#when his godly self simply wanted to guide not control

[justaz]

thinking about god!merlin

the boy who did not know what he was or why he was born, questioning if he was a monster. the boy who heard of a destiny too heavy to carry on his own but doing so regardless because it gave him purpose. growing into his own power that seemed to get stronger and stronger every day. warlock!merlin noting that the druids revere him to an uncomfortable level, as if he were their messiah, their saving grace. which, according to the prophecies, is true. he is emrys and emrys is to save them all. the young man who does not abide by the laws of nature, who can create life without taking, who can speak a butterfly into existence, who commands nature with a yell, who can heal any and all ailments without punishment for avoiding death. the man who has died over and over again but keeps waking up, just a little bit off. he can feel his mortality burning away, with every spell, with every druid prayer and offering, with every death. the young boy searching desperately for his purpose and growing into the young man who kills without flinching because what is one little mortal life to him? who answers to emrys more than merlin now. who desperately craves to be young and naive and just. merlin.

[lynessam]

Hi all, and welcome to my house. Where we shall learn about all types of things together. Wherever the wind blows me, (ie, wherever and whatever it is that Spirit has me share,) is where we shall go!

The very first thing I’m going to address, which They’ve been hammering me about, is gatekeeping. Gatekeepers and “closed practices.” Buckle up buttercup. This ride is bound to be bumpy, and definitely not the one you’re expecting.

It’s come to my attention that there seem to be “way too many Chiefs and not enough Indians,” as my mom always used to tell me when I’d decided to boss around the younger kids I deemed beneath me at that time. Whoever it was I’d decided to focus my attention on in that moment, to distract myself from the real problem. Coughs*** Myself.

Now that that’s outta the way, let me share with you, not only why this is so important, but how very dangerous, Spirit keeps screaming at me, this is. Brothers and sisters, we must do better. We must fix this, now.

There has been prophecy after Indigenous Prophecy, that we shall return to the old ways. The real way. The TRUE WAYS. For centuries. It’s happening right before our very eyes. Each and every day, someone finds the courage to walk away from the toxic, patriarchal, religious poison, they’ve been indoctrinated, brainwashed, and smothered in, all their life and then, are jumping head first into Spirituality. Returning to the old ways. Finally heeding the call of their *Higher Self. Some of us have always heard that call, and had the inner knowing too, but still, denied it for decades. Too scared to do what our Divine Guides and Guardian Angels told us, for fear of being ripped to shreds by the very people who claim to be Godly “Good people.” Then finally, we hit the “F*%# IT! Stage.” Which gives us, for the first time ever, the strength to walk towards our Divine Truth. Which is such a beautiful thing! It’s nice to leave behind the shackles of shame, oppression, guilt, demonization, judgment and condemnation for the first time in your life. There’s such a sense of forgiveness, peace, truth, true unconditional love and for the first time ever, the permission (and the freedom) to finally know what it feels like, to be true to ourself! And for some of us who’ve been beaten into submission for decades, that’s HUGE! Now imagine how heartbreaking it is, to then, be hit with the very same judgement and condemnation. But this time, from the other side of the tracks. By the people you thought and hoped, really were the embodiment of “Peace, Love and Light.” That’s a shame! And absolutely unacceptable, is what Spirit tells me. And here, is why.

#1 We, (You, Me,) each and every person on this planet are NOT colors. That’s part of the toxic, patriarchal, dominant white male, division scheme they’ve been brainwashing us with for CENTURIES, solely to keep us divided, separate and at each other’s throats. The way we always have been. ITS A LIE.

#2 Religion, is nothing more than crowd control. That’s all it’s ever been about. Even multiple practices, while some are absolutely beautiful, are still really nothing more than a way, to keep us separate.

#3 Repeat after me, “I am NOT this body. I am not even this mind.” You see, the higher we ascend on this journey, and the more enlightened we become, the more we finally come to realize, we aren’t and never were this flesh. This meat suit. This tub of guts. This, just so happens to be the vehicle we’re driving for the current “lifetime/timeline.” That’s it. It’s not us. We are not it. We, are the spirit inside it. The soul. The consciousness. The essence. That’s WHO we truly are. Everything else, your height, weight, sex, eye color, ethnicity/race, social status/economic class, and religion, is simply part of the 3D construct which was and is, designed to keep you stuck, dumb, suppressed, a sheep, and more importantly, to keep us all turned against each other. It’s a sham. A dupe. A ruse.

#4 Regardless of what the color of your skin is today, know, that in your last lifetime, you could’ve been a completely different ethnicity. You also could’ve been a totally different gender as well. Why do you think there are so many people today, who identify as “gay” or bi? Again, part of the sham. Love is love. Another example would be for instance, a woman in this reality, could’ve been male in her last lifetime, which is who/what her soul resonates most with. The soul identifies more as masculine than feminine, even though she’s a woman here today, in this lifetime. So in turn, she’s attracted to women, not men. It’s the same concept for race, religion, etc.

So please understand, every time you “gatekeep,” not only are you setting your own spiritual awakening process and ascension back, but you are potentially ruining someone else’s. Maybe you don’t understand why it is they “want, or need,” to be a part of a certain practice? Maybe THEY don’t even understand it themselves? They just know they’re being led and guided by the Divine to do so. It’s not for YOU, or ME, or ANYONE to understand, nor to tell another person what they should or shouldn’t, can or can’t, do. That’s not part of our ascension process. It’s a part of theirs. And we should respect that. As long as they’re respectful and on the journey for the right reasons, nothing else matters. And the worst of it is, the Divine keep telling me, every single time, one of us does this, we’re helping the darker forces. The same ones who’ve been ruling and controlling us for centuries. We are helping them remain here and in power. My guides have also began to show me, this misinformation is intentional to stop the Native Prophecy’s from coming to pass. The very evil who dominates, has once again, found something else to make to make the less enlightened, fight about. It’s ego and it’s a lie. But a very well played one. All in the hopes of yet again, stopping the Prophecy. More importantly, to STOP their own demise and vanquishing. Via Gatekeepers. So I need each and every one of you to remember, the next time you reach for “Gatekeeping” as your go-to response, this is what you’re supporting. This, and these beings, who’ve kept us oppressed and asleep for millenniums, have once again found something to make us “squabble” amongst ourselves about. Don’t let them win my fellow Light Beings. 🖤🔮 Let’s do better!

[bleedingmagitek]

Kefka Palazzo (spelled as Cefca Palazzo in the Japanese version), is the main antagonist of Final Fantasy VI. The prototype to the Magitek Knights, Kefka acts as Emperor Gestahl's court mage carrying out his orders, but behind his back schemes for his own ends. Kefka is best known for his many one-liners, his maniacal laugh, his final boss appearance, as well as his sociopathic hatred of everything in existence.

Kefka is a high ranking member of the Gestahlian Empire. He is responsible for magitek experimentation, taking a great interest in the espers, and having used a slave crown to control Terra to take advantage of her magic. He is one of the leaders of the imperial military, leading troops into battle alongside General Leo and Celes to invade towns and expand the Empire. Unlike Leo, he is feared by his own soldiers. While Kefka appears to be loyal to Gestahl, carrying out his more sinister orders, he secretly plots behind Gestahl's back for his own ends.

While previous antagonists in the Final Fantasy series were distant, cold, ruthless, and bent on their goals, Kefka is loud, short-tempered, maniacal, and destructive. He is nihilistic, viewing life and civilization as meaningless, a view he uses to justify his murderous tendencies. Towards his allies, Kefka displays little patience, often talking down to or mocking them, and showing little remorse if they die. One of Kefka's defining character traits is his laughter, a high-pitched whooping cackle. Kefka is a recurring boss throughout, and also the final boss.

Appearance                                        

Ever outlandish, Kefka resembles a jester or clown. In his original concept artworks, and in Dissidia Final Fantasy, Kefka wears an outfit composed of primarily red and yellow fabrics, a mismatched jumble of stripes and polka dots. He wears a red and white striped ruffle around his neck and a red cloak with a yellow and red inner lining. In his field sprite in the original Final Fantasy VI, as well as alternate artworks and, to a lesser extent, an alternate costume in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, Kefka wears green robes with gold linings and red clothing. In his field sprite for the mobile and Steam rereleases, he has a white and red ruffle, purple boots, red clothing, and a brown robe with green fabrics and gold linings.

Kefka's face and hands are covered with white make-up, and he has red eye shadow. However, due to graphic limitations, his field sprite in both the SNES/PSX/GBA releases and the iOS/PC releases has his face and hands having the same skin color as most of the other human characters, save for red splotches below his eyes. His blond hair is tied into a tight ponytail, accentuated by an extending feather. In Dissidia Final Fantasy, his appearance is altered slightly, with Kefka gaining a wide grin resembling a Glasgow smile accentuated in purple make-up as well as having pointed ears. His height was listed as 5'4" for Final Fantasy VI, but he appears taller in Dissidia. In the original Final Fantasy VI, Kefka's sprite gave him slightly gray hair, presumably in an attempt to make him look dirty blonde. In the iOS/Steam rereleases, however, his hair color was explicitly depicted as blonde in the field sprite.

Personality 

Although initially Kefka seems lighthearted and silly, his true nature is maniacal, short-tempered, flamboyant, destructive, and cruel. This is a result of him having been made into a Magitek Knight before the process was perfected. He is a psychopath with no regard for human life nor remorse for the atrocities he commits, and revels in the suffering of others. He cracks dark jokes, breaks out into hysterical laughter upon causing mayhem, and his only joy is causing senseless destruction, death and chaos. Kefka doesn't even consider destruction fun unless lives are lost in the process. He lacks the capacity to feel empathy, implied by his line "We needn't show mercy to those who side with the Returners. ...which is good, because I never seem to have any of the stuff." His bio in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy states he lacks self-control. He is ruthless, as evidenced by his briefing to his soldiers during their march to Narshe. Despite his insanity he is high-functioning enough to plot to access the Warring Triad and to betray his liege. He has no qualms with murdering many of his own men even for trivial reasons. It is implied Kefka is hated and feared by many Imperial soldiers for this reason.

When the Returners infiltrate the Magitek Research Facility Kefka claims he is all-powerful, and intends to become a god, suggesting he suffers from megalomania. After becoming a god he boasts the Returners have no chance against him. According to the Final Fantasy VI creation guide, he is narcissistic, being fascinated with the image in the mirror and dressing up for mirrors. This is implied in Dissidia with Kefka's mirror match quotes being compliments on the other Kefka's appearance. Kefka is a manchild, referring to fighting as "playing" and treating Terra as a doll to be toyed with. In the Japanese versions of Final Fantasy VI and Dissidia Final Fantasy, Kefka frequently uses the first-person pronoun boku-chin when referring to himself, a pronoun usually reserved for young boys, with small hints of this being shown in the localized version via him throwing tantrums at various points in the game. The Dissidia series also hints at his having crossdressing tendencies.

Kefka is characterized somewhat differently between the Japanese and international releases of Final Fantasy VI. In the former, his childish nature is emphasized, while in the western releases, he is depicted in a darker manner, shown knowing and enjoying the pain and suffering he inflicts on others.

What begins as a disregard to human life develops into nihilism, and at the end of Final Fantasy VI Kefka declares the lives of mortals insignificant finding no meaning in things like love and hope, and seeks to destroy the bonds of existence itself. When gloating about unlocking the ultimate power, depending on the version, he either wishes to exterminate everything and everyone (SNES and PS versions), or otherwise simply let people die out and encourages the Returners to embrace their own destruction (GBA, PC, and iOS versions). He finds the concepts of love and hope nauseating, and finds the Returners' examples of finding meaning for life in a ruined world sickening. He has a similar reaction in Dissidia, when he, deducing that Terra and Onion Knight are still friends after their battle, declares that it makes him "want to puke [his] guts out."

Dissidia Final Fantasy shows a more tragic view of Kefka's insanity. Once he is defeated in Shade Impulse, Kefka laments on the futility of life in a soliloquy mirroring his speech in Final Fantasy VI, and fades with a sad laughter. Terra speculates Kefka destroys to fill his broken heart. In Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy before the battle, she wonders if Kefka is being tormented when he repeatedly chants "destroy". Kefka's Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy Museum profile mentions he self-destructed to make himself feel better. This depression relating to his nihilism and being incapable of understanding means other than destruction to give meaning to life was hinted at in the original game when the Returners state what they hold on to to persevere in the World of Ruin. Kefka briefly pauses, as if sad, before ranting that he'll get rid of all dreams. In his god form boss fight in Final Fantasy XIV, Kefka declares that utter ruin is the only thing that will suffice.

In the Japanese versions, owing to his childish nature, he often uses the first-person pronouns boku and boku-chin, though he adopts the formal gender-neutral term watashi just prior to fighting the Returners for the final time, presumably indicating he was superior to everyone else by that point. 

Abilities

Kefka grows more powerful as the story progresses. He attacks Sabin in the Imperial Camp with a simple Morning Star, and could be injured by any attack (although he remarks after the second battle he was holding back). In Narshe, he uses strong elemental and status spells for that point in the game, but they are overall weak in the scope of the entire spell list—his strongest spell at this time is Blizzara.

Kefka acquires more power by absorbing the espers' strength, and by the time he arrives in Thamasa, he can project illusions, single-handedly kill dozens of espers while being immune to their powers, and presumably can use Banish. He can disable the espers' powers, an ability implied to result in the destruction of anyone in close proximity, as evidenced by the disappearance of the three Magitek Armor troopers who accompany him when he uses it. He is still vulnerable at this point, as Celes stabs him aboard the Floating Continent, although he seems more angry than hurt.

Following his taking control over the Warring Triad, Kefka becomes the God of Magic and his strength increases exponentially. He gains godly magical powers to the point of being capable of warping reality as he sees fit: elemental manipulation, power bestowal, and magical absorption. His telekinesis is strong enough to levitate debris from the entire world to form his tower. He can project a pyramid-shaped magical field around him, although it is not specified whether it is intended to be a magical barrier, or a projection of his power. He has become able to use the most powerful of magical attacks, includUltima, and he is even capable of developing his own spells, creating a new spell called Forsaken, (known as "Goner" in the original U.S. SNES release) his signature attack with a magic power of 220, the highest in the game. He is capable of projecting the Light of Judgment, a devastating ray of energy capable of heavily damaging dozens of towns, doing so to smite those who do not agree to his desires (although he at one point implies that he often smites people simply because he finds it fun).

Kefka creates various new monsters to guard his tower, including the revived, but weakened, Warring Triad themselves. Kefka can use his wings for offense, appropriately referred to as Havoc Wing. In Dissidia Final Fantasy Kefka can use Havoc Wing in his regular form in addition to his god form, although he needs to partially transform into his god form to sprout the wings. He can summon angels to sap others of their strength, called Heartless Angel.

[thehumanbeingproject2020]

The Human Being Project

           In the entirety of human experience, nothing has been more transformative for and indicative of homo sapiens than the ability to create. Reflected in the arts of painting, drawing, cooking, writing, music and more modern media such as movies and photography; there is the uniquely human pursuit of recording and beautifying the world around us. I believe that we crave to create as an inherent aspect of our being not only because we are able to but because it makes our lives more enjoyable and loving. I believe this striving for creativity is absolutely necessary for the human experience; it drives us forward to create wonders and has pushed the boundaries of human rights as well as societal structure in every society throughout history.         

          The creation of art in any medium shapes our sense of where we are in the universe and gives us the feeling of personal power almost akin to gods in however limited of a capacity it might be. I don’t believe that this in any way goes against the process of faith unless we tie our personal power into control as some narcissists are want to do. Believing in any religion does not require you to give up personal power and lively pursuits, it simply asks you to acknowledge a guiding force above it all. The noble pursuit of artistic beautification and personal human power over a small sector of our existence touches the lives of every person in the world, no matter their exposure to civilization. From the largest city centers to the wilds of Amazonian forests, art exists in countless forms to support and explore the human condition. I think the most important hallmark of a successful and growing civilization throughout history has in fact been the emergence of an artistic class and tradition; the ability to create more whimsical artistic talents meant that society had grown safe enough to allow it.

           While I agree with Scharen on his statement that the modern world of secluded artistic communities and individual pursuits could spell danger, especially for younger members getting sucked into the well of ego, I also believe that the massive variance of artistic forms allows for what Christians  believe are God given gifts of free will and self-creation in God’s creative image. According to his own philosophy, the ability to create art, when done through a true willingness to bring beauty to the world or attention to a cause can be truly godly in their pursuit, especially when coupled with the faith that so many billions around the world hold in their hearts regardless of a changing and increasingly materialistic world.

           I have included at the end of this blog a short write that I was inspired to create through the reading of Scharen and the watching of an old movie last night.

[seanofseancha]

You don’t have to listen to these;

Today, my goal is to encourage us not to listen to these discouragements that the enemy, Satan, continually bombards believers around the world.

Personally, it was months ago when I struggled with most of these discouragements I will write in this blog post. Most of them, I battled and lost, and realized that, they are not to be fought, rather they are to be dealt— no matter how many reasons we throw on them and how many justifications we do for ourselves, our enemy have overthrown kingdoms and empires, so dealing them in and with the Lord is the best way to overcome them.

May it remind you as you read that Jesus said,

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” —John 10:10 ESV

The Bible is very clear, the goal of our enemy is to steal, kill and destroy. The goal of the good Shepherd Jesus is to give us life and that we may have it abundantly. We have interpreted this verse too many times , that it has shifted us to focus only to the purpose of the Good Shepherd— a meaningful and significant life, a life not without problems but with purpose and satisfaction. In such a way, that we missed the goal of our enemy, which is the exact opposite of Jesus, to take the life out of us.

Have you felt that? As if life was taken away from you? A joyless, empty, and pointless life. With no meaning, purpose and significance. That is what the enemy wanted. To take the life God has intended for you and me.

In simple words, here’s what the enemy wants.

“The enemy’s main goal is to discourage you.”

Today, I will share three strategies of how the enemy will try to discourage us, and how knowing them and being vigilant about them through the Holy Spirit and reading God’s word, may guide us to be able to guard our hearts and minds from these life-depriving, joy-stealing and peace-destroying discouragements.

Subtle deceptions

If there’s one thing we need to learn, and I learned the hard way in the short years of my Christian life— your mind is a battlefield. It is won and lost in the mind. That is why guarding your minds is necessary in determining the subtle deceptions.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’. And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” —Genesis 3:1-4 ESV

Ever since man’s fall, the enemy’s way is to make us question God. To make us doubt God. To make us believe that God does not take His word and He is hiding something from us. He always tells us, “Did God really said that?” And then deceives us to not believing God. How many times did we believe the enemy with what God has said?

“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” —Psalm 139:14 ESV

How have we believed the lie that we aren’t beautiful and handsome and that we must fit the society’s standard to be beautiful and some number of likes to be approved? When God has said, that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Ps 139:14). Why have we believed? Because we have been lied to, and we keep on believing that lie. It has been planted in our minds, a landmine that eveytime we step on basis of our looks and fame, blows us into insecurity and inferiority. Sadly, so subtly, we have been lied.

Deceptions are lies covered with some truth.

They are not easy to notice because they seem right, but altogether wrong. A complete lie you won’t believe, but the truth seasoned with some false information is a strategic way of letting someone believe something. That’s what make it so subtle, deceptions. Unless you know the truth, you will never be able to distinguish what is the lie. You have to know and taste what is real so you can know what’s counterfeit.

The S-Word

Too bad that only a few of us value truth, and how easily we shout we are in pain because of the afflictions these lies bring to us. So knowing that God desires that we may have life and have it abundantly, he personally involved Himself in producing the greatest reminder of all—the Scriptures.

In my own life, I think what deceptions does to a Christian, is to lower his guard. To give up just a little bit his defenses, because there’s seem to be no imminent attack. And when he was already unguarded because he has been deceived, his kingdom was attacked and a great plunder was taken from him. It reminds of the verse about self-control.

“A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” —Proverbs 25:28 ESV

God loves you that He desires that you read His word. If ever you have been defeated and overwhelmed with the all the discouragements? Go back to His word. Remind yourself what God has said. Read it, not only when you failed, but so that you may be kept from failing. Love His Word. Marry the Bible. Just as George Muller has said,

“What is the food of the inner man? Not prayer, but the word of God; and . . . not the simple reading of the word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts.”

If you want to be kept from the subtle deceptions of the enemy, then you have to stay with your Bible all-day. Not only scanning it, but thinking about in every moment. I have never seen a Christian so weak, who have so intimate with God’s word. But I have seen how defeated I get when I don’t read His word.

Messy Distractions

Another strategy that the enemy wants us to do is to focus on the wrong things. Just as the mind is where the battle is the lost, where our eyes are gazed is of absolute importance too. Where do you look at? To whom are your gaze fixed on?

For David, his gaze was on the LORD’s;

One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. —Psalms 27:4 ESV

Why do you think David’s gaze is in the LORD? Because he learned that,

“he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent, sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD.” —Psalm 27:4-5 ESV

The context of the passage was a terrible time for David, enemies and armies around him to subdue him, too much noise and threats from his enemies to kill him and too much distractions for his life. But all these he has overlooked, why? Because his gaze was on the Lord. Remember when Peter was able to walk in water and then, because he stopped looking at Jesus but focused on the waves that he began to sink? He lost his gaze.

The same way, how our enemies will gives us too much of life’s distraction to lead us to focus on the wrong things or on these distractions.

And here’s the subtle part, sometimes, the enemy’s goal is not so that we may focus on the wrong things, but to simply keep us busy so that we may not do what the God-things are for our lives.

I recall how many times I focus on my own strength and fail to do what God’s will for my life. I confess that sometimes I lose my gaze in the Lord, that I begin to look at myself, at other people. Then I began to pity me, insecurites floats in and I get discouraged to keep on going. Why? Simply because I gazed on the distractions set in this world, instead of looking unto Jesus.

Look unto Jesus

The unknown author of Hebrews encourages us,

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” —Hebrews 12:1-2

The ‘cloud of witnesses’ here does not just specify our fellow believers, but all the saints who have overcame this world through Jesus, those who have departed and lived a godly life through Christ. If they have done it and have persevered, then we could run with endurance too! Look at Jesus, don’t look at yourself, to others and the distractions of this world, look in the finish line! Look at Jesus!

The Disqualifier

No matter how old you are in this Christian life, how many books you have read, and how many conferences you have attended. You will always struggle with sin. Jesus freed us from the penalty of sin, we are justified, and through the Spirit, liberates us from the power of sin over us, and one day in heaven, will be completely liberated from the presence of sin. What a glorious hope and promise!

However, life sometimes kick us the hard way or we kick along the goads. We fail big time, we have been reminded with these regrets, and people got hurt. Then a voice whisper saying, “It’s pointless. I wonder if God has really saved you.”

“How could you do that to someone?”

“Because of what you’ve done, you don’t deserve it anymore.”

“You are disqualified.”

Some time in our lives, we could be legalistic with our standing before the Lord. How easy we put it on ourselves why we are saved when God has clearly said,

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” —Ephesians 2:8-9

With all these discouraging voices in our mind, we begin to disqualify ourselves. We wanted to leave our faith. We have failed God already right? But yes, we have been lied to again. We have began to believe that our salvation is not by grace, but by our works. We get deceived.

That’s why the title of this blog is,

“You don’t have to listen to these”.

Because they are lies, they are not what God wants for us. They are not from God, they are from the enemy who wanted us dead again in our spiritual bankruptcy.

I always had this thought;

“When the enemy disqualifies you, that is because he knew that God has qualified you. Focus on the race. Do not believe him, he only wanted you out of the race.”

You are in the race. You are running a good race, and you have an enemy you can’t defeat apart from God. No matter how much you fight, unless you learn its tricks and how to counter them with the Lord. You will keep falling again and again.

So a final thought. Now that you know all these, and that you don’t have to listen to them.

Then who and what are you to listen? His Word—the Scriptures.

What I told youu, is not a secret. There’s nothing there that makes you overnight an overcomer, but it leads you to be an overcomer in the Lord. A victor and a conqueror.

Jesus said,

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” —John 16:33 ESV

The promise is that he overcome the world. Take heart my friend and,

“Read your Bible. Live in it. Marry it. Satisfy yourself in it. Know God and the truth in it. May you consume it just as you consume food and become a part of you. Meditate on it. Take it to your heart. Ultimately, take God at His Word.”

—All glory to God

[live4thelord]

A Scriptural Guide for Living and Evangelizing in Troubled, Confused Times

There is a Christian hymn, written in the 1940s during World War II, that says, “In times like these, you need a Savior. In times like these, you need an anchor. Be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock.”

There are very few faithful Catholics who are not shocked and dismayed by the rapidity of decline into confusion (sexual and otherwise) of a culture once described as Judeo-Christian. Whatever our sectarian differences of the past (and they were significant and embarrassingly numerous), there was at least basic agreement on the fundamentals of biblical morality and the authority of the Word of God. Most of this is gone—and it has gone quickly. Consider some of the things going on in the world today:

Celebration of homosexual acts (exemplified by “Pride Month”), transgenderism, physician-assisted suicide/euthanasia, the decline of marriage and the family (due, among other things, to widespread promiscuity), the seeming impossibility of balancing generous welcome of immigrants with the need for order and respect for the rule of law.

Even within the Church, sexual abuse and sexual harassment have been too easily overlooked or not taken seriously.

The rapid acceptance in our culture of things that even ten years ago it would have seemed impossible to imagine gaining widespread approval feels like whiplash. Those of us who hold to tradition and believe that God’s teaching and five thousand years of recorded history should be respected have suddenly become out-of-touch—or even worse, hateful, bigoted, homophobic, and just plain mean! All this for failing to fall into step with the new “morality.”

Yes, in times like these we need a Savior!

The early Church experienced similar struggles. As the gospel left the relatively sane but religiously hostile world of Judaism, it encountered the pagan world, which, while not religiously hostile, was morally confused by corrupting sexual practices and entertainment marked by violence and the destruction and disposability of the human person. Sound familiar?

There is one difference, though, and it was noted by C.S. Lewis in his Latin Letters (1948-53): ancient Greece and Europe were like a virgin awaiting her husband while the modern West resembles an angry divorcée. This makes our task today even more difficult. We seek to re-propose the gospel to a cynical world that responds, been there, done that, divorced that, and am now demanding an annulment.

Nevertheless, we have much to learn from the early Church, which experienced similar decadence and confusion. Perhaps a survey of some texts that both describe the all-too-familiar situation and offer advice may be helpful.

These texts from God’s Word do not mince words. They are a tough assessment of a world at odds with God. We live in soft times and shy away from strong, clear descriptions; we prefer euphemisms and pleasantries. However, the world of the New Testament, especially Jesus Himself, spoke boldly, plainly, and without any hint of political correctness.

That said, these texts do not mean to say that everyone who opposes Church teaching has all of these qualities. They speak to the collective qualities of a fallen world governed by a fallen angel. Even we who strive to come out of the world and not be of it do so gradually and imperfectly.

The passages are addressed to both believers and non-believers, all of whom have fallen natures and need to be vividly reminded of this, summoned to courage, and called to speak the truth in love.

The scripture passages are presented in bold, black italics while my commentary appears in plain red text.

Let’s begin first with texts that describe the situation:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father (Gal 1:3-5).

The age then (and now) is described simply as an evil age, for this world is at odds with God and what He teaches. This has been more or less obvious over the centuries, but Jesus Himself warns that the most consistent experience of His followers will be persecution and hatred from the world (cf John 15).

And you were once dead in the trespasses and sins in which you walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind (Eph 2:1-3).

The unrepentant are described as following the prince of this world (Satan), being in disobedience, living in the passions of the flesh, and destined for wrath. These are tragic truths for many unless they repent, and for us if we turn away from the faith.

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake (2 Cor 4:3-5).

The confused are described as being blinded and deceived by the “god” of this age and time. This is a prophetic description of the world in which we live. Do not excessively admire the wisdom or thoughts of this age. Science has accomplished much, but knowledge is not on par with wisdom, and wisdom is what this world lacks. Knowledge without wisdom is like a car without a key or a life without a known purpose.

For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead (1 Peter 4:3-5).

Sound familiar? Adultery, premarital sex, cohabitation, promiscuity, homosexual acts, and the acceptance and even celebration of all these disordered actions. Add to this our modern struggles with addiction and all forms of excess. Yet let anyone, especially the Church, say that there should be limits on behavior and the pitchforks come out: Intolerant, bigoted, homophobic, uptight, hateful! Many don’t understand why we do not simply join in their celebration of all sorts of illicit sexual union, debauchery, and greed. But see what the text says: we do not owe them assent; it is the unrepentant disobedient who will have to render an account to Him who will be their Judge.

But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh (Jude 1:17-23).

In other words, do not be dismayed. The times are unpleasant but not unexpected. For our part, we must not be fascinated by or enamored of what we see around us, nor should we be discouraged. Draw back from this confusion and see it for what it is: ungodly, worldly, and devoid of the Spirit. Have nothing to do with it.

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, … (1 Tim 4:1-2).

Take note: lies, deceit, demonic doctrines, and seared consciences.

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of great trouble. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power … so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith … But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Tim 3:1-8; 14-15).

This is all too familiar. Let’s be clear that there are more problems today than just sex. Greed, consumerism, excess, the arrogance of scientism, the prideful belief that we know better than the ancients, the demand for comfort, and the insistence on flattering our massive egos are all common problems today. We who would believe and seek to come out of this world must examine our lives and repent of drives and actions like these.

The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust and defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme … blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant … reveling in their deceptions … They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray … For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved (2 Peter, various verses).

The hatred of the truth, the blasphemy, and the contempt for sacred doctrine are nothing new, but they are now more arrogantly on display than ever before.

In these passages were many descriptions of what is only too familiar today. It has returned on our watch, and we need to take responsibility for the situation. As the Lord’s witnesses, we are supposed to be prophets to this world. If things have declined—and they have—it happened on our watch! As a Church, we have not been as clear as we should be; we have made compromises and been intimidated into silence. Parents, too, have been largely passive. We have collectively and too easily tolerated contraception, promiscuity, cohabitation, divorce, single motherhood (absent fatherhood), and all sorts of confusion about life, marriage, and family.

What then are we to do? Scripture speaks to witnessing to a dubious, resistant, and rebellious age. Consider some of these passages:

For it is written, “I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe (1 Cor 1:19-21).

Preach with confidence, and when ridiculed, remember that the Wisdom of God is unfathomable to the world, but the thoughts of this age are foolishness to Him. Do not be impressed by or fearful of the foolishness that parades as enlightenment and tolerance. It will neither last nor emerge victorious. God and His wisdom will out!

Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory (1 Cor 2:6-7).

Notice that the rulers of this world are passing away, but the word of the Lord remains forever. Do not lose heart!

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is (Eph 5:15-17).

Stay in conformity with God’s will no matter how much the world scoffs.

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person (Col 4:5-6).

Be gracious but clear. Give answers to doubters with kindness but also with clarity. Do not hide; do not fail to answer.

Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame (1 Peter 3:15-16).

Never, never, never defile the faith through bad conduct or inconsistency. Allow the joy of the gospel to permeate your life such that people will notice and ask you for the reason. Not everyone in this world is so jaded that he will not respond to joy and the message of the truth.

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside (2 Tim 4:2-4).

Never give up. Preach and teach even if people laugh, ridicule, walk out, write to the bishop, or threaten. Preach, preach, preach, even if your own children scoff or manifest confusion and error. Many today will resist and quote so-called authorities to seek to refute you; just keep on preaching. Stay anchored in the Scriptures and the Catechism. Read the Fathers and do not succumb to trendy revisions of the Word of God.

Let this be advice for difficult days. In times like these we need a Savior; thankfully, the Lord Jesus is still here. He himself was scoffed at, ridiculed, called a threat, and finally crucified outside the city gates. Let us be willing to go out and die with Him if necessary, out of love for the many who have been deceived by this confused culture.

[thatjwguy]

Mental Illness Talk (Personal Experiences) 

So, this will be my first blog in quite some time. Feels good to be back, Just feel like i need to discuss some issues. Things haven’t been so peachy in my world. Many thoughts and things swirling around in my head. Lot of them not my own, what i mean is they don't represent my true self, they feel detached from me. I often have anxiety about the thoughts thinking they are mine, but I know its not. You give them power when you analyze them or try to correct them as I often find myself doing. Which never helps cause you just think about the thought even more. Very vicious cycle to find yourself in, just going around in circles in your mind trying to make sense of it all and trying to make it all better. 

Im sure many people do this very same thing, i know im not alone. I just hope people are getting the proper help for things like this because it can get pretty out of control at times. I literally feel like a vice is squeezing my head at times.    Like my brain is pushing up against my skull, very discomforting feeling. The counselor i was going to 6 or 7 months ago said i could have schizoaffective disorder or something of that nature. No official diagnosis of this but i think its also a spiritual matter as well. Spiritual in the sense that it could possibly be a negative entity or multiple attached to me. Biblical accounts do reinforce this thought. The bible clearly states that many people became ill or hade been possessed by spirits. Not that im freaked out, just concerned about how to deal with the issue. 

2 Corinthians 11:13-15

13

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

14

And no wonder, for Satan himself keeps disguising himself as an angel of light.

15

It is therefore nothing extraordinary if his ministers also keep disguising themselves as ministers of righteousness. But their end will be according to their works.

Since trying to walk the Godly path, iv experienced many things that are strange. Such as Visions, Lucid Dreams, Voices, Feeling Detached, Cloudy Mind, Paranoid, And Speaking in tongues. Just to name off a few things, not im not saying its all spiritual, i think its a bit of both. Originally started hearing voices around 2015ish. Started to work outside with my grandad, side note i also made video dedicated to him which i will put up here at some point. Just really odd things that i could not explain, i knew it had to be spiritual to some degree. Other things to note, that others out there in the world have also had a lot of these same things happen to them, often they think its purely psychological or all spiritual. New Age, Buddism, Hinduism, Wicca and Some Christian faiths believe things like this, that they may be contacting outer worldy forces. Angels, spirit guides, dead loved ones and all sorts of stuff. 

Deuteronomy 18:10-12

10

There should not be found in you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire,

anyone who employs divination,

anyone practicing magic,

anyone who looks for omens,

a sorcerer,

11

anyone binding others with a spell, anyone who consults a spirit medium

or a fortune-teller,

or anyone who inquires of the dead.

12

For whoever does these things is detestable to Jehovah, and on account of these detestable practices Jehovah your God is driving them away from before you.

With the new age teachings, i had thought at one point, that you could connect with others on a spiritual level. Perhaps to some degree that may be true, like talking on a telephone without having a telephone, as far as i know, Angeles use telepathy to communicate with one another. No official word in the bible speaks about this though, only accounts of them appearing in spirit or flesh to communicate Gods will for the earth, also the accounts in Noah's day when Satan and his demons came down to become man, then proceeded to bed the women which created the Nephelum. Guess its open for speculation, just don't like to do that too often when it concerns the bible. Should have the cold hard fact with scriptures to back it up. 

Other than that, nothing more could really be said about this matter. My mental problems seem to be staying about the same, even affecting my work life now. Recently lost my job at a tree service because i missed some days and they had noticed i was absent-minded while working, making stupid mistakes and such. When you have multiple voices and disorganized thoughts like this, it really can be a challenge to make it through the day. Keeping yourself together long enough to get by and then the next day repeating the process. Now im on the long path to recovery, trying to seek out help, change meds to see what happens in the long term. Also making more time for my creator Jehovah God, since in the bible it also mentions he is the God of all comfort, throw all your anxieties on him and he will sustain you.

Psalm 34:18

18

Jehovah is close to the brokenhearted;

He saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Suppose many tend to put their faith in ideas like New Age and other things for the comfort. Might seem interesting or enticing to some, worshiping creation, other gods and such thinking if they perform these rituals that they will gain more. Not that its all for selfish reasons, just the allure of it all might take hold in the imaginations of people, thinking they can become something more. Evolving into ascended masters, possibly bring more positive change in the world. Most individuals are well-meaning but i think they fail to understand just how cunning the devil really is.  If he could trick a perfect woman like Eve into believing she could become like a god, knowing good and evil. What makes them think they can't fall into the same trap, sure it might be packaged a little differently but its essentially the same concept. 

Ephesians 6:11, 12

11

Put on the complete suit of armor

from God so that you may be able to stand firm against the crafty acts

of the Devil;

12

because we have a struggle

not against blood and flesh, but against the governments, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the wicked spirit forces

in the heavenly places.

Before i go off on a tangent, which i believe i already have at this point, ill just make this my last thought. We are very loving and caring creatures, wanting whats best for the world, trying to make sense of ourselves and desperately clinging to the idea we can change the world simply by loving one another despite our differences of believe. That all paths might lead to the same creator so that we can sleep with the peace of mind that most will make it to the promise land someday. Wishful thinking can only get you so far though, at some point you have to bite the bullet and realize something is faulty with that line of thinking. No matter how much you want to believe it. It make take some time to come to grips with the idea, like myself. I want everyone to see Jehovah’s promised paradise, it just won't happen that way though. Reality will break your heart sometimes, thats how it is, we cant change that. 

Matthew 7:13, 14

13

“Go in through the narrow gate,

because broad is the gate and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are going in through it;

14

whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are finding it.

So in closing, i want to try to help you understand that i don't look down on anyone who holds these beliefs, in fact, i respect the fact that they have put so much work and time into trying to find the truth, just the dedication/passion that is behind it all. People genuinely want the world to be a better place, just as Jehovah does. Perhaps misguided sure, at least they believe in something though, something more than themselves. That's one step closer to finding out the truth. Keep seeking and it will be revealed to you. Many paths that lead to destruction with many finding it, only one road to life, few finding it. So don't feel bad for these things, feel good that you are trying to make a difference, you want things to change, thats a lovely thing to think about. Never give up searching for whats real, if you want the truth, he will find you one way or another. Its up to you to follow that path. 

Thanks for sticking around till the end, much love as always. Stick around for more fun-filled adventures. :) PS. Song choice is because i feel it accurately represents us a people, not wanting to live in this world anymore, for all the horrific things that happen. Yes, many beautiful things are still here. The song itself reflects how many of us just want to go elsewhere, leave these problems behind. Restart new, hit the reset button so to speak. The darker side of this song might be putting an end to ones life to escape it all. For the most part though, i think its just about not wanting to go through all the pain in this world. 

[frederickwiddowson]

How Do You Know God Exists? - sermon notes revised

I recently watched a comedy about a brilliant little boy who was destined to become a scientist and was an avowed atheist. He simply could not place belief in God within his framework of understanding reality. He had two misconceptions, though, or rather the writers of the comedy did. One, they did not understand what Christians believe and two, they expressed the false notion that science is never based on faith.

Before I get into that I want to point out a debate I watched on Youtube between the militant atheist science celebrity, Richard Dawkins, and a Catholic theologian when, after hearing Dawkins harangue against belief in God expressing what he thought was a description of God, the Catholic said something like, “This is difficult because I don’t believe in the God that he doesn’t believe in.” The atheist had shown that he had no understanding of who God is but only a popular mythology kind of view of an old man with a long beard sending thunderbolts, a sort of Zeus of Greek mythology. Dawkins didn’t say it just like that but it was clear he had no clue of the God of the Bible at all.

So it is with Hollywood writers who will have their characters say the Lord’s Prayer in place of asking a blessing on their food before a meal or in order to put people of faith down will have them say things that aren’t in the Bible but sound Biblical, phrases from old pop Christianity like, “the Lord helps those who help themselves,” as a justification for theft, or, “cleanliness is next to godliness,” to get a child to take a bath.

In this comedy about the genius little boy a preacher makes a statement something like this, “There is a 50-50 probability that God exists. So, I’ll take my chances.” The boy-genius raises his hand and tells the preacher he is confusing probability with chance. There is a 50-50 chance the little boy has a million dollars laying on his bed at home but there is absolutely no probability of it. He also insists he trusts science because it is based on facts.

Well, let me tell you about science. There is a kind of philosopher of science who is called an anti-realist. Now, why would they be called that? Well, for one, they look at something like the Higgs-Boson particle, the so-called God-particle that allows all things to have mass supposedly, and they might say to the theoretical scientists, and of course I’m making this up for my argument’s sake, “Hey, Sparky, the Higgs-Boson particle is valuable because it has the ability to explain something that really happens. It has explanatory power. But, there is absolutely no evidence it exists in reality. In fact, you’re just making it up to justify your worldview and your theories.” I would add, “without God,” but I doubt the anti-realist would care to hear that.

But, we’re not discussing whether the God-particle exists. We’re talking about God. There have been lots of arguments in history regarding God’s existence. There is everything from Pascal’s Wager, which is the one you hear preachers repeat all the time in made-up, as in fake or not-true never-happened, salvation stories they like to use. It goes like this in a shortened way. If I believe in God and He doesn’t exist I won’t know because I will cease to exist. If you don’t believe in God and He does exist, you’re fried.

There have been arguments from Aesthetics, Desire, Conscience, the Moral Argument, the Ontological Argument, and on and on for thousands of years. But, really, the argument for God’s existence breaks down to where we live. The most important proof of God’s existence is that there is something rather than nothing and since stuff doesn’t create itself it had to be created, and that’s where God comes in.

Now, I don’t believe in God because of this. My faith is based on my experience with Him and on the truth of what He has said in His book. Not only have I encountered a risen Saviour in prayer, Bible reading, answered prayer, and in the creation and reality around me but I completely trust His book containing His ministry of reconciling mankind to Himself. I have no doubts. God speaks to my heart through His book changing me without me hearing words in my ear but working on me from the inside in His special way.

You may not find me a credible witness. If I told you I had an Uncle Lloyd you might say, “maybe you did, maybe you didn’t.” You might think I was making Uncle Lloyd up. Well, let me tell you nobody could make my Uncle Lloyd up. But, typically, if a person says they have an uncle or a spouse or a close friend and go on to describe them the listener usually accepts that if they have no reason to doubt the truthfulness or sanity of the person.

However, with God it is totally different. Unbelievers become adamant, raving even, that you are a lunatic, or weak, or small-minded. They cannot accept that a perfectly rational scientist, businessman, or scholar of any type could believe in and love a God who has not revealed Himself to them.

So, let me try to start with some basics. These are things outside of our personal experience with God, a personal experience that no unbeliever can understand or accept unless God Himself touches their hearts.

Let’s take something as complex as life. The astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle was born in Yorkshire, England on June 24, 1915. He was conferred a master's degree from Cambridge in 1939 and then was elected Fellow, St. John's College, Cambridge in the same year. He worked his way to become a Professor of Astrophysics and Natural Philosophy in 1958. He was a leading contributor in the discovery of how the elements from lithium to iron are synthesized inside stars.

Professor N. Chandra Wickramasinghe was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on January 20, 1939, studied astrophysics at Cambridge, and was a student of Hoyle's. He received a Ph.D. in 1963 taught at Cambridge. He later became a Professor of Applied Mathematics and Astronomy at the University College, Cardiff, Wales. He is an expert in the use of infrared astronomy to study interstellar matter.

These are no lightweights although Wickramasinghe has gone a little bonkers in the last few years. But, they both came to the logical atheist conclusion that life came from outer space. Why? Because it was impossible for it to have happened by random chance on earth, not in 15 billion years or a hundred billion years. Let me read you a quote published recently by Dr. Wick…

   “Improbability of Life

The blueprint for all life from bacteria to plants to animals was discovered in the 1950s by Watson and Crick to reside in DNA – in particular in the precise arrangements of the nucleotides A,G,T,C that effectively code for proteins that in turn control cell function. In a series of books and articles published in collaboration with the late Sir Fred Hoyle, I have argued that highly specific arrangements needed for the operation of living cells cannot be understood as arising from random processes. For the simplest bacterium (Mycoplasma genitalium) the probability that its few hundred genes will be discovered by random shuffling of their amino acid components gives a figure of 1 in 10 to the 1000

th

power or smaller. Hoyle and I have compared such horrendous improbabilities to the odds against a ‘tornado blowing through a junk yard leading to self-assembly of BOEING 707 airplane.’” [

Chandra Wickramasinghe

&

Robert Bauval

,

Cosmic Womb: The Seeding of Planet Earth

(Rochester, Vermont:Bear & Co., 2017), Kindle ed., chap. 1]

 1 in 10 to the 1000th? These types of scientists estimate there is only 10 to the 80th power number of atoms in the universe. Saying that life came about by random processes is like me saying that I’m getting handsomer, wealthier, and smarter as I get older. You would just look at me and go, what? I’m joking, right? But, scientists who believe in spontaneous generation, I mean abiogenesis, or life by accident are serious.

So, proof that God exists, step one. Life could not have happened on earth by chance. It’s not mathematically conceivable, not by any stretch of your Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Dr. Who imagination. But, what about it coming from somewhere else? That’s called panspermia and that’s what Dr. Wick believes in.

Well, NASA scientists Peter D. Ward and Donald Brownlee, in their book, Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe, explained that it is also highly unlikely that life came from someplace else as this planet, located where it is, is the best and most likely place for life to exist and, in fact, probably could not exist anywhere else.

So, proof that God exists, step two. Life could not have happened anywhere but on earth. But, it couldn’t happen here by chance. So, something else, or someone else rather, must be happening.

Who could it be?

You know if they could have proven that life could have come together by random events on earth like Miller-Urey’s experiment tried to do and failed in the 1950s it would be astounding. But, you’d have to have nothing and then have something suddenly come into existence for it to simulate God without God. After all, Miller-Urey made something happen with the equipment and chemicals they introduced making themselves in the place of God. But, they did not create life and established conditions that evolutionists do not believe were present in their fantasy of early earth anyway. So, it worked as a publicity stunt but was not good science.

Then, there was Dr. Wimmer in the latter part of the twentieth century that supposedly made a virus out of synthetic DNA. Now he admitted in an interview that he did not create life as a virus isn’t alive, it can’t reproduce itself and needs a host, and he used synthetic DNA.

None of these experiments or any other created life or proved that it could be created by random processes without an intelligent mind involved.

So, now you have the gorilla in the living room. You have something as complex as life and you shouldn’t have it if there were no one to inject intelligence into it. Life isn’t possible without God.

You have the atheist or the doubter demanding, “How do you know God exists?” and you have your own testimony, if you have one, and you have this incontrovertible fact, “Because without God life could not exist.”

You see, we are not just alive. We are aware that we are alive. Science has a huge problem with conscious self-awareness. Step three to proving that God exists. I am.

It has been said repeatedly that consciousness is the window through which we understand. Science has failed to pinpoint the actual brain processes that are behind our awareness. Some neuroscientists and philosophers of science express a deep pessimism that we will ever find an explanation for consciousness. But we know. Every car mechanic or customer service rep, a farmer or bank teller can know what a neuroscientist does not know. We know where consciousness comes from, that function of our spirit.

Zechariah 12:1 ¶  The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.

Scientists say that a good theory, a theory that must supplant other theories, doesn’t have to answer every question. But it must answer more questions than its competitors. The belief in God answers far more questions than theoretical science can even come up with.

God is the greatest of all self-aware beings.

Exodus 3:14  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

He made us. He formed our bodies, our souls, and our spirits. In these verses are all three; body, spirit, and soul.

Genesis 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

1Thessalonians 5:23  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He uses our spirit to see us from the inside.

Proverbs 20:27  The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.

We are made self-aware and our soul is the seat of our self-identity and will and our spirit makes us aware of it, of God, and of all things. It is our understanding, our skills, our drives, our emotions, our yearnings.

It is sad that the atheist or doubter will question your testimony as to whether or not you are a credible witness for God’s existence. That was how I came to Christ, the mechanism He used, the testimony of others. I vacillated between atheism, happy to believe in any religion at all, and really, God just being irrelevant to my life or thinking. But, over time I saw the truth of Christianity in the lives of people around me.

No, it wasn’t because of someone screaming Bible verses at me on a street corner. It wasn’t from someone handing me a gospel tract. It was the testimony of Christians, filled with faith and goodness, relying completely on God for their very survival, trusting in Christ’s righteousness and not their own for eternal life. Their faith was real, and it took time but God impressed on me that reality until I accepted it myself and received Christ on March 19, 1986. It was a Wednesday evening I believe.

The question of whether or not God exists has been a subject of deep philosophical debate for thousands of years. But, even outside of our experience we know.

Psalm 19:1  The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

The proof of God’s existence is all around us. Without God’s existence no reality makes sense for very long.

Ask yourself, if there was no God, then why is there something rather than nothing? Why is something as complex as life here in this space of earth?  If God doesn’t exist why do I know that I am? Where did that come from, o’ wise one? How can we have this conversation?

The universe is finely tuned, so finely tuned that something as rare and fragile as life can live in it. Things like the ratio of the strength of electromagnetism to the strength of gravity for a pair of protons, nuclear efficiency of fusion from hydrogen to helium, the density parameter, the cosmological constant, and a bunch of other intelligent sounding stuff make many scientists insist that the universe is just so and because of that you, me, and that little chipmunk you saw on your deck this morning can exist.

Other scientists invent all sorts of nonsensical things to counteract this belief. They will resurrect the multidimensions of the occult of the late 1800s which impacted theoretical physics then and say there is a multiverse, many universes where things are different and anything is possible. I might even be handsomer, wealthier, and smarter on one of them, in their imagination only of course.

But, the universe is fine-tuned. Now, how does something get tuned? Have you ever seen a radio tune itself? Never mind. In today’s world I suppose that is possible. But, at some point a person was involved; an engineer or someone to tune that radio. How do you think the universe was tuned so close and exact? Who did it? Who maintains it? We all know that if you leave your car in the driveway without maintaining it for thirty years the tires will rot and it will become undriveable. The Second Law of Thermodynamics says that all things fall apart. Oh, and there is this;

Colossians 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

In previous Sunday School classes I presented some scientific studies that expressed alarm at the harmful mutations produced in each generation of people. One of them was entitled, “Contamination of the Genome by Very Slightly Deleterious Mutations: Why Have We Not Died 100 Times Over?” But, we’re here, our biology is preserved, life goes on and the planet is not yet cold and dead.

Again, I say ask yourself, if there was no God, then why is there something rather than nothing? Why is something as complex as life here in this space of earth?  If God doesn’t exist why do I know that I am? Why is the universe so finely tuned as to permit us to exist?

You know, our government has spent millions of dollars searching for extraterrestrials, life on other planets, even microbial. They will continue to do so but will probably never find it. The scientific community has a hunger, a lust, to overthrow God. They are searching for microbes and water on Mars.

In the Rosetta Mission they recently learned that water in space can be vastly different than water on earth so they feel confident in at least admitting that our water didn’t come from comets. But, they will keep searching, hoping to be able to drive the nail in the coffin for belief in the God of the Bible.

There are two other things that scream the truth of the existence of God. One is the very desperate desire to prove beyond all doubt that He does not. Let me read you part of the short religious history of man that God has provided in Romans.

Romans 1:19 ¶  Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

 And in another context an ancient warning;

 Isaiah 66:4  I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

 Remember what King David thought of atheists in about 1000 BC.

 Psalm 14:1  « To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. » The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

 Finally, evolutionary biologists admit an astounding thing. Belief in God, according to some of them, is hard-wired into the human brain. A neuroscientist and the author of several books, Andrew Newberg, wrote a book entitled Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief. He is called a neurotheologist, studying how religious belief and prayer affect the brain.

 On page 129 he wrote, “…evolution has adopted this machinery, and has favored the religious capabilities of the religious brain because religious belief and behaviors turn out to be good for us in profound and pragmatic ways.”

 As evolutionists often do he refers to evolution as he does in other places with natural selection almost as a god in itself rather than just a process or a mechanism by which new species of dog, cat, or deer are produced by environmental stresses or opportunities or human cross-breeding efforts (remember as I pointed out in another talk that there are more than two dozen scientific definitions of species.) The fact is that all of the genetic information necessary for a creature to adapt to its environment are present within the creature’s DNA and no dog ever became a cat and no alligator ever became a trout. But, Newberg, like other of his ilk, refer to evolution as a sort of inert god who unfeelingly adopts and favors in the passage I quoted. In a preceding page he refers to natural selection as not tolerating something. So, it is almost humorous to see how these kinds of scientists use language, at the least, very interesting.

 Susan Mazur, a science writer and journalist who doesn’t appear to be a fundamental Baptist (said in a tongue-in-cheek manner), wrote in her book The Altenberg 16: An Expose’ of the Evolution Industry that, “Evolutionary science is as much about posturing, salesmanship, stonewalling and bullying as it is about actual scientific theory.” (v)

 In any event, this is not a sermon about comparative religions so we’ll leave the religion of evolution alone for now.

 So, to summarize, if you want to look outside of your own experience for proof that God exists I suggest starting with life. There are many other topics we could talk about that prove or at least suggest His existence but let’s stick with the ones I’ve brought up.

 One, there is something rather than nothing and since space dust did not create itself then something or someone did. Two, life could not have begun here on earth and probably not on some distant planet by chance. Some intelligent being had to create it. Three, self-awareness and consciousness imply a reality greater than the physical universe. Four, we are apparently “hard-wired” to believe in God. It is part of our make-up.

 We believe in God because He has communed with our spirit so that we can. We experience Him in our prayer and in the answers to it, the way the Bible speaks to us, in the truth found in it, the way He molds and changes us by our reading and hearing it read, by the reality arounds us that is confirmed in the Bible, and by His miraculous intervention in our lives.

 But, an unbeliever doesn’t have that privilege that we do. So, sometimes you have to think in order to give them something to think about.

 In the end, though, these facts revealed through the Bible and common-sense must be accepted and understood without the arguments. No one ever came to Christ by an argument based on logic.

 1Corinthians 1:18  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

 Tell them the truth as you know it from the Bible and pray that God will open their eyes for there is no other hope for salvation than God Himself opening someone’s eyes. It is not a numbers game like sales. If you hand out a hundred gospel tracts you’re not assured of getting a 2% return. They will only come to Christ, turn to Him, trust in His righteousness and not their own, if God speaks to their twisted, wicked heart like He did to your twisted, wicked heart, all arguments notwithstanding.

[thejesusreport]

Contrary to Popular Opinion, We Need Jesus!

I recently posted (on my Avenger-Equalizer Tumblr blog site and webpage) an article from the Wall Street Journal called “The Enlightenment Is Working” which claimed that “The world has improved by every measure of human flourishing over the past two centuries, and the progress continues, writes Steven Pinker.” Mr. Pinker calls those who see problems in our world “nay-sayers and prophets of gloom and doom.” Needless to say, the world has improved in many areas and in many ways. However, to say that the world “has improved by every measure of human flourishing” is grossly over-stating reality and the increasing problems we have in our troubled society. Whether genocide (Jews, Japanese nuclear bomb victims, Bosnians Serbs, Rwandan Tutsis, unborn children) or violent gun deaths as a symptom of our increasingly depressed and dysfunctional (and superficial, lazy and dishonest) society, such as the increasing number of suicides, many by our own returning veterans, drug overdoses due to opioids and other drugs and the increasingly medicated society we live in with a large percentage of our population on anti-depressants, opiates for pain and relaxation, anti-anxiety drugs and anti-psychotics. There is still considerable hunger and poverty in the world, including in this country, though, as Pinker correctly points out, some of the percentages are a bit lower, though hunger has hardly been eradicated. Anyone who doubts this should visit a soup kitchen in major metropolitan areas or take a “country road” into Appalachia in the mountains of West Virginia. A recent series of articles in the Los Angeles Times pointed out that the homeless population is skyrocketing in L.A. and surrounding areas! With shrinking municipal, state and federal budgets, there are less shelters and substance abuse and mental health treatment centers vital to reducing the homeless population. And developers won’t develop low-income housing unless government steps in and provides money and incentives and planning boards end the racist and anti-poverty exclusionary zoning. Of course, there’s also pollution of the air, land, ocean, lakes and rivers, loss of forests and natural areas and vital wetlands due to over-development, water shortages due to over pumping of dry ecosystems, viral contagions, hunger, wildfires and flooding due to poor development decisions, pointless wars, threat of nuclear annihilation, torture, terrorism, etc. I’m not even counting acts of God such as earthquakes, certain floods and wildfires, hurricanes and tornadoes, tsunamis, volcanoes, etc. Yes, we (even the poor) have more technology, money, leisure time, material goods, consumer luxuries and digital electronics including computers, tablets, phones, etc. but if our material wealth and luxurious consumerism is making us so happy, why are we so depressed and anxious and suicidal?? If our wars and wartime mentality is so just and wonderful, why are our soldiers coming home with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) so severe they commit suicide or end up in mental institutions? And if the #MeToo/#Time’sUP movement can be believed, women are increasingly the victims of sexual abuse, assault and harassment and child-directed sex crimes are rampant. Racism, sexism, classism, extreme nationalism and other forms of discrimination and xenophobia are not going away, actually these abhorrent events are going up in number since Trump took office. This is true even though we constantly focus on these issues in the press and in our national and world conversation! How has our increasingly technological, scientific and rational enlightenment been a boon to all these “victims” of the modern and post-modern world? Is our namby-pamby and Pollyannaish press simply glorifying the mundane and crass parts of the world economy which produce money, excess wealth and material luxuries? Our computer and cellphone literacy has skyrocketed, while reading comprehension and knowledge of history, geography, literature, languages, etc., continues to decline and math scores fall well below other developed nations. Our texting prowess has soared while our relationships and marriages flounder in increasing dysfunction. Do people talk directly to one another anymore? Clearly a significant part of our population is being left behind in the “enlightened” flourishing! Unemployment is becoming entrenched for many minority groups (many of all races have left the workforce entirely), while poor and depressed areas in our country and in the third world are an embarrassment when we have corporate CEO’s making over $50 million per year and we have individuals with a net worth over $120 billion, while poor and working-class families struggle to survive on the federal minimum wage which is still under $8 per hour! I’ve recently read books by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, both titans of the progressive cause, and they cite the increasingly extreme statistics of wealth inequality and the fact that even the so-called middle class is being squeezed. Our tax code and all our laws and corporate bailouts have caused our economic growth to go to the top 1% of wealthy people in this country (could anyone actually use $123 billion?), while the poor and middle class stagnate and fall further behind the so-called American “dream”? It’s even worse in other less-developed nations. Still think we don’t need a Savior? Some say that our sophisticated technological fixes will solve our world’s pollution and environmental problems, but as we continue to over-develop, can we keep up? Scientists say the earth is heating up and that we could see an increase in extinction of rare species and increasing sea-level rise (especially if major Antarctic ice shelves melt) which could inundate low lying areas and destroy whole communities and ecosystems. We have already lost over 50% of our coastal and inland wetlands (which provide wildlife and aquatic habitat, nutrient storage, pollution filtration and flood control) throughout the world, and we’ve lost a large percentage of our vital coastal mangrove forests (which harbor fish and other sea life and provide vital nutrients and shoreline stabilization) and we are losing coral reefs (vital habitat for fish and other aquatic life) to pollution and development. And we cannot manufacture healthy, natural ecosystems, mangrove forests, reefs, wilderness and wetlands. In some areas of America and other countries, we are losing, to callous greed and over-development, virgin forests and buffers for rivers and lakes as well as open space for suburban and urban populations which are a vital place for wildlife to thrive and for harried workers to decompress. There are less and less untouched old-growth forests left and roadless areas are being impinged by recreational and energy exploitation. Rather than conserve energy and oil, we want to destroy the last vestiges of wilderness in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska! Don’t you think that Jesus could make a big difference in our environment? I hear people constantly complaining about this problem and that problem, but when a Savior is mentioned, they almost invariably say “I don’t need any help” or “I can take care of myself.” These answers show pride and ego and an unwillingness to confront the reality that this world is pointed in the wrong direction and in need of Godly intervention. Do we want a “Heavenly Kingdom”? Or will we settle for a depressing, polluted and over-developed, heavily medicated “hell on earth.” With Global Warming we won’t need even to go “down there”! If you look online or in the bookstore, there are literally tens of thousands of self-help and psychology books and thousands more inspirational and spiritual guides. But self-help and inspirational guides are only as good as how they are put to use, much as the Bible and in particular, the New Testament is as good as one puts the commands of Jesus into practice! Greed, selfishness and hedonism have gotten us into the predicament we are in. Therefore, we must not only know the Truth, but we must put the Truth into practice every day. As Jesus said, “Deny thyself and take up thy cross and follow me.” Signed, Stephen M. Theriault Stephen M. Theriault is the author of The Practical Guide to Real Christianity and is organizer/founder of International Citizens Against Corruption and Overdevelopment, one of many groups he has begun. (on Facebook) and Avenger-Equalizer blog. Avenger/Equalizer Blog: www.theavenger.us (also on Facebook and Tumblr, as well as TheJesusReport blog found only on Tumblr.) I am @stevetheriault9 on Twitter.com. P.S. I strongly assert that if it were not for Jesus’ intervention, we would long ago have destroyed the earth with nuclear war. Pray He keeps His finger on the button preventing our annihilation. I continue to tell the Truth whether or not people are listening.

[avenger-equalizer-blog]

Contrary to Popular Opinion, We Need Jesus!

I recently posted (on my Avenger-Equalizer Tumblr blog site and webpage) an article from the Wall Street Journal called “The Enlightenment Is Working” which claimed that “The world has improved by every measure of human flourishing over the past two centuries, and the progress continues, writes Steven Pinker.” Mr. Pinker calls those who see problems in our world “nay-sayers and prophets of gloom and doom.” Needless to say, the world has improved in many areas and in many ways. However, to say that the world “has improved by every measure of human flourishing” is grossly over-stating reality and the increasing problems we have in our troubled society. Whether genocide (Jews, Japanese nuclear bomb victims, Bosnians Serbs, Rwandan Tutsis, unborn children) or violent gun deaths as a symptom of our increasingly depressed and dysfunctional (and superficial, lazy and dishonest) society, such as the increasing number of suicides, many by our own returning veterans, drug overdoses due to opioids and other drugs and the increasingly medicated society we live in with a large percentage of our population on anti-depressants, opiates for pain and relaxation, anti-anxiety drugs and anti-psychotics. There is still considerable hunger and poverty in the world, including in this country, though, as Pinker correctly points out, some of the percentages are a bit lower, though hunger has hardly been eradicated. Anyone who doubts this should visit a soup kitchen in major metropolitan areas or take a “country road” into Appalachia in the mountains of West Virginia. A recent series of articles in the Los Angeles Times pointed out that the homeless population is skyrocketing in L.A. and surrounding areas! With shrinking municipal, state and federal budgets, there are less shelters and substance abuse and mental health treatment centers vital to reducing the homeless population. And developers won’t develop low-income housing unless government steps in and provides money and incentives and planning boards end the racist and anti-poverty exclusionary zoning. Of course, there’s also pollution of the air, land, ocean, lakes and rivers, loss of forests and natural areas and vital wetlands due to over-development, water shortages due to over pumping of dry ecosystems, viral contagions, hunger, wildfires and flooding due to poor development decisions, pointless wars, threat of nuclear annihilation, torture, terrorism, etc. I’m not even counting acts of God such as earthquakes, certain floods and wildfires, hurricanes and tornadoes, tsunamis, volcanoes, etc. Yes, we (even the poor) have more technology, money, leisure time, material goods, consumer luxuries and digital electronics including computers, tablets, phones, etc. but if our material wealth and luxurious consumerism is making us so happy, why are we so depressed and anxious and suicidal?? If our wars and wartime mentality is so just and wonderful, why are our soldiers coming home with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) so severe they commit suicide or end up in mental institutions? And if the #MeToo/#Time’sUP movement can be believed, women are increasingly the victims of sexual abuse, assault and harassment and child-directed sex crimes are rampant. Racism, sexism, classism, extreme nationalism and other forms of discrimination and xenophobia are not going away, actually these abhorrent events are going up in number since Trump took office. This is true even though we constantly focus on these issues in the press and in our national and world conversation! How has our increasingly technological, scientific and rational enlightenment been a boon to all these “victims” of the modern and post-modern world? Is our namby-pamby and Pollyannaish press simply glorifying the mundane and crass parts of the world economy which produce money, excess wealth and material luxuries? Our computer and cellphone literacy has skyrocketed, while reading comprehension and knowledge of history, geography, literature, languages, etc., continues to decline and math scores fall well below other developed nations. Our texting prowess has soared while our relationships and marriages flounder in increasing dysfunction. Do people talk directly to one another anymore? Clearly a significant part of our population is being left behind in the “enlightened” flourishing! Unemployment is becoming entrenched for many minority groups (many of all races have left the workforce entirely), while poor and depressed areas in our country and in the third world are an embarrassment when we have corporate CEO’s making over $50 million per year and we have individuals with a net worth over $120 billion, while poor and working-class families struggle to survive on the federal minimum wage which is still under $8 per hour! I’ve recently read books by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, both titans of the progressive cause, and they cite the increasingly extreme statistics of wealth inequality and the fact that even the so-called middle class is being squeezed. Our tax code and all our laws and corporate bailouts have caused our economic growth to go to the top 1% of wealthy people in this country (could anyone actually use $123 billion?), while the poor and middle class stagnate and fall further behind the so-called American “dream”? It’s even worse in other less-developed nations. Still think we don’t need a Savior? Some say that our sophisticated technological fixes will solve our world’s pollution and environmental problems, but as we continue to over-develop, can we keep up? Scientists say the earth is heating up and that we could see an increase in extinction of rare species and increasing sea-level rise (especially if major Antarctic ice shelves melt) which could inundate low lying areas and destroy whole communities and ecosystems. We have already lost over 50% of our coastal and inland wetlands (which provide wildlife and aquatic habitat, nutrient storage, pollution filtration and flood control) throughout the world, and we’ve lost a large percentage of our vital coastal mangrove forests (which harbor fish and other sea life and provide vital nutrients and shoreline stabilization) and we are losing coral reefs (vital habitat for fish and other aquatic life) to pollution and development. And we cannot manufacture healthy, natural ecosystems, mangrove forests, reefs, wilderness and wetlands. In some areas of America and other countries, we are losing, to callous greed and over-development, virgin forests and buffers for rivers and lakes as well as open space for suburban and urban populations which are a vital place for wildlife to thrive and for harried workers to decompress. There are less and less untouched old-growth forests left and roadless areas are being impinged by recreational and energy exploitation. Rather than conserve energy and oil, we want to destroy the last vestiges of wilderness in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska! Don’t you think that Jesus could make a big difference in our environment? I hear people constantly complaining about this problem and that problem, but when a Savior is mentioned, they almost invariably say “I don’t need any help” or “I can take care of myself.” These answers show pride and ego and an unwillingness to confront the reality that this world is pointed in the wrong direction and in need of Godly intervention. Do we want a “Heavenly Kingdom”? Or will we settle for a depressing, polluted and over-developed, heavily medicated “hell on earth.” With Global Warming we won’t need even to go “down there”! If you look online or in the bookstore, there are literally tens of thousands of self-help and psychology books and thousands more inspirational and spiritual guides. But self-help and inspirational guides are only as good as how they are put to use, much as the Bible and in particular, the New Testament is as good as one puts the commands of Jesus into practice! Greed, selfishness and hedonism have gotten us into the predicament we are in. Therefore, we must not only know the Truth, but we must put the Truth into practice every day. As Jesus said, “Deny thyself and take up thy cross and follow me.” Signed, Stephen M. Theriault Stephen M. Theriault is the author of The Practical Guide to Real Christianity and is organizer/founder of International Citizens Against Corruption and Overdevelopment, one of many groups he has begun. (on Facebook) and Avenger-Equalizer blog. Avenger/Equalizer Blog: www.theavenger.us (also on Facebook and Tumblr, as well as TheJesusReport blog found only on Tumblr.) I am @stevetheriault9 on Twitter.com. P.S. I strongly assert that if it were not for Jesus’ intervention, we would long ago have destroyed the earth with nuclear war. Pray He keeps His finger on the button preventing our annihilation. I continue to tell the Truth whether or not people are listening.

[floodstudentministries]

Fasting and Prayer

Fasting: abstaining from all or some kind of food or drink for a period of time, especially as a religious observance.

Prayer: a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God

Fasting and prayer are designed by God to be coupled together. If you do not spend your time of fasting in communication with the Lord, then you’re not fasting — you’re simply not eating, which is of no spiritual benefit.

The reason that food is fasted is because the desire to eat is one of our strongest fleshly desires.

“Eating in itself is not sinful, but to give it undue importance, putting it before God, makes it a sin” (Drummond R. Thom; henceforth “DRT”)

Paul says in Philippians 3:18–19 “For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.”

‭‭In Genesis 25:29–34, Esau despised and sold his birthright for a bowl of soup.

And the first thing that Satan tempted Jesus with in the wilderness in Matthew 4 was food. Jesus rebuked the devil with the Word.

“So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭8:3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Spending time with the Lord is of far more importance than spending time filling our bellies.

Fasting is a spiritual tool that God has given us as a means to sacrifice our flesh in order to draw closer to Him and seek Him and hear Him more clearly. It is a tool that we are to use regularly to stay in tune with the voice of God.

Fasting is used to humble your physical self — your flesh — before the Lord so that your Spirit can become strengthened. It is humbling yourself in one of the most primitive ways to say to God, “I need You and trust You to sustain me.”

In Isaiah 58, we are given the purpose for fasting, and the perfect formula for fasting as the Lord designed it.

It begins with verses 3–5 to teach us what fasting is not supposed to be:

“‘We have fasted before you!’ they say. ‘Why aren’t you impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!’ “I will tell you why!” I respond. “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers. What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the LORD?”

The Israelites didn’t understand why they weren’t hearing from God even though they were fasting, but they were fasting only out of religious tradition, and not with pure hearts.

“You must have the right motive when you fast. Some have the attitude, “If I fast, then I can get God to do what I want Him to do.” Then they wonder why nothing happened when they fasted.

Fasting does not obligate God to do what you want Him to do. Fasting is to humble out heart before God and to seek His face for a revelation of His will to be accomplished” (DRT)

And in being humble, it is important that we not purposefully draw attention to ourselves as we fast. Jesus called those who bragged about praying and fasting hypocrites.

““When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

“And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:5–6, 16–18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When you are fasting, tell only those who need to know (such as your parents or your doctor), but keep it a secret to the rest.

“When fasting is done this way, God will hear from Heaven and reward you openly by answering your prayers.” (DRT)

““ Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh?”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭58:6–7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“This is God speaking. This is God saying to the Church, to the believer, “Is this not the fast I have chosen?” This is God showing us right here in His Word that He has chosen a way that we can take care of the bonds, that we can take care of the sick, that we can take care of the burdens, that we can take care of everything that makes people oppressed and brings them into a state where they are controlled and under the power of the devil.” (DRT)

God is telling us that if we spend time in true fasting, in complete communion with God, without distraction, then He will equip us to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke. He will equip us to feed and clothe others spiritually, so that they may too come to know the Lord and grow spiritually.

When we fast humbly and purely before the Lord, His blessings will pour out on us and those around us.

““Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the LORD will protect you from behind. Then when you call, the LORD will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. “Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors! Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭58:8–12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When we fast, we give God full control to pour into us. When He speaks, you will be able to hear Him clearly. It allows the Lord to be able to move in our lives and move us in the direction He wants us to go. Your spirit will be strengthened allowing you to do great works in His name.

Fasting does:

Bring sin to light. “Joshua and the elders of Israel tore their clothing in dismay, threw dust on their heads, and bowed face down to the ground before the Ark of the LORD until evening. Then Joshua cried out, “Oh, Sovereign LORD, why did you bring us across the Jordan River if you are going to let the Amorites kill us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side! Lord, what can I say now that Israel has fled from its enemies? For when the Canaanites and all the other people living in the land hear about it, they will surround us and wipe our name off the face of the earth. And then what will happen to the honor of your great name?” But the LORD said to Joshua, “Get up! Why are you lying on your face like this? Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have stolen some of the things that I commanded must be set apart for me. And they have not only stolen them but have lied about it and hidden the things among their own belongings. Joshua‬ ‭7:6–11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Help us to overcome sin and temptation and prove to the Lord that our hearts are truly repentant. “The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow. When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes. Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: “No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all. People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”” Jonah‬ ‭3:5–9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Bring the favor of the Lord upon us. “And there by the Ahava Canal, I gave orders for all of us to fast and humble ourselves before our God. We prayed that he would give us a safe journey and protect us, our children, and our goods as we traveled. For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to accompany us and protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king, “Our God’s hand of protection is on all who worship him, but his fierce anger rages against those who abandon him.” So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer.” Ezra‬ ‭8:21–23‬ ‭NLT‬

Strengthens your spirit and makes you known in the spiritual realm. 25 “When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit. “Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,” he said. “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again! 28 Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?” Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer and fasting. ”” Mark‬ ‭9:25, 28–29‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Allow you to hear from the Lord and receive His direction. “One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.” So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way.” Acts 13:2–3‬ ‭NLT‬

It is necessary in our Christian walk to sacrifice our flesh regularly. Fasting keeps our flesh under control of our spirit.

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16:24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭9:27‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:16–17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.””

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭26:41‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“If Jesus took the way of self-denial, then all those who come after him should take the same path.” (DRT)

Flood Bible Study

Pam Malo

[elizzzayma-blog]

IN THE HEAT OF THE KNIGHT:

Have you ever met a single women or man who didn’t want to have a satisfying sexual experience with his or her future beloved? I haven’t met one. Why do so many marriages begin with high sexual expectations only to find their hopes dashed against the rocks of despair? The authors shares that, satisfying sex doesn’t just happen. When you’re involved in sex prior to marriage, Satan is in control. When you’re making love after marriage, God is in the driver’s seat and the only passengers He carries are those who are willing to pay the fare. I know sex is a topic that is kinda pushed back and not talked about as much during singleness or at least before marriage, but honestly this will be one of the most important topics in marriage. The author shared a very interesting analogy that made me laugh a little. Ask yourself this question now that you are single: Are you a microwave or a crockpot? Meaning, are you a microwave–hitting high all of a sudden OR are you a crockpot– takes a little time to warm up. When you get married ask yourself this question again! I know most singles are defiantly microwaves. So then why do most marriages fall under the crockpot? If you’re single, free to wait, if your’e married, free to enjoy! In marriages sometimes the wife is the microwave and the husband is the crock-pot. Satan doesn’t care which one is hot and which is cold. His plan is to make sure we are not feeling the same way at the same time. Now some of the next things that I’ll share is what the author shares for women about sex. I can’t speak for men so I suggest they seek guidance from a married man. The author starts off by saying that when most women are single they devote all kinds of energy trying to control their bodies and keep from having sex. Yet one of the greatest challenges in marriage is sexual intimacy. Why? Genesis 2:24 reads: “A man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” The term “one flesh” represents the sexual relationship between a husband and wife. God created sex, and that means it is good. So why do single women seem more alive than many married women? Once again it’s our archenemy Satan. He’s done a wonderful job. Satan knows that a large percent of a satisfying sex life is mental. How do you stop following up with Satan and our sinful desires? It helps if we understand the Lord’s plan for sex in the lives of His children. This next section will be titled “Ripping a Beautiful Gift apart”.Were you involved in petting before marriage? Some comments married couples would say: “That’s one of the reasons I am so disappointed in our sex life since we’ve been married. Our petting was wonderful.” The author’s response to this statement was: “Did you think that once you consummated your marriage with intercourse you would be taken to a much higher level of pleasure ?”. AND of course the reply was: ” Well, of course, shouldn’t it have been?”. Most soon to be married couples or already married couples didn’t know that they were short-circuiting God’s creation. They thought by “playing around” they could relieve themselves of their sexual frustrations, and then, once they got married, the real fun would begin. WRONG! God’s sexual gift to a husband and wife is a gift to be opened only after matrimony. Many couples have a tendency to rip a beautiful gift apart! Would you want someone to give you a gift that had already been unwrapped? Petting, masturbation, and pornography tear apart that beautiful gift. Most people struggle with the fact that the Holy Spirit is a person. And it’s an important point because the way you view Him is the way you’ll treat Him. If you see Him as just a thought, a feeling, or an urge, it is easy to ignore Him. The ability of a single person to hold his or her body in purity before marriage will be tremendously strengthened by an awareness of the Holy Spirit’s presence. Where does the Holy Spirit live? “He lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:17). And how long will He stay? “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever” (John 14:16).         The following Scripture reveals some of the Holy Spirit’s capabilities: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit can feel grief and joy. His grief is caused by our sin, His joy by our obedience to God’s Word and will. When He is living inside us, He looks like you! The Holy Spirit is God and He lives within us. He should be a part of everything we say, think, and do. “People will be lovers of themselves…” (2 Timothy 3:2). Men and women will be consumed with themselves and their need to be satisfied. Now this can be looked at in different ways: masturbation, self-centered, self-absorbed, and self-controlling. When masturbation takes place, erotic thoughts come first. Dwelling on sexual thoughts in your single life is sin. Read Matthew 5:28!  Why is masturbation so destructive to a satisfying sex life once couples are married? Because it is self-gratifying, and no one knows our bodies as well as we do. When that person gets married there is no way another human being will know exactly what to do to satisfy him or her. Many times these husbands and wives resort to masturbating even though they are married. Pornography causes viewers to focus on themselves and it develops unrealistic expectations. Their concentration is on what they want  the other person to like, act like, and do for them. Don’t become absorbed with fantasies and satisfying yourself! If you have been involved or still are, ask the Lord to forgive and heal you. Denounce those acts from your life! Sex, as God intended it, is a celebration of His creation. It’s to be done in His time, His way, and according to His will. It is an intimate high level of communication.  The author says once you are married there is a delight in discovering each other in this area of marriage. Learning about your wife’s/husband’s satisfaction coming from you. Here are some questions to keep in mind while looking for a Knight in Shining Armor or a Princess. Four Strategic Questions: 1. Does he/she apply sexual pressure? —don’t want a person who wants to break God’s heart, 2. If he/she doesn’t assert sexual pressure is he/she godly?–God will reveal a person’s hidden secrets, 3. Does he/she brag about his/her sexual conquests (past)? — Don’t assume this person will know how to satisfy you also if they have renewed their life to Christ can they wait until marriage? 4. Does he/she want you to tell him/her about your sexual past? — If you are not a virgin just beware about this conversation it could lead to some hardships of jealousy and comparison. Listen to your date’s comments on sex but remember too many sexual conversations can lead to sexual encounters. It is equally important for you to commit to testing based on your past sexual activity. Begin to call it a sin when Satan floods your mind with sexual images and ideas. Remind yourself that your mind belongs to God just as much as your body does, and that your body will eventually act out whatever your mind envisions. The author suggests limit what you listen to on the radio or watch on television. There is no way to get around the fact that abstaining will cause  you discomfort at times. Ask yourself this, which is more difficult: 1. Wanting to have sex and refusing? or 2. Having no desire to have sex and surrendering your body?  The author says that question #2  is more difficult than question #1. When a wife or husband is not sexually aroused and their spouse desires to have sex, their spouse is called to surrender their body. Read 1 Corinthians 7:3-4. Commit to prayer if this area in your life is difficult. That is the only way to remain strong and to focus on God. Satan’s goal is to get you to sin– not to glorify God. Ask the Holy Spirit to change your thoughts and attitudes and commit yourself to celibacy until marriage. I’ve seen and heard too many stories of regret and hurt for falling into sin in this area. When you are in the act of sin you know what you are doing but yet you are stuck in your own  fleshly desire.  Once it’s over you recover and come back to face the results of your sin. You’ve heard the warnings multiple times… how far will you go to hurt your destination for love and for a beloved? Now for those who have fallen into sin in this area of hurt before marriage please repent of your sin. God just simply wants you to admit you were wrong and you want to find grace and mercy in his forgiveness. You will find freedom in his love when you repent of your sin. For men and women, don’t be let down because of your past because “the one” God has for you will forgive you and love you the way God does. It will be a conversation that may be difficult to have but much needed for a healthy marriage.Fighting the battle to remain celibate in your single life means that you are getting prepared to have a wonderful sexual experience in your marriage.

Side Note for women: Other than peer pressure and fleshly desires coming into play when temptation comes in. There is also another factor that I have noticed for quite some time. I have personally noticed for women who didn’t grow up with a father, didn’t receive much attention from their father, divorced parents,  or never got to experience love and attention from any male figure.Well most of these women desire to seek attention from multiple men and they would do anything to get it. These women missed out on the love and attention from a dad or male figure during their childhood. So instead once these women grow up they turn to other things to be loved by any male figure. This type of behavior by women leads for them to disrespect themselves and soon forget the meaning of love. For Christian women they too forget the greatest love of all. A God who pours out multitudes of attention and love for his daughters! I know their are too many daughters abusing the use of sex as a way to feel loved by any male. It goes to show they soon believe love is not real. My word of advice to women is to know you are loved by an invisible Almighty God who wants a relationship with you. HE wants to redeem you from your brokenness and lead you to understand love and the reasoning for his rules. There is a reason there are rules in his kingdom, to protect you from getting hurt. No matter what your situation might have been growing up or even now you can be loved and forgiven by HIM. Then He will lead you to your Knight in Shining Armor because, he is real.

Side Note for men: I believe men need to stop holding high standards for women based on looks and expectations. They need to stop praising what they see on the outside when they’re also judging the same girl for her lack of respect for herself. I know men who follow girls who post inappropriate images and yet they put the girl down by judging her for uploading that image. There is a cycle that needs to end now and it starts with men! The cycle: Men want sexy, women do sexy, then men judge sluty, women get put down and lose respect from men. Women are vulnerable emotional beings that will do anything to please men. As a man of God your expectations should be an expectation of a princess, a daughter of the King. The only way you’ll get there is if you desire to be a Knight in Shining Armor as God will lead you to your princess in his time.