Ten Commandment Tuesday - Mom and Dad

Wouldn't it be great if they never grew up? I still look fondly back at the time my children were infants and wish that time stood still at that perfect moment when my infant daughter first really recognized me as Dad and smiled...

A little over a year ago grandson #2 was born but daughter had to remain in the hospital so while dad stayed in the hospital with my daughter, the new baby and his big sister moved in with Grandma and Grandpa for a little while. Oh wow! It has been 26 years since there was a newborn in a cradle next to me, but the rules haven't changed. While Grandma dozed on Grandpa took care of the newborn at 9:00 pm, 11:00, 1:00, and 3:00 AM. Luckily I leave for work at 4:30 AM so it was Grandma's turn. not sure how I made the 45 minute commute, but I did make it there. And that's what Mom and Dad does, they do whatever it takes to help the kids, and grandkids, and soon Great Grandma WideAwakeChristian will be moving in with Grandma and Grandpa WideAwakeChristian to help us in our time of need, and so we can help her in her time too. It's a love thing. And an honor thing.

 The Fifth of the Ten Commandments reads: "Honor your father and your mother."

This commandment is so important that it is one of the only commandments in the entire Bible that gives a reason for observing it: "That your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you."

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

What's worse: the fact that the DOJ is investigating the Roman Catholic Church, or the fact that the RCC made it necessary?

Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl Racine announced he has launched a civil investigation into whether the Archdiocese of Washington violated the law by covering up the sexual abuse of minors

A Jesuit magazine defends ordaining gay men

Eugene Peterson, the man behind the mess of the Message, has died

Dr. John MacArthur steps aside as president of the Master’s University and Seminary

Andy Stanley is wrong, we need the Old Testament

Atlanta is going to pay $1.2 million former fire chief Kelvin Cochran whom they fired for being a Christian

A new bible has been released; for Roman Catholics in attempt to get them up to speed on what God really says

WWUTT Wednesday - Conspiracy Theories

When I retired from the Air Force I ran into something that I had never had to deal with before: Conspiracy Theories. Yeah, in the military we had stories floating about, but they were called "scuttlebutt", "rumors", "propaganda" and "#@%&!", most dealt with relatively simple things; upcoming deployments, new equipment, and why did the Deputy Commander of Operations go on leave so suddenly? 

Now that I've worked in the "real world" for a couple of decades it seems that the world is fueled by conspiracy theories, and some of this stuff is just nuts. Did FDR allow Japan to bomb Pearl Harbor? Did the CIA assassinate JFK? Did LBJ intentionally escalate the Vietnam War just to get re-elected? (actually that last one is a historical fact) 

The ones I hear from Christians are probably the worst because we know that this world is going to get worse, why make yourself sick about it? Obama did not round up Christians and ship us off to FEMA camps, and maybe the Pope really is the antichrist, so what? 1 John 2:18-22 tells us the world is crawling with antichrists. As a Christian stop and think: does it really matter that Google knows you watch cat videos?

Ten Commandments Tuesday - Remember The Sabbath

I'm sure that there will be comments and discussion over this one. There are many Christians who worship the Sabbath as fervently as our Hebrew brothers and sisters, whole congregations of Christians keep the sabbath. There are also many Christians who disdain the worship of the Sabbath.

Notice that I said "worship of the Sabbath". GOD is the only one or only thing that should be worshiped, in Jesus day this was a sin of the Pharisees - to worship the Sabbath as if the day itself were a God, and Jesus took issue with that. Also keep in mind that this is the only commandment of the 10 that Jesus did not teach. On one hand worshiping the Sabbath really is a sin, Mrs WideAwakeChristian and I know and love a Christian couple who got it in their head that worshiping the Sabbath was the most important thing in their Christian lives. They left our congregation for a Seventh Day Baptist church and cut off all communications with our entire congregation. Is Saturday afternoon worth hurting all those people? On the other hand God is wiser than people (much wiser) and He knows that we need one day a week to unwind from our toils.

Also keep in mind that this is the 10 commandments from the Jewish perspective, gaining that insight may be interesting for you, personally I love the points Dennis made.

 Many people who revere the Ten Commandments don't think that the Fourth is particularly important, let alone binding.  Once you understand it, however, you will recognize how life-changing, even world-changing, the Sabbath commandment is. And you will begin to appreciate how relevant it is to your own life. 

Father, Son, and Holy Guest?

Holey Ghost

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19 NASB)

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:19 KJV)

I remember as a young, missal equipped, catholic lad performing the sign of the cross while genuflecting to show allegiance to the blood splattered plaster corpse that hung above the gleaming gold and marble altar, and calling on the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Ghost?

I don't think the Roman Catholic Church calls on Ghosts anymore, at some point after Vatican II the name of the third person of the Trinity was changed His name to Holy Spirit, but the name Holy Ghost held on in the hearts and minds of older parishioners and on the pages of the King James bible.

In the original Greek text the word translated into English as "spirit" is πνεῦμα pneuma which literally means "That which is breathed or blown". A tire filled with air or the air driven gun that tightens the lug nuts which hold that tire on your car are both said to be pneumatic. Or if you're very ill and can't breath your doctor may say you have pneumonia. But it is sometimes used in a way which emphasises a person's personality and character, their spirit. Which in God's case is Holy - His Holy Spirit. It can also be used to describe your soul, and even describe demons (evil spirits) or spirits which are higher than man but lower than God (angels). Is the term Spirit and Ghost interchangeable?

Spirit came from the Latin word spiritus which means the "animating or vital principle in man and animals". The Latin Vulgate translates the Greek pneuma to spiritus, which becomes spirit. 

Ghost came from the Old English word gast which came from the Proto-West Germanic gaistaz which means spirit, but not in a good way. The word denotes terror and fear and was never intended to mean anything good. It means bad spirit, angel, or demon. When speaking of a person, man, human being it means the essence or soul of a person left behind after death which we know from the bible is not possible.

So are the words spirit and ghost interchangeable? No. Ghost has always had negative connotations, while the connotations of the word spirit is determined by how it is used; IE Holy Spirit vs evil spirit.

The reason why I looked this up is because I have seen web pages that tell us the translation of Ghost in the KJV comes from the Proto-West Germanic word gaistiz which actually means guest, giving us the idea of a Holy Guest, which by Jesus' description of the Holy Spirit works better than Holy Ghost, but no, other than a close pronunciation and a very close spelling, the original words gaistaz (ghost) and gaistiz (guest) aren't related at all.

So properly we use the word Spirit which came from a Latin word in bibles translated from Greek texts (NASB, NIV, ESV), and we find the word Ghost which came from an old English/Germanic word in Mid-English bibles translated from the Latin Vulgate (KJV). Just a touch confusing

Ten Commandments Tuesday - Do Not Misuse God’s Name

I've been to a lot of bible studies but not one of them actually covered the 10 Commandments. Sure I've read them, I know that there's a difference between what we Protestants, the Catholics, and the Jews count as the ten, but nothing deeper than that. There's a difference between reading and analyzing the text and this week we analyze #3, and we now discover that there's one commandment that states clearly that breaking the commandment will not be forgiven. We also know that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is not forgivable - but isn't blasphemy of the Holy Spirit also Commandment #3? They are if you understand the Trinity. Listen to Dennis' explanation of Commandment #3 and tell me what you think

 Is there such a thing as "the worst sin" -- one sin that is worse than all others? Well, there is.  I am well aware that some people differ. They maintain that we can't declare any sin worse than any other. "To God, a sin is a sin," is how it's often expressed. In this view, a person who steals a stapler from the office is committing as grievous a sin in God's eyes as a murderer. But most people intuitively, as well as biblically, understand that some sins are clearly worse than others. We are confident that God has at least as much common sense as we do. The God of Judaism and Christianity does not equate stealing an office item with murder.

Column: Why I call Joel Osteen a false teacher

This column appeared at Fredricksburg.com

Why I call Joel Osteen a false teacher

By Adan Blosser
Oct 9, 2018

Joel Osteen recently spoke at an event in our area. I knew about the event ahead of time and took the time to listen to it on Facebook Live as it was taking place. I then read the article that was published on the front page of the Oct. 5, 2018, The Free Lance–Star.

I don’t believe in attacking other churches, but I do believe in speaking clearly about false teachers. Especially when they show up on the front page of the newspaper because they spoke at the largest church in the area.

Make no mistake, Joel Osteen is a false teacher and should not be trusted as a source of biblical teaching by Bible-believing Christians.

That raises the question “Why?” It is a serious charge to call someone a false teacher. It is a charge that I take seriously and do not throw around lightly. So why would I call Osteen a false teacher? Is that fair? Those are important questions that are worthy of an answer.

Osteen’s message is built on the power of positive thinking. If we will remove any semblance of negativity from our lives and focus only on things that are positive, then we can live lives that are victorious and successful. The clear problem with this message is that it ignores the reality of Christian persecution and suffering around the world.

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

- BREAKING NEWS - American pastor Andrew Brunson is to be released from custody in Turkey and allowed to travel to the United States. This is from a secret deal between Turkey and the Trump administration

Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer opens today, and if you want to tell the main stream media where you stand, go see it. They won't. The film tells the true story of Kermit Gosnell, a Philadelphia abortionist who was convicted in 2013 on three counts of first-degree murder of a few newborn babies, and one count of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a patient.

This story nearly exclusively ignored by the lame main stream media. When the police raided Gosnell's clinic they found the remains of human fetuses stored in refrigerators, forty-seven dead babies found in the basement, the severed feet of dead babies preserved in small jars, rusty, medical instruments and worn out equipment. And the more investigators dug, the worse it got.

Gosnell is written by one of my favorite authors, Andrew Klavan, a wonderful devout Christian whose years of experience in writing crime drama made him perfect for this movie. "Gosnell" was made thanks to approximately 30,000 people from around the world who donated money in an indiegogo crowdfunding campaign and the fierce determination of journalists and filmmakers Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer. Go see it.

Rome is now accusing the accusers as the worshipers of the 'Holy' See circle the wagons around Mr. Pope

A Roman Catholic Arch Bishop announced publicly that he doesn't want  Jesus as a consultant rather than a King denying the Son of God's majesty in one tweet

The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops announced that all dioceses will release the names of clergy who have been “credibly accused” of sexually abusing minors for the past 70 years

Pope accepts D.C. Cardinal Donald Wuerl's resignation. As archbishop of Pittsburgh, Wuerl allowed priests accused of child sex abuse to be reinstated or reassigned

Pope ignores God, prays to an angel to protect him from those evil demons who demand that  he do something about his herd of child raping minions

Just as Mr. Pope begs for help in fighting the devil...

People are bailing out of the RCC at an alarming rate

Top Mormon wants the word 'Mormon' to go away. Looks like the devil is bothering him too

ESPN cuts Jesus out of Tim Tebow speech

Beth Moore's drummer becomes self appointed spokesman person for all men. Pulpit and Pen shows that he wasn't "Self Appointed" this was just a useful idiot following St. Moore's commands

Analysis of Rachel Held Evans' book "Inspired" (Part 9, chapters 7 and 8)

Religion of Peace Update #1: Fifteen year old Christian schoolgirl Leah Sharibu is days away from being executed by Boko Haram

Religion of Peace Update #2: Pakistan’s Supreme Court hears Asia Bibi’s ‘blasphemy’ appeal but delays ruling

Religion of Peace Update #3: Two Christian teachers in Kenya were murdered when Islamic militants ambushed a school

Religion of Peace Update #4: Iranian Christians Saheb Fadaei and Fatimeh Bakherti, both converts from Islam, were sentenced on Sept. 22 to 18 months and 12 months respectively for “spreading propaganda against the regime,”

Religion of Sacred Cows Update: Hindu parliamentarian calls for drive to ‘Get rid of Christian missionaries’ in India

Wa Rebels in Burma continue to attack the body of Christ. Hundreds of minority Christians in Myanmar are being forced to sign papers vowing to limit their faith and not pray in churches

Paganism grows in Australia as Christianity plummets

Witches outnumber Presbyterians in the US; Wicca and Paganism are growing "Astronomically" it's the Perfect religion for millennials already involved in yoga, mindfulness, new-age spirituality'

Speaking of witches, if you're still upset about the Kavanaugh appointment (victory), hop on your broom, bring your rage and all of the axes you've got to grind, and whisk yourself off to New York City so you can wriggle your nose and cast a hex on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (emphasis mine, just to rub it in)

Could the reason why witchey-poo is so upset about Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (emphasis mine, just to rub it in) is because this man of honor promises to "heed the message of Matthew 25"?

Just in case you think that the Democrats are out of control now, here's a history lesson for you This is a shining example of why the left does not want their history taught in school (how anyone can study history and still vote for the party of slavery and violence is beyond me)

China legalizes concentration camps to "re-educate" members of unauthorized religions

Remember that fellow that attacked a pro-life advocate in Toronto that I mentioned last week? He has lost his job and has been charged with eight counts of assault and seven counts of mischief under $5,000.

Yet another Canadian abortion activist assaults a Pro-Life woman, hitting her with a metal device.

UK Supreme Court: evangelical couple did not discriminate by refusing to make a homosexual wedding cake

United Pentecostal Church International = Racist?

US withdraws from another UN committee over blatant Anti-Israel bias. This time it's a committee I've actually heard of - UNESCO - and I say Good Riddance!

Prophet Charlie Shamp prophesied that Hurricane Michael would be silenced. Ummmmmm...

One of my favorite discernment ministries is putting itself on hold. Very sad 😢 Praying for you Amy!

Hobby Lobby is introducing a new line of Calvinist Home Decor!!! please, oh please don't be satire!

WWUTT Wednesday - Does the Bible Say the Earth Is Flat?

Look - silently he comes, Great A'Tuin, the giant star turtle (species Chelys galactica) swimming slowly through space. He is  fully aware of the weight of the four giant elephants on his back: Berilia, Tubul, Great T'Phon, and Jerakeen. They in turn carry the flat disk of the world on their backs while around them circle the small sun and tiny moon. Occasionally Jerakeen must lift a foreleg to let the moon go past.

No where in the bible will you find this, or anything like this. This particular scenario comes from the hilarious fertile imagination of Terry Pratchett. I don't think the bible even mentions turtles or elephants, and I know it doesn't mention what is the shape of the world . There's more important things to consider when the Word of God is pondered.

Ten Commandments Tuesday - No Other Gods

Oh yes, false Gods are out there. They may not have a huge monument like our old nemesis Ba'al pictured here, then again maybe they do. Look at the temples of higher learning. To many a degree in their chosen field is their God. Most college classes need little more that Jesus used to teach: a hill side. Seriously: why should the alumni spend a gazillion dollars on these temples of learning when many classes are little more than Perfessir Dankhippi droning on and on about their own political idealism and the student is left to teach themselves at the library on the subject of... Battery Weaving? Preternatural Etiquette? It doesn't matter, most term papers don't decide which course they're destined for until page five, as long as the student loan is obtained so the great God University.edu is worshiped. 

Let's discuss the Second Commandment according to the oldest, that is the Jewish, enumeration of the Ten Commandments. In Christian tradition it is the First Commandment. The most common translation begins:  "You shall have no other gods before me."  The commandment then goes on to prohibit both making idols and worshiping idols.

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

Roman Catholic priests and monks turned the Antonio Provolo Institute for the Deaf into a private whore house where they took sick, disgusting pleasure in abusing young boys who were not only incapable of calling out for help, but thanks to these sick perverts, these young kids were unable to communicate their distress at all. If you can read this article without tearing up you're either a stronger, or colder person than I am.If you are not a former part of the RCC, or familiar with how they work, this article shows how these rapists got away with their disgusting sin as long as they did. Rather than deal directly with a priest caught with blood on his... hands, the church just moves them across the world to hide the offending priest. It's easy: If you can't hide the sin, hide the sinner. 

In this case the child molesters were moved from Italy to Argentina where Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, helped hide the stain of their foul actions. It is not unusual for a parish priest to suddenly disappear, swept away to another part of the world leaving behind confused parishioners. Priests aren't moved around solely to hide their sins, I pray that's a minority of the priests that are 'disappeared' without notice, but I can't help feeling that legitimate moves may be done to disguise moves that were made to hide priests that were abusing young boys. I don't think the Protestant world has a Get Out Of Jail Free card that is anything close to the Roman Catholic Churches game of Three Card Monte

Since the pope can't be bothered to open an investigation into Cardinal Theodore McCarrick's serial homosexual abuse, the congregation will do it, and they're going to look at ALL of the cardinals

The Vatican denounced the scandal of child abuse before the U.N. General Assembly, guess what they didn't mention - go on, guess!

Confidence in Pope Francis plummets in the U.S. American Catholics now give Francis negative marks for his handling of the sex abuse scandal

The Papacy, “Infallibility” and the Magisterium. When Glenn wants to cut the mustard he knows right where to stick the knife 

WWUTT Wednesday - What Does the Bible Say About The Pope?

The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church (AKA the Magisterium) believes that it is infallible. Seriously, it's in the Catechism that they wrote, they believe that they received this charism (spiritual gift) of infallibility directly from Jesus. Paragraph 889 of the  CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church) states in part:

... the pastoral duty of the Magisterium is aimed at seeing to it that the People of God abides in the truth that liberates. To fulfill this service, Christ endowed the Church's shepherds with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals. (emphasis mine)

I'm not going to pretend that Protestants are better at morals than the Roman Catholic Magisterium, nor will I say that Jews, Muslims, and Atheists have a closer shot at being infallible than Mr. Pope - we are all sinners (emphasis God's, see Ecclesiastes 7:20 for details) not one of us is capable of not sinning, even when ex cathedra. 

I've been told by several people knowledgeable in the dogma of the catholic church that we Protestants do not understand papal infallibility, this gift only happens when the pope is speaking ex cathedra which they tell me means when he's acting as the head of their church. However ex cathedra really means when he's being infallible. So in other words if someone tells you "he's only infallible when he's ex cathedra" really means "he's only infallible when he's being infallible" 

So confusing, let's turn to the bible... what does the bible say about Mr. Pope?

Ten Commandment Tuesday - I Am the Lord Your God

 What is the first of the Ten Commandments?

It might seem like an odd question, but it's not. Jews and Christians give different answers. The reason is that what we know as "The Ten Commandments" is, in the original Hebrew, "The Ten Statements." And since the Hebrew is the original, we begin with the first statement, which all religions agree, is: "I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." This statement is so important that none of the other commandments make sense without it.

First, it asserts that God is giving these commandments. Not Moses and not any other human being.

Second, God is the One who delivered you from slavery. Again, no human being did this, not even Moses. Therefore you have an obligation to me, God. And what is that obligation? That you live by the following nine commandments.

This is the beginning of what is known as ethical monotheism, the greatest world-changing innovation of the Hebrew Bible. It means two things. Ethical monotheism means that the one God -- that's monotheism -- is the source of ethics, of morality. Morality, an objective code of right and wrong, does not emanate from human opinion; it emanates from God, and therefore transcends human opinion. The other meaning of ethical monotheism is that what God most wants from us is that we treat other human beings morally. None of the Ten Commandments concern what humans must do "for" God; pre-Ten Commandments religions all believed that people must do a lot "for" their gods -- for example, feed them and even sacrifice people to them.

But now, thanks to the Ten Commandments, mankind learned that what God wants is that we be good to our fellow human beings. Even the commandments concerning not having false gods and not carrying God's name in vain are ultimately about morality. The thing we can do "for" God is to treat all his other children decently. Every parent can relate to this. Parents -- or at least healthy parents -- have indescribable joy when they see their children act lovingly toward one another and indescribable pain when they see their children hurt one another. So, too, God, who is likened to our father in heaven, cares most about how we treat other human beings, all of whom are His children.

The third critical teaching of the First Statement -- "I am the Lord your God who took you of Egypt, out of the House of bondage" -- is the importance, and the meaning, of freedom.

Note that God is not saying in this introduction to the Ten Commandments that He created the world. It surely would have made a lot of sense for God to introduce the Ten Commandments with the statement, "I am the Lord your God who created the world." That is, after all, pretty impressive, and would make sense: "I created the world: You better listen to Me."

But no, the one thing God declares is that He took the Children of Israel out of slavery and into freedom. That's how much God hates slavery and how important God considers freedom. The Founders of America based their entire view of America on this belief -- that God wants us to be free. That is why the most iconic symbol of the American Revolution, the Liberty Bell, has only one sentence inscribed on it -- a verse from the Hebrew Bible: "Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof."

But there is one other equally important lesson about freedom imparted by the opening statement of the Ten Commandments: what freedom means. The Giver of the Ten Commandments is, in effect, saying: "I took you out of slavery and into freedom, and these Ten Commandments are the way to make a free society. You cannot be a free people if you do whatever you want." Freedom comes from moral self-control. There is no other way to achieve it.

And fourth and finally, by telling us that He liberated the Hebrew slaves, God made clear that He cares deeply about human beings. It is impressive to create the world. But what most matters is not only that there is a Creator, but that the Creator cares about His creation.

All of that is in the one statement with which the Ten Commandments begins.

I'm Dennis Prager.

Submit! Be Subject!

Pastor Paratus spoke about submitting yesterday. Pastor Paratus is a very good teacher, preacher, and friend, and he didn't even blink when I carried a pillow in to church yesterday. Then again I'm not sure he noticed, it was a smallish pillow.*

The teaching centered around Ephesians 5:5-21 and centered around submission and it tailed into Ephesians 5:22 where we are told that wives must submit to their husbands, which upsets some people, mostly wives. Pastor Paratus made a very good suggestion that we need to take to take this in context because verse 21 tells Christians to submit to each other, so verse 22 telling wives to submit to their husbands is just a reiteration of verse 21.

This may cause someone to raise the question - if husbands and wives are submitting to each other, who is in charge? Answer: God! (duh). But we Americans are so wound around the axle about the subject of submission, probably because the word has so many negative connotations, from slavery to 50 Shades of Gray. The bible version that I read is the NASB which doesn't even say "submit", it says "be subject to" which still has a connotation that Americans don't like. But is that what Paul was saying? Was Paul inferring that we break out the whips and chains and cow-tow to each other? Let's go to the original Greek: