My Thoughts

My Thoughts on Christianity and Other Things

Archive for the tag “Religion”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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