This video speaks for itself. Enjoy.
Posts Tagged ‘Jesus’
a man fell in a hole
Sunday, July 25th, 2010understanding the gamble
Saturday, July 24th, 2010
understand whats at stake before you gamble
Have you ever made a really big gamble, a gamble so large that if you lost you’re not sure what you would do in the aftermath of losing? Not too many people make gambles of that nature because they can’t stomach the risk of losing. With that opening statement I am sure a lot of you had pictures in your mind of a casino you have either been to or seen in a movie. However this post is going to explore the gigantic gamble we all make whether we go to a casino or not.
If you have spent any time on this site you know that I am a person of faith in Christianity. Or to be more clear, I believe in God the creator who has redeemed us to be worthy of salvation and an eternity in Heaven through the crucifixion of and faith in His only Son Jesus Christ. Now there are many people in the world that believe the Christian faith is nonsense and an old fable or a recycled pagan religion for uneducated folks. Understand that I hold my faith whole-heartedly, however for this post to be legitimate I have to admit that I could be wrong in the hopes that if you are a non-believer reading this that you can also admit to possibly being wrong in your stance. Now this is something you probably don’t spend a lot of time considering but one of the above mentioned groups is right and the other is wrong. Therein lays the gamble. Let’s examine a chart I have made below.
In this chart the vertical axis represents the two realities that can exist for Christianity. Either it’s true, or it’s baloney. The horizontal axis represents your belief to either of the realities. You can either believe or not believe. Those really are the only realities and beliefs that can be taken in this debate. Now contrary to what you might think all of us are either in the red or black column because “it’s true” and “it’s baloney” are statements based on realities that you have to have a position with.
The debate as to whether Christianity is true or not is centuries old. After long reflection I have come to realize that the debate is empty and pointless. Regardless of how much we argue that debate is going to settle itself eventually either way. The debate we need to be having is with ourselves internally whether it is right or better to be a person of faith or not. Either way, true or not, all of us are gambling either on red or on black. As you can see, it is a gamble with drastically varying outcomes.
- It’s True and You Believe - If Christianity is true and you are a person of faith and live your life according to what the Bible teaches when you die you will be rewarded with an eternity in Heaven.
- It’s Baloney and You Believe - If Christianity is not true and there is no afterlife you lived your life as best as you could based on the teachings of the Bible but when you die there is nothing and you cease to exist.
- It’s True and You Don’t Believe - If Christianity is true and you don’t believe you lived your life how you saw fit but when you die there is an eternity of suffering ahead of you.
- It’s Baloney and You Don’t Believe - If Christianity is not true and there is no afterlife you lived your life as you saw fit and when you die there is nothing, you cease to exist.
Do you see what I am getting at here? For any believer, with their “chips” on red, there is no gamble because if Christianity does turn out to be false they will share in the same fate as non believers. However if it’s true the fates of believers and non-believers are very different. Now please understand that this isn’t some scare tactic. I am by no means saying “look at my fancy chart, now repent and believe!” I am making a sincere effort to get you to think about the consequences of something that the world doesn’t want you to think about.
My chips are on red…
Beyond the chart above there is more to the reason as to why I am betting on red. A number of years ago I realized I am not a good person on my own. I don’t think any of us can say that we are. If you read that last sentence and scoffed at it I would like to know if you would be comfortable if there was a speaker in the back of your head loudly broadcasting everything you we’re thinking 24/7? Or how would you feel if people could turn on the news and get a daily run down of everything you did that day, good or bad? I know that’s not something I would not be interested in for myself. My point is that the true reflection of ourselves is who we are in secret, not what we show everyone else.
The Bible makes it clear that we have all sinned and all fall short of God’s expectations. Now if you get anything out of this post I hope it’s this next bit. God is just. He could not be perfect if he wasn’t. Therefore how could anyone be rewarded with an eternity of happiness if they had been bad and rebellious their entire lives? That can’t happen. So in God’s infinite justice, love and grace He made a way. He could spare the entire human race from a fate of suffering if just one person could get their time on Earth right. Here is where Jesus enters the picture. Christ was entirely perfect and was crucified inspite of it. On him was placed all the wrath and suffering we deserved because of our rebellion. That was enough justice for God to be satisfied. That is why faith in Christ is essential to our salvation. If someone saved our life here on earth would you not be grateful? If someone pushed you out of the way of a speeding car and took the hit for you, would you not be eternally grateful to that person?
So here is this free gift of salvation offered to us by God. All we have to do is accept it. Is it not obvious that a gift isn’t ours until we claim it as our own? If you’re a hungry person and someone offers you a meal, that meal isn’t going to do anything for you until you accept it and eat it. So as a hungry person devours a meal should we not all devour the gift of salvation offered to us by God? Have you ever wondered why Jesus is such a vital part of going to Heaven. The answer is simple, he is the way. He pushed you out of the way and got hit by the car on your behalf. Also as the one who took the punishment in our place he has been made judge of who enters and who doesn’t. In Jesus’ words “no one comes to the Father except through me”. So you need Christ and acceptance of what he did in your heart.
A parachute cannot save you unless you reach out and pull the ripcord. The good news about Jesus cannot save you unless you call on His name. Reinhard Bonnke
The last part of the formula is repentance. To put this into perspective have you ever forgiven someone that hasn’t apologized or at least shown remorse for the wrong thing they did to you? Would it not be difficult and almost impossible to forgive a person like that? Again, God is just, but also merciful. Mercy will be shown to those that are sorry and change their ways. Why should anyone that’s not sorry for what they have done be shown any kind of forgiveness, especially when they continue to just do the wrong/hurtful thing again and again?
Now I get it, a lot of professed Christians are the worst people you may know. And some of the worst things you have heard of on the news have been done in the name of religion or by priests and pastors that should know better. The word hypocrite comes to mind. All I want to ask of you is to not allow the mistakes made by others get in your way and to be responsible for yourself, not others. A lot of people ask the question why does God allow “these things” to happen or say I can’t believe in a good God with all “this stuff” going on. Humans have free will which God gave us and allows us to use. Some use it for good, others don’t. It’s really that simple. We are to blame for all the bad stuff, but that’s not a very popular stance to take. I know when I look in the mirror I don’t want to be at all responsible for the state the world is in, but I am, we all are.
The last point I want to make is the fact that we still have the faith of Christianity around after over 2000 years of trying to disprove it. I think if something were a lie that it just may have been exposed as such after all this time. Speaking of over 2000 years do you realize that the year is technically 2010 A.D., after death? Prior to that the years we’re B.C., before Christ. I don’t think people way back then had a meeting and said “Let’s start counting the years all over again based on the death of a man that never existed.” That seems highly improbable to me.
A Call to Action
At the church I go to we often watch these video’s of street interviews. Random people get asked questions about faith, God, Christ or Heaven on the spot. Some of the answers are unbelievable. Most often people are vague and say”I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about it”. If you are one of those people, get thinking! Picture a roulette wheel that is spinning and the ball is whirling around the perimeter. Red or black, where do you put your metaphorical chips? If you’re a gambler you have to put them on red, you can’t lose. The good news here is that even if terrible things have happened in your life and all this time you have had your chips on black, there is still time to move them over to red. Explore faith for yourself. God is longing for you to come home. The wheel doesn’t stop spinning and the ball doesn’t fall into place until your life is done or Christ returns. But don’t take too long, because we don’t know when our time is up. So don’t ignore this message by merely brushing it off as unrelevant to you. Like it or not, you are gambling.
the real ten commandments - final two and conclusion
Sunday, July 4th, 2010I am long overdue to finish a series that I started nearly a year ago. This post is going to see me concluding the real ten commandments series by touching on the first two commandments then making some broad conclusions for your consideration.
The first two commandments are;
- You shall have no other God’s before me.
- You shall not make for yourself an idol.
Now I am not a religious scholar and I am not terribly well read and knowledgeable in all the different religions in today’s world. A lot of what I write about is based on experience and what I have learned since I have gone back to church. In respect to the final two commandments we spend far too much time apart from God. We have become too diluted with information and options when it comes to spirituality. There is far too much attention put on work and entertainment. If we’re not working we are entertaining ourselves and if we’re not entertaining ourselves we are working to pay for more entertainment later.
To keep it short and sweet in those two commandments God is asking us to not allow ourselves to have any other Gods that confuse and don’t offer us everything we need like He does. He doesn’t want us worshiping or putting our hope and energy into empty things. He is also asking us not to turn other things into priorities over him. I’ll admit that is something that I even continue to struggle with as a follower of Christ. There is just so much stuff that begs for our attention. I have to hold in check the time that I give to TV, sports, fantasy football, video games, music, movies, work, poker and other games… and I could go on.
It is something that I recognize as being so important that recently I made a mission statement for myself and have it framed and on the wall beside my bed so I can see it everyday when I get up. I think a lot of people talk a big game about what their priorities are but don’t really lead lives that are inline with what they say. I know I have been guilty of that a lot. But then I came to the conclusion that what I do with my time is what my priorities are, not what I say. So know I make an effort to live what I talk, hence the new commitment to this site and the faith that I proclaim to have. I know in my heart that is what God desires from all of us.
the big conclusion for this series
Well here we are on the other side of our adventure through all the commandments. So here is a rough picture of the world if they we’re obeyed. There would be less jealousy and debt. People wouldn’t be killing themselves working to stay ahead of payments for things they don`t need. Because people would be working less hard for stuff they would be more rested and have more time for friends and family. People would be less stressed about finances and the condition of all their “treasures”.
People wouldn’t be lying to each other about anything so we wouldn’t have to deal with the hurt, sadness and anger that comes with lying.
No one would be stealing anything from anyone so there would be more trust of other people. There would be far less crime if no one stole stuff, money or people for that matter. Human trafficking, abductions and slavery would all take a major hit.
If no one was having sex outside of marriage we would all be more capable of monogamous relationships. There would be no std’s if everyone was just having sex with one person in their life. There would be no rape. There would be no sex trade in the world. I am also pretty sure abortion would be a thing of the past.
With no killing there would be no war and no murder. With that being true no one would have to suffer the trauma, hurt, anger and sorrow of losing their loved ones by war or someone stealing their life.
Family relationships would be stronger with kids honoring their parents. Kids would be in less or no trouble at all because they would be obeying the guidelines set out by their parents.
People would be more rested taking a day to rest the way God desires us to rest. I believe we would experience more of God’s peace if we did that and checked our tempers when it comes to misusing his name. Also we would only be brought into closer relationship if we gave him the priority he deserves and pushed aside a lot of the distractions and pitfalls that the enemy puts in the way.
That is a little bit of a sloppy conclusion. Most of the individual posts did far more justice to what I was speaking about. That said, links to all the previous posts in this series have been added to the bottom of this entry. At the end of the day I think there is no one that could honestly say that the world described above isn’t better than the one we are living in now. God wants better for us, it seems like we don’t want it for ourselves.
Lastly in Matthew Christ makes a very broad sweeping statement that goes even further than all the commandments put together.
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40
What is so great about this verse of how deep it roots are when thought about at length. Love God and love each other is the short version. If we love God we don’t put things before him. We don’t build idols in our life to distract us or offer empty worship to. We don’t abuse His name. We don’t stray and allow ourselves be out of fellowship with. Furthermore we would acknowledge and believe everything He tells us is truth which would compel us to change so much about our lives.
If we love our neighbors as ourselves (and this goes further than the people living to the left or the right of us) so much would change about our attitudes towards other people. Think about all the things that people do to you that anger or hurt you. This really is another wording of the old advice do onto others as you would have done onto you. So why do we pass hungry people in the street asking for help and pretend we don’t see them? Why do we cut people off in traffic? Why do we lie to each other, steal, say hurtful things, do kind things for selfish reason… the list could be endless.
In every situation look at yourself as the problem and then take the proper actions to be the positive solution. If everyone started with themselves instead of looking at everyone else as the problem a world full of people would be changed. Then and only then will we ever see some real change.
previous posts in the series
Coveting
False Witness
Stealing
Adultery
Killing
Honour Your Parents
Sabbath Day
The Lord’s Name
ten commandments - honour your parents
Thursday, March 11th, 2010Alright, it’s been a long break in this series but I hope you’re ready to pick this topic back up again. As a reminder if you’ve forgotten or as a recap if you’re new here, I started writing a series on the ten commandments in which I was attempting to demonstrate how all, if not most of, the world’s problems and struggles would not exist if all humans we’re obedient to the commandments. I was going through the commandments in reverse order (with reason to be included in the conclusion) to show that God has our best interests at heart. It is too easy for many people to disregard God and look at what he asks us to do as old fashion, impractical and lame. That is simply not true. So far I have covered coveting, false witness, stealing, killing and adultery. Lets pick this back up with honoring your father and mother.
I have to say this post did not come easy to me. I really had to work through this one and did many revisions to end up where I am at. Why I struggled is because I could describe this as a grey area commandment. Not in the sense that God is off base in asking us to do this but rather in the sense that the lines in the relationship of parent and child have been so blurred in today’s society. With many split homes, both parents working and other activities outside the family, relationships at home are struggling more so today than they ever have. So many families are dysfunctional for a myriad of reasons that bringing honor into the equation is nearly unthinkable. Society has infiltrated the family dynamic to such a degree that no one has a clear picture on how things are “supposed to be.” Also, I have found it hard to pinpoint what the benefits would be of this commandment being followed, but I know they’re there. Let’s dig in.
Honour defined
The definition of honour seems to be somewhat wide. I will list the top five below. Click here if you want to see them all. Other definitions are important before we move on as well. Click on the linked words below if you want to see them before reading on.
- honesty, fairness, or integrity in one’s beliefs and actions: a man of honor.
- a source of credit or distinction: to be an honor to one’s family.
- high respect, as for worth, merit, or rank: to be held in honor.
- such respect manifested: a memorial in honor of the dead.
There are a lot of words there that are included in the arena of honor but I think this can be made rather simple. Parents bring children into the world and do their best (in most cases, I hope) to care for and raise their children as best they can. They are due honor from their children because it would serve to foster a more loving relationship between parent child. What parent doesn’t want to feel and recieve honesty, fairness, integrity, distinction, respect, worth and merit from their child. These things would only fuel parents to serve their children more.
In so many homes parents and children spend so much time and energy bickering, fighting and exerting energy on meaningless fights. The family dynamic is in rough shape in North America with many families falling apart every day. It is a tall order and a difficult one for children to wrap their heads around but if they could do a better job at honoring their parents there would be a revolution in families across the world instantly.
If you are a parent and you’re reading this and you have a stubborn child that doesn’t listen or show any appreciation for the things you do, welcome to how God feels everyday. Do you soemtimes walk that fine line of wanting to do something to set your kids straight when they are being outright defiant to the rules you give them? Rules that you set in place for their own well being and safety? Then when somethign abd happens your expected to fix the situation immediatley? God deals with that on a mass scale all the time. It’s not to fun is it.
God is the parent of us all and deserves to be honored. If we can get our minds there and help children understand that I think a lot of things would change. Some of the results of children honoring their parents would be happier mroe fullfilled parents. This would lead to less fighting at home between all family members. Children would be safer from things that can harm them and get in the way of a prosperous future. At the end of the day a large part of our population would be happier in their day to day lives. That sounds pretty good to me. To finish, here are a couple scriptures in relation to this topic.
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Matthew 18:6
I like the above verse for the reason that it answers the question “What is a parent wants their child to do something wrong or illegal”. God knows what we will think to do and thats why this warning is issued.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother — which is the first commandment with a promise — that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth. Ephesians 1:6-3
To my point in the article, if children are not rebellious and listen to wise advice from parents, it should help add years onto their lives.
Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. Colosians 3:19-21
God is again protecting children from parents that may abuse the authority that has been granted to them, remiding parents to not be so harsh with their children that they become discouraged.
my reaction to zeitgeist
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009In an effort to keep this post to a reasonable length I am going to focus on the first third of the movie which is titled “The Greatest Story Ever Told”. The title is intended in jest towards the Christian “story”. Below you will find a list of counter arguments and issues (Some my own, some repeated from the sermons I provided in the last post)that I have with what the narrator says or implies.
Again I will state the best rebuttal is found in the two sermons from the last post. Please click here if you would like to check them out. Here are the five points I would like to focus on.
Why focus on only Christianity?
This is by far the biggest one for me, hence I will make it first. The movie claims that religion is part of the systems of control that the secret group of elites use to control the masses. To put it simply if religion is a form of control for the masses why did the movie only attack Christianity? There are many religions out there. Some of the main ones are Islam, Hindu, Buddhism, Judaism, Scientology and Shinto to name a few. Lets not forget the approximately 16% of the world’s population that is non religious all-together. If the film was interested in being thorough it would have needed to spend a little portion of time to ruin the foundation of all those religions, but it didn’t. It is my opinion that the film only wanted to attack the one and only true religion. I have seen this documentary about 5 or 6 times now and I believe very strongly that the films motive is to mix truth with untruth in order to deceive millions.
Jesus is not a means of control
Either the film is lying or the writers did not do their homework. I’ll make a strong argument that it is the probably just the first of the two, but maybe both. If the writers knew anything about Jesus it would be blatantly obvious that Jesus is not a means of control but rather a means of freedom. As a quick snap shot of what Jesus promotes is loving your neighbour as yourself, helping those in need, not being slave to materialism, keeping desires for money and wealth at a distance, refuse violence and control your temper and serve God with every ounce of your being. The results of which would be a drastically changed world. If you understand one thing understand this; the makers of the film have just thrown a bunch of rocks into your pond to muddy the waters and cloud your mind. The fact of the matter is that if right at this very second everyone in the world decided to stop what they were doing and live a life like Christ the world would be instantly transformed and all the power that “they” have worked to gain would be lost. That is why “they” work so hard to keep your attention away from this truth. The power “they” have is power we give away. It wouldn’t take a single gun or fist being raised to change the world, just a life like Christ has asked us to live, modeled after his example. That’s one reason what God is so awesome.
Dates of another god(s) as being the 25th of December
To me this is a ridiculous argument. Ancient Egypt didn’t have a calendar like we have today, therefore making that link is absolutely preposterous. I will admit that its a heavy argument in favor of what the film is passing off as truth but it simply is not. Here is a link to a brief history about the calendar. If the film was trying to make a link to the winter solstice then it missed with that as well as solstice dates occur on the 21 of December, sometimes on the 22nd. Lastly the most recent changes to the calendar happened in 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII declared the Gregorian calendar to be the new and recognized calendar. So to think through time that all these gods shared the same birth date as Christ is not a solid argument. Plus to be entirely transparent we don’t even know the exact date Christ was born, that is just the day it is recognized, or should I say commercialized.
There is a point in the year where the sun would not move for three days before rising again
I find this to be an interesting point. After some research I could not come up with anything to support this point. What I do know is that at the arctic poles they experience abnormal day and night times through out the year. That’s not to say what the film presents is untrue. but consider this; where in the world does that phenomenon occur and does it occur where the majority of people lived in the Egyptian times? Well Egypt isn’t very close to either pole so to me it stands to reason that this portion of the story is not accurate either.
Crown of thorns = sun rays
To me that was a comment that is reaching. I think the writers just got greedy here and thought they were being clever. Fail.
To conclude I feel this first third of the movie is out of line with the other two thirds. It doesn’t really go onto say how religion really fits into the scheme of control. Everything else leads into other arguments where as religion is just set up as a pinata, they take a few swings at it blindfolded then move on.
Towards the end of the movie the narrator gets onto the topic of micro chipping the population of the earth for total control… might be helpful if they bothered to mention this piece of Bible scripture:
He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. Revelation 13:16-17
It seems to me God was the first one to warn us about being marked and controlled. If you want the truth, go to the word of God. It’s the only place you’ll find it. Those that are working to bring about your distruction will lie to you. The one trying to save you will tell you the truth.
seeing isn’t believing - a shout out to atheists
Monday, October 5th, 2009
not everything needs to be seen with the eyes
A while ago I was surfing around on youtube doing some searches and through various related video links I ended up discovering a youtube show called “The Atheist Experience“. I watched a number of videos and was thoroughly frustrated by what I saw and heard. The hosts of the show are quite rude and smug, often interrupting a caller with a mute button to make their point if they feel the are being spoken over, while having no problem talking over the caller who has no mute button. That aside I want to point out an over lying message that I heard over and over again. No proof, where is your proof, you can’t prove that and so on.
So one night I was quite frustrated by what I had heard and was thinking to myself what could I say to an atheist that would deflate that argument. During some quite time in prayer the following came to me;
Just because you can’t see something does not mean it’s not there. Consider this; one hundred years ago you could have tried to explain to someone what an atom is and people would have thought of you as a crazy person. You could have pointed to a table and said “this table is made up of millions of tiny elements held together by electric charges making it solid.” That kind of truth would have been mocked because it could not be seen. The same applies for Christ. We cannot see him physically, but he is there. In the mean time, like the atom could be seen in the form of a table, we can see the form of Christ in his church which is made of millions of people held together by his spirit making it solid. This is a truth that should not be mocked because we have been promised in time that Christ will be revealed and seen with the eye, but until that day “we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18
As an extension of that line of thinking
There was a time when people thought the world was flat. It was common knowledge and just accepted as the way the world was. Then some grumblings started to emerge about the possibility of the world not being flat, but in fact was round. Anyone who entertained that idea as a possibility was mocked as a lunatic. Well here we are today knowing the world if round because it has been proven so. The idea here is that not everything that is true or real has been proven or revealed… yet. So please consider this when dismissing the person of Jesus or disregarding God as an invention of man. One day all will be revealed, which side of the debate would you like to find yourself on when that day does come?
A couple good Bible verses to end with
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. Psalms 118:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. Colossians 2:8
Let no person shake your faith. Do not let any one pressure you to walk away from your faith if you have it. Let no person stand in your way from exploring it if it’s new to you or calling you to explore it for yourself.
ten commandments - killing
Sunday, July 26th, 2009
Guns don`t kill people, nor do monkeys with guns.
I see no reason to make this post nearly as long as the last one. We are now half way through this series which sees us arriving at the commandment - you shall not kill.
I think everyone has a good sense that killing people is wrong. However, for many the question of when and why is a factor. There are a lot of people that would argue there is just killing and unjust killing. For example in a time of war you are justified in killing someone in defence of yourself and your country. While that seems sensible we need to dig and find the roots.
Why is killing during a war ok? Is it the kill or be killed mentality? Does it not seem that the war is the problem here? How often do we consider the cause and purpose of a war? We really just go by what the media (tv, radio and print) tells us. There is a much larger thought here that I would like to unpack but I am going to stick to the main topic. All I will say for now is that if no one fought there would be no war. No one ever has the full facts when it comes to conflict on a global scale. Propaganda is rampant no matter what side you’re on. Which begs the question why can’t we be told the truth? Again, to punctuate this thought, no killing means no war.
Moving on many people think revenge killing is justifiable. The old eye for an eye mentality. Well I don’t think this solves anything and only promotes escalation. This means that most times nothing stops, things only get worse.
With those two thoughts in mind why else as humans do we kill? Self defence, revenge are the first two. Others would be, jealousy, there was an argument, some one may have wronged you or maybe there was an accident. A side from the last one what is the common thread among this list? The answer is anger. I think after this long into the series you won’t be surprised that Jesus has an answer for this.
You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment… But anyone who says, You fool! will be in danger of the fire of hell.
Matthew 5:21-22
Again here Jesus is one step ahead of the issue and is attacking the root of the problem. Nearly all killing that takes place is the result of extreme anger. This verse tells us that we need to be in control of our anger and to not even speak ill words to each other. How many times is a fight prolonged by our inability to control our tongues.
Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.
James 3:4-9
That is a heavy hitting piece of scripture. However, I agree with it fully. So many of the big problems we face in life are a result of the details not being taken care of.
In a world without killing
As was covered above, in a world without killing there would be no war. There would be no murder and many people would be spared the grief of losing a loved one in a horrible manner. Also, there would be no more suicides for families to have to suffer through. Much like with the stealing commandment this one would see numbers of people in jail greatly reduced, because no one would be committing this crime. With Jesus’ statement above we would not even speak ill words to each other or slander, gossip or carry hate in our hearts towards anyone.
I will admit this is very idealistic and sounds like a fairy tale world but understand this is the vision that God had for the world and we walked away from that vision to pursue our own goals and understandings. What we have done is made a big mess of the world in seeking our own ways. It’s not an individuals fault but humans collectively as we choose to not follow God.
Consider the following. What if one of the commandments had something to do with driving? Suppose there was a commandment that was “You shall not run red lights”. It seems pretty evident that there is an inherent harm if that is not respected. Maybe you run a red light once in a while and get away with it. Then a few other people start doing it too. Pretty soon there is great danger looming going through any intersection because people all over the world are in too big of a hurry and don’t value the rule that is there for our your protection. Pretty soon many people world wide are being injured. People are suffering the hurt of losing family members and many other results would follow.
In this example lies the entire point of this series; that people are the problem, not God. So often I hear the statement “Why would God let such a thing happen?”. The answer is, he doesn’t. We all have a part to play in the world and it’s pretty simple really. Obey God and love each other and every problem in the world disappear. But no one does that and no one is capable of doing that. So here we are in a very messy world with everyone following their own moral compass. God set the direction we should go and anything else we follow leads to trouble.
I am going to take a break from this series and pick it back up after a few other posts. Thanks for reading this far. I would love to hear some comments from you.
ten commandments - adultery
Saturday, July 18th, 2009I must start this post with an apology for my two week absence. I have been crazy busy the last couple weeks. My wife is a month from giving birth to our first child so that has brought a lot of preparation work the last couple weeks. Also, this following post was one that I really wanted to do well so I have been reading a lot and preparing myself to write it. This post might run a little long because it is a topic that is close to my heart and altogether dismissed these days.
Defined
Let’s get started by defining the term. This can be easy and hard at the same time because there are many definitions we could lean on. Looking first at the dictionary definition we can find that adultery is voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than their marriage partner.
In my research of the meaning of the word itself I found that it seems to have many different legal definitions in many different parts of the world. Some places only consider adultery to have occurred when the woman sleeps with someone else without the husbands consent while another place considers adultery to have occurred when two unmarried persons live together. That’s quite a gap.
Etymology
So what about the word itself? I looked at the etymology of adultery. One thing that we all need to be aware of is how the English language changes. What a word means today is not necessarily what it meant one hundred years, or even a decade ago. As people use, or miss use words, the meaning can change in the minds of the population. I won’t give any examples because this post will be long enough. If you want some examples leave me a comment I will do a post in the future with a few now and then definitions. In its Latin roots adultery means to alter or corrupt. Wow, that’s pretty heavy isn’t it? Read the rest of the origins here.
Biblically
So God has asked us not to commit adultery and we live in a world where many marriages are ruined by unfaithfulness and fewer and fewer people make it to their wedding night not having had sex with someone. You might be saying “wait a minute; the definition of adultery is having sex with someone else outside of your marriage. If I’m not married I’m in the clear!” Well I was under that impression at one time in my life but found out I was wrong. Any sex outside of a marriage is adultery, whether you’re married or not… Sorry if I just ruined a “good time” for a bunch of you. Proof is on the way.
This is a large topic in the Bible. I invite you to go to Biblegateway.com and do some searching around for yourself. You will be amazed on how frequently this matter is discussed. I have picked out five that I feel best get the point across.
But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
1 Corinthians 7:2-5
God is communicating that he is aware of how tough it is for people to control their sexual urges. So he is simply telling us we should be married so that we have an outlet for that urge. Further more he tells us that we should be serving to our spouse in that area, not as a slave, but as a gesture of love so that we keep each other safe from the pitfalls of sexual sin. He tells us not to deprive each other unless in agreement but to come together again so we are not left in temptation. Lastly he calls us on our lack of self control knowing we will fall if we don’t have the help of our marital spouse.
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Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
Hebrews 13:4
Here God is telling us to keep the marriage bed free from adultery and sexual immorality. This is a debated scripture. Myself, I believe this is telling us we should arrive at the marriage bed undefiled.
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Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders.
1 Corinthians 6:9
This is pretty self explanatory. God looks at sexual immorality as wickedness.
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Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Colossians 3:5
Here we are asked to deny our earthly nature which includes sexual immorality and impurity. Impurity meaning to be defiled by sin.
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But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Matthew 5:28
Here is a big one. Jesus himself sets a new standard seeking to eliminate the root of the problem. Adultery starts with a desire in the heart that is acted upon. Even desires of the mind that are indulged through pornography and masturbation are adultery. And ladies, your on the hook for this one too. I know society makes this a mans issue but both genders are held to the same standard by God.
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The fact that it is such a sensitive topic should be reason enough to acknowledge that deep inside we know something isn’t right about it. The fact that we want to ignore this or hide it is our conscious telling us we need to be on a different course.
Some of my experience
I am 29 and didn’t really come to know the Lord until I was 24. I grew up going to Catholic school but looking back I was never taught the Bible properly. This lead to me going astray in my later years of high school and college. I was not a virgin when I was married, but I wish I was. While God has healed a lot of me I recognize now the damage that was done to me by having partners before my wife. God created sex as the ultimate intimacy between a man and woman, particularly a husband and wife. Having had sex with women prior to marriage I was giving that intimacy away and actually making it harder on myself to desire that intimacy with just one woman. One of the biggest problems today with adultery is that people mistake lust for love. Lust runs out, and when that feeling is gone, people think they are not in love anymore and move on to find the next one to be in lust/love with. This is a terrible mistake.
Also, even with my own personal history I was always jealous when I found out a girl friend had slept with someone besides me. How hypocritical can you get right? Looking back though I now see that feeling is my deep seeded desire to be with one woman and for that woman to only be with me. So when I found out someone I was seeing had slept with someone else I had a feeling of disappointment and sadness.
Lastly, pornography is a lie. All I can say is to stay away from it. It is no good and only promotes impure thought which fuels immoral action. Again I refer to Jesus telling us not to look at others with lust. It is the root of the problem. You can pull out a weed but if you don’t get the root it will grow back. Protect your eyes and your mind and the battle is easily won.
A world without adultery
This is going to be nothing short of epic. I would love to roll out a bunch of stats but this is a mammoth post already. In the future I will do a follow up post with some facts and figures that will support the following suppositions. In a world without adultery no marriages would be broken up due to unfaithfulness. More over if married couples took card of each sexually like 1 Corinthians 7:2-5 tells us to a lot more people would not be driven to the act. So in this many more families would still be together.
In a world without adultery there would be no pornography. What if married people made pornography? Well if we all followed Matthew 5:28, no one would watch it. Here is a little economics lesson for you. Demand motivates supply. When something is in demand a company supplies it so they can make money. If there was no demand for pornography there would be no supply. On this train of thought we would see strip clubs gone, adult stores gone, “massage” parlors gone and phone sex lines gone.
With that principle in mind prostitution and the entire sex trade is eliminated because there would be no customers to be found. We often think of the people that force others into sex slavery as evil people while not really giving much weight to the customers that keep them in business. So get rid of the business and the supplier’s disappear. No adultery means no more child prostitution or any other sexual crimes against minors because it is all immorality.
Without adultery there would be no more STD’s, anywhere, ever. If everyone only ever had sex with one other person STD’s couldn’t possibly be spread. The health and the well being of the planet would be so much greater. No babies would ever be born with HIV, AIDS or any other STD that can be passed to the fetus. To my horror I have noticed lately some terrible banner advertisements on the web pushing sites where the service they offer is similar to a singles or dating site but solely dedicated to to helping individuals “hook up”. You can’t tell me that things are not esscalating for the worse…
Also, don’t get me started on the bar scene and what the media and Hollywood have done to the college experience. Too many young people leave college and university these days without an eduction, a credit rating that’s gone way south and a moral compass that can’t find north.
No more adultery means no more rape. Couldn’t a husband still rape his own wife? Again, I think there would be no need for that if husbands and wives took care of each other. I’m not sure where the desire to rape starts but if we were managing our thoughts and taking care of each other the way God wants us to, no one would get to that point. I know that’s a large assumption but sin is something that grows and gets out of control. There is always a new boundary to push. Like I said, get the root and the whole thing dies.
There would be no more teenage pregnancy, unless two teenagers where sure about being married for the rest of their lives. With these two things eliminated I imagine that nearly all abortion would be done away with. For me personally, I have never heard of a committed married couple getting pregnant unexpectedly and deciding to abort. While abortion is a separate issue altogether, the next commandment is you shall no kill.
Conclusion
We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with sexuality. It seems to me that the enemy is hard at work in this area. All day everyday the media bombards us with visual stimulation keeping sexuality in the forefront of our mind. There are times I wonder why I still have cable with all the junk that is available at all times of the day (MuchMusic, I’m looking in your direction). God knows what the dangers and benefits are that’s why he wants to steer us in the right direction. He wants strong families, healthy people and clear minds. God is not about ruining a good time. He is about sparing us from the worst times.
If you just read this and have been participating in any of the above mentioned activities, today is a new day. God is waiting for you to reach out to him. There is nothing he can’t heal or fix if you go to him with a submitted and repentant heart. God acted first and all of us have rebelled and walked away from him. Trust me. It’s is on you. It’s your move. Don’t delay. Do it now.
Words you will come across in this post or if you research this further:
Immorality - dictionary.com
Fornication - dictionary.com
Debauchery - dictionary.com
Lasciviousness - dictionary.com
Other reading:
About.com - 10 Reason Not To Have Sex Outside of Marriage
ten commandments - stealing
Sunday, July 5th, 2009
You're out!
Welcome back. Here we go. Straight into commandment number eight, you shall not steal.
I think this one is going to be pretty straight forward. We all know that stealing means to take something that belongs to someone else without their knowledge or consent. I don’t think it will take a lot of convincing that this is wrong so lets hop into some of the motives for stealing then look at some of the benefits the world would enjoy if there was no stealing… ever.
Power/Greed
Some people steal because they are just straight up greedy and have to have for themselves or just can’t stand to see someone else having something they don’t. Sometimes people steal for power or leverage. Like robbing a bank to gain money for other motives or further power grabs.
Jealousy/Covetousness
Some acts of stealing are rooted in seeing someone else have something that looks so good that you have to take it for yourself, from either them or in the form of shop lifting. This kind of theft is born in a spirit of covetousness because the desire for the thing or object overwhelms you and you find yourself doing something else that’s wrong just to satisfy the desire.
Vanity/Self Righteousness
Other forms of stealing stem from sheer vanity. You think so highly of an object or thing that you won’t be happy unless you have it, and if it can’t be afforded, why not exercise some five finger discounting. This is a point where someone is so consumed with desire for this object they have convinced themselves that they deserve it. It’s their right to have it.
Need/Desperation
Other people steal because they feel it’s their only option. This person may be stealing clothes or food because they need them to survive. I know popular convention says that this kind of stealing shouldn’t be seen as wrong but I believe there is another solution. In the first post in this series I said that if the rule that Jesus gave us (love you neighbour as yourself) is the key there would be no need to steal necessities because we would all be helping those around us make it through life.
In a world without stealing (except in baseball)
If there was no stealing in the world people would experience trust for each other, even perfect strangers. This multiplies ten fold in light of the no lying policy we just established in the last post. We wouldn’t need locks on everything or cameras in our stores. There would be so much less crime in our cities and jails would be less crowded. The economy would be much more stable if there was no theft anywhere. There would be no more kidnappings or abductions of people, because taking person against their will is a form of robbery. I think in general everyone would walk with a little more peace of mind and a sense of security. How much of life is spent worrying about the well being of our stuff and money? I know its something I don’t enjoy worrying about.
So here we are three commandments in and I think we can already see quite a drastic change in the condition of our planet and human relationships. This is only going to keep getting better. Adultery is next on the list, its going to be a huge one. Stay tuned for more.
ten commandments - false witness
Saturday, July 4th, 2009So the last post began a series on the Ten Commandments. In the first post I covered what the Ten Commandments were and touched on the tenth commandment (not coveting) and surmised what I think would be some of the positive benefits if we lived in a covet free world. So in continuing with this series lets look at commandment nine. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
Nothing truthful to say? Then say nothing.
Let’s look at the term false witness to start. According to dictionary.com false witness means to deliberately give false testimony. At its simplest meaning this commandment it saying do not lie about your neighbour to anyone. Before I go on I have to address the word neighbour. Neighbour means someone you live close to. I know that we often think of our neighbours as the people that live to the left or right of our house, but I believe we need to think bigger here. Everyone we share this planet with is our neighbour. Suppose you live in Brazil, is this commandment saying you are permitted to bear false witness against someone who lives in Japan? Surely it isn’t!
Moving on, let’s take a look at the term false witness. To bear false witness would be equal to lying. So God is trying to protect us against the ill effects of lying. What you need to remember while going through this series is that God is trying to protect us from harm. It’s funny to me in life how we have warnings on every stupid little thing but we fail to see the big picture when it comes to the stuff that really affects or hurts us. We need to see “warning, contents may be hot” on a cup of coffee to spare us from being burned. Do we all need a tattoo on our upper lip reading “warning, contents may be false or exaggerated”? You can say I am being smug with that last statement but have you ever been lied to? How did you feel? Lying is serious business with harmful consequences to others and ourselves.
A look at some scripture
Here are a few passages from the Bible that explain where lying comes from. Keep in mind that a lie always needs another lie to cover itself up. We have been lied to for thousands of years about the truth that is in God. Understand that the world is under the rule of the devil at this time. This explains well why Christ’s character and exsistance is attacked all the time.
Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Revelation 12:7-9 (ESV)
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…and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
1 John 5:19 (ESV)
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Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.
John 8:43-45 (ESV)
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Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
1 Peter 5:8-9 (ESV)
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But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Colossians 3:8-10 (ESV)
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What I want you to take from those passages is that the world would be completely changed if there was only truth spoken by every person. Our enemy seeks to blind us from truth with the many lies he puts forth. The devil could not operate if he was unable to lie. It is my hope you see truth in this post. All lies hinder us in some way shape or form.
A world without lying
In a world without lying we would never have to live with the hurt of being lied to. We would never have to live with the stress of trying to keep a lie covered up. Justice would be served in our courts if there was no lying. We would never be the victim of smooth talking politicians with their won agendas. There would be no gossip between people about others because even hear say is untruth. People would be far more trusting of each other. In a world of no lies a promise made would be a promise kept. Our economy would be a much better because people wouldn’t be lying to sell something to someone they know is a second rate product.
So by this point you might be asking “OK Mr.Smart Guy, what about white lies?” Personally I think there is always a way to tell the truth and that is preferable. However, remember God judges the heart. If intentions are that of love and concern for someone else’s feeling`s above your own, you’re in a good place.