted and asked, “What if I have done bad all my life, and then got sick. What if because of this sickness I am laying on my death bed unable to do anything? Is there any hope for me?”

Both the man and the woman had no answer for me. The man was thumbing through his Bible hoping to come up with some kind of answer. He then said something about Jesus. (for those who are new to my blog; I do have a hearing loss)
I interrupted again, “Who is this Jesus?”
He calmed down some and said Jesus is son of God.
“Son of God? What does that mean?” I asked.
He started thumbing through his Bible again. He clearly didn’t know the answer. Finally he came to the book of John and said Jesus is the word.
“Who or what is the ‘word’?”
He answered saying the ‘word’ is a god, and then he showed me John 1:4 in his bible.

In the last few minutes something has happened to this Jehovah Witness. I was asking questions he couldn’t answer. And since he’s trained to teach; in a panic he was looking for answers. Any answer. His mind is now open for the truth. Or more open anyway. Right then I told both of them that I’m getting something and will be right back.

I went into the living room, grabbed my laptop, told my wife the Jehovah Witnesses are here, (she always prays for me, which is very important) then I went back out to the garage.

I opened the Bible software on the laptop and went to John 1:1-4.
1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.

I read it again slowly. “In the beginning the Word” I held up one finger. “The Word was with God” I held up another finger symbolizing God. “The Word was with God” I said again as I moved the two fingers together. “Word was God.” I then wrapped my hand around around the two fingers symbolizing they’re one. I continued, “And in verse 4 says nothing about ‘a god’. In fact it says the Word, ‘Jesus’ gave life. Only a true God can do that. Jesus is God.”

The man was looking over my shoulder at the laptop. I showed him New Living Translation, American Standard Version, New King James Version, and The Message. Each time I showed him the thing with my fingers. The man now realize there is a problem with his bible. Again I reminded him that there is only one God, therefore Jesus can not be just a god because He is God.

Then I did something I have never done before. I went back to the first part of Genesis. “In the beginning God created.”
Right then the woman spoke up “I know, God created us in His image, which means we’re gods.”
“No. Not true.” I answered. “We were created in His image as in representative.” I pointed to the closest logo. “See that Tecumseh logo? That logo is not the company itself, but only an image or representative of the company with that name.”

This logo is an image or representative of a manufacture

This logo is an image or representative of a manufacture

I went back, “In the beginning God created. When Adam and Eve sinned the Lord walked through the garden calling for them. I believe this is God in the form of Jesus. But before all of this you have the Spirit of God going over the water in the beginning. So now you have the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

I wanted to talk more and so did he, but now there is a car sitting in front of my house waiting to pick them up, they really had to go.

So if a Jehovah Witness or Mormon comes to your home, don’t slam the door in their face. Talk with them. Listen to what they have to say. But keep this in mind:
No matter what you hear, remember Jesus is Son Of God. He is Lord. He is 100% God and yet 100% man.
Our sins (our wrong doings) have separated us from the very just God. Our sin has made it absolutely impossible to be good enough to be right with God. The wages of sin is death. We are saved only through the grace of Jesus.
Jesus died and on the third day rose physical back to life with is own body.
Another thing to remember is even though the person who comes to your door uses scripture to back their claim; it is often out of context.

Here is an example.
One day I was talking with someone about a hernia operation, and how the incision broke open. A woman who was eavesdropping only heard part of it and laughed at me said something about how I should have followed doctor’s orders and not be doing something stupid. She laughed again and left. What she heard was out of context. The truth is I was driving when someone pulled out in front of me. I slammed on the brakes and the seat-belt broke the incision open. I did nothing wrong.

If you would like to read more about how I have talked to people about Jesus (and how some have talked to me about Jesus) please read my book, A Whole Mess Load of Grace.

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17 Jun 2013
1 Comment

The Anti-Christ

The anti-Christ; Who is he? I don’t know. The end.

Well I think I just wrote the shortest post ever.

Seriously, I don’t know who he is, but I do know a little about him. I also have heard a lot of rumors about who he could be. Over the years I have heard that it’s Bush (I or II), Obama, Clinton, President Kennedy, Hitler, Prince William, the Pope (pick one). And believe it or not, I have even heard that the Wizard on the 1939 movie Wizard of Oz, was the anti-Christ. (You may want to turn up the volume since this link is not captioned.) Amazing. I honestly believe we can rule that guy out.

In Matthew 15:19-20 Jesus said:
For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. 20 These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.”

So let’s try and stop this foolishness on saying so-n-so is the anti-Christ. Now what do we know about the anti-Christ? The Bible says the Beast (anti-Christ) would have everyone receive ‘the mark 666‘.

Bush (I and II), Clinton, President Kennedy, and Hitler, never did this ‘mark’ thing and are either out of office with no more authority, or dead. The current Pope is so laid back, I can’t imagine him getting very much involved in world politics. And the last one no longer has authority and he never pushed the 666 mark either. So far we have President Obama and Prince William left.

Revelation 13:4
They worshiped the dragon for giving the beast such power, and they also worshiped the beast. “Who is as great as the beast?” they exclaimed. “Who is able to fight against him?”

President Obama just barely won both of his elections, has low approval ratings, several scandals, and many in the Middle East don’t respect him. It’s safe to say Obama doesn’t qualify for being the anti-Christ (the beast).

Prince William? Well I don’t pay attention to tabloids. All I know about him is he’s a young guy with a wife and a kid on the way.

Revelation 13:1-2
1) Then I saw a beast rising up out of the sea. It had seven heads and ten horns, with ten crowns on its horns. And written on each head were names that blasphemed God. 2) This beast looked like a leopard, but it had the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion! And the dragon gave the beast his own power and throne and great authority.

Does “rising out of the sea” mean an island? If so, you would think the Bible would say island. The other possibility is either a navy man on a submarine or a scuba diver. Prince William is not in the Navy, but instead is in the Air Force. Doing a little research on Google I was surprised to see that he does like to scuba dive. But so does a lot of other people.

I have no idea what ‘seven heads and ten horns and crowns’ means. Some say it’s the European Union. Maybe, but if so the EU would need to loose some countries. The part of Revelation 13:2 that says: ‘looked like a leopard, but it had the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion’ seems like a crest. But if it is a crest, it doesn’t exist yet. So I don’t believe it’s Prince William. His clearly has a lion and not a leopard on it.

So what do we know about the anti-Christ? The Bible says the beast is going to be killed but brought back to life again. People will worship him and he will have authority for 3-1/2 years. In Revelation 13:11-15 a second Beast will come with the same authority as the first one, but will be able to do miracles on behalf of first one. And not only that but he’ll also have people make a resemblance of the first beast. This resemblance (image or statue) will be given life, then people will be forced to worship it. As far as the ‘resemblance’ some translations say image and others say statue. Could this be 3D video? Also it sounds like to me, one beast is a ‘puppet to the other.

How could the anti-Christ come about? I’m just guessing, but what if there is a con-man who cons many into thinking he’s Mohammad? Now you’ll have some Muslims following this guy as well as some politically correct non-Muslims. The persecution of Christians and Jews would increase. Now comes another con-man and this one forces everyone to worship the first using a statue or image (or what I believe is maybe a 3D video). And this causes more persecution of God’s people. Now I honestly don’t know if this is the way it will happen, but it’s a thought. It seems to fit with Revelation 13. I do believe it will be a demon possessed con-man bent on evil, more so than any other con-men before.

So who is this anti-Christ? I don’t know, but I do believe he’s coming soon. The technology of 3D video that could be seen in the home and marking people with something (chip or code scan) so they buy or sell did not exist 30 or so years ago. Is the anti-Christ ready to take power now? Maybe. But he may still be, only a toddler pooping in his drawers, asking his mom for a cookie. I don’t know.

Posted in Christianity, Prophecy, Uncategorized and tagged , , , ,
09 Jun 2013

The Creature From Job – Supplement

If you remember from the first time I posted the article The Creature From Job I had trouble looking up Job 41:30 in Hebrew. So I asked one of our pastors Noah. This is what he said in his own words.

“The reason why you aren’t seeing Job 41:27- the end of the chapter is that English and Hebrew have the verses numbered differently. This happens often, keeping in mind that verse and chapter demarcations weren’t added till thousands of years after the original texts were written. In many cases the English verse numbers are beholden to the tradition of the King James version, which wasn’t translated from Hebrew and Greek at all, but from Jerome’s Latin Vulgate, which was done in the 400’s. Jerome was working from a different set of texts than what modern translators are working with… so in some cases there are some textual variances, or just variances in the way the verses are numbered.

In any event, in this case, all the same information is there it is just numbered differently. The English chapter 41 starts after the Hebrew Chapter 40:24… The Hebrew text continues with chapter 40 until verse 32.

So English 41;1-8 = Hebrew 40:25-32

That throws the numbers off for the rest of Job Chapter 41. The verses you are looking for are starting at Job 41:27

So
Job 41:27 (English) = 41:19 (Hebrew)
Job 41:28 (English) = 41:20 (Hebrew)
and so on…

Here’s the verse you’re after in particular:

NIV Job 41:30 His undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.

You’ll find that in your Hebrew Bible at 41:22

So pretty much everywhere in Chapter 41 the numbers don’t match, so if you were looking at Hebrew and matching up the numbers you were really looking a few verses ahead.

Noah”

So I looked up in Hebrew Job 41:22 and there it was. King James Version ‘sharp pointed things’ in Hebrew is charuwts.

OT:2742 – charuwts (khaw-roots’); or charuts (khaw-roots’); passive participle of OT:2782; properly, incised or (active) incisive; hence (as noun masculine or feminine) a trench (as dug), gold (as mined), a threshing-sledge (having sharp teeth); (figuratively) determination; also eager:
KJV – decision, diligent, (fine) gold, pointed things, sharp, threshing instrument, wall.
(Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)

Mystery solved. I what to thank Pastor Noah Hormann at Creekside Covenant Church.

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02 Jun 2013
5 Comments

Not Hearing, Not Deaf

Leviticus 19:14
“Do not insult the deaf or cause the blind to stumble. You must fear your God; I am the Lord.
New Living Translation

One night I was watching a rerun of a TV show “Cold Case” and at the same time I’m trying to find something on the internet and was failing. I was disappointed and getting frustrated.

Here’s a little background. I decided to supplement my income a little by teaching ‘Cheap Computers’ in an adult continuing education class. It would only be for an hour or so, so I called a couple of school districts. One school district sent me an application, another said they stopped doing that five years ago, and another told me that they use a local community college. I called the community college, and the person transferred me over to someone’s voice mail. All these phone calls were made at home on the ‘land-line’ in the back room where it was quiet. No problem.

Later in the day I was in the grocery store when my cell phone rang. A woman was calling me back from the community college. My cell was up full volume, but the store was loud. I strained to hear. She said I could find the information online and something about the left side.

So I asked, “I will find what I need on the left side of the web page? I’m having a hard time hearing.”
“Yes”
“So I’ll find continuing education on the left side of the page?”
She paused then said “Yes. You’ll see (unknown words) requirements (unknown words) warrant (unknown words) background (unknown words).”
So to see if I understood what she meant I asked, “So if I click on the continuing education, I’ll see the legal requirements like background checks and stuff then, right?”
She paused again (maybe someone there is talking to her. I don’t know.) then very clearly said “Yes.”
I answered back, “Good, I can handle that. I’ll look it up tonight. Thank you.”
And we hung up.

So now at 11:00 at night I’m watching a rerun of Cold Case” on TV with the closed caption on. What’s interesting was this one episode was about students in a deaf school. Some of the hearing people thought of the deaf as freaks, weird, or worse. As I was watching this; I was wondering after I told the person on the phone from the school, that I have problems hearing; why did she say I was correct when in fact I was wrong about what I thought she was saying? She could have said “No” but she didn’t.

Many words sound the same to me. Affect, effect, pen, pin, and many others including many letters: B, C, D, E, just to name a few. But there no way one can mix up ‘yes’ and ‘no’.

The problem is many people over the years have call both deaf and hard of hearing people stupid, lazy, dense, and other names. Well we’re not. Some of us are doctors, lawyers, teachers, mechanics, and the list goes on.

Another thing many people seem to believe that if they yell, they could be heard easier. On the surface this would seem very reasonable. But it doesn’t work that way.

One day I saw a nurse yelling into the ear of an old hard of hearing man. He couldn’t understand her so she yelled louder. And he still couldn’t understand. I finally told her to let him see her face and to speak in a normal voice. She then looked him in his face and calmly asked “Have you had your meds yet?” and he answered “Oh yes sometime ago.” No one likes being yelled at.

Regardless of what you have seen on television, even “Cold Case” reruns involving deaf people, most people with hearing loss are not expert lip readers. However we still need to see your face.

One more thing I must say, we bluff a lot sometimes. We shouldn’t, but we do. For an example there’s a party and someone tells a joke and everyone laughs. Including those who didn’t hear it.

If there is something important that we need to know especially if we ask for the information, please do not mislead us. That is wrong. Be honest. Give us the respect we need.

Posted in Christianity, Hearing Loss and tagged , ,
27 May 2013
4 Comments

The Creature From Job

Sounds like a title to an old movie like The Creature From the Black Lagoon. The creature from Job is an interesting creature. But there are a lot common creatures that are interesting as well. I want to talk about them first.

I used to have a large friendly dog named Char. I miss that dog. But on a very hot day when Char would pant (and always on me) her breath would feel very hot. I would tell my wife that it felt like a furnace. That’s what happens when you have a large warm blooded animal that pants to keep cool. And on a cold day it would look like smoke was coming from her mouth and nostrils.

Another thing I find interesting is the way a cat’s eyes would glow at night because the way it reflects light when it’s dark. Or the way a fire-fly or lightning bug lights up at night.

Well enough of that. Let’s go check out The Creature From Job. (imagine drama type music here) This creature called a Leviathan and is found in Job 41. Some say it’s a mythical sea monster. Some say it’s a crocodile. Some say it’s a dragon or some other mythical creature. If you read Job 41 you will see that it was written in the present tense. This is an eye wittiness account.

Job 41:1-10 makes it sound like a very tough and ornery animal.

But what does this thing looks like? Job 41:12 says it has enormous strength in its limbs. Job 41:13 and Job 41:15-17 mentions armored skin. Job 41:14 its teeth. So the animal should look a little like this.

D Drawing II

Looks like an odd creature. (I never claim to be an artist.) About the limbs; horses are powerful animals, but you wouldn’t say they have powerful limbs. A bear however; does have powerful limbs. You can see the strength in their limbs, in their front claws. A turtle also has power limbs. This is why I drew this thing with short, stocky legs.

When I was researching this animal I didn’t know what the teeth looked like. I found on a website that said this didn’t have any grinding teeth but instead had ‘leaf type teeth’. Well leaves are flat and thin, so does this mean that this animal had flat and thin teeth? If so, then they could be like round knives.

As far as the armor goes, well armadillos have that. No big deal there.

I am a little disappointed that tail was never mentioned. When I first drew this I did it with a thin tail and again with a thick tail. In the drawing here I used a thick tail. You’ll see why soon.

There is one more obvious physical characteristic, and that is Job 41:30. In the New Living Translation it says, “Its belly is covered with scales as sharp as glass. It plows up the ground as it drags through the mud.” New International Version says, “Its undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.” I decided to see what the Hebrew said. However the software I’m using doesn’t have Job 41:27-34. I have no idea why. King James Version says, “Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire.” So let’s put sharp pointed things on our animal.

D Drawing III-A

Hey this looks like could be an ankylosaurus!

Let’s see what else we can learn about the ankylosaurus. In verses 22 through 29 basically says nothing can hurt it. Fact number 4 of a dinosaur fact website confirm this. Verses 31 and 32 suggests that it spins time in the water. Fact number 7 of a dinosaur fact website says the ankylosaurus lives in near-tropical climate. It also says that a cold blooded creature. However verses 20 and 21 suggest that it’s warm blooded, the same way I told you about my dog earlier in this post. If you Google warm blooded dinosaurs you’ll get a lot of possibilities. Also I know for a fact that it can often get down to the 30’s in the near-tropical climate of the southern states. You can see your breath sometimes in the deep south.

Now about the fire in verses 18 and 19. Now I’m just guessing of course, but what if its saliva has glowing properties like that of a lightening bug or firefly? That might explain what could look like fire and flashes of light at night. But like I said, I’m just guessing here. And of course the eyes would glow like that of a cat.

Evolutionists claim that ankylosaurus became extinct about 65 millions years ago. Yet when I tried to find out when they believe man evolved… well I don’t believe they really have an answer. I got dates from 10,000 years for modern man to 100 million for the earliest, primitive sub-humans. Evolutionists seems to have a problem about what they claim and what the Bible says. Remember Job 41 is an eyewitness account of seeing an ankylosaurus first hand. And not only that, but mankind was not a bunch of knuckle-dragging sub-humans. Let read Job 41:6 “Will merchants try to buy it to sell it in their shops?” You can see they had a civilization. And if that weren’t enough, read Job 41:27 “Iron is nothing but straw to that creature, and bronze is like rotten wood.” Did you get that? These people worked with metal! They weren’t that primitive.

If this isn’t enough for you check out what God said in Job 40:15-17.
15 “Take a look at Behemoth,
which I made, just as I made you.
It eats grass like an ox.
16 See its powerful loins
and the muscles of its belly.
17 Its tail is as strong as a cedar.
The sinews of its thighs are knit tightly together.

There is only one creature I can think of that have a tail like a cedar, and you’ll never find one living anymore.

OK, now let’s see if we can warp your mind. (If it’s not done already) All through the ages mankind have been using animals to do hard work. In North America we have used horses to pull plows. I understand that in some countries they have used elephants to do logging. What if, just what if long ago people used dinosaurs to move very heavy things. We have already seen that man and dinosaurs lived during the same time. What if it was possible that they used dinosaurs to move very large and heavy stones? What if they used these stones to build the pyramids in Egypt? Honestly I don’t known if they did this, but it is possible.

Posted in Christianity, Creation, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , ,
19 May 2013

We’re Wanted

Wanted edited

A few weeks ago my wife and I went to a fund raiser for Young Life Capernaum. It was a fun evening. It had a Western theme, complete with silly ‘wanted posters’, singing, pie, videos, and pie. Did I say we had pie? Oh man, we had a lot of pie. Young Life Capernaum is for teens and young adults with various kinds of disabilities. It’s best to let them tell you in their own words what it’s about in this link. My wife and I with our church have been involved with this group for about two years now.

The sad fact about people with disabilities is the discrimination they get. Some people discriminate against race, some against religion, or different nationalities. But I dare say, more people discriminate against the people with disabilities than any other group. Whether it’s physical or mental. Don’t believe it? Look at how many people park in the Handicap Parking when they shouldn’t.

Close to ten years ago I was in a bad car wreck which put me in a wheelchair for a couple of months. I am very well aware of parking problems for those in wheelchairs.

Many of our Young Life Capernaum friends have part time jobs. Often times at these jobs (and other places) they have been called stupid, retard, and more. Unfortunately they may get physical abuse too. Life can be rough for them. Yet the people in our group know God loves them. Notice I didn’t say they kinda believe God loves them. No, I didn’t say that. I said they KNOW God loves them. And they KNOW God is with them. I know God is with them too.

Our church has been part of a ministry for disabled young adults for about two years now. But before we got involved, I decided to do a little recon on them. I went out to a mall where they hang out at and watched.

I saw them sitting in groups, talking and laughing and eating together. I saw a few that just sat off by themselves, then I saw some just roaming around visiting different individuals and groups, just to see what’s going on. Socially, they are just like the rest of us. Some are out going and are some shy. Yes individually they may seem awkward because some of them may have downs syndrome or autism or whatever, yet they are often warm and happy to socialize.

One evening six of us went to our first Young Life Capernaum meeting. There I saw a small woman in her early 30s, sitting in a wheelchair. Never in her life has she ever walked. Then I found out that her loudest voice is only a very soft whisper. If people with good hearing have trouble hearing her, how am I with a hearing loss supposed to hear her!? I sat across a large dinning room table from her wondering. Then I saw the woman in the wheelchair moving her hands at someone, and that’s when I realized; she knows ASL. (American Sign Language) I know a little ASL so now I can talk with her. Later I brought my FM so I could hear better. (Sorry for the HOH (Hard Of Hearing) lingo. FM is short for an Assisted Listening Device that uses a FM radio signal for hearing. If you would like more information on one click here.) Unfortunately after years of service, my FM doesn’t work that well anymore. But I still enjoy her company.

Once I saw a TV preacher say God doesn’t need us, BUT He does really want us. All of us, if we’re willing. I don’t know what else he said, but I started thinking about it. It’s like a classic car collector spotting a broken down heap of a car. He wants it because of what it’s worth.

I had a customer once who had me work on his 1970 King Midget. What an interesting car. I asked him how much he paid for it, but he wouldn’t tell me. He just said, “A lot.” Well according to John 3:16 God loves us, He wanted us so much, He sent His Son to save us.

Over time, these Young Life people have integrated into us, and we have integrated into them. Through Christ we are all part of the same body. We are all wanted by God.

Posted in Christianity, Hearing Loss and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
10 May 2013
6 Comments

Creation or Evolution?

We all know there has been a big debate about which is true. Is creation true? Did God really create the whole universe, complete with stars, planets, and this earth with all the plants and animals on it? Or did everything happened only by mindless accident? Is there a way to find out?

According to animal.about.com there are between 3 to 30 million types of animal species. Wikipedia said the Earth is about 4.54 billion (4,540,000,000) years old, plus or minus .05 billion. The universe is 13.798 billion (13,798,000,000) years old, plus or minus .037 billion.

Too bad we can’t go back through time and watch it all happen. But what if there is an experiment we can do? What if this experiment could prove if evolution was true or not? I will try to go through this experiment step by step and explain my reasoning with you so you too can do this experiment. The number one thing you will need is a spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Office Excel or OpenOffice.

For this experiment there will be a short sentence in form of a question: Hello how are you today? How long could it take for this small sentence to evolve? What are the odds?

If a child were to hand in the homework saying: ‘hello howare you today.‘ it wouldn’t pass. Why? Because the ‘H‘ in Hello, wasn’t in upper case, the space between the words how and are are missing, and the period should be a question mark. So to do this little experiment, we’ll have 26 upper case letters, 26 lower case letters, space, and a period,and question mark to chose from. 55 characters total. (The space between the words count as a character.) The sentence is only 24 characters long. If I were to type ‘h‘, I would have 55 characters to chose from. When I type ‘o‘ that’s another 55 characters. And ‘w‘ another 55. Together it would be 55x55x55 and not 55+55+55.

Spreadsheet IV edited

Let’s use the first set of columns for an example. In column A there is a 1 in 3 chance that the number chosen will be 2. In column B there is a 1 in 3 chance that the number will be 1. However if you put both A and B together it will not be 1 in 6 chance for 21, (3+3) instead it will be 1 in 9 (3×3) chance as seen in column C. You can see by looking at the second set of columns; working with letters is done the same way. So getting back the word ‘how‘. It will not be 55+55+55=165, instead it will be 55x55x55=166375.

So now let’s start the experiment. On your spreadsheet, in grid A1 type Hello how are you today?. In grid A2, since Hello how are you today? is 24 characters long, type =55*55*55*55*55*55*55*55*55*55*55*55*55*55*55*55*55*55*55*55*55*55*55*55 then hit enter. Please note the a spreadsheet will not see x as a times symbol, but only as a letter. To multiply you must use the * symbol. Also notice that the equal sign is in the beginning and not the end. This is the only way a spreadsheet can do calculations.

Your answer will be 1 in 587,089,817,274,070,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 chance for Hello how are you today? to just happen by accidental means. If you get something like #### or 5.87E+041 double click on the line between the A and B at the top of the columns. This will adjust the width of column A so you can see the whole number.

In grid A3 type If changes happens 100,000,000,000,000 times per second
In grid A4 type Seconds:
In grid A5 type =A2/100,000,000,000,000
In grid A6 type Minutes:
In grid A7 type =A5/60
In grid A8 type Hours:
In grid A9 type =A7/60
In grid A10 type Days:
In grid A11 type =A9/24
In grid A12 type Years:
In grid A13 type =A11/365.25 then hit enter.

Spreadsheet V edited

Your answer in years should be 186,037,536,845,030,000,000.

As you can see, evolutionists have a bit of a problem. Some say there is no God and that the whole universe with all the stars, and all the planets, is only 14,000,000,000 years old. If that’s not amazing enough these same people claim that within these 14 billion years over 3 million 3,000,000 animal species just accidentally happened. And this doesn’t include those that are extinct. What about DNA? What about the rest of the cell, because DNA alone isn’t enough. You also need the cell wall and the rest of the cell. I believe that evolution is nothing more than an illogical fantasy. The only logical explanation is GOD CREATED!

I believe there a few reasons why some people say they believe in evolution. One reason is they hear it from the “experts” and never question what they hear. Another reason is peer pressure. It is often difficult to go against the crowd. Advertisers know this. “More people buy this car.” “Smart people do this.” In this case: “Smart people know evolutionist are correct.” Well we’ve already proven that’s wrong. The chances of our little sentence evolving is nil. However it only takes a child a few moments to write it. Also many people say they believe in evolution because they’re are afraid of being called a stupid religious dummy. Also consider those who do research with the aid of a grant. They often have families to support, home mortgages, car payments. They can’t afford to loose that grant money.

The last reason, is that there are some people out there (and I believe their numbers are growing) who honestly want nothing to do with God. Some even hate God and say there is no God. (even though I am sure deep down, they know there is God.) Again I will say the only logical explanation is God created. Anything else is a fantasy.

Posted in Christianity, Creation, Uncategorized and tagged , , , ,
29 Apr 2013

Into The Future II

Isaiah 42:9
Everything I prophesied has come true,
and now I will prophesy again.
I will tell you the future before it happens.”

There is so much I don’t understand about Bible prophecies. Well here it goes. I don’t know what will happen in the next few years, but I do know a little about what the Bible says will happen some time in the future.

Some day Israel will be at war and it may look bad, but in the end Israel will win. In Isaiah it talks about weapons of destruction being used against Israel, but these weapons of destruction will fail. Since swords, arrows, guns, even machine guns are not weapons of destruction; I believe Isaiah 54:15-17 is talking about chemical or even nuclear missiles. In other parts of the Bible it says the world will be against Israel. That would mean that even the US could be against Israel.

Experts say that there is no hint of the United States in the Bible, about the end times. It does however talk about China’s massive Army, and about Russia and Iran becoming allies. It also mentions several other countries in the Mideast. They say America isn’t mentioned because either America won’t care what happens to Israel, or we just won’t matter anymore because we would have fallen as a nation. Several places in the Bible it says that whoever hates Israel, God will curse them. Which bring up an interesting video I seen on www.msn.com, about rats in Iran. We all know Iran hates Israel. Could this be the beginning of the fulfillment of Genesis 12:3? I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.

Or what about Deuteronomy 30:7 and Zechariah 14:10-12? Of course Zechariah 14 hasn’t happened yet, but look at the wording of it.

There will be more hardships in the world. There will be times when hardships will ease up some, but over all it will only get worse.

One day there will be a man, who will be very popular with the people of the world. At one point he will be killed but will then be brought back to life. I’m guessing either by CPR or by using a defibrillator which shocks the heart. He will be the only one to bring peace to the Middle-East. Israel will be allowed to build a temple for the Jews to worship there. Finally the man will sit on the throne in the temple and will call himself god and the people of the world will believe it and will worship him. This man will seem to do miracles. He will require people to get a mark on their hand or forehead, otherwise they would not be allowed to buy or sell. This of course is the Anti-Christ. However, whoever does receive the mark, will be doomed forever.

This is how I believe it will all happen; although I could be wrong. Right now there is instant credit card information world wide. If you go to another country and charge something, it would be processed instantly. Law enforcement can instantly check for outstanding arrest warrants and criminal back ground. With the latest shootings there is talk about a database for people who are mentally unstable. The problem with all this information right now is identity theft. If there is a way to mark people with a chip, it would greatly cut down on identity theft and other activities like buying and selling illegal stuff. I’m still wondering about the number 666. Will people have a serial number 666 digits long? Or will the chip have 666 bits of information?

Revelation 13:15
New Living Translation (NLT)
He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die.

Some translations say image instead of statue.

Strongs Greek Dictionary
statue – 1504 eikon i-kone’ from 1503; a likeness, i.e. (literally) statue, profile, or (figuratively) representation, resemblance:–image.

If you give life to a statue, you would have a robot. It would be hard for everyone to worship a robot. If you give life to an image, you would have a video. This would be much easier for everyone to worship. I don’t know if this would be proper Greek or not, but if you add a statue and an image together, and then add life, you would get 3-D video. You can now buy a 3-D Television in many stores.

Genesis 15:18-20
New Living Translation (NLT)
18 So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River 19 the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

Of course this hasn’t happened yet and I don’t know when it will. Maybe after Jesus has setup His kingdom in Jerusalem which would be after the Anti-Christ has come and gone. If you look at a map, you will see this will cover about 2/3 of Syria all the way down to and I think including Sinai of Egypt. Also parts of Saudi Arabia and parts of Iraq. I’m sure this will come as a shock to the Muslim countries that want Israel “wiped off the map”. Israel is here to stay.

I don’t know if it will be President Obama or a president after him, but someone will either do something bad to Israel or turn his back on Israel when Israel really needs help. At that time the United States will fall. I really believe, God will see to it. I don’t know how it will happen. Maybe war, maybe economics, or maybe the government will just fall apart like with the Soviet Union. I don’t know.

John 3:16, says that who ever believes in Jesus will have everlasting life. That means life with Him. Also at some point in time (no one knows when) Jesus will have those who put their trust Him taken away. After this happens, those who are left behind will suffer greatly. This could happen in the next five minutes or the next five years or longer, no one knows. But I know it will happen because much of Ezekiel 37 has already happened back in 1948 when Israel became a nation again. At that time, it seems that we have re-entered “Biblical times”.

I will go out on the limb and say that Obama may make life difficult for Christians. (But I really hope he doesn’t.) During his first term in office Obama has told the Catholic Church that they must provide birth control either through abortion or any other means for his Obamacare. Christians sued to stop him. He also tried to send millions of dollars of tax payer’s money to Planned Parenthood to fund abortion. Again Christians tried to stop him. There has been other times when Christians have signed petitions and or sued the United States Government. It seems reasonable to me now that since Obama no longer has anything to lose because this is his second term, he could retaliate against Christians. (Again I hope he doesn’t) What this will look like, I don’t know.

Matthew 10:22
You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

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