Don't Wait

Eighteen years ago 2,977 people were lost to us and the death toll keeps rising. Dr. Michael Caine, medical director of the World Trade Center Health Program at Mount Sinai reported last year that close to 10,000 first responders and others who were at the World Trade Center, have been diagnosed with cancer due to inhalation of the toxic dust from the tower collapses, and more than 2,000 have so far died from 9/11 related illnesses.

These people went to work expecting to come home at the end of their shifts and airplane voyages, and in a blink of an eye it all changed.

Don't wait, give your self to Jesus, get into His word, prepare yourself for His mercy at the throne of judgement. Any moment can be our last, so wrap yourself in the word of God. And if the catastrophic does not occur, you'll find that with God's help the little daily catastrophes go easier too.

WWUTT Wednesday - Is Social Justice Just?

I was a child in the 60's and in middle school the student teachers would entertain us with the stories of their protests. They protested just about everything, so to us it appeared that Buffalo NY was a seething hotbed of social injustice. Some things they protested made some sense to me, but how they protested was, in my mind, stupid. 

Stupid, dangerous and insulting. 

The actions and attitudes of these mid 20th century Social Justice Warriors gave birth to one of the greatest conservative minds of the 21st Century; me. Well myself and tens of thousands of other people who might have agreed with them, but their antics drove us to a different way of thinking; one that was based on logic and reason rather than emotion and anger. Those same protesters spawned a new generation of protesters who now call themselves "Social Justice Warriors". They don't appear to understand the term 'Social' because if you disagree with them they become extremely unsocial. They clearly don't understand what the term 'Warrior' means, a warrior has honor, and these people's actions are far from honorable. And as for Justice... 

Spurgeon Thursday - Why Sacraments Are As Filthy Rags

Why I Am Not A Prepper

Not very long ago Charisma News published an article titled The Rapture, Obama, Donald Trump and 50 Other Excuses People Use to Avoid Prepping. First of all, I don't recommend Charisma News to anyone with an iota of discernment, I say this mostly because of the presence of Rick Joyner on that web site. There are a bunch of articles about the prophesies of Mr. Joyner but somehow they missed his prophesy that when the Carolina Panthers win the Super Bowl it will be a prophetic sign of the "third great awakening"

Everybody knows that's just crazy talk because God doesn't use professional sports for prophetic signs and the Broncos aren't going to let that happen anyhow.

Now for those of you who aren't aware, prepping is the hobby of getting ready for an emergency either real or imagined. Mostly imagined. People whose days are taken up by preparing for some horrific disaster are called Preppers. Prepping consists of gathering and storing emergency food such as buckets of rice, beans, jerky, and dehydrated entrees. Preppers also gather tents, camping equipment, emergency radios, guns, ammo, bows, arrows, anything you can think of to survive the Zombie Apocalypse, or any other form of apocalypse if they run out of zombies.

The Faith of our Candidates

When Barack Hussein Obama was elected there was a great dispute over what his religion is. He was born of a Muslim man so by Muslim law he's a Muslim. He claimed to be a Christian but sat in an anti-American church that denies God the Father, and by his own words and actions he's proven to be a Narcissist Atheist.

For me a candidate's faith is a very important part of my decision to vote for him or her. While my primary concern is candidate's position on the issues, his or her faith or lack of faith goes to the candidate's psyche. A Narcissist Atheist for example has no concept of being answerable to a higher power because in their mind they are the higher power. This is incredibly important because as president of the United States the most powerful man in the world has a political higher power to show allegiance to: the Constitution of the United States. 

3 If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. (1 Timothy 6:3-5)

Let's look at the field of candidates, first the Republicans:

Help is always here

Tim Tebow Signs With The Philadelphia Eagles

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)

Tim Tebow, who once lead the Denver Broncos to the Superbowl has signed with the Philadelphia Eagles for one year. While Tebow is famous for his evangelism and faith, the only thing the Eagles have been famous for lately is hiring a dog murderer.

Tim Tebow is not ashamed of his deep, loving faith. He begins postgame news conferences by thanking his "Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ" and ends them with "God bless." He openly prays on the sidelines and even on the field when he has thrown a touchdown. Tim is often seen on one knee in prayers of gratitude for being given the chance to play the game he loves. We Christians call it praying, newspapers and fans call it “Tebowing.”

What is Faith

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)

Occasionally something hits me like a lightning bolt and suddenly once murky concepts become clear as a bell. This, I believe fervently, is the Holy Spirit, revealing God's truth to me bit by bit. I'm glad that He doesn't do it all at once because my Swiss-cheese memory (Quantum Leap Reference) couldn't take it. 

A good definition of what Faith is and is not hit me a short time ago when reading Preparing for Eternity by Mike Gendron

The top definition used in the Christian world for faith is Hebrews 11:1, but I'm not wild about the use of the word 'assurance'. Over the years 'assurance' has become a bit more wishy-washy than it once was. The definition of assurance is "the state of being sure or certain about something" The original Greek word used in Hebrews 11:1 is ὑπόστασις or hypostasis which means things like "that which has foundation, is firm" and "the steadfastness of mind, firmness, courage, resolution" I like 'steadfast' over 'sure' in this particular instance. If I'm wrong, please correct me, but try this on for size: 

Now faith is the steadfast trust of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen 

Be As Shrewd As A Snake

Tim Challies recently wrote a very good blog entry entitled 6 Reasons Why Sexual Predators Target Churches. His article is very good, a must read for all Christians. The thing is, we need to keep in mind that it's not just sexual predators that target churches, it's also con men and hucksters of all makes and models.  

We don't like to admit it, but we've all seen it, the church is constantly under attack not just in overt ways but covert ways as well. We've seen the false teachers overtly perverting the word of God, we've seen the bookstores taking Christians' hard earned money for tomes of sugarcoated blasphemy. But we've also seen things like pedophiles preying on our children, and people preying on our older saints for their money.

As Tim pointed out, the reason we are being attacked is simple: Christians tend to be naïve. We tend to be kind hearted We want to think the best of people. We don't want to be "judgmental". I've seen it in action: we want to do the right thing, to do what Jesus would want us to do, to give to those that appear to be in need. 

We as Christians hang out with other Christians so we tend to think that most people think like we do. This is not an unusual thing, I know people here in Colorado that live for marijuana, they can't imagine spending a day sober, and they think that everyone else in the state is like them because the majority of the people they associate with are perpetually stoned too. These folks refuse to believe they are in the minority, as do heavy drinkers and folks with other proclivities that are done with peers, but that's the way the mind God gave us works. 

However Jesus warned us about these attacks and told us how to deal with them

Why do Unbelievers Hate The Bible?

Many Christians have heard it, and I'm pretty sure almost all Christian bloggers have heard it; an unbeliever prefacing his/her claim to why they don't believe the bible with "I've read the bible and..." I used to challenge those remarks with "What part of the bible in particular do you have problems with understanding?" but the response was generally the same: "The whole thing!" followed by a long confused screed that generally contains the words "... and that whole bacon thing, what's up with that?"

I just had a comment on my review of H2's "The Bible Rules" by a fiercely liberal Canadian woman who suggests that the ungodly, heretical "The Bible Rules" is a pretty good show and the reasons why Christians don't like it is because 

"The truth is, most of them have very little understanding of their own "holy book"; they certainly don't have much actual education in the matter... Whether ignorance is by accident or deliberate, it's equally appalling, in this day and age."

I did invite the lass to join me in bible study and maybe with the help of the Holy Spirit some light will be shed on the Gospel for her, I truly hope. But in researching the atheists all encompassing hate for the Gospel I found words that do not give me a lot of hope for her enlightenment:

15 To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. 16 They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed. (Titus 1:15-16)

That pretty much sums up why atheists hate the bible, and why blasphemous shows like H2's "The Bible Rules" and movies like the Russel Crowe "Noah" are filmed. 

Walk By The Spirit

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16)

Why should we walk in the flesh? Paul says quite plainly a couple of verses later:

19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

This post isn't blood moon hyperventilation, because when you see something like "...you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:42) or the inverse "...will not inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9) the speaker is talking about your salvation, and that's important. You should immediately think 'This Is Stuff To Pay Attention To.' I enjoy and even have fun with discussions like "Pretrib or posttrib" and "who were the sons of God in Genesis", because regardless of what you come up with, it has no bearing on your salvation. Walking by the Spirit IS your salvation.

Walking by the spirit doesn't mean obeying the Mossaic law, Romans 8:1-2 tells us we are free from the law through Jesus Christ. Tomes are written about walking by the Spirit, so to oversimplify a much studied concept into a form this tired old brain can understand, to walk by the spirit is to follow Jesus. We have reached Christ by faith and by that faith He asks that we walk with him until we hear Him say "Well done good and faithful servant". But how do we do this? Here's 7 steps to follow; 

Blessed Are They Who Did Not See, And Yet Believed

Jesus said unto him, “Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)

For most people seeing is believing, the same is true for the Apostles. Not just Thomas but all of the Apostles did not believe Jesus rose from the dead until they were shown evidence of His resurrection, for most it was seeing Jesus in the flesh.  Luke 24:8-11 tells us that the testimony of the women appeared to be nonsense to the Apostles and with the exception of John the Apostles didn't believe that Jesus rose from the dead until they actually saw Him. Jesus wasn't berating Thomas, he was pointing out "You see me and you believe, think how awesome it is that some do not see me yet still believe." This is where that whole faith thing lives.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

I can understand the Apostles unbelief, they just watched their friend and rabbi be gruesomely tortured and murdered, another one of their own just killed himself (Judas) the city of Jerusalem who cheered Jesus as a conquering hero a week before was crying for His blood days later, and now Thomas is gone. They were in shock and scared for their lives. We haven't experienced the shock these men have but then we haven't experienced the physical closeness to Jesus they have. Instead we feel Him in our presence each and every day through His words that the Apostles left us and the power of His Holy Spirit, whom He left with us until He returns for us. And on that day every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.

Cling To The Father And His Holy Name

One of my favorite gospel songs is "Long Black Train" by Josh Turner, in it he says "Cling to the Father and his Holy Name." and for a long time I paused to wonder "why His name?" Shakespeare once famously asked "What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." So what if Jesus was named Bruce? Wouldn't He still be the same savior we have trusted our souls too? 

So I started the Berean Thing and began digging into names and names of names and I've found that the answer to Shakespeare is a qualified "No, sorry Bill." A name in today's world is just a word, which explains why silly girls and boys give their children names that "Sound cool" rather than a name with meaning or dignity. These days a name is merely a word or combination of words by which a person, place, or thing is known or designated, it's what makes a noun proper. In biblical times a name is much more than a string of syllables that are used to identify grandpa. This redefinition of the concept of the word 'name' causes confusion for those that do not do the Berean Thing and members of the theology of evangelical atheism. 

A Godly Man At The Helm

Thirty years ago today President Ronald Wilson Reagan was shot by a deranged young man outside of the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington DC. As they walked from the hotel to the presidential limousine John  Hinkley Jr. opened fire. President Reagan was shot in the chest and in the lower right arm, he suffered a punctured lung and heavy internal bleeding. White House Press Secretary James Brady was shot in the head and was left paralyzed and permanently disabled. District of Columbia police officer Thomas Delahanty was hit in the back of his neck as he turned to protect Reagan, he fell next to James Brady and eventually recovered from his injuries. Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy covered President Reagan with his own body and took Hinkley's fourth bullet in his abdomen, he too fully recovered from his wounds.

Six bullets fired, four men shot, a nation in shock.

It was later after this episode that the full value of God's gift to this Country was fully revealed. A lesser man would react in a lesser way, making speeches about the horrors of the second amendment, demand the denial of constitutional rights to law abiding civilians, and completely obfuscate the true cause of the shooting (sin and mental illness) Instead President Reagan chose the path that God demands all of us to follow:

"Getting shot hurts. Still my fear was growing because no matter how hard I tried to breathe it seemed I was getting less and less air. I focused on that tiled ceiling and prayed. But I realized I couldn't ask for God's help while at the same time I felt hatred for that mixed up young man who had shot me. Isn't that the meaning of the lost sheep? We are all God's children & therefore equally beloved by him. I began to pray for his soul and that he would find his way back to the fold." - Ronald Reagan's diary entry concerning the attempted assassination by John Hinkley Jr

Immediately after being shot Reagan, lying on a hospital gurney, fighting for breath, chose to put aside his fear and anger and forgive John Hinkley Jr. How many other presidents could you imagine doing that? How many people at all could you imagine forgiving our assailant as our life blood leaks out? THIS is what God demands of us, not megachurches, not rock bands in front of congregations, not chrome ichthys on our car bumpers, but to forgive those who trespass against us.

¹⁴ For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. (Matthew 6:14-15)

Dangerous Teachings - Part 2

²⁷ My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; ²⁸ and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.” (John 10:27-30)

Both Pastor Brimstone and Pastor Lovejoy have used this verse to express the doctrine of Eternal Security, AKA Once Saved Always Saved. I've never had a problem with this verse because for one thing Jesus said it, but I've always felt uncomfortable around the Once Saved Always Saved doctrine. For another thing I read John 10:27-29 like this - in chronological steps:

1. Jesus' sheep hears His voice
2. He knows (acknowledges) them
3. They follow Him
4. He gives eternal life to them 
5. They never perish
6. No one will (or can) snatch them from His hand

Now I know I'm missing a whole lot of steps in there, and please feel free to correct me, and maybe it's my technician/engineering/wrench dragging mind at work here but it looks to me that Eternal Security is the final step of a process rather than step 4 where  much preaching I've heard puts it. Maybe I'm wrong, but if I am, why are there so many passages in the bible demonstrating that salvation is conditional upon continued faith? Hang with me and let's look at this...

"God's Not Dead" Is Surely Alive

Hollywood is in shock (again) that a little independent Christian movie came out of nowhere to debut high on the list of top movies of the weekend. God's Not Dead debuted not just in the Top Ten, but in the Top 5 grossing movies this weekend. Debuting in only 708 theaters nation wide God's Not Dead earned an incredible $8,500,000, an average of $10,897 per theater, and when you look at the averages that puts God's Not Dead in the #3 place behind the Grand Budapest Hotel which averaged $22,039 in only 304 theaters and Divergent which averaged $14,227 in 3,936 theaters. Needless to say Hollywood is a bit shocked.

I'm not even sure the biggest story of the weekend is Divergent seeming to prove it's the first young adult franchise since The Hunger Games to prove profitable, though the "A" CinemaScore certainly has me questioning the intelligence of today's movie going audience once again. Instead it would seem the biggest surprise is God's Not Dead coming out of nowhere with $8.7 million and a fourth place finish. I hadn't even heard of the film until Saturday morning. Goes to show how much I'm paying attention to the faith-based movie market. - Rope of Silicon

When is the last time you were in a movie when the audience spontaneously broke out in applause? Or choked back tears of sorrow and of joy? Then again when was the last time you heard a character in a movie lecture another character that cooking a duck alive was cruel? 

An Idolatrous Image of God

God is love, and His love is why we exist, and I'm grateful for his love every day, but God is so much more than that. Look at it this way, it is very safe to say that I am a patriot. I gave up family, friends, and home to serve my country and it only cost me twenty years of my life, my health, and a substantial portion of my sanity. But I'm a lot more than that, I'm a father, a husband, a model railroader, an amateur photographer, a really bad plumber, an engineer, a writer... all these attributes and more make up what and who I am, and to ignore many of those attributes gives you a false image of who I really am. If you were to judge me, to define my value as a human, by observing only my patriotism then you have a highly skewed image of me and would probably be confused by the fact that I'm employed by a private company rather than marching in parades and saluting the flag 24/7. 

Also if you ever saw me trying to repair a drain you'd probably call a cop. 

When considering people we have to consider the whole person just as when we worship God we must worship all of His divine person, His love, His holiness, and even His anger. I only mention this for two reasons; 1. I was moved by a sermon by John MacArthur about how we diminish God by ignoring almost all of His divine attributes and 2. I have to replace a toilet this weekend.

Yes God is love, but why do so many people concentrate on that one single attribute to the point where all of His other attributes are forgotten or ignored? When we take away all of the other attributes that make up our Creator we diminish His essence to something that He clearly isn't. As Richard Lovelace wrote 

Ronald Reagan VS The Chicken of Kiev

I rarely get into politics in this blog, mostly because I want to remain God centered and if I veered off into politics I'd be moving far, far, far away from God because that's where our leadership is taking us. However, recently situations have come to light that allow us to compare national leaders when faced with similar crisis, to evaluate their words and actions when faced with similar circumstances.

As we all know things have gone to pieces in the Ukraine, the Russian army has invaded and our leadership in the United States is profoundly befuddled. The United States government knows exactly what you emailed to Aunt Clara last week, but they appear to have been taken by surprise that an unapologetic Communist running the largest military in the world attacked a neighboring country the day after President Barack Hussein Obama announced massive, unwarranted cuts in the defense of the nation he was elected to run. So while people die in the streets of the Ukraine Obama's primary response was to say "Any violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity would be deeply stabilizing," Too little, too late, and don't you mean "destabilizing" Mr, President? Sometimes its hard to keep the Holy Spirit's directions in mind as he wrote through Paul's hand;

1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. (Romans 13:1-2)

Go Bronco!

I usually spend Superbowl Sunday watching the Puppy Bowl, I mean - what else does Red White and Blue blooded Buffalo Bills fan have to watch on Superbowl Sunday (and to be honest, this years Puppy Bowl has an awesome looking starting lineup.) And even though I now live in the Denver area, Broncos Fever hasn't really touched me. 

I'm still a bit upset with the Broncos for letting Tim Tebow go, and to be honest I've always thought that hunter safety orange is a color for green-horns who enter the woods for a couple of hours a year and not for a football team. But maybe I should get on the band wagon just a little bit. Not the Bronco bandwagon so much as the Peyton Manning bandwagon. In a state that just made it legal to stone yourself in to a blind stupor, Peyton Manning performs a service to God and the youth of Colorado just by being Peyton Manning. 

Happy New Year

I don't know what to expect in the new year and I don't know what's going to happen, but I do know that God's will shall be done. Most people hope for a better new year, and in some aspects some things will be better than last year, but in reality this fallen world is accelerating it's slide into the abyss. This is both terrifying and exhilarating. Terrifying because we as Christians know what is in store for this world, and exhilarating because we as Christians know what is in store for us. 

¹⁵ Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. ¹⁷ The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17)

When I look at the majesty of God's creation, and my favorite bit of the majesty of God's creation is the Rocky Mountains, it's hard not to love the world, after all He made it for us. It's dizzying to think that the splendor of those mountains - the trees, the rock formations, the minerals that have never been tapped, and the herds of animals that call them home - it's just a temporary thing God threw together in a matter of hours just for us. How much more spectacular is our true home going to be when He calls us to be with Him? 

I like to think that compared to what God has planned for us, this world is equivalent a plastic bowl with a plastic palm tree that we used to keep turtles in. This is not a turtle's real habitat any more than this world is the real home home God originally intended for us. I could go on and on about how moral values are being torn apart, how quoting the bible is now hate speech, and how even prayer is now illegal, 

For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. (Hebrews 13:14)

So if I care to remember one thing this New Years Eve, it's that not only is it a special day in the lives of Mrs. WideAwakeChristian and myself, but to also discard the worries and fears of the approaching darkness. Yes, it's also one day closer to being with Him, and for that I'm thankful every day. As for looking to the future in 2014, the only thing I know for sure is that I will be seeking the lord

¹¹ For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’ (Jeremiah 29:11-14)