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049) Rom 14:5 . . One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. Common Christian holy days are The Lord's Day (Sunday), Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, the Epiphany, Solemnity of Saint Joseph Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Ascension Trinity Sunday, Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Good Friday, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, All Saints, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Ash Wednesday, the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ (Christmas), Easter, and the Sabbath. If your denomination, or your church of choice, rules that days like the above are sacred, then for you they are. Whether God himself sees them as sacred is irrelevant. What matters is whether you are convinced in your own mind that He does because the focus of the 14th of Romans is upon matters of conscience rather than matters of fact. NOTE: The Jehovah's Witnesses' personal opinions about birthdays, holidays, and holy days are protected by the 14th chapter of Romans; and forbids debating with them about it. —

048) Rom 14:2-4 . . One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. If there's a Christian out there sincerely believing in their own mind that fast food, GMO, high fructose corn syrup, non organic produce, processed foods, grain-fed beef, raw oysters, sushi, and/or anything fried in lard is sinful; well, more power to them: but God forbid they should criticize a fellow believer who disagrees. NOTE: Christians are exempt from Jewish dietary laws because their association with God is by means of a different covenant than the covenant that Moses' people entered into with God per Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, a.k.a. The Law. —

● Rev 19:11-16 . . I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself. And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. . . . And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "King of Kings, and Lord of Lords." * The winepress mentioned in that verse appears in Isa 63:1-6, and again in Rev 14:19-20. The fierce wrath of God is interesting. For example: ● Isa 13:9 . . Behold, the day of The Lord comes-- cruel; with both wrath and fierce anger The Hebrew word for "wrath" in that statement is pertains to an outburst of passion. In other words: the rider on the white horse won't be weeping big wet crocodile tears while it's slamming the world with the events depicted in Revelation; on the contrary, the damages will be administered with extreme prejudice. Webster's defines "fierce" as a behavior exhibited by humans and animals that inspires terror because of the wild and menacing aspect of fury in attack. Ferocity is an aspect commonly seen among carnivorous beasts savagely ripping prey. There's neither sportsmanship nor sympathy in ferocity; only sheer terror, brutality, and blood lust. "cruel" is defined as: disposed to inflict pain or suffering; viz: devoid of humane feelings. —

FAQ: Was Jesus born with normal blood or with divine blood? REPLY: Jesus was put on track to take David's throne. ● Luke 1:31-33 . .You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end. Candidates under consideration for David's throne have to be-- first and foremost --one of his natural descendants. ● Ps 132:11 . .The Lord has sworn in truth unto David; and He will not turn from it: "Of the fruit of your body will I set upon your throne" The New Testament verifies Jesus is the fruit of David's body spoken of in that oath. ● Acts 2:29-30 . . Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. ● Rom 1:3 . . . His son; descended from David according to the flesh The thing is: according to Lev 17:11, the life of the flesh is in the blood. So if the life in Jesus flesh had been due to God's blood instead of David's blood, then Jesus' flesh wouldn't have been David's flesh; and Jesus would've failed to qualify for David's throne. * One of the oldest creeds in Christianity states that Jesus is fully God and fully Man. Well that creed would be grossly mistaken if something other than natural blood was in Jesus' flesh. Plus: on numerous occasions Jesus referred to himself as "Son of Man" which, likewise, would be patently false were natural blood not in his flesh. FAQ: If true that Jesus' was virgin conceived, then from whence did he obtain a Y chromosome for his male gender if not from Joseph? REPLY: In the beginning, Eve's entire body-- inside and out, front to back, top to bottom, and side to side --was constructed with material taken from Adam's body. (Gen 2:21-22) So if God could construct an entire woman from material taken from a man's body, then it shouldn't be too difficult for Him to construct a teensy little chromosome from a woman's body. The beauty of it is that a Y chromosome constructed with material taken from Mary's body wouldn't be an alien substance created ex nihilo; but would be 100% natural, and easily traceable all the way back to Eve, and from thence to the very dust that was used to construct Adam's body. I sincerely believe that what I posit herein actually took place when the power of the Most High overshadowed Jesus' mom per Luke 1:35; and if my thoughts are true, then Jesus was thoroughly a Jew-- and not only David's and Abraham's natural descendant, but also a natural descendant of the Man that God created in the book of Genesis. The bottom line is Jesus came into the world not as a divine man, but instead he came as a Jewish man. In point of fact; it was absolutely essential for Jesus to come into the world as a Jewish man instead of a divine man. (Gen 49:10 & Rom 8:3) —

● Jonah 1:17 . . The Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and he was inside the fish three days and three nights FAQ: Was Jonah alive in the fish? REPLY: Yes. (Jonah 2:1) FAQ: The whole time? REPLY: No; at some point in his nautical adventure Jonah went to a place called sheol (Jonah 2:2) which is located at the roots of the mountains. (Jonah 2:6) Well; the roots of the mountains aren't anchored in the tummies of fish, nor are they anchored under the sea, rather: they're anchored underground deep in the Earth. So, the only way that Jonah could possibly be at the roots of the mountains while simultaneously in the belly of a fish was for the man and his body to part company and go their separate ways. This is not impossible because according to Matt 10:28 people can, and do, exist as disembodied souls. Also, the language of Jonah's prayer strongly suggests that his corpse was restored to life, i.e. resurrected. ● Jonah 2:6 . . I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But Thou hast brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. The Hebrew word for "pit" basically pertains to holes in the ground, but sometimes speaks of putrefaction too, e.g. Ps 16:8-10 & Acts 2:25-31. In other words: had Jonah's body been left inside that fish's tummy for much longer, it would've been digested to oblivion. ● Matt 12:40 . . For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Now when you think about it; Jesus' remains weren't laid to rest in the heart of the Earth; and in point of fact they weren't even buried in the Earth's soil. They were laid to rest up on the surface of the earth, above the soil, in a rock tomb. So the only way that Jesus could be up on the surface of the Earth and down its interior simultaneously was for he and his body to part company and go their separate ways the same as Jonah's did. Also: it was essential to get Jesus back up on his feet again before a fourth day to prevent his body from being lost to rot. (John 11:39, Ps 16:8-10, Acts 2:25-31) NOTE: Jonah 2:5-7 strongly suggests the prophet was already deceased via drowning prior to the fish; which makes sense seeing as Jesus was deceased prior to the tomb, viz: neither man was buried alive. —

God's patience is long-suffering. However, He's wise enough to know when to say when and to stop throwing good money after bad, so to speak. For example: ● 2Thess 2:11-12 . . God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. In other words: there's coming a time when God's patience will reach its reasonable limits, and He will purposely, willfully, and deliberately make sure that a certain category of people during the Tribulation have no chance whatsoever to be spared the wrath of God. Back when Noah was preparing the ark, no doubt his neighbors all mocked and poked fun at him as if he were a deranged soul going around with a sandwich board that reads: Repent; The End Is Near! But when the rain started, I bet those very same neighbors panicked and tried to get Noah to open up and let them in. But even had Noah wanted to; he couldn't. The hatch of the ark was sealed from the outside; and God was the only one on earth who could open it-- He chose not to. ● Rev 1:18 . . I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. ● Rev 3:7 . .These are the words of him who is holy and true: who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. —

047) Rom 14:1 . . Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. A strong faith consists of the elements of knowledge, confidence, assurance, and conviction. A weak faith can be defined as vacillating; viz: one that's not all that sure whether something is wrong for a Christian; or even that something is right. In other words: a weak faith lacks the elements of knowledge, confidence, assurance, and conviction. Disputable matters are matters of opinion rather than matters of fact. Opinions are often subjective, biased, and arbitrary, rather than objective, unbiased, and by-the book. Opinions inevitably invite perpetual debating that never really gets to the bottom of anything; which, in matters of spiritual significance is strictly forbidden within the context of the 14th chapter of Romans; because debatable matters are not matters of doctrine; but rather; matters of conscience. We're not talking about black and white doctrines and principles here. Those are not open to debate. We're talking about gray areas. "Thou shalt not commit adultery" is black and white; while issues like video games, music, fashions, foods, cosmetics, movies, self defense, gambling, swim suits, politics, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, fasting, religious art, crucifixes, couture, and holy days of obligation are debatable. In regards to those areas; let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind rather than somebody else's mind. Those are things about which each has to decide for themselves according to the dictates of their own conscience; and God forbid they should impose their personal dictates upon others and thus become dictatorial because that's playing God and usurping Christ's sovereign prerogative to make the rules for his own church. —

046) Rom 13:14 . . .Clothe yourselves with The Lord Jesus Christ Clothing one's self with a personage was a figure of speech many years ago which would correspond in our day to "emulation" which Webster's defines as trying to be like someone or something you admire. They say that imitation is the highest flattery. Well; if you'd like to flatter Christ; then adopt his integrity, his principles, and his core values. But don't guess at them; learn them, by instruction, from someone that The Lord has empowered for teaching his ways. (Eph 4:11-15) —

How're you holding up? —

● Rev 19:19-21 . .Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. . . .The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. The potent weapon proceeding from that person's mouth is speech; which causes me to wonder why more people weren't afraid of Jesus back in his day because if by speech he could cure leprosy then by speech he could've caused someone to come down with leprosy; and if by speech he could energize a crippled man's legs, then by speech he could've put somebody in a wheel chair; and if by speech he could restore someone's corpse to life, then by speech he could've made people drop dead to the floor; and if by speech he could cure blindness, then by speech he could've put people's eyes out; and if by speech he could multiply loaves and fishes, then by speech he could've caused famine; and if by speech he could calm a storm, then by speech he could've caused a hurricane, a typhoon, and/or a tornado. David's combat with Goliath was an encounter that was possible for David to win; but I see no chance of anybody's success in a fight with Christ when he has at his disposal all the miraculous abilities of the supreme being who, according to the book of Genesis, created a fully functioning cosmos-- all its forms of life, matter, and energy --by nothing more than speech. —

17 ● Job 14:14 . . If a man dies, will he live again? It's believed by some that when people die, they cease to exist; sort of like road kill. In contrast; Christian death is depicted as a nap, i.e. sleep. ● Dan 12:2 . . Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. For example: ● Matt 9:18-25 . . A ruler came and knelt before him and said: My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live. Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. . . .When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, he said: Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. Also: ● John 11:11-44 . . He went on to tell them: Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up. Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly: Lazarus is dead. . . . So they took away the stone and Jesus called in a loud voice: Lazarus, come out! The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them: Take off the grave clothes and let him go. Christianity calls death "sleep" because it's not a permanent condition, rather, it's temporary because folks who've undergone death don't cease to exist-- they're merely on hold, sort of like the silence that musicians and singers observe when they encounter a rest symbol in their sheet music, viz: the symbol doesn't indicate the piece is over; its progress is merely paused for a specified moment and then the performers pick up where they left off and continue. —

FAQ: Why was Jesus' crucified dead body restored to life so soon? Why not leave him deceased four, five, or even six days instead of only three? REPLY: It was predicted that Jesus' dead body wouldn't undergo putrefaction. (Ps 16:8-10 & Acts 2:25-31) Had he remained deceased more than three days, Jesus' corpse would've started to rot. (John 11:39) BTW: A preponderance of evidence testifies that Jesus' crucified dead body was restored to life during the third day rather than after the third was all over and done with. Matt 17:22-23 Matt 20:18-19 Mark 9:31 Luke 9:22 Luke 18:33 Luke 24:5-8 Luke 24:21-23 Luke 24:46 John 2:19 Acts 10:40 1Cor 15:4 FAQ: What about Matt 27:63 and Mark 8:31? They say "after" the third day rather than during the third. REPLY: To begin with, those verses are outnumbered 11÷2. Plus; the Greek word translated "after" is somewhat ambiguous. It can indicate moments following the conclusion of an event, but it can also indicate moments within an event. I suggest letting the 11÷2 majority decide how best to interpret the intent of Matt 27:63 and Mark 8:31. FAQ: Luke 24:21-23 says the morning that women came to the cemetery was the third day. How can that be true when the Sun wasn't up yet when they arrived? REPLY: This is a mite confusing due to a natural day following close on the heels of a liturgical day. Whereas liturgical days were twenty-four hour amalgams of daytime and nighttime; natural days consisted of only twelve hours of daytime. (John 11:9-10) The day preceding the first day of the week was a sabbath (Matt 28:1) which began at sunset Friday and ended at sunset Saturday. So that in accord with liturgy; the first day of the week began with sunset Saturday, whereas in accord with nature it began with sunrise Sunday. FAQ: Can the hours of darkness during Jesus' crucifixion be counted as one of the three nights? REPLY: Jesus survived those hours-- Matt 12:40 requires that he be dead and buried. —

045) Rom 13:13 . . Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and envy. "in the day" could be construed to mean "in that day" which would indicate life and society as it will be in the kingdom God. Well; needless to say, people then probably won't be acting like they do now, so maybe we should start preparing for that day by putting these instructions into enough practice to make them become a habit. The Greek word translated "carousing" speaks of the naughty things that unmarried folk do with each other in private behind closed doors. The Greek word for "envy" is somewhat ambiguous. It includes-- along with envy --jealousy, indignation, and outrage. The Greek word for "strife" is somewhat ambiguous too. It includes-- along with strife --quarreling, wrangling, contention, debate, and a whole other bunch of ugly stuff associated with variance, e.g. recriminations, toxic rejoinders, and caustic sarcasm. —

044) Rom 13:12 . . Put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. In the first chapter of Genesis, God made a distinct difference between light and darkness. I think it is very notable that God labeled the light "good" but He didn't label darkness good. I believe that chapter set the stage; in other words: from that point on in the Bible, darkness typically represents something harmful, distasteful, and/or unbecoming; while light always represents something tasteful, becoming, and/or beneficial. So then we could label the deeds of darkness as deeds inappropriate for Christ's followers, and we could label the armor of light as deeds befitting his followers. In other words: deeds befitting Christ's followers are their first line of defense in a world gone mad with evil. ● 1Pet 3:10-12 . .Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. —

● Rev 19:11-16 . . I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself. And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. . . . And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "King of Kings, and Lord of Lords." * The winepress mentioned in that verse appears in Isa 63:1-6, and again in Rev 14:19-20. The fierce wrath of God is interesting. For example: ● Isa 13:9 . . Behold, the day of The Lord comes-- cruel; with both wrath and fierce anger The Hebrew word for "wrath" in that statement is pertains to an outburst of passion. In other words: the rider on the white horse won't be weeping big wet crocodile tears while it's slamming the world with the events depicted in Revelation; on the contrary, the damages will be administered with extreme prejudice. Webster's defines "fierce" as a behavior exhibited by humans and animals that inspires terror because of the wild and menacing aspect of fury in attack. Ferocity is an aspect commonly seen among carnivorous beasts savagely ripping prey. There's neither sportsmanship nor sympathy in ferocity; only sheer terror, brutality, and blood lust. "cruel" is defined as: disposed to inflict pain or suffering; viz: devoid of humane feelings. —

043) Rom 13:8 . . Owe no man anything. Some have construed that verse to mean it's a sin to have a mortgage, a car payment, and/or a credit card balance. However, the Greek word for "owe" is ambiguous with a number of meanings, one of which is to fail in duty; viz: fail to meet your obligations. In today's world; debt is nigh unto impossible to avoid; but debt is acceptable for Christians just so long as they pay their bills on time. Christ can be neither pleased nor honored when his followers are known as deadbeats. —

042) Rom 13:7 . . Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. Christians don't have to particularly like the folks in high places, but we do have to allow them the dignity that their positions require in compliance with Rom 13:1-5. NOTE: The items listed are presented as obligations rather than options. —

● Rev 16:21 . . And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. * Talents were gross units of gold weighing from 75-100 pounds. That would be a preposterous amount of gold to own in our day when it's current market value is around $2,300 an ounce, but not so bad back when it was strictly money instead of traded as a commodity. Gold coins were common back then, but try to find one in somebody's pocket today. Dropping lumps of ice that size from the sky all over the globe will be like a deadly implosion smashing, bashing, and crushing most everything it touches: homes, barns, super markets, strip malls, sports arenas, theaters, forests, pastures, crops, vehicles, etc. Noah's rainfall was likely pretty destructive too, but not like this. That was at least liquid; this will be solid. The natural world will surely experience significant damage among the critters who live above ground, e.g. hogs, deer, elk, ducks, geese, turkeys, cows, mustangs, monkeys, gorillas, lions, tigers, hyenas, elephants, giraffes, butterflies, moths, tortoises, etc. Just imagine being caught out in the open when that hail starts. Finding adequate shelter from such a bombardment of ice will be very difficult and no doubt frightened people will be shrieking and screaming in mortal panic. Curiously, numbers of people will know the hail is from God but it won't persuade them to consider making peace with Him, instead; the hail will just make 'em angry. —

16 ● Gen 8:20 . .Then Noah built an altar to The Lord; and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings upon it. "clean" in this respect is specifically relative to liturgy rather than hygiene and/or sanitation. Exactly how Noah was able to discern between the clean and the unclean can only be attributed to his personal association with God seeing as how the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy had not yet been penned. A representative specimen from each species of clean birds and animals were offered on Noah's altar. Apparently that was essential in order to effectively dedicate the new world to God. Although the unclean species of birds and animals benefited from this sacred ceremony; they were not allowed to contribute themselves towards it. Noah and his family benefited too; but seeing as how humans are basically unclean (Gen 8:21) then even had one from among Noah's group volunteered to offer their life, they would've been refused. Now; this incident with Noah may seem trivial, but it permanently set the tone in God's association with mankind; from thence requiring that any man selected for human sacrifice would have to be very unique; and seeing as how it is impossible for mankind to produce such a man on its own; then God would have to intervene and lend a hand in such a way as to bring this man into existence as a clean man right from conception and keep him clean throughout life till he's ready to be offered. Jesus is that man, and we have to wonder how God did it because Mary's baby didn't come into this world of ours in divine flesh, rather, in ordinary flesh. (Rom 8:3 & Gal 4:4) —

15 ● Gen 2:7a . . And the Lord God formed a man's body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life, If the breath of life were atmospheric gases, it would be possible to revive a corpse with artificial respiration; so I think we have to assume that it's an energy vastly more powerful than anything found in nature. ● Gen 2:7b . . and Man became a living soul. The Hebrew word translated "soul" isn't unique to human beings. Its first appearance is at Gen 1:20-21 in reference to aqua creatures and winged creatures; again at Gen 1:24 as terra creatures; viz: cattle, creepy crawlies, and wild beasts; and yet again at Gen 9:10 to classify every living thing aboard Noah's ark. Soul is somewhat ambiguous. It can be said that creatures are souls and also that they have souls. But here in the beginning, nephesh (neh'-fesh) simply refers to consciousness, individuality, and self awareness, i.e. sentient existence. All fauna life was created sentient in the book of Genesis. However, I've yet to discover a passage in the Bible indicating that flora life was created sentient, ergo: flora life isn't self aware; flora life has no soul. So then it's safe to say Man is a person, and it's safe to say that parakeets and meerkats are persons too (in their own way) but it would likely be unwise to posit that lettuce, saguaro cactus, and kelp are persons because it's necessary to be a soul and/or have a soul, in order to qualify as a person. According to Matt 10:28, the body and the soul are perishable. However; though the body is perishable by any means, the soul is perishable only by divine means; i.e. the deaths of body and soul aren't necessarily simultaneous, viz: the soul lives on until such a time as God decides to give it either a thumb up or a thumb down. ● Matt 10:28 . . Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell. FAQ: If people are already a corpse when they pass away, then how is it their body dies in Hell? REPLY: The current afterlife has no effect upon the human body because for now when people pass away, their bodies stay here rather than going there. But out ahead in the future; the bodies of people down below in the netherworld will be restored to life when called up to face justice at the Great White Throne event depicted by Rev 20:11-15. Should the judgment go against them, their restored bodies will be terminated yet once again by a mode of death akin to a foundry worker falling into a kettle of molten iron. FAQ: I've heard the soul is immortal. How then can it be destroyed per Matt 10:28? REPLY: Jesus said one's soul can be lost, i.e. one's soul isn't necessarily a permanent possession. (Matt 16:26) Well; the thing is: soul is that part of human life that made Adam a sentient being as opposed to the mindless existence of cacti and sandstone, i.e. soul is the part of human life that makes us all unique individuals, a.k.a. the self. God has a soul. (Lev 26:11, Lev 26:30, Judg 10:16, Isa 42:1, Jer 32:41, Zech 11:8) So if it were possible to somehow destroy God's soul, then He would become as wooden as carrots and turnips, viz: God would no longer be a person, instead; He'd be a vegetable. —

041) Rom 13:6a . . Pay your taxes While it's true that tax dollars often get wasted on fraud, graft, pork, bail outs, ear marks, foreign aid, endowments, grants, subsidies, and involvement in other peoples' civil wars; by and large taxes are necessary if we're to expect essential services like schools, parks, national defense, law enforcement, fire protection, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, foster care, flood control, forest management, FEMA, TANF, SSI, and the maintenance of infrastructure, etc. Taxes are also used to pay government salaries, wages, and benefits to bureaucrats and heads of State. Though such folk are not holy people in the religious sense, they should probably be regarded as such-- maybe even as angels. (of a sort) ● Rom 13:6b . . for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. NOTE: Elected officials often regard the position they've won as an achievement; when they really ought to be terrified of the responsibility that comes with it because the higher people ascend the ladder of power, the more severe the consequences for failure to fulfill their duty to God. —

040) Rom 13:1 . . Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. God has given governments the right to play God; therefore Christians ought not to be scofflaws; no, they really ought to be the most law-abiding citizens on Earth; however there is a limit to the extent of our compliance because governance doesn't stop with the law of the land, rather, the chain of command reaches even unto Heaven. For example the midwives in the book of Exodus defied Pharaoh and saved the Jews' baby boys alive. What they did was illegal, but God rewarded them for doing so. ● Matt 22:21 . . Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. Caesar and God are both in authority over us but with God of course having the final word as the supreme being. ● Acts 5:29 . .We ought to obey God rather than men. Here's another example of the divine chain of command overruling an earthly power. ● Matt 2:7-8 . .Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said: Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. ● Matt 2:12 . . And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. The wise men risked prison, or worse, but what were they to do when their orders came straight from the top? NOTE: Christians should expect neither favoritism nor immunity should they break the law. So then, if you can't do the time, then don't do the crime because Christian heads roll the same as any other criminal's head; and that goes for lesser crimes too, e.g. J-walking, illegal U-turns, feeding parking meters, drifting through stop signs without coming to a complete halt, exceeding the speed limit, unsafe lane changes, road rage, disturbing the peace, littering, trespassing, shoplifting, civil disobedience, vandalism, and animal abuse, etc. ● Rom 13:2-3 . .Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. * Difficult days are ahead for Americans, and in fact are now here, as powerful heads of government begin utilizing law enforcing agencies more and more for political purposes. —

Rev 16:17-18 predicts a global earthquake so powerful on the Richter scale that cities all over the world will collapse at once. Something like 2,829 lost their lives when the World Trade Center was demolished by a suicide attack in 2001. Well that was only a few acres of New York City. Just imagine the body count when all of Manhattan comes down at once. along with other major cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Mexico City, Paris, Moscow, Beijing, Tokyo, et al. The carnage will be beyond belief; and a great many of the dead will be moms, infants, senior citizens, and underage children regardless of age, race, gender, or religious preference. —

039) Rom 12:21 . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. In other words: fighting fire with fire (a.k.a. turnabout is fair play) is not always the wisest course of action for Christians to follow. Compliance with this particular command requires some self control on our part because human nature's impulses usually steer us into unbecoming conduct when someone does us wrong. —

038) Rom 12:20 . . If your personal enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head. Heaping real live burning coals upon somebody's head would be terribly vindictive and unchristian; as would wishing them dead and condemned to Hell. It's probably just meant to be a figure of speech for making someone feel ashamed of themselves, i.e. guilty. Way back when the television show "SURVIVOR" was in its second or third season, two of the women fell out of sorts and one vowed that even if the other were lying in the street near death from thirst, she'd walk right past and not give her so much as a drop of water. Bad form. Christians have to remain civil and not permit detestable people to dictate the way we treat our fellow men. It is far better for Christ's followers to exemplify humanitarian principles than satisfy a grudge. I'll admit it's galling to have to be courteous with people that mistreat us; but what can I say? Christ expects it. ● Matt 5:46-47 . . If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? —