Sunday, February 8, 2015

Faith? Get Real!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO2D3a5eUiI

http://www.paradisepbc.org/Singing/Faith%20is%20The%20Victory.mp3




Faith is Trusting Something or Someone

Biblical faith is described like this:

Hebrews 11 English Standard Version (ESV)
By Faith

11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.


Faith can be good or bad, it all depends upon in what you put your trust. The value and substance of faith is realized in the reality and reliability of the object of our faith.  Faith is powerful for good or evil. Faith in things that are real and good is of great value. Faith in things that are untrue and evil is destructive. 

Faith comes to us by our interaction with things as they are. A baby learns very early to trust in the mother who provides sustenance. The child develops a faith that food will soon come when it cries. So one level of faith is believing things will happen, even though we cannot yet see them, based upon previous experience.  So our beginning faith is shaped by our family and community.

But the values of one's community can be good or bad, kind or evil. When one's experiences are filled with wrong concepts and false ideas, one's faith is likely focused on things that are not true, things that are ultimately hurtful. 

Good or bad, faith is a powerful thing that guides one's actions. As a person thinks in his heart, that is how he or she is. Actions come from faith, what we believe is true.  The value of faith is not measured by sincerity, as faith in a bad thing can be just as strong and sincere as faith in the best thing. The faith of the person who has been taught and trained by his community in Islamic Jihad is powerful. It leads the faithful to strap on a bomb and blow himself up in order to kill unbelievers. He is willing to die for his faith.  

But is Islamic Jihad based upon reality and truth? There is no excuse for people today to be uninformed about Islam and its horrible history.  Just go to an Islamic website, and read what they say about themselves. Put Mohammed in google search and read his history. Read about the Armenian massacre by the Turks. Islam is about using military power to rule the world, and to force people to submit to authority on the pain of paying taxes or facing death. Islam is about death and destruction.

Faith in Islam is in opposition to faith in the Bible. The Bible teaches that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He died to save all who believe on Him. Mohammed and the Koran deny this message. Faith in Jesus rules out faith in Islam.  Jesus rose from the dead, and is worthy of our faith.  Mohammed married a lot of wives, one very young, and killed a lot of people. People tempted to believe in Islam need to check their facts. 

But the atheist also denies the message of salvation in Jesus Christ. What about the faith of the atheist?  The faith of an atheist is very militant.  They insist that their faith is the most rational of all faiths, because they claim to believe only in things that are real; things you can touch, measure, calculate, observe. In reality, they end up believing in themselves, and being very disappointed in their faith, because they let themselves down.  And they revolt against things that were given as law on Mount Sinai. They substitute their own feelings about how things are in place of principles taught in the Bible. And their faith in atheistic humanism has done more harm to more people than even Islam.  

https://islamthought.wordpress.com/2008/12/28/secularism-humanism-and-atheism-their-crime-against-humanity/


One good thing that is happening today is that these two bad faiths, Islam and Atheistic Humanism, are battling each other. As has happened so many times in history, evil fights evil, and right thinking gains the advantage. 

So be real with your faith. Believe and trust what is good and righteous. Put your faith in Jesus Christ, and be blessed.

Friday, February 6, 2015

Don't Be A Fool!




Why are there two Psalms of David that say the same thing? Maybe because the message is very important, and certainly a message greatly needed in our so called age of reason. Those David called fools have said in their minds that there is no God. They set about to solve the world's problems by education, communication, and something they call love. But they have no comprehension of what love is. They have called feel good foolishness love, and disregarded the sacrifice and moral integrity that enables real love. Demeaning the moral laws handed down by God on Sinai, and laughing at the Biblical principles that have blessed our nation, they have proceeded to dismantle and discredit the moral foundations of our society.


Once we were known as the greatest nation on earth, and perhaps we believed it was all about us. It wasn't about us, it was about respecting God. Now we are faced with the implosion of our society because our foundations have been pulled out by fools.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Psalm 14
A Portrait of Sinners
For the choir director. Davidic.

1 The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist.”
They are corrupt; they do vile deeds.
There is no one who does good.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the human race
to see if there is one who is wise,
one who seeks God.
3 All have turned away;
all alike have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good,
not even one.

4 Will evildoers never understand?
They consume My people as they consume bread;
they do not call on the Lord.

5 Then they will be filled with terror,
for God is with those who are righteous.
6 You sinners frustrate the plans of the afflicted,
but the Lord is his refuge.

7 Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion!
When the Lord restores the fortunes of His people,
Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.


The message is repeated in Psalms 53.

Psalm 53 English Standard Version (ESV)
There Is None Who Does Good
To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.

53 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
3 They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
4 Have those who work evil no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God?
5 There they are, in great terror,
where there is no terror!
For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.
6 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.



Yeshua, on his way to be crucified, wept over Jerusalem.  He condemned those who trusted in themselves, and  who rejected God's instructions.  He warned about the impending destruction of Jerusalem by Titus and the Roman army, and looked to the future when He would be accepted by His people. 

Complete Jewish Bible
Matt 23:33-- “You snakes! Sons of snakes! How can you escape being condemned to Gei-Hinnom? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and Torah-teachers — some of them you will kill, indeed, you will have them executed on stakes as criminals; some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so, on you will fall the guilt for all the innocent blood that has ever been shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Hevel to the blood of Z’kharyah Ben-Berekhyah, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar. 36 Yes! I tell you that all this will fall on this generation!

37 “Yerushalayim! Yerushalayim! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused! 38 Look! God is abandoning your house to you, leaving it desolate.  39 For I tell you, from now on, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of Adonai.’” 


The words of the second Psalm, where the nations rage, and leaders conspire together, to throw off the bonds imposed by God, remind us of the age of reason, with all the proclamations that God is dead. 

I lived through the 60's, a time of rebellion against authority. Flower children proclaimed that love, joy,  and peace can be achieved by folks who practice secular humanism, like George Soros' "open society".  If we will just love each other, and talk to each other, all problems will be overcome, and we will have bliss on earth.  But a Jordanian Pilot being burned alive in a cage, and video being shown on Youtube, tells a different story. Some people are evil. 



Jordanian Pilot

The confrontation between good and evil has once again come front and center. Time to stop the nonsense about solving our problems by talking to each other about Darwin and time and chance. It is back to basics. Evil must be confronted. Evil must be resisted. Evil must be destroyed.


Yes, it matters whether we believe in God.  The best way to destroy evil is to convert the hearts of individuals to faith in the Prince of Peace.  We must speak up for truth and righteousness, we must show people the salvation that is by faith in Jesus the Christ.

But justice and righteousness must be upheld by the power of law. As Paul said, secular power exists to support righteousness, and the soldier does not bear the sword in vain. Pray that our nation will support righteousness and justice with wisdom, trusting in God.

 It matters whether we trust God by keeping His commandments.  The good life depends upon society's support for righteousness. 

No, Islam is not a great religion, and neither is godless secular humanism. It is time for believers to stand up and speak up for faith in God, the God revealed in the Bible.  


Psalm 2 English Standard Version (ESV)
The Reign of the Lord's Anointed

1 Why do  the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”

4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”

7 I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”

10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.



Yes, we can take refuge in Yeshua.  He is the Son of God, and there is no other intercessor between God the Father and mankind. Blessed are all who mourn for Him.

Zech 12:9-11, ESV

9 And on that day  I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Him Whom They Have Pierced

10 “And  I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and  pleas for mercy, so that,  when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced,  they shall mourn for him,  as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.11  On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great  as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.


Jesus mourned for Jerusalem, the city chosen by God to establish His power as a sign to all the people of the earth. The most important thing to ever happen at Jerusalem was the resurrection of Yeshua. 

Complete Jewish Bible, John 19:31-- It was Preparation Day, and the Judeans did not want the bodies to remain on the stake on Shabbat, since it was an especially important Shabbat. So they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed. 32 The soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been put on a stake beside Yeshua, then the legs of the other one; 33 but when they got to Yeshua and saw that he was already dead, they didn’t break his legs. 34 However, one of the soldiers stabbed his side with a spear, and at once blood and water flowed out. 35 The man who saw it has testified about it, and his testimony is true. And he knows that he tells the truth, so you too can trust. 36 For these things happened in order to fulfill this passage of the Tanakh:

“Not one of his bones will be broken.”

37 And again, another passage says,

“They will look at him whom they have pierced.”

38 After this, Yosef of Ramatayim, who was a talmid of Yeshua, but a secret one out of fear of the Judeans, asked Pilate if he could have Yeshua’s body. Pilate gave his consent, so Yosef came and took the body away. 39 Also Nakdimon, who at first had gone to see Yeshua by night, came with some seventy pounds of spices — a mixture of myrrh and aloes. 40 They took Yeshua’s body and wrapped it up in linen sheets with the spices, in keeping with Judean burial practice. 41 In the vicinity of where he had been executed was a garden, and in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had ever been buried. 42 So, because it was Preparation Day for the Judeans, and because the tomb was close by, that is where they buried Yeshua.

Yes, He rose from the grave at Jerusalem on Sunday morning, and sent his disciples upon a mission to carry the good news to every person on earth. But within four centuries the good news was subverted by men who loved money and power, and who established organizations and institutions which subjugated mankind to the exercise of power by ruthless men. Throughout the middle ages atrocities upon mankind were practiced by the so called "Christian" church-state monstrosities. 

In the middle of the seventh century, another movement developed that exercised the power of religion and state to enslave mankind. This movement, Islam, persecuted all who opposed their rule. They built an empire that reached from India to Spain. Their empire was dismantled in the first and second world wars. But now they are attempting comeback. And they cut off peoples' heads, and burn some people alive. 

But they also hate secular humanists. Isn't that interesting?  So why do the secular humanists like them (Islam) better than Christians? Maybe because people who do not believe in God are fools, like David said. 

Please review this article.