About Me

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I am a born-again Christian, who is Reformed, but also charismatic, spiritually speaking. (I do not speak in tongues, but I believe glossalalia is a bona fide gift not given to all, and not as great as prophecy, for example.) I have several years of college education but only completed a two-year degree. I was raised Lutheran and confirmed, but I didn't "find Christ" until I was in the Army and responded to a Billy Graham crusade in 1973. I was mentored or discipled by the Navigators in the army and upon discharge joined several evangelical, Bible-teaching churches. I was baptized as an infant, but believe in believer baptism, of which I was a partaker after my conversion experience. I believe in the "5 Onlys" of the reformation: sola fide (faith alone); sola Scriptura (Scripture alone); soli Christo (Christ alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (to God alone be the glory). I affirm TULIP as defended in the Reformation.. I affirm most of The Westminster Confession of Faith, especially pertaining to Providence.

Monday, May 23, 2022

Do You Pray With Purpose?


"Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise." Psalm 100:4

 Do you lose track of yourself and God when you pray? Some even fall asleep probably because they are experiencing peace with God! Even wondering in thought, undisciplined, aimless, and undirected or unfocused? You are admonished to stay alert in prayer which means be watchful for prayer opportunities and needs of others first and then yourself. Prayer does have a purpose and it's not to get God to see things your way or to change His mind or to get Him to do you a favor or grant your every wish or whim. Successful prayer changes you, not God!

It is an honor just to be able to go directly to the Father in Jesus' name and to boldly approach the throne of grace to ask God what He is already predisposed to do! Contrary to some, prayer is not just asking God to do things for you and He is no genie! The purpose of prayer is prayer! That's right! We learn to experience God and have an intimate encounter with the Almighty; bare your soul!

It's a privilege to pray as a child of God to the Father and have His attention and audience! When we gain access to the throne room and get into fellowship with God, it's its own reward! We come as we are in prayer but will not stay that way! We should enjoy prayer and our ongoing dialogue with God! We must beware of what breaks this beautiful relationship: unconfessed sin in our lives. First order of business and Job One is to come clean with God and confess known and unknown sins in general. God will then cleanse us of all unrighteousness, even the sins we are not aware of.

We ought to have a divine and spiritual purpose for our prayer like a petition or request, intercession for others in need, praise offering, thanksgiving, or confession. That would be the primary reason for going to God and all the rest is incidental but we must stay focused on our purpose and not get sidetracked or lose our focus. Prayer without purpose (like reading without one) is like going by feelings and they are as variable as a weathervane. We must not worry about anything, pray about anything, and thank about everything! As the spiritual say: "Take it to the Lord in prayer!" Just like when you read the Bible to get a word from the Lord, you must ask yourself: "What is occasioning the prayer; why and for what?

Do you ever wonder why your prayer life seems anemic and you are out of your league compared to the prayers of preachers who get plenty of public practice? Don't give up and figure out and ponder what interferes with your prayers: apathy, lack of prep, lack of Bible interest or reading, sin in your life, negligence, easygoing life with not concerns, no emergencies God forbid! Don't let prayer be your last resort but your fist call for help! You must learn to go directly to God and not first to your friends or family! God is your Provider and has promised to see to it all our needs are taken care of; we just need to learn to lean on Him and trust and obey!

A problem some have is that they give up too easily and accept a "No!" for an answer when God is just asking you to wait or telling you He has something better. You must realize that problems come to drive us to our needs and this is good when we have no place else to go. We ought always to pray and not to give up; praying as if it all depends on God, but living as if it all depends on us! Don’t forget to seek the prayer support of others for urgent causes and needs and be willing admit your own.

Remember, prayer is dialogue with God and God speaks to us primarily through His Word and reading it is meant to put us into the mood to pray and to know what our needs are and what to pray for in a godly manner. The formula or format is to the Father, in the name of the Son, in the power of the Spirit (Eph. 2:18; 3:12). In sum, it is paramount to pray “in the Spirit” being attentive to God’s will to be heard and to look for needs to fulfill by your intercession and petition. Soli Deo Gloria! 


Sunday, May 1, 2022

What Are You Looking For?



What are you looking for?


Many people admit to be "looking" but don't know or realize for what or for whom. Those who seek God have different motives and reasons: a sense of meaning and purpose in life; peace of mind; filling the void in life; moral fiber to face decisions; strength in crisis; healing; friendship; the absolute truth; forgiveness; freedom from guilt; and the answer to the it all. Many have sought a higher standard of living, human rights, education, freedom, and the supernatural for answers but it eludes them.

We can have all these things and never find God. There is a vacuum only God can fill and we are spiritually empty and restless till we find our meaning and rest in God. He fulfills all our expectations and more. Considering how much God can do for us; how can we neglect such great salvation?




To accomplish the aforementioned, many seek gurus, swamis, wise-guys, cult leaders, mediums, fortune tellers, experts, philosophers, the intelligentsia, the academia, the pundits, the politicians, the religious leaders, the celebrities, the heroes of society, and religion or even drugs and pop psychology. But there is only one true answer to the ultimate and big questions of life: Jesus is the Answer and the Bible is the Answer Book.

All we need to know is in Him and His Word. Without God, life makes no sense! For instance, there can be no objective, transcendent, absolute, universal, and timeless truths but all so-called truths would be relevant because there would be ultimate standard to appeal to and final Arbiter of truth.

But before we can find the answer, we must admit to the questions: are you a sinner and lost without God? Can you find meaning without Him? Do your realize your need? Do you realize that Jesus claimed to be the only way to truth and God?

God is no Cosmic Killjoy, Celestial Policeman, Mother Earth; Clark Kent or Superman (secret identity and super-human under disguise with super powers); Popeye (who is a human with super power); or Man Upstairs who is impersonal and cannot be known; doting Grandpa; or the Force that is to be utilized in our favor. We must see that God is personal and we can know Him. That is why He came to earth as Jesus to reveal Himself. We use things and forces, but we know and relate to persons. None of the assumed deities loves us as Jesus does who proved God's love by dying for us.

To find God, we must first see our need then! To be saved we must realized we are lost. To be made righteous, we must admit we are unrighteous, to be justified we must admit our injustice, to be reconciled, we must admit our estrangement, and to be forgiven, we must admit our sin and guilt! We must seek God with all our heart to find Him (Jer. 29:13; Deut. 4:29; Isaiah 55:6). 







Soli Deo Gloria!

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

How Do You Love God With All Your Heart ...

 You start out by acknowledging God in all your ways (Prov. 3:5-6) and submitting to His will. It isn’t based in emotion, though they do result. God’s love is shed abroad by the Holy Spirit into our hearts by a work of grace (Rom. 5:5). Remember, the proper divine order is “fact, faith, feeling.” You learn to trust God by acknowledging Him in all your ways and taking baby steps of being faithful first in small things and letting God trust you with more. We progress from "faith to faith." (Rom. 1:17).  We all take a leap of faith in salvation and must go wherever God leads like Abraham went out not knowing where he was going.

 Now we all live in a doubt-certitude continuum and our faith must grow from faith to faith (Rom. 1:17). We practice our faith and obey (they go together hand in hand) God makes it grow. It isn’t how much faith we have as much as how big our God is and if we are obedient to the faith. Faith isn’t as much about believing despite the evidence or how big your faith is, but how much you obey--they go hand in hand (Heb. 3:18–19). It isn't how big your faith is, but how well you obey. Faith is not believing despite the evidence or how convinced you are, but obeying in spite of the consequences. 

What believing with all your heart, mind, and soul means is that it is with all we have, our whole being withholding nothing and not having some area of our lives that isn't surrendered to His will.  We prove it by our lives and testimony: "All that counts is faith expressing itself through love." (Gal. 5:6).  This doesn't happen overnight. The more we love our neighbor is indicative of our love for God. We commence by loving them and no one who doesn't love his brother can claim to love God.  Thus, the command to love our neighbor as ourselves, even becoming good Samaritans, thinking of their affairs, not just our own and meeting them in their time of need and using whatever resources, gifts, talents, opportunities, time, blessings, or relationships you have to their benefit.   

Note that  to love God with all our heart, soul, and spirit means with all we are and with all our being--all the bases are covered! 

Sunday, April 24, 2022

Are You Living A Secret Life?

 If you are a believer in Christ, you live a secret life, a privatized life in addition to the one most people see; i.e., your relationship with Christ.  Now I am not saying we should not show our faith (we should not broadcast it but let God open the door to witness for Him) for we are to prove our faith by our works; the faith you have is the faith you show!  We are not to wear our religion on our sleeves and advertise how pious or religious we are which may really be religiosity, not spirituality. 

We must also be Daniels in the sense of not being ashamed to take a stand for Christ and be countercultural or even to do civil disobedience and defy the laws of the land if they contradict the Bible. We are not to practice our spiritual life that the public may see but do do good works that men may see them and glorify our Father in heaven. We are to complete the good works God has ordained for us as His masterpiece. (Eph. 2:10).  

We have died! our new life is hidden with Christ.  That means that the only fulfillment, meaning, purpose, dignity we will find must be in Christ and in His will to His glory. Living selfishly will not cut it with God!  We must love our neighbor as ourselves which means that we will come to their aid in times of need and not just be  concerned with only our personal affairs. But God gives us an agape love for others by shedding it abroad in our hearts and we prove our faith and love for God by loving one another. 

We can only find God's will if we are willing to do it! We must seek His will and be willing to do whatever He puts in our way.  This is also how we find our spiritual gift: by experimenting and debuting for whatever opportunities God gives us. God certainly has a plan for our lives and few there be that find it before their senior years. Wisdom does grow with age and the recognition of the brevity of our lives. 

The reason David was called a man after God's own heart was that he was willing to do all God's will  (Acts 13:22). That doesn't mean he never sinned but found God's will for his life and fulfilled it. Even Paul said that his "only aim was to complete [his] mission." (Acts 20:24). We must be careful to fulfill the calling we get from God (Col. 4:17) that we receive a "full reward." 

Remember, only God sees our heart and secret motives and judges the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Heb. 4:12; 1 Chron. 28:9). All of us are like a moon with a dark side only God sees! Yes, God sees our shortcomings too but doesn't count them against us (Psalm 32:2; 2 Cor. 5:19). God loves and accepts us with all our warts, flaws, and weaknesses. 

We must transition from doctrine to application: from orthodoxy to orthopraxy or from teaching to ethics. We must practice our faith and grow thereby in it by doing good works. We must turn our creeds into deeds!  the whole purpose of salvation is a changed life!  Remember the formula of the Reformers: "We are saved by faith alone not by a faith that is alone!" We are not saved by works, but not without them either; faith without works is dead and cannot save. We prove and authenticate our faith by our deeds, for we are known by our fruits.  Our faith must therefore be validated by our good works to prove it is saving, sincere, and genuine faith; for God doesn't require  perfect faith, only sincere faith (1 Tim. 1:5: 2 Tim. 1:5). 

In sum, we must become heavenly minded and think about those things that are spiritual, setting our minds on that which is above, not on earth for our citizenship is in heaven and we are mere pilgrims passing through, not preoccupied with the temporal.  To keep our eyes on Jesus (Heb. 3:1; 12:2). Soli Deo Gloria! 

Thursday, April 21, 2022

Happy Thanksgiving/Hanukkah

The scholars say that the convergence of these two holidays won't happen again for 70,000 years--what a special day! I recall that Lincoln proclaimed the feast of Thanksgiving in October of 1863 and it was fixed as the fourth Thursday in November by FDR. The Last Supper or Holy Communion, also known as the Eucharist (which means thanksgiving, by the way, in Greek) is a unique Christian tradition. Thanksgiving is our heritage (not to celebrate seems un-American). One of the first lessons we learn as children is to be thankful and say thanks, especially saying grace at dinner time (a family ritual, if you will). It is ingrained in us to think of the holiday as Turkey Day, with an afternoon of football and family get-togethers. One of the two real family holidays with Christmas.


Jesus healed ten lepers and only one came back to give thanks: He said, "Where are the nine?" Romans 1:21 talks about people knowing God (though not in a saving way, of course) and neither being thankful nor giving Him the glory--"so their foolish hearts were darkened" and consequently "God gave them up." Truly sober words and a word to the wise is sufficient. About giving thanks, what if you have a meal for a guest and he was to say afterward, "How much do I owe you?" Wouldn't you be insulted? We can't pay God back even for all eternity to do it. The psalmist says in Ps. 116:12, "What shall I render to the Lord for all His goodness to me?"


Lincoln said the greatest gift God has given a man is the Bible and he said it was the greatest cure for depression. The Great Hallel (Ps. 136) exhorts us to give thanks unto the Lord several times as does Ps. 107 ("Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, His mercy endures forever"). Whey gives thank you might venture to ask. Just as there are benefits to being a veteran like health care and the G.I. Bill and there are fringe benefits to a job, there are benefits to being joint-heirs with Christ and heirs of God. "And do not forget all His benefits," says Ps. 103:2. We thank God for who He is and for what He has done (as recounted the history of Israel in Psalms 78 and 105, and the praises of the Great Hallel. "The Lord has done great things for us; whereof we are glad" (Ps. 126:3). Most importantly, we thank God to gain entrée into His presence per Ps.100:4, which says, "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, enter His courts with praise."



I cannot help but be reminded of the following hymn: "Count your blessings, name them one by one, and you will see what the Lord has done." We are to thank God in all things (1 Thess. 5:18), for all things (Eph. 5:20), and with thanksgiving let our requests be made known unto God (Phil. 4:6). A friend of mine has a daughter that complained about the pain in her foot and he told her to thank God for blessing her foot! What faith! God turns curses into blessings and makes the wrath of God to praise Him (Ps. 76:10). The key to a Spirit-filled walk is to be "abounding in thanksgiving" (Col. 2:7). Finally, the offering of sacrifice makes us acceptable to God (Lev. 22:29), and is considered a thank-offering or a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Jonah offered sacrifice with a "voice of thanksgiving." "The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies Me," says Ps. 50:23. In heaven, the elders and angels will offer thanksgiving to God: "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen" (Rev. 7:12).



The best biblical example of contentment and thankfulness for God's provision despite matters is in Habakkuk 3:17-18: "Though the fig tree, not blossom...yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." We must learn to be content in all circumstances just like Paul in Philippians 4:13. Ever hear of the man without shoes that became thankful when he saw a man without feet? How about the father who took his son to a third world country to show them how they live to teach him gratitude, and the son was impressed that they didn't have fences! I'm sure you can think of examples galore for this blessed day. Soli Deo Gloria!



Neither Were They Thankful

"Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy" (Psalms 107:22, NIV)."But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you..." (Jonah 2:9, NIV).

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and grateful" (Col. 4:2, NIV).

"Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!" (Rev. 7:12, NIV).

"I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD" (Psalm 116:17, KJV).


They knew God but didn't give Him thanks and for this reason, God darkened their foolish heart. We are responsible for the light God has given us or we will be judged accordingly. Thanksgiving is a sacrifice to God (cf. Psa. 50:14) and praise is another sacrifice to God (cf. Heb. 13:15) that we can offer God as a way to gain entree into His divine throne room and presence. "Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise..." (Psa. 110:4, KJV). That seems to stipulate a formula for getting into the spirit of worship and prayer. They are juxtaposed in this verse and go hand in hand--thanksgiving for what He's done or will do and praise for who He is and how He reveals Himself in glory.


You can be sure that an ingrate is not filled with the Spirit, neither knows it, for this is a basic lesson of spirituality we all learn to mature in the faith. But a lot of ingratitude is habitual and a matter of nurture and upbringing; i.e., it might be the parents who didn't bring them up right! As Romans 1:21 equates the two and says, "they glorified him not as God." Gratitude and praise go together to comprise an act of worship that we owe God as creatures, knowing that He is alone is worthy of our worship. We ought to be so thanksgiving oriented that we are grateful that someone thanks us for kindness rendered in Christ's name-it should make our day! But we should remember that our tasks in the Lord are often thankless tasks!


Paul targets thanksgiving as the right mental attitude in his epistles: "Giving thanks always for all things unto God..." (Eph. 5:20, KJV); "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Phil. 4:7, KJV); "In everything give thanks" (1 Thess. 5:18, KJV); "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts ... and be ye thankful" (Col. 3:15, KJV). This is stated as the will of God for us. He wants us to learn to see the silver lining behind every cloud and to learn that all our adversity and affliction is Father-filtered and will work together for our good (cf. Rom. 8:28).


The amazing example of having the right attitude of gratitude in dire circumstances is when Paul and Silas were in prison and sang joyfully unto the Lord. No one can take away our attitude and that's why we must cultivate this as a sure way to stay focused on God. Paul demonstrates his attitude of gratitude in prison writing Philippians by opening with thanksgiving.


Gratitude is not the ultimate proof of faith per se but is the sign of a right mental attitude (cf. Col. 4:2; Psa. 100:4). God condemns ingrates: "... for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience" (Eph. 5:6, ESV). Nowhere in Scripture are gratitude and faith equated, correlated, or juxtaposed as a measure or keynote of each other; however, faith and obedience are in Hebrews 3:18-19, NASB, as follows: "And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief" (cf. Heb. 4:6, 11). Some translations mistranslated these verses and put in "unbelief" instead of "disobedience." James 2:18, NIV, says, "... and I will show you my faith by my deeds."



But the NASB and ESV are more literal and use what is functional equivalence; i.e., word for word translations not thought for thought. Faith and obedience are eternally equated in Romans 1:5 and 16:26 (that they might "come to the obedience that comes from faith," cf. NIV) and in Acts 6:7, "They were obedient to the faith."



Also, note that Dietrich Bonhoeffer said quite dogmatically, "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes." These two are definitely equated in the Word. Doctrinally speaking, the only proof of faith is obedience just as Christ admonished that if we love Him we will obey Him. Thanksgiving, even praise, can be signs of faith but not the ultimate litmus test, but obedience is the plumbline (cf. John 14:21). We don't have the law to obey but are measured by our obedience to the will of God (we are free in Christ but not free from God's will!), which is an easier yoke and we have the Spirit which bears witness with our spirit to give us peace. Clearly, obedience is the test: "... Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams" (1 Sam. 15:22, NKJV).



Jesus made it clear love would be the telltale sign of the believer (cf. John 13:35) and the world would know we are Christians by our love. Love is the distinguishing trait of our faith and its greatest contribution in charity, outreach, missions, evangelizing, and labor. Faith is what pleases God and its expression is love: "... The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love" (cf. Gal. 5:6, NIV). Soli Deo Gloria!


The One And Only


Are there any parallels between Jesus and any other great man of religion? Muhammad amassed an army of 10,000 to set out to conquer (killing thousands), while Jesus conquered hearts in His invisible kingdom through love ("My kingdom is not of this world"). Buddha, which means "Enlightened One," (while Jesus claimed to be the Light) and Buddha's real name was Siddhartha Gautama, and he came from an affluent Hindu family and lived a sheltered life in childhood. Muhammad and his followers looted and pillaged caravans, while Jesus had no flaws in morality and his followers aimed to live by his code of love. Jesus was from a working-class family, while Buddha had privilege, Muhammad, a camel driver, married a rich woman 15 years his senior and then took to meditation. Buddha left his wife and son to become an ascetic, while Jesus never married, was tempted of the devil for 40 days in the wilderness, and had a close-knit band of followers, both male and female to the very end, and Muhammad set out with his army in at least 66 battles. Buddha was appalled at the suffering of his day, while Jesus was a man suffering, and acquainted with grief, even dying on a cross willingly. Buddha set out merely to reform Hinduism, while Christ was the fulfillment of Judaism and the prophecies. Buddha claimed that his mother was impregnated by a six-tusked white elephant, while Jesus was born of a virgin woman in fulfillment of a prophecy made 700 years prior--the kind of life He lived would be consistent with this.


George Gordon, Lord Byron, the great Romantic poet, said that "if ever a man were God or God were a man, Jesus was both!" John Stuart Mill, considered by some to be the most intelligent man to have ever lived, said Jesus was the "guide of mankind." Bertrand Russell, the atheist philosopher, said that "what the world needs is more Christian love and compassion"--people emulate Jesus like no other man as the epitome of love in action. Will Durant said that Jesus is the dominant figure of Western Civilization. No one predecessor is His equal and no successor meets His standards of perfection and lawlessness.


Jesus, Himself, challenged His enemies to convict Him of sin. Even the Koran says that He was without sin. The crassest heretics have not denied his sin-free life either. He was flawless, whereas Muhammad had his flaws. Buddha couldn't have been perfect and didn't even claim it--he was agnostic--because he claimed to have come to "Enlightenment" after his search under the bo tree near the river Gaya, and therefore couldn't have always known the way, while Jesus confounded the Pharisees at the age of 12 and knew the business of His Father, and didn't claim to know the way but to be the way--Buddha didn't believe in God, and said that, if there was one, He couldn't help you find enlightenment, because you must find it on your own.


You cannot compare Jesus with any other man (you can only contrast), for He is alone and incomparable: His character was unique (flawless, without sin, and it is said that He is in a moral category by Himself, and it has been well said that His character supports His claims); His conduct was unprecedented (He forgave His enemies on the cross, and He invariably practiced what He preached); His claims were unparalleled (made Himself the Son of God--no other religious leader such as Muhammad or Buddha, an agnostic, has said this); and His credentials were unequaled (His life didn't belie but confirmed His claims, His miracles were true signs and consistent with his nature, and not just for show or selfish reason of profit, and even His enemies acknowledge His character). The caliber of His life was such that no one could challenge His answers and authority, and accuse Him of wrongdoing or sin.


The founders of other faiths are known for what they said, Jesus is primarily known for who He was and what He did--that He claimed to be the Son of God, died on the cross, and rose from the dead! Any man can claim to be God for instance, (but you need credentials and character), but to prove it by rising from the dead is quite another! It has been said that the kind of life Jesus lived verified His claims and you would expect the Son of God to behave like Him--there is no ungodliness or weakness in His person. There is everything we would want in a man to worship and adore and He doesn't fall short of any ideal or standard, but only inspires even the greatest of men--even Napoleon proclaimed Him to be no mere man and he claimed to know men.


Jesus lived in obscurity as a common man without privilege: He had no army, yet He conquered millions; He never wrote a word, yet He inspired more books and inspired more literature than anyone else; He had no riches, yet He made many rich; He had no formal education, yet He was the greatest teacher to have ever lived. Jesus was not born into privilege or opportunity, but into an average working family and knew what the average man went through in daily life from personal experience. He confounded the Pharisees with His brilliance at the age of twelve with His questions and answers concerning the Scriptures. There was no duplicity in Him, for He practiced what He preached, yet He condemned hypocrisy in others. Though men have conquering armies, Jesus conquered hearts and many millions would die for Him.


Who was the greatest leader of all time? Who has done the kind of miracles that have never been duplicated? Who was the greatest teacher? Who gave us the highest ethic or moral code to live by? Who lived the holiest life of all men? Who has the most followers and worshipers of all time? Who was the greatest philosopher or "un-philosopher" of all time? Who has done the best for mankind? Who had the greatest personality of all time? Who sets the highest standards to live by? Who had a more profound impact on civilization, either direct or indirect (inspiring the building of hospitals, universities, orphanages, charities, and missions)?


All other men pale in comparison to Christ and no one can meet His standards of holiness. Usually, familiarity breeds contempt, but not so with the disciples who were near Him--they never stopped admiring His perfection and even worshiped Him. What Jesus did, no man can do and we don't compare Jesus with others but contrast them: We don't say, "Jesus the Great," though we say Alexander the Great, or Peter the Great, for even that is an insult and do Him injustice; what we do is contrast Jesus with others and make Him the standard to judge all of mankind by. If God became a man, what kind of man would you expect Him to be?


Of the greatest men who have ever lived, none have dared to claim to be God in the flesh or the one and only way to God. Jesus didn't claim to be the best way to God, nor one of many ways, but the one and the only way to the Father. Only Jesus had the "words of eternal life" and showed us the Way. He didn't claim to be telling us the truth, but that He was the incarnation of truth itself ("I am the truth"). He said that all who are "of the truth" will hear Him, but unbelievers are those who reject the truth. In all of recorded history, no one has matched His personality and life! Many books can claim to be true, but only God's Word is Truth with a capital T, and the testimony is this: nature forms you, sin deforms you, education informs you, prison reforms you, but only Christ transforms you!


The New Testament books are not to be compared with the writings of other religions where so-called miracles are attributed, for they were written within a generation of the events and by eye-witnesses--not compiled centuries later. The difference between Christ's miracles and those of other faiths is that they were signs of His deity, and not just fantastic, for a show, or for personal advantage. You can take the miracles out of Islam, for example, and the religion remains intact, but if you remove the miracles from the Bible you disembowel it and make it nothing. Without miracles, Jesus would have only been a footnote in history and not worth following. Even Muhammad believed Christ performed miracles and he did none himself (there are none in the Koran)--only years later did writers ascribe some to him.


After the crucifixion, His own followers were ready to write Him off and go on living as if they had wasted three years of their life. It was the miracle (the great sign that He would give) and the fact of the resurrection that turned a disbanded and demoralized group of followers into roaring lions of the faith, who were not afraid of the authorities anymore, nor of death itself. If God were to become a man, you would expect Him to be like Jesus and do miracles and Jesus foots the bill and doesn't let us down on any count. It is one thing to claim to be God and quite another to prove it and have people die for your claims! "He spoke like no other man ever spoke"--with authority (He didn't say, "Thus says the Lord, but, "I say unto you.").


The Christian scholar Philip Schaff portrays Christ graphically as follows:


This Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Muhammad, and Napoleon; without science and learning shed more light on matters human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of schools, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.


Nothing can explain Him, except the profound hypothesis that He is the living Son of God! We don't compare Christ, we contrast Him who is in a league of His own as the one who claimed to be God in the flesh or incarnated--you can rest assured of this: No one will ever improve on Jesus! As John Stuart Mill (considered one of the most brilliant minds of all time and an atheist) said he is "a unique figure not more unlike all his predecessors than all his followers,"


The problem with most would-be messiahs is that their character doesn't support their claims and the problem is that familiarity breeds contempt with men, but there is no discrepancy with Christ--his character does not disprove His deity, but it is consistent with it and confirms it. No one, not even a psychiatrist could analyze Him as unbalanced despite His claims. Christ is beyond our analysis (no one can figure Him or peg Him) and we can only be in awe as we wonder what kind of man would we expect the Son of God to be. Who can understand a man who washes His disciple's feet, yet claims to be the Judge of mankind? Soli Deo Gloria!


Have You Heard?

 Have You Heard?

 Do you believe rumors, tall tales, or what some call old wives' tales?  The Bible is not place for myth, fable, or fiction but  separates the wheat from the chaff.  We all tend to have so-called confirmation bias and  believe that which already agrees with our worldview and tend to  believe the party line whatever that may be to us. "Is is hard to kick against the goads," as Paul found out on the road to Damascus, to fight God's will and go our own way. 


God cannot lie nor break a promise (Heb. 6:18) and it was not only prophesied that Christ would die and rise but it happened just as they said and as Jesus had foretold several times. We must not half-believe but with our whole heart and let God change it from the inside out! We realize we only come to a knowledge of the truth by grace (Acts 18:27) when God grants it and it is not by speculation or conjecture but by revelation. It had been so-called hearsay according to some disciples until they saw the risen Lord in person. "But we were eyewitnesses of His majesty..."   (2 Pet. 1:16).  Jesus had taught them all the prophets had foretold that had to be fulfilled. Jesus didn't just make a truth claim that He is God but proved it by rising from the dead (Acts 17:31; Romans 1:4).   He didn't cheat death, nor escape death, but defeated death by rising from it in His own power and authority granted of the Father. 


Some claim they are ignorant and haven't heard the gospel and ignorance is an excuse with God or even bliss! Where have they been living? Haven't they heard of the most important historical figure of Western Civilization and the biggest revolutionist of all time? Clearly the dominate figure of history!  Practically everyone has heard something about Jesus and His resurrection, even if they don't believe it. God judges one according to the God they do know and reject, their own conscience bearing witness against them. 


Jesus came to bear witness of the truth and "those who belong to the truth hear [Him]."  He is the very incarnation of Truth with a capital T. We know this because a few brave disciples risked their lives to spread the good word or the biblical evangel or gospel.  We don't have to be eyewitnesses because Jesus had eyewitnesses, and they were not consummate liars and deluded madmen but saw the Lord and were willing to be martyrs for it. These  testimonies are not the rantings and ravings of madmen.  


It is a fact that He rose from the dead is history and is "arguably the most attested fact in antiquity." (Dr. D. James Kennedy). It is either the biggest and cruelest hoax perpetrated on humanity or the best news ever known. It proves the deity of Christ and gives us hope of a resurrection. Blessed are those who have not seen yet believe! We need to believe in our hearts and let Christ rise in them for salvation, it must mean something to us and be personal, for the demons believe and tremble.


There is plenty of circumstantial evidence for it but no "smoking gun" evidence for evidence isn't always compelling, certain, convincing, or conclusive. We cannot prove beyond a shadow of a doubt because God desires faith (trusting in what we have good reason to believe). Only faith and not reason or works please God unto salvation,. Everyone must take the leap of faith into the light.     


In sum, the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are sons of God (Rom. 8:16) and our hearts burn within us as the truth resonates.    Soli Deo Gloria!                                       



Thursday, April 14, 2022

Is There Justification For Evil?

"Who can say to Him, 'What have you done?" Job 9:12 

"What's wrong with the world?  'I am. sincerely yours, G. K. Chesterton.'"

"We have met the enemy, and he is us!" Pogo, in Walt Kelly's cartoon. 

NOTE: THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF EVIL (MORAL AND NATURAL), I AM CONCERNED WITH THE MORAL ASPECT. 

FIRST:    God justified giving mankind free will when He planted the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and commanded Adam not to eat of it. Notice that there was one, simple rule to follow!   If there had been no test of obedience, one could say that true love and obedience couldn't exist.  It is impossible for evil to exist with free will and no one choosing it.   

Thus, God gave mankind the right to choose evil without being coerced or inclined in that direction and then prevent them from choosing it. If evil had not existed, then we would have no choice but to obey God and wouldn't be freewill moral agents but mere automatons, puppets, dolls, pets, or robots of God. 

The Bible clearly says God allows evil for His own purposes (Prov. 16:4) and even uses it to glorify Himself and can turn short-term evil into long-term good (Acts 2:23:4:28). All things happen according to God's design and plan (Eph. 1:11).  All things are going according to plan!  (Isaiah 37:26).   We must acknowledge nothing can happen without God's permission if we realize God is sovereign.  If God isn't ultimately in control, what kind of God is He?

But we tend to complain to God when we are the victims of evil: "Why me Lord?" Job probably never contemplated God's justice in allowing evil till it happened to him!  He said, "Must we accept good times from God and not bad times?" (Job 2:10).   "God turns the wrath of man to praise Him!" (Psalm 76:10) and that means God has ultimate purposes we cannot know and everything is for the final glory of God (Romans 11:36) for we were created for the glory of God (Isaiah 43:7). 

We wonder if God has done anything about evil and don't realize we can do something ourselves: God made you! Realize that Jesus was indeed the victim of evil and didn't complain to His Father that He had gotten bad karma or something He didn't deserve: remember, Jesus signed up for the Via Dolorosa and the Passion to the cross for our sakes. He was a willing target of Satan. 

We see in the crucifixion, a gross evil event perpetrated by wrongdoers and malefactors doing Satan's bidding via Rome, but God knows what He is doing and that "all things work together for good for them that love God that are called according to His purpose," (Rom. 8:28). But God allows short-term evil for long-term good. As when he told Joseph about his brothers, "Your brothers meant it for evil but I meant it for good," (Gen. 50:20). 

Evil must run its course because there is an angelic conflict in the spiritual arena between God and Satan and we are in the middle of it and sign up as combatants when we get saved. Good overcomes evil and will defeat it in the end, for Satan is already a defeated foe because of the victory of Christ at the cross and especially in His  resurrection, the victory over death itself. We are to equip ourselves with the weapons and armor of God and fight in Jesus' name. 

At the end of history, evil will be cast away into the lake of fire and will be silenced forever. But it is better in God's eyes to have defeated evil with His goodness than never to have allowed it to enter the equation in the first place. This way, all of us can participate in this war in heavenly places and be rewarded for our own victories with crowns and rewards.  

Only in Christianity is evil actually given meaning and given some sense of justification.  But we must not merely justify evil's existence but find what the answer to it is for the sake of argument: we must not just philosophize about it, grin and bear it, or become mere stoics but have faith in face of evil; this means that the prima facie answer is knowing a Person, namely, Jesus, not words of man, but the Word of God!   

In the final analysis, if God were to eliminate all evil in the world immediately, none of us would be left; only God is good.   Soli Deo Gloria! 

Sunday, April 10, 2022

Jesus In Control Of His Destiny

 Jesus is said to have "set his face toward Jerusalem." He knew that He was born to die! His destiny was in His own hands as revealed by His Father. There was no turning back, even at the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed in relinquishment: "Thy will be done." There could be no conflict of interest or of wills within the Godhead. He boldly proclaimed His "fate": "That everything written of Him must be fulfilled."  Remember, Jesus volunteered to go to the cross and accept His Passion on our behalf! 

The fickle crowds (four days latter the shouted to crucify Him) did try to crown Him king at His triumphal entry and He did say that it was now His time, but He must be crucified first and He knew this--having prophesied it five times. He had said, "No prophet can die outside Jerusalem."  But He refused to stop the adorations and acclamations of the crowd and said that if they were restrained, the stones would cry out! 

Throughout His ministry, "Mum's the word so to speak," but now they vociferously shouted Hosanna to the Son of David!" This was prophecy and that blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD.  Jesus literally allowed them to throw His hat in the ring: for one doesn't become King by mere announcement!  There's protocol and tradition. He was not using figures of speech or a play on words and didn't beat around the bush anymore! 

We must realize a few points about Christ's fate: this was not karma (Jesus was innocent and didn't deserve this fate as a karma--which exact reward/punishment for deeds); nor was Jesus the victim of circumstances; nor was He intending to set us a good example; nor was He intending to become another religious martyr; or even champion a good moral cause to be remembered. In fact, Jesus was in full control all the time and this was Providence, which is God's answer to happenstance or coincidence.