My Thoughts

My Thoughts on Christianity and Other Things

Archive for the tag “christianity”

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.

Posted in Christianity, Prophecy, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
17 Apr 2013

HELP!

First before I start this post I will say that my wife and I have been praying for the victims in the Boston bombings. We also been praying that the police would find and arrest those who were responsible for this. And thank you to those of you who helped the injured.

This link has caption for the Beatles song “Help” for my deaf and hard of hearing friends.

Galatians 6:2
Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.

Why is it so hard to ask for help sometimes? You know there are many people who would like to help.

One day when I was walking out of the bank, I saw a couple with car trouble. I had no problem giving them a jump start. In fact I was happy to do so.

A few years ago the heater went out on our car. The only way to fix it was to replace the heater core which would require disconnecting all the wires and vacuum hoses, then removing the dashboard. Removing all nuts and bolts, and disconnecting all the wires and vacuum hoses can be done by only one person. Lifting the dashboard to remove it however, requires two people. I had no problem going to a neighbor asking for help, and he had no problem with coming over to help me.

Yet when it comes to money, food, housing, or some weird health problems, we often don’t like asking for help. Why? Often times we are embarrass. Or other times we may think ‘it’s our problem and it’s none of their business’. Or we may think no one would understand or maybe no one would believe us. And then some of us may simply think it’s too shameful.

There are also times when someone would need help and there is absolutely nothing anyone could do but, be there for them.

A few weeks ago my wife and I went on a trip to visit my dying Dad. He was dying of cancer and even with pain killers, he was in great pain. Sometimes I just sat next to him. We all did. Sometimes when he was in pain I told him to squeeze my hand.

If you know someone who is sick or recovering from a bad injury, go to them. Visit them even if you do nothing but sit there in the chair next to them and sleep. It will mean a lot to them. And if you need help and someone wants to help you, it might be wise to let them. But sometimes, use caution.

Some of you know I have a hearing loss. For many years I just didn’t let people know. I bluffed a lot when it came to hearing someone. Many of my customers had no clue that I couldn’t hear every word they say. Yet I was able to repair every piece of machinery they brought me. One day however I messed things up a lot. The customer was mad. When he found out I couldn’t hear well, he was mad about that. He said I would avoid lots of problems in life if I would just tell people that I have a hearing problem. Right now many of my hard of hearing friends are saying, “We keep telling you that!” I know. I’m doing better now.

Still if you need help, ask for it. Tell you friends. There are lots of people who would be happy to help you.

If you know of someone who needs help, ask if you can help them. Some of you don’t need to be told this, I know. But for some others, I will say, ‘do it anyway’.

Matthew 25:44-45
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’

Thank you to everybody who has helped, and prayed for my wife and I about my parents.

Posted in Christianity, Hearing Loss, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
24 Mar 2013

Into The Future

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

What does 2013 hold for us? What will life be like? Well based on God’s word I have some good news and some bad news. But after that I have really good news!

First, no matter what happens the sun will rise and set again. I am happy to say that based on Revelation 20:2-7, a giant meteor will not crash into the earth wiping out all life. Nuclear war will not destroy the planet. Earth will not go into a black hole or a super nova. Space aliens will not suck out our brains. Giant worms like the ones in the movie Tremors will not eat us alive. OK I’m getting carried away here. Point is no matter what happens today, the Earth with people living on it, will still be around for another 1000 years.

I use to worry a lot, about some things that might happen. I never worried about space aliens or giant worms though, just other things. When I was in the Coast Guard stationed in Alaska in the mid 1970s, I had classes on NBC warfare. (Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical) What ‘wonderful’ things the Soviet Union had in store for us. When you hear that the USA and the USSR together could wipe out everybody on earth; it gets scary. But then I read Revelation 20:2-7 and realized the end of the world would never happen in my life time.

Recently I heard that terrorist could launch an EM blast wiping out all the electronics in all of America, sending us into the dark ages. But I don’t believe it will happen either. Revelation 13:12, talks about the whole world worshiping the Beast. I can’t see that happening without the electronic media. So your video games and cell phones are safe.

Now for the bad news. In Matthew 24:7-12 Jesus said:
7) Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. 8) But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.
9) “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. 10) And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. 11) And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. 12) Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold.

There is so much I could say here, and most of it is not good; but I won’t. Not yet anyway. So now let’s go to the really good news.

Many believe that those who follow Jesus (both Jews and non-Jews) will be gathered out of here before the Anti-Christ shows up. I hope they’re right. That would mean we would miss the very worst of what this world will go through. But it gets better. We will be with our Lord who died and rose for us. But there’s more. 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 says we get new bodies! But wait; there’s still more!

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
Revelation 21:4

Posted in Christianity, Prophecy, Uncategorized and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
16 Mar 2013

The Truth

For this week’s post I was going to write about my thoughts of prophecy. But I decided not to, as you can see. One of my other interest in the Bible is a little like archeology.

What if I told you that in the early 1980s someone wrote something like the following?
“They cut tunnels in the rocks and uncover precious stones. They dam up the trickling streams and bring to light the hidden treasures.”
You wouldn’t think anything of it. You may think some miners were damming up a stream for making electricity.

But if I were to quote Job 28:10-11, some of you may have a problem.
Job 28:10-11
They cut tunnels in the rocks
and uncover precious stones.
(11) They dam up the trickling streams
and bring to light the hidden treasures.
New Living Translation

Some of you have came to believe that ancient people were uneducated. Yet we still don’t know how the pyramids in Egypt were built.

There are some who believes in creation and that there really was an Adam and Eve. There are some others who believe that there really was no Adam and Eve. There was no creation. Both groups may say they believe in Jesus. 100%. If the second group say they believe in Jesus yet don’t believe in creation, then how do they account for Jesus genealogy in Luke 3:23-38? There is no man before Adam.

In John 14:6 Jesus says He is the way the truth and the life, but most people don’t believe it. Because of this they are judged. I wonder how many Israelites believed that all they had to do was to look at a bronze snake on a pole to be cured of a snake bite.

There was a time when I used to believe in evolution. But after a while I came to believe evolution didn’t make sense. I now believe God created. I have seen evidence and now believe that the story about ‘people are here through evolution’ is nothing but a fantasy. If what the Bible says about creation is true, then what it says about Jesus is also true. If what the Bible says about Jesus is true, then what it says about creation is also true.

Jesus told us to spread the Good News. It’s a lot easier to ask someone to believe God’s word if we believe it ourselves.

Posted in Christianity and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
08 Mar 2013

Am I Worthy?

Psalms 25:1-3
O Lord, I give my life to you.
2 I trust in you, my God!
Do not let me be disgraced,
or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat.
3 No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced,
but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.
New Living Translation

As you can see I started blogging not long ago. After looking at some of the other blogs I think to myself: ‘Compare to many of these people, I am way out of my league. What in the world am I doing?’ I not worried about enemies, but I still don’t want what I do be a disgrace.

Someone once asked me if I had the spiritual gift of evangelism because of all the people I told about Jesus. I said “Of course not. You don’t see me renting out a coliseum somewhere do you?” Yet another time I asked someone else: “You do know why some people who are witnessing for Jesus are slow and very low key where some others get right to the point and not very gentle, don’t you? It’s because there are so many different types of people out there.” When I answered that I didn’t have the gift of evangelism, in my mind I was telling the truth. But was I really?

Many of you know that I have been a mechanic for most of my adult life, though I have done other things. If something in my tool box were to go up to one of my wrenches and say, ‘I am not a tool because I can’t turn nut and bolts.’ The wrench could answer back saying, ‘That’s silly. Of course you’re a tool. You’re a screwdriver.’

We all have our place, or our job in the Kingdom of God. My ½ inch wrench can not take the place of my 7/16 inch wrench. God may want to use some of us all the time, but others of us maybe only once in a while. I have a tool that I very rarely use. It looks much like a can with both ends removed. It can not be used for anything at all, except for one thing. Installing pistons in engines. No other tool can do that job.

Yes I am often very short on words. But God still has use for me. Just like he has use for you. (but many of you already know that) Very few people know this, but at one time I wanted to become a pastor. God said ‘no’ and locked the door. I know of a church made up of bikers. I visited that church once. Motorcycles filled the parking lot. The pastor has long hair and beard, a leather vest, and is just an old biker guy. The church was very much alive with fellow bikers singing praises to the Lord. God’s Spirit filled the church.

I’m not saying that God only wants people to preach. Very far from it. What I’m saying is that God created all of us to be individuals with our own individual gifts. Romans 12:6-8 makes that very clear.

So what is your gift? What is it you like to do? Not what you think you should, but what you like to do? I often like to tell stories, (maybe that’s why I started a blog) fix things and learn about things. What if you believe you can do nothing but smile and be a friend to someone. Then do it in the name of Jesus! There is no disgrace in that. Many of us need someone like that sometimes. I guess that means that here is no disgrace in what we do for our Lord.

Posted in Christianity and tagged , , | Leave a comment
05 Mar 2013
2 Comments

Why Are We Falling Apart?

January 2006Luke 21:11
There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
NIV

Cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, and the list can go on. None of it is fun. It seems like more and more people are becoming sick. Most likely everybody knows somebody with health problems now.

Famines are becoming a problem too. Many food banks are having problems feeding the hungry.

All over the world there are earthquakes, some of them are huge like the one in Japan. We are even getting earthquakes in places where we didn’t know there were fault lines. Our world seems to be falling apart, and there is nothing we can do about it.

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
NIV

How can this be? Once in awhile someone would talk to me about the economy and about world events. When I was asked what I thought, I would say that things will get worst. I mean we will still have good times, but overall, things will get worse. I’m sure people thought of me as a real pessimist. But I’m really not.

I believe I am learning the secret of Romans 8:28. Since I have been a Christian I have heard stories of Christians in far off lands going through much hardship and persecution. I’ve always been amazed at the stories. One day, I read an article where some Christians actually gave up there faith in Jesus because of persecution. I found myself very disappointed in them. Why? After thinking about it, I realized that I was being encouraged by the endurance of other Christians. Could Romans 8:28 be talking about or for anyone who loves Jesus, even from a different place or time? I believe so. Because of their love for God; I was benefitting from them because of my own love for God.

Many of you know about the foot problem I have been having for years. Sometimes the pain has been very great. There was a TV commercial for a headache medicine, for people with migraines headaches more than 15 days out of the month. I remember thinking, “What wimps. I often have foot pain 28 to 31 days out of the month, and some days are bad.” (I have good days and bad days. But the good days at this point in time out number the bad days.) One day someone told me that one of the reasons he turned to Jesus was because of the way I handled the pain in my foot. To be honest I do not understand how this works. But I’m honestly thrilled that God used my foot for His glory. It makes the pain worthwhile. There is now one more person who is going to Heaven; which brings us back to Romans 8:28. Anyone who has read my book (available at Amazon.com) knows that people coming to Christ is important to me.

My friend who now loves the Lord benefitted from my problem even before he knew the Lord. Many Christians today who love our Lord are benefitting from Paul’s problem which has happened long before our great-great-grandparents were even thought of!

One day I was talking to someone about his cancer. What he is going through is horrible! If he can handle this then certainly I can handle my foot pain. If not then I’m a wimp! I prayed for his recovery. He’s OK now.

By now many of you are wondering why I wrote down Luke 21:11 up at the top of the article. To me it brings hope because Jesus is talking about the end of the age. Think of it; no more strokes, deafness, blindness, heart attacks, cancer or any other lousy suffering. When will this happen? No one knows; but I hope it’s soon.

Many years ago I used to be in the Washington Army National Guard. When I was on guard duty at Fort Lewis, in the very early mornings, it would often be cold, dark, and damp. At 4:30 in the morning (0430 for you military types) it’s quiet and you’re all alone. The minutes seem to drag on forever. You’re cold and then it starts raining. And there you stand, cold, wet and miserable. It feels like this could last forever. You know that the sun will come up, and when it does and after you get breakfast, the sun will warm the air, things will become much better.

Luke 21:27-28
27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
NIV

I know some believe that Jesus is talking about after the Anti-Christ or the False Prophet. I also know that some believe that Jesus will come before the Anti-Christ and have His people removed in the rapture. OK, fine. The point is our hardships and suffering will end.

I believe that as believers in Jesus, if we hang in there then eventually things will be better, much better. As I used to wait at Fort Lewis for the sun to come and warm the day; I now wait for the Son to come and save the day.

Hebrews 10:25
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
New Living Translation.

Posted in Christianity and tagged , ,
03 Mar 2013

Do Not Steal

I wrote this while Amanda Knox was still in prison in Italy. This is the first time it’s been published.

Exodus 20:15
15″You must not steal.”
New Living Translation

One day I was at a meeting where they had different types of refreshments out. Some cookies, pumpkin bread and a bowl of small oranges. At the end of the meeting the woman who brought the oranges; told the people to take as many oranges as we want because she did not want to take them back home with her. I took two of the small oranges and stuffed them into my coat pocket and left.

On the way home I stopped at a grocery store in town. After I finished my shopping I walked up to the cashier and paid for the items and walked out to my truck. No problem, so what. However, when I was fastening my seatbelt I found the two small oranges still in my pocket. What if I was caught inside the store with fruit in my pocket? They of course would think I was stealing from them, when in fact I was not!

There are some people who, believe it or not believes this country should be under Islamic Shari’ah law. I’m glad we are not. If we were and if I was caught with the oranges in my pocket; this is what could happen:

I would be arrested and tried. However under Shari’ah law I believe I would be guilty until proven innocent. Would they show the security tape that would show I never entered the produce area? Maybe, but maybe not, because after all, I am a Christian. If I would be found guilty then under Shari’ah law my hand could be cut off. This is according to a small book: Shari’ah law: Radical Islam’s Threat to the U.S. Constitution; page 19; by ACLJ.org.

Here in America under what I believe is Judeo-Christian law I would still be arrested. However my trial would be different.

Deuteronomy 17:6
But never put a person to death on the testimony of only one witness. There must always be two or three witnesses.
New Living Translation

In other words you are innocent of a serious crime until proven guilty. In this country we extend it to non-serious crimes also. Also the video showing that I never entered the produce would be a nice help. If for some reason I was found guilty I would still get to keep both of my hands. I like that.

While writing this; I’m thinking ‘I bet Amanda Knox (the University of Washington student) would have liked it if in Italy you would be innocent until proven guilty.’

There is another law from the Old Testament that I like. Unfortunately we don’t seem to have it in this country. Let’s say your car was stolen, but they caught the bad guy. However your car is resold, stripped for parts, or totaled in a police car chase, or what ever; you choose. The thief is arrested and found guilty, but there is no car to return to you or is damaged. What then?

Leviticus 6:1-5
Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Suppose one of you sins against your associate and is unfaithful to the Lord. Suppose you cheat in a deal involving a security deposit, or you steal or commit fraud, 3 or you find lost property and lie about it, or you lie while swearing to tell the truth, or you commit any other such sin. 4 If you have sinned in any of these ways, you are guilty. You must give back whatever you stole, or the money you took by extortion, or the security deposit, or the lost property you found, 5 or anything obtained by swearing falsely. You must make restitution by paying the full price plus an additional 20 percent to the person you have harmed. On the same day you must present a guilt offering.
New Living Translation

Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross; there is no need for a guilt offering. However paying back the full price of the car plus 20% would sound good for the victim. I would even say that if the victim gets 10% and the police gets other 10% sounds good. In this day of economic problems, maybe there would fewer cops laid off.

Getting back to beginning of my thoughts; I am very thankful that I live in this country with the laws we have. If worst comes to worst, I still get to keep my hands.

There is one thing I would like to say about Muslims. Jesus died for them just like he died for us.

John 3:16
“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.”
New Living Translation

Posted in Christianity and tagged , , | Leave a comment
02 Mar 2013
1 Comment

He Likes Me A Lot!

Romans 5:8
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
Why, would God even like me? Why would He like you? It’s mind boggling.
I have been a mechanic for many years. I have tools that are older than some of the people reading this. The other day I was looking for my air nozzle so I could blow something off with my air compressor, but I couldn’t find it. And it bothered me; just like any tool that I might temporary misplace. I have good tools, but there is nothing fancy about them. Many of them are scratched, marred, nicked, and just are not pretty anymore. But I like my tools.
Also like many mechanics, I would sometimes modify a tool for a special use. For an example once I cut notches in a pair of locking pliers with a cutting torch so I could do a certain job easier. I used that modified tool a lot over the years when I had my shop. I have several tools now that I have cut or ground or bent to do a job easier. I keep all these tools. I like my tools.
One day I was working on my wife’s car, when I found I needed a very special puller to remove a timing belt sprocket from the engine. The only place I could buy one was through Chrysler; and they wanted a lot of money for it. To make it worse it was on back order so I would have to wait six weeks. So I made a pattern, drill some holes in a place of metal and welded a nut on it, at just the right place. When I was done I had the tool I needed for almost no cost. Because I simply use a torch to cut off the metal I needed, and never ground down the rough spots or painted it or anything; it was a very ugly looking tool. But it worked beautifully. I kept that tool also.
Here is an odd fact about mechanics. We know our tools. When I was in the Army National Guard many years ago, the mechanics were issued tools to use. We were responsible for these tools. Several times there would be three of us working on a vehicle of some kind and our tools would get all mixed up together. When the job was done, we would sort out our tools. All of these tools were Government Issue so they were all the same make and model. Yet I would not get Leroy’s ½ inch wrench, and I would not get Jim’s ½ inch wrench. I would get my own. We could tell them apart either by a certain scratch, or a burnt mark, or whatever. We could also tell which tool belongs to whom. We knew them.
As much as I like my tools; I would never die for one. Jesus however willingly died for us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 NIV
We are nicked, scratched and scarred with sin. God still loves us. Some of us may have had our lives changed by injury or sickness. God still loves us. Some of us were born with very unattractive features. God still loves us. He knows each and every one of us. Jesus loves us much more than any mechanic would ever like his tools. People are worth much more than tools, and there are some pretty cool tools out there.

Posted in Christianity and tagged , ,

Post Navigation

Newer Entries →