Quick Question from Bible Study - Was I Off Base?

How do you biblically say "Sorry dude, but..."?

Last night as we were discussing Acts 1 a question came up regarding the selection of a replacement for Judas. In Acts 1:15-26 about 120 disciples gathered and prayed for their "lost" messiah and then considered what to do with the open position in their ranks. In the end they selected Mattias to fill in for Judas.

The question put to us in our study was: How did you see God at work in this proceeding? 

The discussion went around our group and the consensus was that God guided the disciples in this selection. I'm not one to miss an opportunity to lob a grenade in the room so when the discussion settled and just as we were ready to move on, I said 

"I didn't see God in there anywhere"

Here's my reasoning; Yes, they prayerfully considered their position and Peter did quote scripture, although I'm not sure how contextual the the quotes were, but I didn't see God's hand in there. This was a group that was in complete shock. In a period of a few days they saw one of their own sell out their rabbi, their friend, the Son of God to the authorities. They saw Him led away by Roman soldiers, convicted with no evidence, horrifically tortured, and publicly executed in the most horrific, humiliating way. Then His body disappeared and He appeared to them in some amazing ways: He walked with them and didn't make his identity known for hours, He gave them fishing advice and made them breakfast, He appeared in their midst in a closed room. For 40 days he taught them even more, then He was gone.

Wretched Wednesday - Which Bible Translation is Best for You?

Social Injustice and the Gospel

Social Injustice and the Gospel

by John MacArthur 

Scripture says earthly governments are ordained by God to administer justice, and believers are to be subject to their authority. The civil magistrate is “a minister of God to you for good . . . an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil” (Romans 13:1–4). But it is also true that no government in the history of the world has managed to be consistently just. In fact, when Paul wrote that command, the Roman Emperor was Nero, one of the most grossly unjust, unprincipled, cruel-hearted men ever to wield power on the world stage.

As believers, “we know . . . that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19), so worldly power structures are—and always have been—systemically unjust to one degree or another.

Even the United States, though founded on the precept that all members of the human race “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” incongruously maintained a system of forced slavery that withheld the full benefits of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness from multitudes. Many generations of people from African ethnicities were thus legally (but immorally) relegated to subhuman status. According to the 1860 census, there were about four million in the generation of slaves who were being held in servitude when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

The Problem With Mr. Jones

By now you've heard of the left wing shut down of Alex Jones, bull horn of the InfoWars website. I am not a fan of Alec Jones, I've seen a total of maybe 10 minutes of his raucous bluster and came away feeling like I lost IQ points.

YouTube, Facebook, Apple podcast, and Spotify all removed Alex Jones' content from their sites stating that he violated "Community Standards". Oddly, Twitter who is the loudest liberal crybaby of social media sites did not shut him down stating that his content there, the same content on YouTube, Facebook, Apple podcast, and Spotify, did not violate their policies. Twitter shuts down conservatives constantly for posting far softer content that the bellicose clamor of Mr. Jones. Very interesting.

Alex Jones is not a conservative like you and I would consider a conservative, he calls himself a "paleo-conservative" a title which I claimed for myself about 1.4 seconds after the left coined the phrase "neo-conservative". Alex is actually a Ron Paul libertarian. If you've never heard of Alex Jones or heard his bellicose tirades, do not feel like you missed anything. Mr. Jones is loud and bold and quite often dead wrong and to be honest I'm thankful for the quiet on YouTube and can get back to things more important than his anger. I am a very strict strict constructionist so I don't have any first amendment concerns here, but I do have some serious freedom of speech concerns (they are two different things), but discussion of that is for a different forum.

Dennis Prager and Ben Shapiro on the Bible

Many years ago I was blessed with the opportunity to study Genesis and the book of Ruth under a rabbi. It was a truly eye opening semester, and I wish it could have continued, but it truly instilled a love for the bible in my heart. Any chance I get to hear a discussion of the Torah, be it a Jew or a Gentile, I'm there. So when I found this video of Ben Shapiro and Dennis Prager discussing the bible, I just had to share.

Dennis Prager was raised an Othodox Jew born in New York City. He's a best selling author and I can't wait to read his book The Rational Bible: Exodus. Ben Shapiro is an Orthodox Jew and an American conservative political commentator and writer. He is the founder and editor in chief of The Daily Wire

Spurgeon Thursday - Adjusting the Bible

Women in Leadership = Slavery???

A very brand new reader of this blog recently asked: 

Women in leadership and slavery are very similar subjects. If we can on the basis of two scriptures forbid women from assuming leadership roles, can we on the basis of Paul REGULATE slavery?

The statement that "women in leadership and slavery are similar subjects" is not only false but it is quite misleading. There is absolutely no sane similarity between a slave living his/her life away in drudgery, and a woman fulfilling the duties of mayor of a city, a position that she was elected to do. The entire thing is illogical.

Is this writer is trying to compare carrots and cows because both are found in a field? His comparison of them tells me that since they were both found in the bible and they are both in epistles from Paul they must be inexorably tied to each other. I write a lot about things I find in the bible, but in other venues I write about railroad history, does that rock solid connection mean that railroad history can be found in the bible?

Paul's letters to Timothy spoke of not putting women in a position of teaching men are just one part of his instructions on how a congregation is to conduct itself. Not how society is governed but how the body of Christ worships their savior. There is nothing that says or implies "This is how the secular world must operate in their mundane affairs." It is clear this person was reading 1 Timothy 2:12, taken out of context, because that's the only way one can come up with a meaning that they chose to assign to it. 

Clearly some people don't like Paul's admonishment that women are not to teach men when in worship. The word Paul used that we translate to "man" is "anēr" (ἀνήρ) which can mean man, men, husband, male fiance, group of men, or even a group of people which includes men and women.  (Kind of like the word "man" is used to day. Stunning.) Since Paul is speaking of group worship I'm going to assume that he means all of these definitions of ἀνήρ, and because I am not God's editor (I'm his worshiper) I will use all those definitions too because this entire chapter is instructions for a congregation to conduct themselves. 

Destiny Destiny No Escaping That's For Me

First of all, kudos to everyone that caught the Mel Brooks references in the title of this post and accompanying meme.

You can't read an article or listen to a homily from the Charismatic fringe without hearing the word "Destiny" being being beaten into your head. Not just false prophesy but falsely prophetic merchandise like Destiny Pants and Destiny Cards are being sold to the theologically gullible. This got me to thinking; where is all this Destiny nonsense coming from?

Destiny is not just a vacuous concept, it's a tired and overworked  Buzzword that the charismatics have been flinging at their followers like #4 birdshot at a flock of mallards. Destiny is defined as "the events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future" AND "the hidden power believed to control what will happen in the future"

If you are a human being your destiny is the same as all other humans, when you die you will stand before the throne of judgement. If you are a Christian and truly believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead, He will stand as your advocate at your judgement. As for "the hidden power believed to control what will happen in the future" I'll get to that in a few moments, let''s look at the use of the word destiny first. 

The cool thing about a search engine is that you can search for something particular in one site if you want, so if I were to search my own blog for all the articles where I've used the word "UFO" I would enter this in the search engine:

site:https://wideawakechristian.blogspot.com UFO

How Little Is Known Of The Bible

I suppose this is a continuation of my rant from last week. I can't believe that Christians would use the word of God loudly, incorrectly, publicly, out of context, to protest something that's perfectly legal and entirely biblical. 

Yes, I'm talking about the temporary emigration restriction for seven countries whose major export is terror. As I've mentioned in the past, this temporary restriction is perfectly legal under the Constitution of the United States (Article IV, Section 4) and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. I'm not going to go into the background of the restriction, nor am I going to explore the ignorance of calling it a "Muslim ban". We need to look at the Christian reaction to this executive order.

The Christian reaction has ranged from relief that our government is finally taking steps to protect us from terrorists, to outrage that the government is finally taking steps to protect us from terrorists. This is normal because everyone paints an executive decision with their own bias, but many Christians who oppose this temporary restriction for whatever reason are attempting to use biblical quotes to support their political argument. Quite often it becomes abundantly clear that they don't fully understand the quotes they use, or they take them completely out of context. Are they doing this to spread God's word? If you study what they are doing it appears to be that instead of using God's word to enlighten the masses and save a few souls on the way, the Holy Scriptures are being used to advance a personal political agenda.

Let's start with 'vetting'. Vetting is the act of making a careful and critical examination of something. Remember the uproar over vetting Sarah Palin when she was selected as a candidate for Vice President? All we heard from the press was that she wasn't vetted properly and in the end she was more thoroughly vetted by the press than the rest of the candidates combined including the one that won an 8 year golf vacation  the presidency.

Fast forward to December 2, 2015 when two Daesh operatives shot up a Christmas party murdering 14 and severely injuring 22 friends and co-workers. The female murderer, Tashfeen Malik, was supposedly vetted and passed supposedly comprehensive background checks, none of which noticed Tashfeen's jihadist rantings and terror threats that she often posted on social media. This was a complete vetting failure and this is what the temporary emigration restriction is trying to prevent.

WWUTT Wednesday - This is Not Going To Make Some People Happy

This video will not make some people happy, but I'm not here to make people happy, I'm here to chart my progress as I follow my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If you enjoy reading my words good. If this entry angers you, please leave a reply as to why it angers you. And keep in mind, I moderate.

So let me preface this video; for 20 years I served this nation honorably in arctic cold and in blazing desert heat. I served on beautiful tropical islands and on the polar opposite of beautiful tropical islands: eastern New Mexico. I gave up my youth, my family, and my health to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States and all I ask (other than my contractually guaranteed compensations) is that the Constitution of the United States remains the law of the land. I also ask that it is read and understood by our leaders with at least an 8th grade level of reading.

What I mean is this - I hear (from the left naturally) that the 14th amendment guarantees "equal treatment under the law". It says no such thing, it guarantees "equal PROTECTION under the law". If it guaranteed equal treatment we'd all be paying the exact same tax rate and we'd all be getting welfare checks regardless of our actual income. I'm sure you all can come up with some very good examples of how reading the first and second amendments the way they were written would change society. And what about the 10th amendment? why is that one ignored?

And it's exactly the same with the bible, I can only ask that people read the bible and preach what is says, not what they want it to say. Seriously Frank, what were you thinking?

WWUTT Wednesday - Studying Revelation

The Book of Revelation is actually the very first book of the bible I ever read. This was back in the days of the "Late Great Planet Earth" craze when it seemed like everyone was predicting the end of the earth by the year 1988. Exactly five years after the anticipated start date of the Apocalypse I had the honor of studying Genesis (and Ruth) under a Rabbi. 

The name of that class was "The Bible as Literature" because you can't teach "The Bible as God's Word" in a publicly funded University, but you can call it Literature and still teach it as God's word. Personally I suggest everyone take a good long hard study of Genesis (and Ruth) under a Rabbi because that will give you a foundation of Jewish law, and when you understand Jewish law a lot of things in the bible start to make a lot of sense.

For example - ever notice that whenever the ancient Israelites built an altar at a place they would prominently name it? that Adam's first job was to name the animals? that God's acts during creation included naming things like day, night, dark, etc? There is power in naming, it's practically (at the risk of sounding Emergent) Name It and Claim It. Once you understand that there's real power in naming, that white rock we receive in Revelation with our new name on it suddenly becomes a very Big Deal.

Tuesday is Election Day

He's in charge, you're voting for His subordinates

Last word on voting in this blog (for this election cycle). Tomorrow is election day, and we will be going to the voting booths to elect a new president, new senators, congressmen, governors, judges, mayors, etc. There is going to be a lot of ballot issues and referendums to vote on also. Here in Colorado there's several constitutional measures on the ballot, and for the life of me, I've never seen a state that is so bent on turning their constitution into a doodle pad full of random ideas.

The only advice I personally can give is "Don't vote stupid" (Notice that I did not say "Don't vote for stupid) I think Mike Rowe of "Dirty Jobs" fame said it best:

I can’t personally encourage everyone in the country to run out and vote. I wouldn’t do it, even if I thought it would benefit my personal choice. Because the truth is, the country doesn’t need voters who have to be cajoled, enticed, or persuaded to cast a ballot. We need voters who wish to participate in the process.

Mike asks his readers to educate yourself before you vote, get to know the candidates, the issues, and the entire process, from the constitution to the local ordinances to the history of the electoral process. We as Christians on the other hand need to know a bit more -  we need to know what God says and wants. Here's a few verses that struck me as helpful:

WWUTT Wednesday - Slaves to a Lie

A very long time ago slavery was a universal practice throughout the world with the possible exception of ancient India. All ancient societies participated slavery. In China during several dynasties a captured man would be castrated and forced into slave labor, his property would be seized and his family would be sold into slavery also. 

During biblical times prisoners of war were pressed into slavery, foreign slaves became perpetual slaves of the slave owners. There was also debt slavery which sometimes was the only way people could feed themselves, and there was conjugal slavery where a girl would be sold under the understanding that she would marry the purchaser or his son, and failing that she would be redeemed. 

The bible, being written during this era in human servitude, naturally addresses this in numerous areas. Detractors and people who hate a God they don't believe exists ignore the world wide practice and focus on those mentions in the bible as a misbegotten statement of blanket endorsement of slavery. While venting their spleens at Christians, these people seem to believe is that slavery ended with the Emancipation Proclamation, they are blissful in their ignorance that right now there are tens of millions of people trapped in various forms of slavery throughout the world today. Researchers estimate that 21 million are enslaved worldwide, generating $150 billion each year in illicit profits for traffickers. About 78% toil in forced labor slavery, about 22% are trapped in forced prostitution sex slavery, and the remaining 26% are children.

So while slavery is very real, and very horrible, our detractors fume about the one book in antiquity that actually addressed slavery for the sin that it was

The Pastrix and Their Supporters - are they Godly?

Pastrix Nadia Bolz-Weber of the
ELCA here in Denver

A Pastrix is a woman acting as a pastor. If you go to New Wineskins Dictionary and look up Pastrix you'll see the word defined as this:

まずは、何を持って行くかを決めなければいけませんが 家具や家電など、現在使っているものは自宅に置

Now I can't fault a Pastrix for her enthusiasm, but I can fault them for their web skills. (In case you're wondering the links go to a Chinese website that instructs young men on how to move out of their parents' basements)

I've had readers (and at least one male pastor) tell me that there's nothing wrong with women preaching, and I've invited them to explain their reasoning and I ended up with this. 

So after prayerful consideration I have come forward to state my case for women in the church. This is not an article about men vs women, nor is it an article about God vs women, it's an article about biblical interpretation and submitting one self to God's will. There is a great many positions for women in the church, Elder is not one of them, and a Pastor is an Elder.

One of the bible verses that those who defend women in the Pastorage rally around is Galatians 3:28 which states "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." See? they cry - "There's no difference between men and women!" This is a perfect example of willfully taking a verse out of context. Here it is in context:

23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:23-29)

This passage has nothing to do with the roles of men and women, it have everything to do with salvation through Jesus Christ. This is a soteriological statement: it speaks to the doctrine of salvation. The teaching is that all believers, without regard to social distinctions, have equal access to God through Christ, and, consequently, are to be unified in the Body of Christ. It is a misuse of Scripture to produce ecclesiastical patterns from soteriological passages!

Spurgeon Thursday - The Science Of The Bible

My friend, the philosopher, says it may be very well for me to urge people to read the Bible; but he thinks there are a great many sciences far more interesting and useful than theology.

Extremely obliged to you for your opinion, sir. What science do you mean? The science of dissecting beetles and arranging butterflies?

"No," you say, "certainly not."

The science, then, of arranging stones, and telling us of the strata of the earth?

"No, not exactly that."

Which science, then?

"Oh, all sciences," say you, "are better than the science of the Bible."

Ah! sir, that is your opinion; and it is because you are far from God, that you say so. But the science of Jesus Christ is the most excellent of sciences. Let no one turn away from the Bible because it is not a book of learning and wisdom. It is.

Would ye know astronomy? It is here: it tells you of the Sun of Righteousness and the Star of Bethlehem.

Would you know of botany? It is here: it tells you of the plant of renown-the Lily of the Valley, and the rose of Sharon.

Would you know geology and mineralogy? You shall learn it here: for you may read of the Rock of Ages, and the White Stone with the name engraven thereon, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Would ye study history? Here is the most ancient of all the records of the history of the human race.

Whate'er your science is, come and bend o'er this book; your science is here. Come and drink out of this fair fount of knowledge and wisdom, and ye shall find yourselves made wise unto salvation. Wise and foolish, babes and men, gray-headed sires, youths and maidens-I speak to you, I plead with you, I beg of you respect your Bibles, and search them out, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and these are they which testify of Christ.

Delivered on Sabbath Evening, March 18, 1855, by the
REV. C.H. SPURGEON

No Peace For The Wicked x 2

I was listening to a sermon by Dr. Tony Snow on my way in to work and he was discussing Jehovah Shalom, a title for God which only occurs once in the bible in Judges 6:24. (Actually it's not a title for God, it's the name of an alter that Gideon made to worship God) Jehovah Shalom means "God is Peace", an interesting name for an alter considering what was happening to Israel at the time. (Judges 6 is an incredible read, God, Jesus, Baal, and Ashrah are all in there)

During the sermon Dr. Tony mentioned "there is no peace for the wicked" in Isaiah, now I had always heard it "There is no rest for the wicket" but that was from my Mom who could mangle a metaphor like no ones business (she's the one who coined the phrase "If the truth hurts, wear it"). When I got to my computer I looked up "no peace for the wicked" and found that it is in Isaiah, twice.

There is no peace for the wicked," says the LORD. (Isaiah 48:22 and Isaiah 57:21)

When something is repeated in the bible, it is something that God wants you to understand. First I double checked to make sure that there was no fiddling around with the translation and found that both verses are exactly the same except for in Isaiah 48:22 God is called Yĕhovah ("the existing One") and in Isaiah 57:21 He is called 'elohiym (A plural word (gods) but used in a singular tense). This verse is repeated almost verbatim, so it's got to be important. 

John 8:12

Wabasso FL

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world;he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

Jupiter FL

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.

John 1:4-5

Sebastian FL

4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness did not comprehend it.

Mark 1:17

Amelia Island, FL

And Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and
I will make you become fishers of men."