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Omegaman 3.0

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  1. Omegaman 3.0

    Thoughts of a "Climate Denier"!

    By Omegaman 3.0,


    Thoughts
    I would be weary by now of being declared a climate change denier if not for the fact that I typically do not value the opinions of those who attempt to just hand out labels of derision upon others in lieu of using well researched facts to convince people of their errors. Call me what you like, being called names can be a badge of honor. Call me names, and I might ignore you, but give me facts, and I will listen - just make sure your facts are really facts, not talking points from some group or guru with an agenda.
    First off, regarding climate change, fine, I am not a denier. The climate does change. If the climate did not change, we might be living in an ice age still, and if it does change, we might live in one again!
    If I am a denier, it is denying several things. For example, I am not convinced yet that we know enough about climate science to be making scary predictions that call for huge changes in our habits, though I do believe we should take the issue seriously and learn what we can about it, and then act in accordance with what we discover.
    I am also not convinced that if there is a problem with the climate or that mankind is the cause, though I do believe that the population of the world is large and the demand for high standards of living combine to provide a credible threat that needs attention.
    I also am not remotely convinced that we live in the perfect climate now. Maybe it is great, maybe cooler would be better, maybe warmer would be better. How do we know what is optimum, and should we be messing with trying to achieve that? The earth has been warmer in the past, and colder in the past, so what is the panic about?
    People say "I believe the science". That is fine. I depend on science being right. When I walk into a room, I turn on the light switch because I have faith that the science is correct, and the light will turn on.
    Do I believe science? Sure I do. Science is knowledge. What I do not always believe is scientists. Scientists are just like me. They are human. Humans make mistakes. 
    Did you know that prior to the 20th century, it was common among the science community to believe that the universe had no beginning, that it was infinitely old?  Well they have since changed their mind. Instead we have a big bang theory!
    Did you know that there was a time, when scientists believed that people could not determine the direction of the source of a sound? I find that one absurd, because pretty much everyone experiences turning toward the source of a sound by instinct. We have left and right channels on our stereos, precisely because we can hear direction! You probably don't believe me since the notion is so dumb that people cannot determine the direction of a sound by listening. The point is that as I said, scientists are humans, and humans can be wrong. Being a scientist does not make one right all the time.
    Scientists (and other people) are inclined to be influenced in their beliefs and assumptions by the people they admire and trust. That might be their government, their parents, their spouse, their boss, their professors, or the agency paying the grant they received to study a certain topic.
    To illustrate what I mean by the last thing about grant money (or other forms of support for research) I am going to use a ridiculous, made up example, because it works for the purposes of illustration.
    Suppose I were to offer 1 million dollars for evidence that plastic straws are endangering the wild sea turtle population. There might be some takers on that. Some of them would be very professional and do a good job. The best researchers will find the truth, and report their findings. If sea turtles are endangered by plastic straws, then evidence will likely be found and reported.
    However, as I said, people are human, and some humans are dishonest. Someone could go out and find a sea turtle, and use an adhesive to glue a straw into a turtles' nostril, and perhaps even do things to cause that to become infected. "Here is my report, and here are the photos, now where is my 1 million dollars?"
    Now, if a researcher discovered that straws attract mates, and because of straws sea turtles are multiplying, would that person get money for that? In my opinion, they would not. Would their findings get publicized? I doubt it.
    Now, they could let the Plastic Straw Manufacturers Research Foundation know about that, and perhaps they could get a grant there!
    This sort of thing, the "Who is behind the money?", is worth considering.
    I started this to be about the climate change issue. Returning to that context, we could note that the petro-chemical / fossil fuels industry, might like to discover it their products are a danger to the climate as many say they are. They would of course be thrilled to discover that their products even help the environment and climate situation.
    Now in the history of the climate change debate, it was once referred to as global warming. This was largely brought to the attention of the world due to Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. They helped to get that bandwagon started, and in hindsight, I think they were off base.
    As a political conservative (as they were) it pains me to admit that conservatives can be wrong. Back in those days, I read a book called Climate and the Affairs of Men. One of the co-authors was a guy named Iben Browning. I became sort of a disciple of his, subscribing to his newsletter. I have been watching the global warming issue  since the 1980s when most people then did not even know there was an issue.
    Back in the days of the hippies (I was there) the end of the world was being predicted because humans are bad for the ecology, and mother earth would not tolerate us forever.
    There was a Stanford University biology professor who claimed it was too late to avoid the extended world wide famine that would be the most disastrous ever, and it would come by 1975.
    In the 1970s, the big deal was going to be an ice age by the 21st Century, I am still waiting!
    I recall when we were panicked by the hole in the ozone layer. That resulted in some UN resolution or something, that I think may have been the only one where the whole world agreed! The Ozone Hole is mostly gone now, but I will admit that it is possible that the actions of the world to reduce chemicals that contribute to ozone destruction may have been effective. However, a hole in the ozone lets more ultraviolet light through. Ultraviolet light reacts with oxygen, to produce ozone, so maybe it is a cycle that heals itself. I sure do not know, but I am not sure anyone else does either. It did not escape my notice, that the ozone hole was in the Southern hemisphere, while most of the polution was in the northern hemisphere. There might be a good explantation for than, but it made me go "hmmm".
    Let's see, what else was there? Acid rain! That was going to kill the fish in our lakes and such, and strip the paint off of our cars and houses, and ruin the soil Ph for farmers. Again, a no show. However, it is true that paint jobs on cars do not last like they used to, but that is because we made automotive paint more environmentally friendly. I am not saying that is a bad thing, but I sure wish we had better paint, maybe the scientists will think of something.
    In 1988, the Maldives (Islands) were going to be completely underwater by 2018. Guess what, they're still there! At the same time, it was predicted that they would have no drinking water there, by 1992. That also has not happened! Go figure!
    In 1988, a NASA scientist (Jim Hansen) testified before congress about the green house gas effect. Over the years Mr. Hansen has produced a great many graphs, showing us from computer modeling all of the things that would happen due to Global Warming. I do not think a single thing he has ever said on the topic has come to pass, though I may be wrong. In any case his track record is so miserable, I do not know why anyone ever would quote him as an expert, and if not for the fact that he was a government employee, he likely would have lost his job to to incompetence in my opinion. In 1989 he said the West Side Highway (AKA the Joe DiMaggio Hwy in New York City) would be underwater.
    https://worthychristianforumscore-h45go6maxh5rpepgu.netdna-ssl.com/uploads/monthly_2021_08/wsh.jpg.08b90fefeb9ef50adce8fece3026778f.jpg
    It looks ok to me!
    In March of 2000, the Independent (A British Newspaper) proclaimed that snowfalls are now just a thing of the past, and children will not even know what snow is.
    Now the Guardian (another British Newspaper) said in 2002, that "Britain will have a Siberian climate in less that 20 years". Now, for those that think that will be the case, you should buy stock in companies that make warm clothing.
    In 2008, Global Warming genius Al Gore told us that the Arctic would be ice free by 2013! Again, last I knew, the polar ice cap is still there! In case I missed it (maybe I am behind the times since I pay little attention to the news) please let me know if I am wrong!
    There have been others, and there have been worse. However, is it really any wonder why there are those of us who are skeptical of the media, academics, scientists, and governments? The real question should be (I think):
    "Considering this track record, why do rational people believe any of this?"
    It is it just that too many of us are irrational and too lazy to check facts and keep the memory of all the failed predictions?
    As it happens, I can recall seeing a documentary (or was it propaganda?) in the 1990's called "The Greening of Planet Earth. As I recall, it was mostly about how more CO2 means more plant life, whether it be wild plants or crops, and therefore cheaper fruits and vegetables, and less malnutrition worldwide, that sort of spin. 
    Were the facts true? I don't know, that is not my expertise. What I did notice though was that there was a lot of reaction in the form of "You cannot trust this, it was funded by the coal industry!"
    That argument is worth considering, as there was a motivation to find benefit is rising atmospheric CO2 levels. However, just because those who produced the film had a vested interest in getting a better reputation for CO2, it does not follow that the facts presented were not true. maybe they were. What I do know is true, is that CO2 is not a pollutant, it is naturally occurring (we exhale it ourselves) and it is a benefit, a nutrient to plant life. Life depends on it. Humans (and other animals) are either eat plants, or they eat animals that eat plants, CO2 is important. More CO2 causes food plants to produce more and bigger fruits and vegetables which mature faster. Plants, in consuming CO2 for photosynthesis, produce as a "waste product", oxygen. We breathe oxygen. I want the plants to have CO2 so I can have oxygen!
    It is disingenuous, even deceitful, when people and institutions show photos and videos of car exhausts and factory smokestacks "spewing forth pollution". 
    Type CO2 into Google Images and see what you get! <-That is a link if you want to see!
    CO2 is invisible, you cannot see it, it is just as transparent as air on a remote mountain top. I wish they could stick to facts and cease trying to appeal to emotions, especially the emotion of fear that they are intentionally causing.
    I have wanted for a long time, to have an aquarium with plant life, augmented by adding that extra 'pollutant', CO2!
    https://worthychristianforumscore-h45go6maxh5rpepgu.netdna-ssl.com/uploads/monthly_2021_08/co2tank.jpg.b5c4d76d022788ed46ca49dc278d4564.jpg
    Aquarium with the deadly CO2 added!
    Bottom line for me, yes, I believe in science, I just distrust scientists who are not critical thinkers and who have an agenda apart from facts and who operate outside of their current understanding. I especially an not fond of how many scientists who opine on this issue, which is outside of their expertise. How much should we care if an expert in toenail fungus, is certain that the climate is changing dangerously? Do we go to an astrophysicist, to learn how to clean up an oil spill? You get the idea!
    This is just a blog. That means it is my thoughts, they may not be accurate, but to the best of my knowledge, they are. You do not have to like it, you do not have to agree. I am not even out to change anyone's mind. However, I do hope you might have learned something you did not know, and perhaps have at least thought about it a bit.

    Thanks for reading my long winded expression!


  2. Omegaman 3.0

    Bible Reading Schedule

    By Omegaman 3.0,


    Bible Reading
    Bible 365 Reading Plan
    Average Verses Per Day: 85
    Longest Read: Mar 2nd - 172 verses – Approximately 26 minutes for a proficient reader
    Shortest Read: Mar 3rd - 11 verses - Approximately 1-1/2 minutes for a proficient reader

    Note: Clicking the verse links will bring you to a page where you may read the verses. The default version is
    ESV, but you may choose another version if you like. Also, since faith comes from hearing, and hearing
    through the word of Christ, feel free to listen to the text. You might find this easier, and more likely to keep
    you on track, and not get sidetrack chasing other topics. Hearing it read, can also be faster for some of us, and
    sometimes we might even get a new understanding, how words are inflected and or otherwise emphasized
    may let you see something you never noticed before, that has happened quite a few times with me!
    One last thing. The links below take you to pages where you may read or listen to the verses, however, they will show you more than just those verses. It is like opening a page in your Bible, there are more verses than just the ones you came to read.

     
    January
    Jan 1 Reading 1
    Gen 1–3; Mat 1
    Jan 2 Reading 2
    Gen 4–5; Mat 2:1–18
    Jan 3 Reading 3
    Gen 6–8; Mat 2:19–3:17
    Jan 4 Reading 4
    Gen 9–10; Mat 4:1–22
    Jan 5 Reading 5
    Gen 11–12; Mat 4:23–5:20
    Jan 6 Reading 6
    Gen 13–15; Mat 5:21–42
    Jan 7 Reading 7
    Gen 16–18; Mat 5:43–6:15
    Jan 8 Reading 8
    Gen 19–20; Mat 6:16–7:6
    Jan 9 Reading 9
    Gen 21–22; Mat 7:7–23
    Jan 10 Reading 10
    Gen 23–24; Mat 7:24–8:17
    Jan 11 Reading 11
    Gen 25–26; Mat 8:18–9:8
    Jan 12 Reading 12
    Gen 27:1–28:9; Mat 9:9–26
    Jan 13 Reading 13
    Gen 28:10–29:30; Mat 9:27–10:42
    Jan 14 Reading 14
    Gen 29:31–31:21; Mat 11:1–19
    Jan 15 Reading 15
    Gen 31:22–32:21; Mat 11:20–24
    Jan 16 Reading 16
    Gen 32:22–35:15; Mat 11:25–12:14
    Jan 17 Reading 17
    Gen 35:16–36:43; Mat 12:15–37
    Jan 18 Reading 18
    Gen 37–38; Mat 12:38–50
    Jan 19 Reading 19
    Gen 39:1–41:40; Mat 13:1–23
    Jan 20 Reading 20
    Gen 41:41–42:38; Mat 13:24–43
    Jan 21 Reading 21
    Gen 43–44; Mat 13:44–14:12
    Jan 22 Reading 22
    Gen 45:1–47:12; Mat 14:13–36
    Jan 23 Reading 23
    Gen 47:13–48:22; Mat 15:1–20
    Jan 24 Reading 24
    Gen 49:1–50:14; Mat 15:21–39
    Jan 25 Reading 25
    Gen 50:15–26; Ex 1–3; Mat 16:1–20
    Jan 26 Reading 26
    Ex 4–5; Mat 16:21–17:13
    Jan 27 Reading 27
    Ex 6–7; Mat 17:14–18:5
    Jan 28 Reading 28
    Ex 8–9; Mat 18:6–35
    Jan 29 Reading 29
    Ex 10:1–12:30; Mat 19:1–15
    Jan 30 Reading 30
    Ex 12:31–14:31; Mat 19:16–20:16
    Jan 31 Reading 31
    Ex 15–16; Mat 20:17–28
    February
    Feb 1 Reading 32
    Ex 17–19; Mat 20:29–21:17
    Feb 2 Reading 33
    Ex 20–21; Mat 21:18–46
    Feb 3 Reading 34
    Ex 22:1–23:9; Mat 22:1–14
    Feb 4 Reading 35
    Ex 23:10–25:22; Mat 22:15–33
    Feb 5 Reading 36
    Ex 25:23–27:8; Mat 22:34–23:12
    Feb 6 Reading 37
    Ex 27:9–29:46; Mat 23:13–39
    Feb 7 Reading 38
    Ex 30:1–33; Mat 24:1–35
    Feb 8 Reading 39
    Ex 30:34–33:6; Mat 24:36–51
    Feb 9 Reading 40
    Ex 33:7–35:3; Mat 25:1–13
    Feb 10 Reading 41
    Ex 35:4–36:38; Mat 25:14–30
    Feb 11 Reading 42
    Ex 37–38; Mat 25:31–26:5
    Feb 12 Reading 43
    Ex 39:1–40:33; Mat 26:6–30
    Feb 13 Reading 44
    Ex 40:34–38; Lev 1–3; Mat 26:31–56
    Feb 14 Reading 45
    Lev 4:1–6:7; Mat 26:57–75
    Feb 15 Reading 46
    Lev 6:8–7:38; Mat 27:1–26
    Feb 16 Reading 47
    Lev 8–10; Mat 27:27–44
    Feb 17 Reading 48
    Lev 11; Mat 27:45–61
    Feb 18 Reading 49
    Lev 12–13; Mat 27:62–28:20
    Feb 19 Reading 50
    Lev 14; Mk 1:1–20
    Feb 20 Reading 51
    Lev 15–16; Mk 1:21–39
    Feb 21 Reading 52
    Lev 17–19; Mk 1:40–2:17
    Feb 22 Reading 53
    Lev 20:1–22:16; Mk 2:18–3:12
    Feb 23 Reading 54
    Lev 22:17–23:44; Mk 3:13–35
    Feb 24 Reading 55
    Lev 24–25; Mk 4:1–20
    Feb 25 Reading 56
    Lev 26; Mk 4:21–41
    Feb 26 Reading 57
    Lev 27; Num 1; Mk 5
    Feb 27 Reading 58
    Num 2; Mk 6:1–6
    Feb 28 Reading 59
    Num 3; Mk 6:6–29
    March
    Mar 1 Reading 60
    Num 4:1–5:10; Mk 6:30–44
    Mar 2 Reading 61
    Num 5:11–7:89; Mk 6:45–7:23
    Mar 3 Reading 62
    Num 8:1–4; Mk 7:24–30
    Mar 4 Reading 63
    Num 8:5–10:10; Mk 7:31–8:21
    Mar 5 Reading 64
    Num 10:11–11:35; Mk 8:22–38
    Mar 6 Reading 65
    Num 12–14; Mk 9:1–29
    Mar 7 Reading 66
    Num 15:1–31; Mk 9:30–50
    Mar 8 Reading 67
    Num 15:32–17:13; Mk 10:1–16
    Mar 9 Reading 68
    Num 18–19; Mk 10:17–45
    Mar 10 Reading 69
    Num 20–21; Mk 10:46–11:11
    Mar 11 Reading 70
    Num 22:1–23:26; Mk 11:12–33
    Mar 12 Reading 71
    Num 23:27–26:65; Mk 12:1–17
    Mar 13 Reading 72
    Num 27:1–11; Mk 12:18–40
    Mar 14 Reading 73
    Num 27:12–29:40; Mk 12:41–13:31
    Mar 15 Reading 74
    Num 30–31; Mk 13:32–37
    Mar 16 Reading 75
    Num 32; Mk 14:1–26
    Mar 17 Reading 76
    Num 33–34; Mk 14:27–52
    Mar 18 Reading 77
    Num 35–36; Mk 14:53–72
    Mar 19 Reading 78
    Deut 1:1–2:23; Mk 15:1–20
    Mar 20 Reading 79
    Deut 2:24–4:14; Mk 15:21–41
    Mar 21 Reading 80
    Deut 4:15–5:33; Mk 15:42–16:20
    Mar 22 Reading 81
    Deut 6–7; Luk 1:1–25
    Mar 23 Reading 82
    Deut 8:1–10:11; Luk 1:26–38
    Mar 24 Reading 83
    Deut 10:12–12:32; Luk 1:39–66
    Mar 25 Reading 84
    Deut 13:1–15:11; Luk 1:67–80
    Mar 26 Reading 85
    Deut 15:12–18:8; Luk 2:1–21
    Mar 27 Reading 86
    Deut 18:9–21:9; Luk 2:22–52
    Mar 28 Reading 87
    Deut 21:10–23:14; Luk 3:1–20
    Mar 29 Reading 88
    Deut 23:15–26:15; Luk 3:21–38
    Mar 30 Reading 89
    Deut 26:16–28:68; Luk 4:1–30
    Mar 31 Reading 90
    Deut 29; Luk 4:31–44
    April
    Apr 1 Reading 91
    Deut 30:1–32:47; Luk 5:1–26
    Apr 2 Reading 92
    Deut 32:48–33:29; Luk 5:27–6:11
    Apr 3 Reading 93
    Deut 34; Josh 1:1–5:1; Luk 6:12–26
    Apr 4 Reading 94
    Josh 5:2–6:27; Luk 6:27–45
    Apr 5 Reading 95
    Josh 7:1–8:29; Luk 6:46–7:17
    Apr 6 Reading 96
    Josh 8:30–10:27; Luk 7:18–50
    Apr 7 Reading 97
    Josh 10:28–43; Josh 12:1–8; Luk 8:1–15
    Apr 8 Reading 98
    Josh 13–15; Luk 8:16–39
    Apr 9 Reading 99
    Josh 16–17; Luk 8:40–56
    Apr 10 Reading 100
    Josh 18:1–19:23; Luk 9:1–20
    Apr 11 Reading 101
    Josh 19:24–21:45; Luk 9:21–43
    Apr 12 Reading 102
    Josh 22–23; Luk 9:43–10:24
    Apr 13 Reading 103
    Josh 24; Jdg 1; Luk 10:25–37
    Apr 14 Reading 104
    Jdg 2:1–3:30; Luk 10:38–11:13
    Apr 15 Reading 105
    Jdg 3:31–6:40; Luk 11:14–28
    Apr 16 Reading 106
    Jdg 7; Luk 11:29–54
    Apr 17 Reading 107
    Jdg 8–9; Luk 12:1–21
    Apr 18 Reading 108
    Jdg 10–11; Luk 12:22–48
    Apr 19 Reading 109
    Jdg 12–13; Luk 12:49–59
    Apr 20 Reading 110
    Jdg 14–16; Luk 13:1–21
    Apr 21 Reading 111
    Jdg 17–19; Luk 13:22–14:14
    Apr 22 Reading 112
    Jdg 20; Luk 14:15–35
    Apr 23 Reading 113
    Jdg 21; Rut 1–2; Luk 15
    Apr 24 Reading 114
    Rut 3–4; 1 Sa 1:1–20; Luk 16:1–15
    Apr 25 Reading 115
    1 Sa 1:21–3:21; Luk 16:16–31
    Apr 26 Reading 116
    1 Sa 4:1–7:2; Luk 17:1–19
    Apr 27 Reading 117
    1 Sa 7:3–10:8; Luk 17:20–18:8
    Apr 28 Reading 118
    1 Sa 10:9–12:25; Luk 18:9–30
    Apr 29 Reading 119
    1 Sa 13:1–14:48; Luk 18:31–19:10
    Apr 30 Reading 120
    1 Sa 14:49–16:13; Luk 19:11–27
    May
    May 1 Reading 121
    1 Sa 16:14–17:58; Luk 19:28–48
    May 2 Reading 122
    1 Sa 18–20; Luk 20:1–26
    May 3 Reading 123
    1 Sa 21–22; Luk 20:27–44
    May 4 Reading 124
    1 Sa 23–24; Luk 20:45–21:38
    May 5 Reading 125
    1 Sa 25–26; Luk 22:1–6
    May 6 Reading 126
    1 Sa 27–30; Luk 22:7–38
    May 7 Reading 127
    1 Sa 31; 2 Sa 1:1–2:7; Luk 22:39–46
    May 8 Reading 128
    2 Sa 2:8–3:39; Luk 22:47–23:25
    May 9 Reading 129
    2 Sa 4–6; Luk 23:26–43
    May 10 Reading 130
    2 Sa 7–10; Luk 23:44–49
    May 11 Reading 131
    2 Sa 11–12; Luk 23:50–24:12
    May 12 Reading 132
    2 Sa 13–14; Luk 24:13–35
    May 13 Reading 133
    2 Sa 15:1–16:14; Luk 24:36–49
    May 14 Reading 134
    2 Sa 16:15–18:18; Luk 24:50–53; John 1:1–18
    May 15 Reading 135
    2 Sa 18:19–20:22; John 1:19–42
    May 16 Reading 136
    2 Sa 20:23–22:51; John 1:43–2:12
    May 17 Reading 137
    2 Sa 23; John 2:13–3:21
    May 18 Reading 138
    2 Sa 24; 1 Kgs 1; John 3:22–36
    May 19 Reading 139
    1 Kgs 2; John 4:1–26
    May 20 Reading 140
    1 Kgs 3–4; John 4:27–38
    May 21 Reading 141
    1 Kgs 5:1–7:12; John 4:39–5:15
    May 22 Reading 142
    1 Kgs 7:13–8:21; John 5:16–30
    May 23 Reading 143
    1 Kgs 8:22–9:28; John 5:31–6:15
    May 24 Reading 144
    1 Kgs 10:1–11:25; John 6:16–24
    May 25 Reading 145
    1 Kgs 11:26–13:34; John 6:25–59
    May 26 Reading 146
    1 Kgs 14:1–15:8; John 6:60–71
    May 27 Reading 147
    1 Kgs 15:9–17:6; John 7:1–24
    May 28 Reading 148
    1 Kgs 17:7–18:46; John 7:25–44
    May 29 Reading 149
    1 Kgs 19–20; John 7:45–8:11
    May 30 Reading 150
    1 Kgs 21:1–22:28; John 8:12–30
    May 31 Reading 151
    1 Kgs 22:29–53; 2 Kgs 1:1–2:22; John 8:31–59
    June
    Jun 1 Reading 152
    2 Kgs 2:23–4:37; John 9:1–34
    Jun 2 Reading 153
    2 Kgs 4:38–7:2; John 9:35–41
    Jun 3 Reading 154
    2 Kgs 7:3–9:13; John 10:1–21
    Jun 4 Reading 155
    2 Kgs 9:14–10:36; John 10:22–42
    Jun 5 Reading 156
    2 Kgs 11–13; John 11:1–37
    Jun 6 Reading 157
    2 Kgs 14:1–15:31; John 11:38–44
    Jun 7 Reading 158
    2 Kgs 15:32–17:41; John 11:45–12:11
    Jun 8 Reading 159
    2 Kgs 18:1–19:19; John 12:12–36
    Jun 9 Reading 160
    2 Kgs 19:20–21:26; John 12:37–50
    Jun 10 Reading 161
    2 Kgs 22:1–24:7; John 13:1–30
    Jun 11 Reading 162
    2 Kgs 24:8–25:30; 1 Chr 1:1–27; John 13:31–14:4
    Jun 12 Reading 163
    1 Chr 1:28–2:55; John 14:5–31
    Jun 13 Reading 164
    1 Chr 3:1–4:23; John 15:1–17
    Jun 14 Reading 165
    1 Chr 4:24–6:81; John 15:18–16:15
    Jun 15 Reading 166
    1 Chr 7:1–5; John 16:16–33
    Jun 16 Reading 167
    1 Chr 7:6–9:1; John 17
    Jun 17 Reading 168
    1 Chr 9:2–44; John 18:1–18
    Jun 18 Reading 169
    1 Chr 10–11; John 18:19–40
    Jun 19 Reading 170
    1 Chr 12:1–14:7; John 19:1–27
    Jun 20 Reading 171
    1 Chr 14:8–16:43; John 19:28–42
    Jun 21 Reading 172
    1 Chr 17:1–18:13; John 20:1–23
    Jun 22 173
    1 Chr 18:14–22:19; John 20:24–21:14
    Jun 23 Reading 174
    1 Chr 23:1–24:19; John 21:15–25; Acts 1:1–11
    Jun 24 Reading 175
    1 Chr 24:20–26:19; Acts 1:12–2:13
    Jun 25 Reading 176
    1 Chr 26:20–28:21; Acts 2:14–41
    Jun 26 Reading 177
    1 Chr 29; 2 Chr 1–2; Acts 2:42–3:10
    Jun 27 Reading 178
    2 Chr 3:1–6:11; Acts 3:11–26
    Jun 28 Reading 179
    2 Chr 6:12–8:18; Acts 4:1–22
    Jun 29 Reading 180
    2 Chr 9:1–11:4; Acts 4:23–5:11
    Jun 30 Reading 181
    2 Chr 11:5–14:1; Acts 5:12–42
    July
    Jul 1 Reading 182
    2 Chr 14:2–17:19; Acts 6:1–7
    Jul 2 Reading 183
    2 Chr 18:1–20:30; Acts 6:8–7:53
    Jul 3 Reading 184
    2 Chr 20:31–23:21; Acts 7:54–60
    Jul 4 Reading 185
    2 Chr 24–25; Acts 8:1–3
    Jul 5 Reading 186
    2 Chr 26–28; Acts 8:4–25
    Jul 6 Reading 187
    2 Chr 29:1–31:1; Acts 8:26–40
    Jul 7 Reading 188
    2 Chr 31:2–33:20; Acts 9:1–31
    Jul 8 Reading 189
    2 Chr 33:21–35:19; Acts 9:32–43
    Jul 9 Reading 190
    2 Chr 35:20–36:23; Ezr 1–2; Acts 10:1–23
    Jul 10 Reading 191
    Ezr 3; Acts 10:23–48
    Jul 11 Reading 192
    Ezr 4–6; Acts 11:1–18
    Jul 12 Reading 193
    Ezr 7–8; Acts 11:19–12:19
    Jul 13 Reading 194
    Ezr 9–10; Neh 1; Acts 12:19–13:3
    Jul 14 Reading 195
    Neh 2–4; Acts 13:4–52
    Jul 15 Reading 196
    Neh 5–7; Acts 14:1–7
    Jul 16 Reading 197
    Neh 8; Acts 14:8–20
    Jul 17 Reading 198
    Neh 9–10; Acts 14:21–15:21
    Jul 18 Reading 199
    Neh 11; Acts 15:22–35
    Jul 19 Reading 200
    Neh 12–13; Acts 15:36–16:15
    Jul 20 Reading 201
    Est 1:1–2:18; Acts 16:16–40
    Jul 21 Reading 202
    Est 2:19–6:14; Acts 17
    Jul 22 Reading 203
    Est 7–10; Acts 18:1–17
    Jul 23 Reading 204
    Job 1–5; Acts 18:18–28
    Jul 24 Reading 205
    Job 6–7; Acts 19:1–22
    Jul 25 Reading 206
    Job 8–10; Acts 19:23–20:6
    Jul 26 Reading 207
    Job 11; Acts 20:7–38
    Jul 27 Reading 208
    Job 12–14; Acts 21:1–16
    Jul 28 Reading 209
    Job 15–17; Acts 21:17–36
    Jul 29 Reading 210
    Job 18–19; Acts 21:37–22:21
    Jul 30 Reading 211
    Job 20–21; Acts 22:22–23:11
    Jul 31 Reading 212
    Job 22–24; Acts 23:12–35
    August
    Aug 1 Reading 213
    Job 25–27; Acts 24
    Aug 2 Reading 214
    Job 28–29; Acts 25:1–12
    Aug 3 Reading 215
    Job 30–31; Acts 25:13–27
    Aug 4 Reading 216
    Job 32–33; Acts 26
    Aug 5 Reading 217
    Job 34–35; Acts 27:1–12
    Aug 6 Reading 218
    Job 36-38; Acts 27:13–44
    Aug 7 Reading 219
    Job 39–40; Acts 28:1–16
    Aug 8 Reading 220
    Job 41:1–Ps 2:12; Acts 28:17–Rom 1:7
    Aug 9 Reading 221
    Ps 3–7; Rom 1:8–32
    Aug 10 Reading 222
    Ps 8–12; Rom 2:1–16
    Aug 11 Reading 223
    Ps 13–18; Rom 2:17–3:8
    Aug 12 Reading 224
    Ps 19–21; Rom 3:9–31
    Aug 13 Reading 225
    Ps 22–25; Rom 4
    Aug 14 Reading 226
    Ps 26–30; Rom 5
    Aug 15 Reading 227
    Ps 31–34; Rom 6
    Aug 16 Reading 228
    Ps 35–37; Rom 7
    Aug 17 Reading 229
    Ps 38–39; Rom 8:1-17
    Aug 18 Reading 230
    Ps 40–44; Rom 8:18–39
    Aug 19 Reading 231
    Ps 45–48; Rom 9:1–29
    Aug 20 Reading 232
    Ps 49–51; Rom 9:30–10:21
    Aug 21 Reading 233
    Ps 52–57; Rom 11:1–10
    Aug 22 Reading 234
    Ps 58–62; Rom 11:11–32
    Aug 23 Reading 235
    Ps 63–67; Rom 11:33–12:21
    Aug 24 Reading 236
    Ps 68–69; Rom 13:1–15:13
    Aug 25 Reading 237
    Ps 70–73; Rom 15:14–22
    Aug 26 Reading 238
    Ps 74–76; Rom 15:23–33
    Aug 27 Reading 239
    Ps 77–78; Rom 16
    Aug 28 Reading 240
    Ps 79–80; 1 Co 1:1–9
    Aug 29 Reading 241
    Ps 81–85; 1 Co 1:10–2:5
    Aug 30 Reading 242
    Ps 86–89; 1 Co 2:6–3:23
    Aug 31 Reading 243
    Ps 90–91; 1 Co 4:1–13
    September
    Sep 1 Reading 244
    Ps 92–96; 1 Co 4:14–5:13
    Sep 2 Reading 245
    Ps 97–102; 1 Cor 6:1–11
    Sep 3 Reading 246
    Ps 103–104; 1 Co 6:12–7:16
    Sep 4 Reading 247
    Ps 105–106; 1 Co 7:17–40
    Sep 5 Reading 248
    Ps 107; 1 Co 8:1–9:18
    Sep 6 Reading 249
    Ps 108–109; 1 Co 9:19–27
    Sep 7 Reading 250
    Ps 110–116; 1 Co 10:1–22
    Sep 8 Reading 251
    Ps 117:1–119:16; 1 Co 10:23–11:16
    Sep 9 Reading 252
    Ps 119:17–80; 1 Co 11:17–34
    Sep 10 Reading 253
    Ps 119:81–144; 1 Co 12
    Sep 11 Reading 254
    Ps 119:145–124:8; 1 Co 13
    Sep 12 Reading 255
    Ps 125–132; 1 Co 14:1–25
    Sep 13 Reading 256
    Ps 133–137; 1 Co 14:26–40
    Sep 14 Reading 257
    Ps 138–142; 1 Co 15:1–34
    Sep 15 Reading 258
    Ps 143–147; 1 Co 15:35–58
    Sep 16 Reading 259
    Ps 148–150; Pro 1; 1 Co 16:1–18
    Sep 17 Reading 260
    Pro 2–3; 1 Co 16:19–24; 2 Co 1:1–11
    Sep 18 Reading 261
    Pro 4:1–6:19; 2 Co 1:12–2:4
    Sep 19 Reading 262
    Pro 6:20–8:36; 2 Co 2:5–3:6
    Sep 20 Reading 263
    Pro 9–10; 2 Co 3:7–4:18
    Sep 21 Reading 264
    Pro 11–12; 2 Co 5:1–6:2
    Sep 22 Reading 265
    Pro 13–14; 2 Co 6:3–7:1
    Sep 23 Reading 266
    Pro 15–16; 2 Co 7:2–8:15
    Sep 24 Reading 267
    Pro 17–19; 2 Co 8:16–9:5
    Sep 25 Reading 268
    Pro 20–21; 2 Co 9:6–10:18
    Sep 26 Reading 269
    Pro 22–23; 2 Co 11:1–15
    Sep 27 Reading 270
    Pro 24–25; 2 Co 11:16–33
    Sep 28 Reading 271
    Pro 26–27; 2 Co 12:1–13:10
    Sep 29 Reading 272
    Pro 28–29; 2 Co 13:11–Gal 1:10
    Sep 30 Reading 273
    Pro 30–31; Gal 1:11–2:10
    October
    Oct 1 Reading 274
    Ecc 1–3; Gal 2:11–3:14
    Oct 2 Reading 275
    Ecc 4:1–8:1; Gal 3:15–4:7
    Oct 3 Reading 276
    Ecc 8:2–10:20; Gal 4:8–31
    Oct 4 Reading 277
    Ecc 11–12; Sos 1–2; Gal 5:1–12
    Oct 5 Reading 278
    Sos 3–6; Gal 5:13–6:10
    Oct 6 Reading 279
    Sos 7–8; Isa 1:1–2:5; Gal 6:11–18; Eph 1:1–14
    Oct 7 Reading 280
    Isa 2:6–5:30; Eph 1:15–2:10
    Oct 8 Reading 281
    Isa 6–8; Eph 2:11–3:13
    Oct 9 Reading 282
    Isa 9–10; Eph 3:14–4:16
    Oct 10 Reading 283
    Isa 11:1–14:27; Eph 4:17–32
    Oct 11 Reading 284
    Isa 14:28–19:25; Eph 5
    Oct 12 Reading 285
    Isa 20–22; Eph 6:1–20
    Oct 13 Reading 286
    Isa 23–26; Eph 6:21–24; Phil 1:1–11
    Oct 14 Reading 287
    Isa 27–29; Phil 1:12–30
    Oct 15 Reading 288
    Isa 30–31; Phil 2
    Oct 16 Reading 289
    Isa 32–35; Phil 3:1–14
    Oct 17 Reading 290
    Isa 36–37; Phil 3:15–4:20
    Oct 18 Reading 291
    Isa 38–40; Phil 4:21–23; Col 1:1–14
    Oct 19 Reading 292
    Isa 41:1–43:13; Col 1:15–2:15
    Oct 20 Reading 293
    Isa 43:14–45:25; Col 2:16–3:17
    Oct 21 Reading 294
    Isa 46:1–49:7; Col 3:18–4:6
    Oct 22 Reading 295
    Isa 49:8–52:12; Col 4:7–18; 1 Th 1
    Oct 23 Reading 296
    Isa 52:13–57:13; 1 Th 2
    Oct 24 Reading 297
    Isa 57:14–60:22; 1 Th 3:1–4:12
    Oct 25 Reading 298
    Isa 61–64; 1 Th 4:13–5:11
    Oct 26 Reading 299
    Isa 65–66; Jer 1; 1 Th 5:12–28; 2 Th 1
    Oct 27 Reading 300
    Jer 2:1–4:4; 2 Th 2
    Oct 28 Reading 301
    Jer 4:5–5:31; 2 Th 3
    Oct 29 Reading 302
    Jer 6–7; 1 Ti 1–2
    Oct 30 Reading 303
    Jer 8:1–10:16; 1 Ti 3:1–13
    Oct 31 Reading 304
    Jer 10:17–13:11; 1 Ti 3:14–4:16
    November
    Nov 1 Reading 305
    Jer 13:12–17:18; 1 Ti 5:1–6:2
    Nov 2 Reading 306
    Jer 17:19–19:15; 1 Ti 6:2–2 Ti 1:2
    Nov 3 Reading 307
    Jer 20–22; 2 Ti 1
    Nov 4 Reading 308
    Jer 23–24; 2 Ti 2–3
    Nov 5 309
    Jer 25–26; 2 Ti 4:1–8
    Nov 6 Reading 310
    Jer 27:1–29:23; 2 Ti 4:9–22
    Nov 7 Reading 311
    Jer 29:24–31:40; Tit 1–2
    Nov 8 Reading 312
    Jer 32–33; Tit 3
    Nov 9 Reading 313
    Jer 34–36; Phlm 1
    Nov 10 Reading 314
    Jer 37:1–38:13; Heb 1:1–2:4
    Nov 11 Reading 315
    Jer 38:14–41:18; Heb 2:5–3:6
    Nov 12 Reading 316
    Jer 42–44; Heb 3:7–4:16
    Nov 13 Reading 317
    Jer 45–48; Heb 5
    Nov 14 Reading 318
    Jer 49; Heb 6:1–7:10
    Nov 15 Reading 319
    Jer 50–51; Heb 7:11–28
    Nov 16 Reading 320
    Jer 52:1–30; Heb 8:1–9:10
    Nov 17 Reading 321
    Jer 52:31–34; Lam 1–2; Heb 9:11–28
    Nov 18 Reading 322
    Lam 3; Heb 10
    Nov 19 Reading 323
    Lam 4–5; Eze 1; Heb 11:1–12:3
    Nov 20 Reading 324
    Eze 2–4; Heb 12:4–13
    Nov 21 Reading 325
    Eze 5–8; Heb 12:14–17
    Nov 22 Reading 326
    Eze 9:1–11:13; Heb 12:18–29
    Nov 23 327
    Eze 11:14–14:11; Heb 13
    Nov 24 Reading 328
    Eze 14:12–16:63; Jam 1:1–18
    Nov 25 Reading 329
    Eze 17–18; Jam 1:19–2:13
    Nov 26 Reading 330
    Eze 19:1–20:29; Jam 2:14–3:12
    Nov 27 Reading 331
    Eze 20:30–22:31; Jam 3:13–4:12
    Nov 28 Reading 332
    Eze 23; Jam 4:13–5:20
    Nov 29 Reading 333
    Eze 24–26; 1 Pe 1:1–2:3
    Nov 30 Reading 334
    Eze 27:1–28:19; 1 Pe 2:4–3:7
    December
    Dec 1 Reading 335
    Eze 28:20–31:18; 1 Pe 3:8–22
    Dec 2 Reading 336
    Eze 32–33; 1 Pe 4
    Dec 3 Reading 337
    Eze 34:1–36:15; 1 Pe 5; 2 Pe 1:1–2
    Dec 4 Reading 338
    Eze 36:16–38:23; 2 Pe 1:3–2:22
    Dec 5 Reading 339
    Eze 39–40; 2 Pe 3
    Dec 6 Reading 340
    Eze 41–42; 1 Jn 1:1–2:2
    Dec 7 Reading 341
    Eze 43–44; 1 Jn 2:3–17
    Dec 8 Reading 342
    Eze 45:1–47:12; 1 Jn 2:18–3:10
    Dec 9 Reading 343
    Eze 47:13–48:35; Dan 1; 1 Jn 3:11–4:21
    Dec 10 Reading 344
    Dan 2–3; 1 Jn 5:1–12
    Dec 11 Reading 345
    Dan 4; 1 Jn 5:13–21; 2 Jn 1
    Dec 12 Reading 346
    Dan 5:1–7:14; 3 Jn 1; Jude 1:1–16
    Dec 13 Reading 347
    Dan 7:15–9:19; Jude 1:17–25; Rev 1:1–3
    Dec 14 Reading 348
    Dan 9:20–11:35; Rev 1:4–2:7
    Dec 15 Reading 349
    Dan 11:36–12:13; Hos 1–2; Rev 2:8–29
    Dec 16 Reading 350
    Hos 3–7; Rev 3
    Dec 17 Reading 351
    Hos 8–12; Rev 4–5
    Dec 18 Reading 352
    Hos 13–14; Joe 1:1–2:11; Rev 6
    Dec 19 Reading 353
    Joe 2:12–3:21; Amo 1:1–2:5; Rev 7:1–8:5
    Dec 20 Reading 354
    Amo 2:6–5:27; Rev 8:6–9:21
    Dec 21 Reading 355
    Amo 6–9; Rev 10:1–11:14
    Dec 22 Reading 356
    Oba 1; Jon 1–4; Rev 11:15–12:17
    Dec 23 Reading 357
    Mic 1–5; Rev 13:1–10
    Dec 24 Reading 358
    Mic 6–7; Nah 1; Rev 13:11–14:13
    Dec 25 Reading 359
    Nah 2:1–Hab 2:20; Rev 14:14–16:21
    Dec 26 Reading 360
    Hab 3; Zep 1:1–3:8; Rev 17
    Dec 27 Reading 361
    Zep 3:9–20; Hag 1–2; Zec 1:1–17; Rev 18:1–20
    Dec 28 Reading 362
    Zec 1:18–6:8; Rev 18:21–19:10
    Dec 29 Reading 363
    Zec 6:9–9:17; Rev 19:11–20:10
    Dec 30 Reading 364
    Zec 10–14; Rev 20:11–21:27
    Dec 31 Reading 365
    Mal 1–4; Rev 22:1–21
     

  3. Omegaman 3.0

    So, what about Xmas?

    By Omegaman 3.0,


    Xmas
    No, this is not going to be one of those passionate controversies that some Christians get into, trying either defend their practice of having a Christmas tree, or alternatively trying to play Holy Spirit to someone about how they have been deceived by some Druid demon because Christmas if based in paganism.
    No, this one is about the word "Xmas"!
    Someone recently pointed out to me, that there is always "Xmas", and how some (especially Christians) do not like that term, as it seems to take the Christ out of Christmas which is the reason for the holiday in the first place. I am going to offer a different spin, a different attitude about Xmas.
    Now sure, there are those who like the pretty lights, feasting, presents and all of that, yet are not particularly interested in Christ. They can enjoy the holiday for their own reasons but don't let an X rob you of any of your enjoyment. Instead, see the X as an opportunity to evangelize, to put the Christ in Xmas, it is a conversation starter.
    X is not X-ing out Christ, X STANDS for Christ, so should we.
    Do you see what I did there? I used X in a shorthand or crossing out. CROSSing out, what does a cross bring to our minds? I'll give you a hint, I wear a cross hanging around my neck on a chain, a cross necklace, almost 24/7. I keep in on like a wedding ring, and why not, I am a member of the bride of Christ!
    I'll show you another example:

    Now, most everyone has seen this thing. When I first saw it on cars, I had no idea what it was. I could not figure out how to pronounce IXOYE, and I figured it was probably some brand of ecology minded laundry detergent or something - True story!
    That goes to show you how effective that is as a witness of Jesus to unbelievers! In hindsight now, I realize it is more of a secret handshake sort of thing to show other believers that you are part of the club.
    Later, after I became a Christian, I had one of those on my van. Eventually I took it off, because I realized that some people knew that meant I claimed to be a Christian. I removed it because I did not want to run the risk of accidently cutting someone off who was following in my blind spot, and give them cause to curse because of those blankity blank Christians. Anyway . . .
    Those letters are not I X O Y and E. IXOYE are English alphabet letters. That fish had Greek letters, called Iota, Chi, Theta, Upsilon, and Sigma.
    Now those letters form an acronym for Iesous Xristos Theou Yios Sotare, which means Jesus Christ Son (of) God Savior. It also spells the Greek word Ichthus - Fish! Since we are called to be fishers of men, it is sort of cleaver.
    It is said (and I do not know if this is really true) that this stylized fish shape, was drawn in the dirt with the edge of a sandal, one person would draw one line, another would complete it with his sandal. Another "secret" handshake so that believers could identify themselves to each other in times of persecution.
    Whether or not the sandals in the dirt story is true or not, this fish symbol was in use in the first century.
    So, back to the X!
    That X, or chi in Greek, is the equivalent of our letters "ch" in English, pronounced like the ch in Christ, not the ch in chicken.
    So, the X in Xmas, is just the symbol for Christ, and CHRISTmas is safe, it is NOT EXmas!
    If it is around that time of year when you read this, have a merry, Christ honoring one.
  4. Omegaman 3.0
    How much water, does it take, to make a cheeseburger?
    It takes 68 gallon of water for the bun. It takes water to grow wheat for the flour.
    One slice of tomato, 3 gallons.
    Slice of lettuce, 1.5 gallons.
    Slice of cheese, 56 gallons. Water to grow the feed that feeds the cow that makes the milk, that gets turned into cheese.
    That patty of hamburger? 616 gallons. Water grow the feed for the beef steer, as well as for the animal itself.
    That is 744.5 gallons of water, and that is not even counting pickles and onions, ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise!

    Think then about how this sort of thing, and how that relates to other food we eat. 25% of the nation's (the United States) food, comes from California. California is experiencing a drought, plus water projects are being curtailed, so there is less water available, in addition to the drought problem. 

    Dams are being destroyed, and floodgates opened, so that reservoirs are being drained such that the water is not used for growing food, or for industry, or for drinking water, it is just allowed to drain into the ocean.
    All of this also, leads to unemployment. Unemployed people get federal  and state assistance, so others then pay taxes to pay for the consequences of the water problems in California.
    Food prices rise due to shortages. Those unemployed people, can't afford to fix their cars, nor their homes, nor even to buy clothes, & they also are not paying taxes, not supporting local businesses.
    This leads to more unemployment, truckers lose their jobs, since there are less goods being made, sold, and transported. See how one thing leads to another and another?

    We are so crazy here (we meaning legislators in California pressured by environmental groups, and federal environmental laws) that we are spending 4 million dollars per fish, trying to restore a native population of salmon, that has been gone for about 100 years.
    I do not know, what the solution is to these problems, but the problems are far reaching. It is not just California, it is also the world. A lot of the food, and other products that used to come from California, are decreasingly being produced.
    This, and the unemployment, the costs of doing business in California due to water shortages and oppressive regulations (which are largely environmental in nature) but also other things, is hampering the economy of California.
    These things cause the government of California, and counties and cities there, to raise taxes.
    All of these things, force people to leave the state. They then go to other states. This migration then leads to an increase in the cost of housing for the citizens of these other states.
    It also, creates some food shortages for them, so food prices rise. These new people, also need employment, so that means that there is more competition for jobs in these other states, which of course increases unemployment in those states as well.
    It is hard for me not to consider, how all these things are inter-connected. These kinds of related factors are not just California, they go on world wide. This being the case, is it that hard to imagine that a series of unrelated events, or perhaps a few natural disasters, could ultimately tip the scales and send the world into a sense of desperation with , people wanting a solution to the mounting problems?
    Enter the future antichrist.
    Maybe this (or a scenario like this) will usher him in. Don't worry  though, these things will happen, they must happen.
    We may desire to seek solutions to these problems, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, eventually, hard times and the antichrist are coming, all in the timing of God.
    If you are a Christian, try not to be too anxious, as God has everything under His control, nothing escapes His notice. He works all things together for good, to those who love Him, and are called, according to His purpose.
    Cheer up saints, it is going to get worse! Luke 21:28
    Note: Much of the information in this post, derives from a video called Dead Harvest - Made by National Alliance for Environmental Reform, and it can be found on YouTube
     
  5. Omegaman 3.0

    How Then Shall We Live?

    By Omegaman 3.0,


    Christian Living
    How, Then, Shall We Live? (Luke 22:31-38)
    Our job in this life is to serve the Lord - Love Him, Obey Him
    Practically, we should be telling others about Jesus, - the Gospel
    We should be doing his will -  part of that if becoming familiar with His will.
    That involves a life of reading His word - the clearest way to hear his voice, and we should be praying, talking to God. We cannot have much or a relationship without two way communication.
    We need to love others. We do that by encouraging them, enjoying their company, and generally doing things that are beneficial to them.
    We need to live holy lives. That means that we need to live lives that are different from the world at large. That might be the hardest part for us.
    The world has so much to offer us, some of it is good. God gives us good things. He loves the world enough to give them good things. Not everyone is thankful for what they have, that is one of the things that should make us different, that we are thankful to our Source, to He who is our Provider.
    We should be having fellowship with other believers, encouraging them, being encouraged by them, helping them, and being helped by them.
    Hanging out with other people, alters our character, that is something we need to be careful about. We tend to imitate the behaviors of those we hang out with. We can be tempted to act like them, talk like them, and in general, do what they do.
    For this reason, we should cultivate an awareness that as believers, Jesus is with us also. Before we act, before we speak, we should try to me mindful of Jesus' presence, and act like Him, more than we act like our friends. If we want to act like our friends, we should act like the ones who act the most like Jesus.
    What to our friends say? Do they say spiritual things, or does filth and bitterness come out of their mouths?
    What do we and they do for fun? Do we go bar hoping? Do we go to movies, that depict a lot of worldly behavior, or do we do things that we would do with Jesus as our guest? Do we eat to the glory of God, or do we pig out on junk food, valueing pleasure more than nutrition that shows that we care for the bodies we have, God's temple?
    I am resolving to attemp to improve my life. Changing some of my habits, developing some new ones.
    I'd like to hear some ideas that you have, in general terms or even in specific ways, on how we might improve ourselves (with God's help of course, without Him, we can do nothing). 
    This need not be a confessional, and I do not suspect that everyone will be looking forward to admit their short commings, nor commit to improvements they may not keep. Rather, I hope to see people offering suggestions, and people recognizing some of the areas they could improve in their lives, and was all can join in in the atc of praying for each other, in our own time, our own hearts, and in our own ways, knowing that God hears our prayers, and grants them when they are in His will.
  6. Omegaman 3.0
    With what sort of love?
    Omegaman 3.0    6/5/2019
     
    I recently posted in a thread at Worthy Christian Forums, where there seemed to be some disagreement about the nature of the kind of love that Christians are supposed to have. There also seemed to be some disagreement  and even questions about whether or not some to the Bible’s statements contradict each other on this topic. I felt compelled to chime in.
    Not to toot my own horn, but as I developed my reply,  I thought some of my comments were worth making a note of here, since they represent my thoughts (which is what a blog is, after all) and  some of them arose out of my analysis of what people were disputing, so here it goes:
    I do not have two cents, but I have a nickel:
    I certainly see no contradiction between what Jesus said, and what John said, but I will offer my thoughts or opinions, as a sort of unsolicited, under-qualified commentary:
    First observation:
    34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38  This is the great and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
    My comment on that passage is that Jesus said that loving others is a commandment, and He is referring to the Law, so THAT is not new! What was the standard? Love others as you love yourself.
    Second observation:
    34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13
    My comment on this one is that Jesus said it is new. If He said it is new, then it IS new. What is new about it? Jesus  upped the standard. The standard here is not love each other as you love yourself, but love each other has Jesus Himself loved them. How was that? Self-sacrificially, Jesus DIED for them, that is real love.
    John tells us that when he reports that Jesus also said:
    Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13
    So, the NEW commandment  you will note, is not to the general public, it was to His disciples.
    John also noted that Jesus gave his disciples a purpose, the positive side effect:
    "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:25
    So, the new command so far is that disciples are to love other disciples, with the same sort of love, the greatest love, self-sacrificial love, as Jesus demonstrated on the cross, not that we must die, but that is the supreme example of that kind of love. 
    Tradition has it, that all the apostles except Judas and John, died as martyrs, and John was willing. They tried to boil him in oil, it just did not work, so he was banished to Patmos, where he penned the book of Revelation. As a side note, when Peter was told he was to be crucified, Peter asked Jesus about John - well, what about him (John)? Jesus basic answer was, that is none of your business Peter! From what we think we know, John died of "natural" causes, in his old age. So, for the most part, the disciples lived out their mission the obey the commandment, the loved us, all disciples enough to die in their efforts to see that we got Jesus message.
    At this juncture, I would like to point out something else, from Matthew 28:
    18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19 Therefore go and  make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.
    So, Jesus disciples were told to make other disciples. If you are a believer, you are one of the disciples of disciples of disciples, etc. The disciples were to teach others to obey Jesus. If you are a TRUE disciple, you will seek to, want to, obey Jesus. After all, that is what a disciple is, one who follows their teacher. Our ultimate Teacher then, is Jesus. What is it then, that we are taught to obey then? Among other things:
    Make more disciples and teach them to obey Jesus, and that includes loving other believers with the unique love that Jesus lavished upon them.
    So, for the most part, the disciples lived out their mission they obeyed the commandment, the loved us, all disciples enough to die in their efforts to see that we got Jesus message. They practices what they preached, and the preached what Jesus told them to.
    So many of the quotes I supplied ARE from John, how then is that a contradiction? John knew that there was an Old Testament command, to love others as ourselves. He also was quick to point out that those in the Jesus' church, were to go beyond that sort of love, the easy love that even pagans so. Toward each other, they were to with a supernatural love that is not given to everyone, but believers are given that ability, and are told to exercise it. Love is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit, the Paul describes in Gal 5:22 and Eph 5:19. (Those are links, by the way)
    Paul also describes love in 1 Cor 13:
    4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends.
    With all of this great information in the Bible (not in my post), the real question is:
                                                               HOW WELL DO WE ALL MEASURE UP?
    I also ask, that you consider praying about this in your own lives, that you pray for others also, and not the least, for me also, as we all need it at times. Go forth and love, to the Glory of God!
  7. Omegaman 3.0
    Someone recently had some criticism to express about how some of us charged with administering the forums conduct our tasks there. Their criticism is not without merit,  and it expressed  largely the idea, that we administrators are too tolerant of heretics and have a higher accountability to God than to allow that. I realize that he was not alone in that opinion, and because of that, I decided to offer some thoughts about that here in my blog.
    I am accountable to God, and I agree that as a moderator, I have higher accountability than "regular members" here on the forums.
    I have a job to do here, and that is to enforce the Terms of Service, and try to keep some order and peace, etc. There are rules here, and enforcement is part of my task here, but not to be a forum cop, but to try to minister to others here. Being a cop here, is unrealistic anyway.
    Imagine a community, of 60,000 people, who are awake at all hours of the day, every day of the week, being policed by a handful of people as a part time job. It just is not possible, but that is analogous to the situation at Worthy.
    This is not church. This is a community of people of faith, people with erroneous (missing the true God) religions, and people of no faith whatsoever. Here, I am in the world, and not of it. I am here more to bring light to those in darkness, than to protect the sheep. I want to see the sheep grow, and learn to protect themselves and others. We are not attempting to make a place where Christians can retreat from the world and hide from it's ugly realities. Never the less, those who participate, are free to choose to do so, in areas that are safe. If one does not want to see arguments and friction, name calling and the like, one can go to a praise and poetry section, view shared photographs, enter into prayer and not the enter the areas of theological and political discussion. You know the phrase: “If you cannot stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen!” Makes perfect sense.
    As I said, we are not attempting to make this a place of retreat only, this is not a sanctuary. The church tried that after the rise of Darwinism and the industrial revolution. Rather than engage Darwinism and science on that footing, embracing the fact that in God and the Bible is truth, and that the Spirit will guide, much of the church withdrew into congregations and safe havens, while other people thought:. "We do not need religion or God, we have science and technology now!"
    Some of the church embraced: If you can't beat 'em, withdraw from them.
    The church withdrew from the world, it left politics, entertainment, and education in the hands of the world, and the result has been devastating.
    "Well, maybe there is something to this evolution stuff, maybe Christianity should be evolutionary, we can change the faith."
    If you can't beat them, join them.
    That resulted in seeker friendly churches, something that is going on today, more than ever. It results in a watered down gospel that cannot lead to salvation, but at least no one is offended. Big churches filled with lost people who do not hear the answers they need to questions they do not even know to ask.
    There is a better way. Not "if you cannot beat them, isolate from them", not "if you cannot beat them, join them". I suggest another:
    "BEAT THEM"
    When you have what we have here at Worthy, you have enemies of God, and friends of God, and enemies of God who are future friends of God. Some of His the friends, do not have the answers - yet! They are ill equipped to provide what they do not know. They live their lives among wolves who will prey on their innocence. 
    Some of the friends are shepherds. They do protect the sheep. They provide answers to challenges issued by the wolves. Here, they do not drive the wolves off always, because the wolves also need to hear the answers, hear the gospel. Some wolves may (and some have) become sheep and even shepherds themselves. Sometimes the wolves are driven away. We ban some. Some wolves just walk away, not even understanding enough to be sad about it. Pity - pray for them as well as for the sheep.
     I myself was an Atheist, now a Christian of over 40 years and I am grateful to God for those among His own, who were patient enough to want to reach me for Him, and teach me, not just refute me and attempt to ridicule me and call me names. All that would have accomplished is to show me that Christians are not loving and interested in my soul, just interested in winning arguments or maybe winning merit badges with a God that I was certain did not exist.
    By not driving the wolves away, the wolves get answered, they get responded to. In this, the sheep hear the answers. This bolsters their faith, and teaches them how to respond to the wolves of their own lives, be that in the work place, the marketplace, their neighborhoods, their families, social media, and even their churches.
    If they learn it right, they learn the facts AND they learn to respond with humility, reverence, and love, such that even their "enemies" (which God has commanded them to love) have to admit the sheep were respectful and kind, and yet not powerless victims either.
    Here on the forums, light and darkness meet. However, they do not have to blend together. They can and should remain clearly separate and distinct. No compromise is expected, but kindness is. We cannot control what the other guy does or says, but we can and are expected to control what we say. Why give the other guy an excuse for legitimate criticism. Expose their heresies, and fallacies, but there is no need to be dismissive, mean, condescending, rude, abusive, abrasive, insulting name callers, and the like. I know I fail to live up to those standards, but I am trying to improve.
    Jesus may have been seemed harsh at times, in some of those aspects in certain situations with specific people, no doubt about that. However, be mindful of this:
    We are not God, we are not Jesus, we are not all knowing, we are not perfect. In fact, we are more like our sinner "adversary". than we are like Jesus. Jesus died for our adversaries in the forums, and our opponents were created in God's image, the same as we were.  Let's try to keep these things in our minds in our conversations with others.
    There is bound to be some friction. That is normal. However, let's see that for our parts, there is light, not just smoke and heat.
  8. Omegaman 3.0
    Omegaman 3.0 – August 21st, 2020
    Pardon me for this, I know ahead of time that it will be long-winded, if not a bit convoluted and wandering, I write as I think here, this is what I think a blog is mostly for, expressing thoughts, writing them down.
    Whose will is it anyway?

    Today I was thinking about the issue of free will, and what that means, and what it doesn’t mean. I want to say from the onset that I do not know the answers to those wonders, but it is also not the first time I have thought about them. I plan to bring some thoughts that I have had about this previously, and a lame analogy that came to me today. The reason I say it is a lame analogy, is because most analogies fall short. An analogy is a story that endeavors to make a truth seem easier to understand.
    Christians and non-Christians alike, once they are aware of the concept that there is only one God, and that God exists as three persons who are co-equal and co-eternal, three-in-one (you know the idea), the concept referred to as the Trinity or Triunity might find that it gives them some pause, confusion, doubt, or at least difficulty in understanding or to be able to adequately explain. We try to come up with analogies to ease our discomfort, to make the difficult to understand just a little less impossible.
    You have heard them:
    "The trinity is like water, it is ice, liquid, or steam, but it is all water."
    "The trinity is like and egg, you know the yolk, the white, and the shell."
    There are others, but I like the peanut analogy better, but it is still lame.

    There is a simple reason that these are not really that satisfactory, they just basically break down if we examine them too closely, but that does not mean they are useless, they are just limited. I think the reason for this is simple. In these analogies, we are using the familiar things which we experience directly and which others experience the same way - things that have physical properties with which we are familiar and with which we can agree. God is not an egg, nor is He water, nor even a peanut. These are physical things, things of His creation. God is Spirit, He is the Creator, and His nature is entirely different and is not experienced in quite the same way. Our ability to compare a finite object with an infinite being that does not have a specific shape, mass, color, texture, etc. is always just going to fall short because God and everything else, are in entirely different classes, Creator and creation, not even close to being alike.
    Let me put this another way (yes, another lame analogy). Imagine having conversation with a blind person, who has been blind from birth. They want you to explain color to them, tell you how red is different from blue, for example. You think about it. Perhaps you know some physics. You know that different colors are different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation.  Sounds (with which the blind person is familiar) are also different frequencies, so there is an analogy to be made there. You say that red and blue are different, just as the notes B flat and G sharp are different. Red and blue are both colors of light, just and the two notes are different sounds. Some sounds go together well, some, not so much. Some colors 'harmonize' better than others also. While this does accurately describe real differences and real similarities, it really does not come very close to conveying what colors look like to one who has never seen anything.
    This makes me realize that there is another lame analogy we can make for the Trinity – white light. This should have been an analogy that came to mind easily. I do not know if the human writers of the Bible knew about how light and color works, but John did write the following:
    This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
    In modern times we know, that white light results when we combine red, green and blue light together – if you look closely at your monitor (assuming you are reading this on a screen (and not on printed paper), you will see that the white on this page is comprised of red, green and blue dots. This assumes that you have good eyes; otherwise you might need a magnifying glass. If you are familiar with a prism, you know that all of the colors of the rainbow, exist in white light, but only three are really needed to get white light.
     
     
    There we see that the three primary colors make up white. White is light, red, green and blue are also light. They are not the same as white, but they are still light, The three different lights (RGB) make the one (White) light. So, there is another analogy for the Trinity that I am never heard, but undoubtedly I am not the first to notice this.
     

    In my usual fashion, I am rambling and have gone off track, but this is the brain I live in! Where was I? Ah yes, free will!
    Those of you who have read my writings much, know that I am what some people call a Calvinist. Some people hear that word and then just know that I have nothing else to say that is worth listening to. People have a knee jerk reaction to the term; they have an allergy to Calvinism.
    I do not use that term for myself, other than to use it as shorthand for some things I believe. If you are familiar with Calvinism, then you know what I am talking about. If you are not, that is not a bad thing. You can believe the things that Calvinists believe, without ever having heard of Calvinism.
    John Calvin was a theologian, a bit after Luther, whose writings impacted the direction that the theology of the Church would go, much of his thoughts are reflected in the ideas of Protestantism. One reason I am not a fan of the term “Calvinist”, is because Calvin, like Luther, had some character flaws. Don’t feel too proud though, you and I have character flaws also, we are all sinners.
    The main reason that I do not care for the term “Calvinism” is because it makes it sound as though Calvin invented some branch of Christian thought. I prefer the term “Reformed Theology” because it hearkens back to the Reformation, a movement in the 16th century to escape the collective errors of the church over the centuries, and return to the beliefs and practices as taught by Jesus and His apostles, and to some degree, the teachings of those who were themselves taught by the apostles. I like the way Spurgeon phrased it:
    “I believe nothing merely because Calvin taught it, but because I have found his teaching in the Word of God.”
    And also:

    So, now we come to yet another lame analogy, maybe it is International Lame Analogy Day. I was pondering the questions, that I once heard Greg Koukl ask (he was a very intelligent man who went to my church, and is an author and speaker now, and more. The questions were along the lines of:
    "When you sin, is that a choice you make?"
       Most honest people who believe in God and in the concept of sin, I think would agree that yes, when we sin, we do so by choosing to disobey God. Now Greg had a follow-up question, he approximately asks:
    "Can you choose to never sin in your life"
    That one is a bit trickier. We might be tempted to think:
    "Well, uh yeah, sort of!", but we know that practically speaking, that it is not going to happen. We all sin, we just do! As born-again, children of God we want to not sin, we want to be obedient. So if we have free will, and we do not wish to sin, why don't we just cease sinning? First Corinthians 10:13, seems to indicate that we have the ability to resist temptation.
    “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
    So there you have it. God has made sure that you will never be tempted beyond your ability to resist; He leaves you a way out, so just stop sinning! It is as simple as that! Paul wrote those words, and I believe them, I believe the Bible, I believe God! Now, the way out may not always be an easy choice. If a person put a gun to your head and told you to renounce Jesus, the way out might be to choose to die, rather than deny your savior, never-the-less the way is there for you. 
    God knows how hard it is to resist, He knows that we will all fail also. One of my favorite passages is found in Psalm 103:
    8 The LORD is merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
    9 He will not always chide,
    nor will he keep his anger forever.
    10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
    nor repay us according to our iniquities.
    11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
    12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
    13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
    so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
    14 For he knows how we are made;
    he remembers that we are dust.
    I can rarely (perhaps never) read that and not respond with tears of gratitude, I am weeping as I type this. It is so awesome to realize, that God chose to love me so much (even though I was His enemy) to suffer and die for me so that I could be part of His family and live with Him forever. This is the heart of the gospel. 
    I have gotten off track again, but I want to add something else in here before I get back on the rails. Paul also wrote Romans chapter 7, where it says in part:
    15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
    Paul asked a great question in verse 24, which he then answers with:

    25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
    There he lets us know that we are not hopeless, that through Jesus our Lord we have deliverance from the sin that lives in us, that we seem unable to carry out what we know is the right thing. This of course speaks of Jesus paying the penalty for our sin, His sacrificial death, the perfect sacrifice, paying the price which none of us could. This is how our sins came to be as far as the east is from the west, which we just read about in Psalm 103.
    Also in Roman 7, Paul has pinpointed the source of the problem. We know that we sin. We know that we have the tools to resist sinning. However, we keep doing the very things we want to avoid. The reason is that we are double minded. We love the Lord, but we do not obey Him the way our love should direct us to. Adam and Eve were different from us. I do not mean only that they did not have belly buttons as we do, but they had free will in a way which none of us have experienced.
    They were created sinless, but they chose to sin, and became sinners. We on the other hand, are born sinners. As Reformed theologians are fond of saying: “We are not sinners, because we sin. We sin because we are sinners!” We have a sin nature. However, God gave us the new birth; He gave us a new nature that can choose to seek God and to know Him, and to love Him. Paul, quoting the Old Testament, describes the old nature in Romans 3, apart from the new birth:
    “None is righteous, no, not one;
    11no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.
    12All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.”
    How pathetic a description of us is it, that no one does good, there is not even one? Again, in Romans 8, Paul points out: For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
    Now, coming back to the lame analogy I was going to use, the one that came to me today that prompted me to blog today, this is about a cat I had, her name was MuChi. I named her MuChi, because that is how I met her, she was a hungry cat (a moocher), feral I suppose or close to it. She was hanging around my property but avoided me, wanted nothing to do with me.
    The fact is, that whenever this cat saw me, she ran the other way. Never-the-less, I felt compassion for her. She was living in my neighborhood - a neighborhood where every home except mine had dogs. All but one of those had several dogs. I had a cat. My cat is not an aggressive cat, but he is not timid either. Occasionally other cats have strayed on to the property. The cat I had, Underfoot, has always stood his ground (except one time). When animals wanted to be aggressive, or seem to challenge him, he has run them off. He even ran off an 85 pound Rottweiler that belonged to a neighbor.
    Anyway, I came to see this black and white cat that I call MuChi, more frequently. Sometimes she would watch me from a safe distance. I started to leave some food and water out for her. It can be hot and dry here in the Mojave Desert, and hunting lizards and an occasional mouse was probably a hard way for MuChi to make a living. She was pretty skinny and frail looking.
    I do not know how smart cats are, but I suspect that she had seen put food in the bowl a few times and perhaps made the association about how that food got there. It was because that big, scary monster (me) put it there. Gradually over a period of time, she came in closer and watched me put food in the bowl. Like the dumb human I am, I began to speak to her. Finally one day, she came to the bowl while I was still there and she went to the food in my presence.
    I reached out to her, and stroked her fur and she did not recoil in fear. This became a thing, and one day she entered my home while I had the door open. Eventually she seemed to like being in the home where it was comfortable, not the harsh scary place outside that she had known. We finally became good friends, and she learned to trust me.
    I had something she needed, but she did not realize it at first. I could see her need and had compassion on her, so I made overtures to help her and even to befriend her. She responded of her own free will, but had I not reached out to her first, I doubt she would have ever come to such a decision.
    There have been other cats on the property, I have not treated them all the same way, but I chose to be merciful and compassionate to MuChi. She had done nothing to deserve it, but still I elected to reach out to her, and I drew her in with my overtures.
    Perhaps you can see some things analogous in that story. The point I am trying to illustrate, is that people can have free will, but this does not mean what we choose to do, is always our choice alone.
    14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. Romans 9
    Now, depending on how we define free will, varies quite a bit. We tend to have our own opinions, which may or may not be accurate.  What I have come to believe, is that we are limited by our own nature. Actually, I think everything is limited by its nature.
    I have summarized what I believe about free will as follows:
    ·         You are free to choose to do what you want to do
    ·         You are not free to choose what it is that you want to do
    ·         You are not necessarily able, to do what you choose to do
    If I want to jump out of an airplane and fly, I am free to choose to do that
    If and not free to choose to want to do that, I cannot choose to like olives, I can choose to eat them or not, I can choose to want to like them, but mere choice, does not make me like them, so I cannot choose what it is that I want, that seems to be outside of my control
    Back to choosing to jump out of the airplane and fly, I can choose to give that a try, but I cannot overcome the limitations of my nature. No matter how hard I flap my arms, it will not keep me from going ‘splat’ on the ground.
    The nature of things is an extreme limitation. This is so true, that even God has limitations. God CANNOT lie, it is not in His nature. You and I can (and do) lie, so we can do things that God cannot do, as shocking as that might seem. Paul in Roman 8 pointed out our limitations when he said:
    6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
     

    Theoretically, a cow can eat steak, and a lion can eat straw. Practically though, this is not going to happen. They could choose to eat these things, they are capable of eating them. However, their natures dictate to them which things they will choose or not choose. Mankind is in a similar condition. The natural (unregenerate - not born again) person will not choose the things of God. Because of our sin nature, we reject God. We choose the things of God, only because he chose us first. When we are born again, we have a new ability, and we move from being God’s enemies, to being His friends.
    It is much like my cat analogy I previously gave. God makes the overtures to whom He chooses, and we respond. We can choose as a deliberate act of our wills, to seek the things of God. If God is acting in us, then that won’t merely be an act of our own volition, it will be a response to Him, and we will discover that He has chosen us, when we seek Him diligently, we will desire to know Him. Are we going to come to the one who reached out to us, or are we going to be feral humans?
    I think it was Augustine who wrote something like:
    “I had thought that I had chosen God but later I realized than He chose me to choose Him!”
    One thing for certain, John did quote Jesus as saying:
    You did not chose Me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and you should bear fruit, and your fruit should remain, so that whatever you might ask the Father in My name, He may give you.
    No matter what you believe about free will, choice, sequences of events, etc., God did say in Jeremiah 29:13:
    “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
     
    So I ask: “ Is that what we are doing? ”
  9. Omegaman 3.0
    The topic was created in the Worthy Christian Forums, in a thread proposing the the soul is not immortal. People have varying opinions about that, and I decided to add some balance, and offer some food for though, this is what I wrote:
         I would like to think that sinners do not suffer ECT (Eternal Conscious Torment). That was what I believed when I was an Atheist, and I was quite comfortable with that. Going to sleep and never waking up was fine.
         When I became a Christian, things were different, but I an glad to say that I was not motivated to confess Christ, because of a fear of Hell, but I imagine that perhaps, some people do. I think that is weird thinking, as coming to Christ with a gun pointed at you head, is too much like Islam or the Spanish Inquisition. Wanting to conform to God's will out of love and appreciation seems much better, but I can understand also that some do not appreciate what they have been given. Some see their lives as an endless stream of misery, but I have never been in their shoes.
         On one hand, I want to believe that God is so loving and merciful that He would not allow people created in His image, to endure suffering like that. It strikes my flesh that an eternity of suffering for a mere lifetime is unjust. It is easy to think that way. However, who am I to judge God? He created everything and the creation is His to do with whatever He pleases. He defines what is good and what is evil, I do not. He know what mercy and love are, and judgement, and grace, and all other truths that are beyond my ability to understand as He does.
         IF God chooses to allow suffering for eternity, it is HIS call, not mine. Whatever God does is good by virtue of His very nature, whatever I think of it and whether I like it or not. There are many Christians who do not accept the concept of ETC, some of them are conservative theologians of great learning and repute, John Stott comes to mind. I am hardly in a position, to say that I am more educated, knowledgeable, wiser, smarter, or Spirit led than they are. It would be very prideful for me to say they are wrong, even if in my studied opinion I think they are erring.
         Some people are not emotionally able to accept the concept of eternal Hell for people. Some people cannot accept that their pet may not be in Heaven with them. Some people cannot bear the idea that their mom or dad, husband or wife, brother or sister, or son or daughter will suffer eternally. Some people cannot believe that a loving God can even allow sickness or other misery on Earth, and some people even go so far as to think that God only wants health and prosperity, but all of those are another topic.
         I would opine, that one does not need to accept the concept of ETC to be saved, it is peripheral in that respect but it is not unimportant, otherwise I do not think that Jesus would have had so much to say about Hell. Many things He said, do not sound as though there is no eternal suffering. Because of that and other things in the Bible, I tend to believe in ETC, but I am willing to change my mind if scriptural evidence convinces me otherwise.
         One of the things that helps me to accept what I do not like, is the comfort that God knows what He is doing, and it is always just no matter how I see it. While it seems disproportionate to me that a lifetime crime deserves eternal punishment, I also ponder that nature of the crime. We know that sin separates us from God. That is what death is I think, separation. "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
         Did Adam die on that day, or not? I say yes, he did. That day he was separated from God by his sin, again, I think death equals separation. Physical death is the separation of life from the body. Spiritual death, is separation of your spirit from God, and so all sinners are spiritually dead by nature. The Bible in many, many places, refers to the unregenerate person, as dead. Apart from and act of God to restore our relationship with Him, we remain dead.
         On the other hand, the gift of God is eternal life, and that manifests itself after we die as an eternal relationship with Him - no more separation. I think that is a major part of the mystery. There are two "places" eternally. One is with God, one is without God. With God, is everything good. To be eternally separated from God, is to be eternally separated from everything good.
         Now, what would "life" be like, is there was not one good thing in it. Miserable, right? Some unbelievers mock the concept of eternal Hell with the notion that they will be partying in Hell with their friends. Maybe so, but if one likes a party this nasty tasting food and drink, music that sounds bad and hurts the ears, those sorts of things, yeah maybe, but it will be a pity party of people kicking themselves for having been so willfully ignorant and unbelieving.
         Now, the other possibility, is that the unbelieving will just be annihilated, permanently unconscious, just like most people assume that lifeless corpses are. That is almost pleasant by comparison to the other state. Like I said - endless sleep does not sound so bad, we find that easier to accept.
        That all being said, I do think there is a way to understand the severity of the ECT, if we consider the severity of the sin. I know that sin is sin, to God it seems to be more black and white, binary, not analog. One is either perfect, or one is not. it is not black, grey, and white, it is either white, or not white. However, from my human perspective, and maybe that of others reading this, we see degrees of sin. We see defrauding an old lady of her life's savings, and worse that stealing a paper clip from our work place. We see breaking the speed limit by one mile an hour as less of a crime that driving though a school zone drunk. We see cruelly torturing an ant, as less of a problem that torturing our aunt.
         If God ever acts like that on the eternal judgment court and sentence (and I am not saying that He does), then I can see how eternal torment is understandable for temporary sin. How? Just as the the ant and aunt example, we place a value that is not related to the time spent torturing, we place a value on the importance of the victim, the intrinsic value.
         Sinning against God, because of His infinite value and absolute right to deserve love and obedience, makes the appropriate penalty also infinite. Again some can accept that, some will not.
    Now we know about the passages about how their worm dieth not, gnashing of teeth, eternal darkness, etc. Certainly those are things to be avoided, no matter what they mean. In Rev 20, we see the following language:
    “and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
    There for certain, we see that it is not a party, not merely unpleasant, but TORMENT! We also observe that it is not temporary, it is 24/7 FOREVER! Now Rev 20 also says:
    “And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
    It is not clear there that the unbeliever is to be tormented eternally, but it is clear that they will at least suffer the same end of being tossed into the lake of fire. It is also not clear there, that the unbeliever escape the torment. I think it is also feasible, that God might have different degrees of discomfort, as the Bible seems to indicate that there are different rewards, according to one's works on earth. Why take chances with wishful thinking. Whether or not the dread of this outcome will motive the unbeliever, it should motivate Christians to obey the great commission, and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey Jesus!
  10. Omegaman 3.0
    I was just responding to a post in the forums, about getting jobs done, now that the Covid 19 pandemic has led to lockdowns. Some of the thoughs in that post, I though would make an o.k. blog entry, so here they are:
    I have not really had much of a change in getting more jobs done, because other than church related functions (attendance, Bible studies, fellowship) I hardly ever left the home anyway, so the "lockdown" has not been that big of a deal.
    While missing my church life type functions has freed some time, I tend to use that time for similar purposes, writing, Bible study and the like.
    I have noticed two axioms that describe my life, they always have, and they are very similar.
    Junk accrues to fit the space available Tasks accrue to fit the time available. There are other factors that affect these realities. For example, suppose there is a project to do. Usually projects take tw major things: time and money! Time and money have this interesting but inverse relationship, wherein whenever you have more of one, there is usually less of the other.
    Another factor that sometimes fits in, is as the older I get, the more available these thing potentially are within limitations. There are natural explanations why this is so. For example, in my younger life, I had fewer skills and less knowledge, so naturally, that reduced my earning potential. Later, that was improving, but then I had a wife and 5 kids, which took depleted most of that money. Eventually though, the kinds moved out, the wife died, and all of these drains on finances went away. Financial freedom at last! Well, not quite.
    I am no longer earning money, retired now, and living on limited income. So I am mostly back where I always have been. With most of my family gone though, my expenses are down, and time available is up. While not an excess, still that must be an improvement, right?
    Well along with advancing years, health degrades! I no longer have the strength and energy to work as hard as I would like. One the plus side, this give me some excuse so that I do not have to feel so guilty about my laziness and procrastination.
    All and all though, I realize that there are blessings here. I find that I can focus less on things, and more on people, and my relationship with God. I realized just today, something interesting. I am glad that God does not require of me, that is literally thank Him for everything He has blessed me with. If I were to do that, there are not enough hours available to speak of His blessings if I were to attempt to itemize them. 
    So thank you God for everything! Amen!
  11. Omegaman 3.0
    The Post-trib position in a nutshell compared with the Bible
    A short Bible study on a topic that some want to make way too complicated - Omegaman
    Post-Trib Belief What the Bible (NASB) Says

    The software here makes formatting difficult. There is an easier to read version if you prefer

    July 28th, 2014 - Omegaman 3.0  
    There will be a time of trouble Jesus called birth pangs

    You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.7“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8“But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. Followed by persecution, even to death, a time of tribulation 9“Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. There will be a sign 15“Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 

    Then the tribulation will be great, but it will be limited

    21“For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22“Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. After the tribulation, Jesus will come visibly in the sky 29“But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30“And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. He then will send angels to gather His elect 31“And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. In Jesus time, only the Father knew the exact time of Jesus visible return 36“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. But it will be like the days of Noah, when calamity overtook the surprised unbelievers 37“For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38“For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Believers should also be ready for His return, though they do not know the exact time. 42“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 44“For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

    The Bible, to prevent deception. tells us the order of the events:

    3As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
    4And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you."

    Every verse listed so far, was from the 24th Chapter of the book of Matthew. You have just read them yourself, exactly as they are in the bible, and in the same order, so you can see for yourself, what Jesus said about these things.As you can see, He did not use figurative or symbolic language, he was very clear, and used lots of words which indicat time sequences, words like "then" and "at that time". There is no need to spin Jesus' words or make unwarranted assumptions, as many are tempted to do.
    Let's look at some more info from the apostles Paul and from John 

    There will be a time when Jesus catches up (raptures) His church.

    From 1 Thess chapter 4

    Notice again the sequence: The Lord descends from Heaven, a shout, and angel, a trumpet, and those who have died in Christ rise, Then the living Christian join them in the air.

    13But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 

    Like Jesus before him, Paul also said there was a sign to look for, a sigh that would appear before our gathering to Him in the rapture. Beleivers are to look for this man, and by that will now that the 2nd coming of Jesus, is then imminent.

    2 Thess 2

    1Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 

    Jesus will come like a thief on unbelievers, but watchful Christians will know that He is about to come.

    1 Thess 5

    1Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.4But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 

    Since we know that the dead in Christ rise first, followed by the rapture (vs 16 & 17 of 1 Thess 4) of the living believers, if we only knew if that resurrection was before or after the tribulation, we could understand if the rapture was before or after the tribulation. Believers who die in the tribulation, for their testimony of Jesus, come to life in the first resurrection, to be followed by the rapture (1 Thess 4:17) rapture.

    4Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.) This is the first resurrection. 

    This has been a summary of the Post Tribulation Rapture viewpoint, also known as Historic Premillenialism, along with some scripture passages which can be said to support this understanding. There were assertions, and there were supporting verses and passages, without inserting things like an invisible, secret coming (is there even one verse that says that? If so, I have never seen it), and idea that has become popular in modern times.

    I tried to keep this faithful to scripture, I tried to make it simple and clear. Jesus and Paul warned about deceptions to come, I take those warning seriously. Paul had this to say as well:

    3For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 2 Tim 4

    I will end with this thought from the book of Acts:

    19“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 21whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.

    Some versions render that as "He must remain in heaven until the time"

    Personally, I find all these verses harmonize perfectly well with each other, and I beleive the Post-Trib rapture position, is consistant with them as well. I hope you found this helpful and informative 



    (Reply to a question - question asker asked for question to be deleted - but ok to leave answer if name not mentioned)

    Omegaman Jul 31 2014 10:23 PM Your reply touches on something that is always an issue, the idea of interpretation. I have no idea if I am right or I am wrong, I believe I am right of course, otherwise I would change my view, lol.
    However, where I think my understanding and belief is different from many, is that I try not to interpret at all, I just read, and try to understand. If you read my post, and I assume you did, you will have noticed that I did two things - I stated aspects of the doctrine which I accept, and then I stated the scripture that appears to support those points. 
    You will have noticed that what I did not do was things like:
    "You see where it says 'elect', that is the Jews!" or:
    "See where it says the restrainer?" - that is the Holy Spirit:
    Those sorts of things, are interpretations, I just pointed out scripture and let it speak for itself.
    The things that are usually used to demonstrate a pre-tribulation rapture, are interpretations at best, usually they are arguments from silence, or assumed inferences not warranted by the text.
    For example, all of the ways people try to see a sudden, secret, any moment visit by Jesus, well, it is just odd, since the text never says any such thing. While I know people do not intend harm, it strikes me as dishonest to treat scripture so carelessly.
    Of course, I just stepped on millions of toes with that statement, but it frustrates me that people cannot see the difference between their assumptions and what the Bible actually says, and does not say.
    In my post I didn't even mention all the evidences that demonstrate the errors of pre-trib assumptions, I just tried to give positive evidence for a post trib position, and I did not have to assume or twist anything to do that - just posted scripture. I could still be in error for my understanding, but I do not think my understanding is unreasonable, and I expect that many others might notice that. My main point in my reply, that I would like you to take away, is that stating scripture, is not an interpretation, it is just stating scripture. I pointed out how, those scriptures might represent what I have come to believe. If the difference is not obvious, then I just wasted my time, but it will not be the first time I have done that.
    Thanks for taking the time to read my post and respond.
       
  12. Omegaman 3.0
    I was responding to  person with whom I was having a dialogue in a private message here, and I realized that in my typical, long winded fashion, that maybe it should be the subject of one of my blog posts, so here it goes.
    If I understood what the person was saying, it could be summarized like this:
    A person is saved by grace, through faith, and that subsequent to that, they can be lost, if they sinned and failed to confess and repent.
    What I am saying In contrst) is that a person is saved and as a result of the change in their nature which God gives they will not continue to sin (as a lifestyle, not meaning that they will never once sin again) and that when believers (BACs - born again Christians) do sin, it IS their practice to confess and repent. That characterizes their life until they finally go to be with the Lord.
    I am not of the mind that the Lord takes a minute inventory of a believer's sins and then looks at that checklist and says: "Nope, I see Omegaman had a grumbling thought as he was breathing his last which he did not confess and repent of, so, off to Hell he goes).
    What I see in the Bible, is that Jesus paid the price for ALL sin However that that price is not effective, except to those who believe and have that new nature. Since it IS effective for true believers (which are recognized by their fruit), the price was paid, and there is nothing that a believer can do, to forfeit the gift of grace. No sin is big enough to undo the work of God. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
    I am clean, I am righteous and pure, not because I did anything, but because Jesus as the perfect and infinitely valuable payment covers more sin than the world is even capable of committing.
    I like the passages:
    12“FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES,
                AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE.”
    13When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.
    and
     8The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
                Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
          9He will not always strive with us,
                Nor will He keep His anger forever.
          10He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
                Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
          11For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
                So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
          12As far as the east is from the west,
                So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
          13Just as a father has compassion on his children,
                So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
          14For He Himself knows our frame;
                He is mindful that we are but dust.
    This stuff is even found in the old testament in the time of law. They are not less true, in the time of grace, but that sort of grace is specifically limited to those He has given it to,(disciples of Jesus) by faith. It is not a one time thing, it is a promise for and of eternity. God does not take back what He has given, otherwise He lies when he said:
    26 “But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 “I and the Father are one.”
    God never lies, so that passage is true. If you can lose salvation, then that gift was not eternal life, it is only the potential to acquire eternal life IF! There is no 'if" in that passage.
    I think I am His sheep. If I am, then I am saved eternally! I am not able to undo God's grace! There is no sin we can imagine, that is greater than His love.
    Some would say, and do say, that "no one can snatch us from His hand, but we can choose to walk away"!
    Really? Do those people bother to notice that the text does not say that? What is does say is that no one can snatch the believer away. Certainly that applies to everyone we know, and even Satan is not more powerful than God, so cannot snatch the believer away either! I believe that the text says "no one" and it means no one. I am a "one" so even I cannot take myself out of salvation, because God is also greater than I am.
    Some might say, that God does not force Himself on us, that He gives us free will! Let's suppose for a moment, that that is true. If that is true, then I came to God of my own free will, in spite of the fact, that the Bible says I was chosen in the beginning, before the foundation of the world, before I had any say in the matter whatsoever.
    Suppose the Bible is wrong, and it was my free will that got me into Gods grace. If that is the case, then what did I do? I chose to enter in to a covenant, an eternal contract with the creator of the universe! Do we really think we can walk away from that, just opt out, because we want to? I really doubt it. 
    A contract is a legal thing, that we cannot just opt out of. In a human court, with human laws, you can do that, IF you win your case. Here though, we are in God's court. He wrote the contract, and you can bet it is perfect, no flaws, it will hold up! We agreed to it, willingly some suggest, that if fine. Problem is though, that God did not only write that flawless contract, He guaranteed the terms with the seal of the Holy Spirit on us. That is the guarantee that it will be fulfilled. He owns us, by virtue of the fact that He created us. If that were not the case, we were also paid for with the price of the blood of His Son, Jesus, the Christ! Finally, God is the one in charge of this case, He is the judge - there is no possible way out, unless there is someone smarter, more powerful, and more authoritative than God. That is not Satan, and it is not us, case closed, the verdict stands, that we are bound by the contract, and the other verdict is that we are pronounced, not guilty, and even if we were guilty, the fine, the sentence was also paid at the cross. This is all so iron clad, it is beyond merely settled, there are no words to really describe how finished it is.
    Ir is hard for me to understand why people even want try to find an out as a way to undo the gift of God, salvation by grace etc. The only thing that comes to mind, is that we desperately want to have a part in our salvation. We want to feel we earned it, and that we had to do something to keep it, we have so much pride, that we cannot accept that God saved us as a free gift out of His extreme love, perhaps because we know, we are not worthy.
    Consider this. Assuming I am a sinner, as the Bible says I am, and assuming that my sin, separates me from God, and the Bible says it does. Assuming that as such a person, with that sin nature, that I am not able to understand the things of God, that I am blind and deaf to them, that I have a hardened heart, and I am a slave to sin, and assuming that I am spiritually dead . . . well, studied Bible believers know these things all to be true. That puts me in a horrible, and desperate situation. Why? The Bible says that I cannot please God without faith, and that because of all those things I just listed, I cannot have faith. Romans 8:7 says:
    because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so
    We are not even able to subject ourselves to God's law! This is were the huge, insurmountable problem is, that we are sinners, separated from God eternally, because we are hopelessly guilty, and not even able to truly seek God, let alone please Him.
    So, there I am, a lost sinner, who thinks he has free will, but really does not, because my mind is by default, set on the flesh. As Paul lamented (Roman 7:24):
    Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
    All of that to set up the desperate situation of the human race! Now, back to my alleged free will, to choose to walk away from God. I did not come of my free will, though it may seem to us that this is what we do, the Bible as I just illustrated, declares us unable to respond to God's call, even when it is presented to us.
    Romans 3:10-12:
    10 as it is written,
                “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
          11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,
                THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;
          12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;
                THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD,
                THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”
    Do we get it yet? The answer to Paul's question (who will set me free?) is Jesus. When a person has trusted Jesus, believed God by faith, they are new creature, they have a new nature, they have been born again. With that new nature, their mind is changed, They desire to do God's will, they have a new understanding and a new ability to understand the things of God. They have a new ability to resist the temptation to sin.
    So there is that new person in Christ. Eyes opened, ears able to hear, not longer a slave to sin, they have a heart of flesh where there once was a heart of stone, and they have passed from spiritual death, to life in the Spirit.
    Now, mentally place yourself in that position. You have a love of God. You are grateful that you you have been forgiven, and that you will enjoy an eternity with God, only knowing good things, no more pain, heartache, sickness or death, never to have any need unmet, not any desire unfulfilled.
    Now, with that understanding, who would say:
    "Nah, never mind. I would rather have a few short years on earth, doing things only my way, living life and enduring some suffering, and then spend an eternity missing out on everything good!"
    No one would do that, it is insanity to think that anyone truly born again, now having the mind of Christ and a desire to please God, would choose Hell (whatever that means)  over Heaven. It just would not happen not even once.
    Now, not only is that the case, but there is God! He also has free will, He owns you and zealousy want you, loved you enough to die for you as Jesus. He has the power to keep you, and promises that He will.
    What part of a believer walking away, makes any sense in light of all of this. The answer is simple, it does not make sense, and it is not in keeping with all the portions of scripture I mentioned and there are many, many more. If someone were to try to bring scripture to bear to contradict these things, I have to think that they are misunderstanding them, if there is presumed contradiction.
    Now, I could had written much more, with many more verses quoted or alluded to, I chose to make this short so as not to overwhelm or overburden readers with too much information, especially when a lot of i would be redundant. I think I made some case for most of the points I offered. I did this to a large degree, so I would have a place to point people too, and they could get the gist of what I beleive and why, then we could discuss it.
    There are a lot of people on worthy, who spend a lot of time, debating this topic, and not always in the most polite, respectful, not humble terms. One camp is often referred to as OSAS, or Once Saved Always Saved. The other major camp could be referred to then as OSNAS, or Once Saved Not Always Saved. The position I am offering here is OSASIS, or Once Saved, Always Saved, If Saved. 
    Basically, it is the position that yes, if God saved you it is a permanent things, but it you not living as if you could lose out salvation, living to please and obey God, and confessing and repenting of known sins, then you have every reason to wonder, if you really are saved. Produce fruit in keeping with you repentance, work out your salvation, with fear and trembling! If you love God, you obey Him. If your are His you WANT to obey Him. When you are born again, you have the mindset and spiritual help you need to be conformed to the image of Christ. Live like the child of God you are, or worry that you might not be a child of God at all.
    Forgiveness and grace, are not a license to sin, they are a motivation and equipping to resist sin, and leve a holy life, not as a burden, but with joy and thanksgiving.
     2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself as he is pure. John 3
    Believe it, live it, love it!
  13. Omegaman 3.0
    First published on September 3rd, 2010


    Let’s try an experiment.
    Choose a number between 1 and 48.  Don’t over-think it, the number should be random, as though you drew it out of a hat.
    Write it down.
    Next, choose  some letter of the alphabet, either upper case or lower case, or choose a space instead of a letter, but make it something random, with no reason for your choice.
    Write that choice down also.
    Now, consider the following sentence:
    Even a simple life form is extremely complicated
    Now in the sentence above, count over from the left by the number you wrote down. In my case, I chose the number 7. Moving over 7 times in the sentence, I see that my number is the space between the word “a” and the word “simple”.
    Now, remove the symbol that is at the number position you chose, and insert the character or symbol you chose (the letter or space). In my case,  I chose the letter “h”.
    Applying my choices we arrive at a new sentence which reads:
    “Even ahsimple life form is extremely complicated”
    Do this exercise a few more times, using your new sentence. For example, with the number 23 and the letter N, my new sentence reads:
    “Even ahsimple life forN is extremely complicated”
    Okay, two more times  43 s   and 33 K
    “Even ahsimple life form is extreKely complscated”
    What has just happened? We took a perfectly good sentence and made a few random changes to it.
    My question is this: “Did our changes improve the function of the sentence?”
    The obvious answer is no, it did not. What is the difference between the original sentence and the modified one? One serves a purpose, the other is just a deformed mess. As you can imagine, the more random changes we make to our sentence, the less functional it becomes.
    What accounts for the differences between the first sentence and the last sentence? In the first case, the letters were chosen intentionally, with a purpose in mind, to convey information. In the last sentence, we see how that purpose is destroyed by chance changes, mutations.  This is the difference between intelligent design, and random changes.
    Someone might argue, that given enough mutations, this sentence might again become functional. It has been said let a million monkeys type on a million typewriters for a million years, and you will get Shakespeare. Personally, I seriously doubt that. However, let’s assume that is true.
    “To be or not to be, that is the question”
    Here is the problem. Let the monkeys keep typing and you will soon have:
    “fodfe ob soteto be phat iq tre wsdstoon.”
    What chance creates, chance also destroys. Millions of years of monkey typing, will be eradicated in a few moments.
    Any child can see that chance mutations cannot bring about sophisticated order, it takes a brilliant scientist, to come up with a story that that attempts to explain away, what we know intuitively.
    Now, while this poses a problem for any honest atheist, it is a tiny problem compared with another problem.
    In the first example (Even a simple life form is extremely complicated), we took an already formed and functional sentence and mutated it into extinction.
    But what are the chances of this sentence coming into existence in the first place by random, non intelligent processes.
    I had 26 lowercase letters as 26 upper case letters to choose from to make that sentence, plus the spaces, for a total 53 possible symbols.
    There are 48 ‘slots’ taken up by the the letters and spaces in that sentence. To arrive at the total number of possible combinations we would take the  number of symbols (in our example 53) and multiply it times itself 48 times.
    The number of possible combinations of letters in those 48 places is then:
    5.82427 X 10^82, or to put it another way, there are:
    5,824,273,234,102,671,721,638,474,597,358,900,000,
    000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
    000,000,000,000 possible combinations.
    Astro-physicists tell us, that there are about 10^80 atoms in the universe.
    The number in bold is over 582 times larger that the second number, the number of atoms in the known universe.
    To grasp the scope of this, imagine taking an atom,and writing a check mark on it. Next, take the atoms contained in 582 universes, and put them in a very big bowl, and toss our checked atom into the  bowl. Stir them up very well.  Now, with a blindfold on, reach into the bowl and draw out a single atom.
    The chances of random letters falling into the 48 positions and forming the sentence, are the same as drawing out that one specific atom from 582 universes. Good luck with that.
    So, how do these numbers relate to life arising. All life that we know of, contains DNA molecules. The DNA molecules, are the blueprints, the instructions that govern the nature of life forms. DNA is a language, a code, a form of information, just like our sentence is.

    There is  big difference though. The simplest micro-organism that we know of, is Nanoarchaeum. It has 10^200,000 possible combinations in it’s DNA code.
    I would do the math and show you how big a number that is, except for two problems, my calculator cannot perform calculations with numbers that large, and you do not have enough time to read the number if I could put it here.
    (if you want to see an interesting depiction of the way DNA ‘works’, you will have a better understanding of yet another aspect of this, that is just hard to explain away apart from an intelligent designer. Note: youtube is known for having videos of every sort, some which you may not want to see (use your own judgement):
    http://youtu.be/OjPcT1uUZiE
     
    Remember how I said that the first problem the random-chance theorist has to deal with was small, compared to the problem I just finish outlining?
    Well, they have a bigger problem yet. Again, I will use the analogy of a sentence. A sentence is composed of words, and the words are composed of letters. What if there were no letters to choose from, what if there was no ink to write the letters with, or air to transmit the sounds of the words and letters. Without materials, we cannot communicate. So where do the letters come from? Where do the words come from. Where do the ideas to have letters and words come from, and where to the ideas come from that we communicate with the words and letters? The answer to all of those questions is that they come from intelligence, they are designed by a mind.
    In a similar way, in order for  DNA to be sequenced in a life form, there has to be a programmer and builder of the environment and the materials for life, is this really too complicated for those who do not believe in a creator to grasp? Of course it is not, but they have too much faith in the religion of nature and chance mutation driven evolution, to be rational. I understand that, for I used to be one of them.
    I think the problem is obvious. One can believe in evolution or not. One can believe it is intelligently set in motion, or was just some cosmic accident.
    A Christian (or other person of faith) can believe in evolution, as a instrument of God’s hand in creation. It is not the simplest explanation of what Genesis chapters 1 and 2 are about, but there are those who for their own reasons, believe that these chapters are more poetic, than literal, a metaphor of the actual events, only intended to identify the fact of a Creator, and introduce us to Him, and His claim on (and plan for) our lives. The Christian believing this way, can still have a saving relationship with his/her savior.
    In the same way, a person who is sold on the idea of a naturalistic explanation of existence, can still believe in a God, whose hand is seen in the creation, without having to acknowledge any specific tenants of any given religion. This is possible because the examination of things outside of and existing prior to the universe, are outside of the investigation of science. That being the case, science can never affirm God. Neither can science refute God. Science is silent and therefore neutral on the topic.
    For some reason, many scientists and those influenced by them, seem intimidated by the idea that it was God who did it. Is there some rational reason for this? If there is, I have never heard it, and I cannot think of one.
    The mathematical science of statistical analysis and probability estimation, leads one to conclude that the odds are hugely in favor of a creator. Science and statistics cannot reveal if this creator is male or female or gender-less. It cannot reveal if it is the God of the Bible, or any other god, or, several gods. We can only look at the facts that we can observe, and perhaps extrapolate some details about this creative force. The universe seems to be in a state that supports diverse life on our planet. We study all of the interactions of physics and chemistry, life and environment, and when we take it all in, we should be stunned by how complex, intricate, and functional it all is.
    We can also look at the things we have learned through science, and compare what we know to the catalog of beliefs in various religions, and weed out some of them as not worthy of consideration, they are just  too out of whack with the facts in many cases, and in other cases, these religions just lack enough support from science, history, or other disciplines to make them worthy of further consideration.
    My hope is, that one day, people who are anti-God in their philosophy, would just give it a rest, and realize that all the blustering in the world, does not make their case more likely or appealing, and we can enter into dialogue about what we actually know and can know.
    I have had the opportunity on several occasions to have conversations of just that sort on worthychat.com, and in general, it has been a rewarding experience for all parties I believe.
    This particular article has been about looking at one aspect of belief systems and certain aspects of the physical world and looking at those through the spectacles of probability.
    If hope you found this interesting,Thank you for taking the time to read it.
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  14. Omegaman 3.0
    Five Minute Theology (updated from May 8, 2015)
    I recently purchased a small book entitled "Concise Theology - A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs" by J.I. Packer. I think the book is excellent, and it is what is describes itself as. Each topic in the book is only a page, or a page and a half, so it is truly concise. The topics also cite scripture verse addresses to support the conclusions. The book is also easy to understand for most people I think, assuming that they have normal capacity for understanding, and God's grace of the Holy Spirit to enable them to understand and accept spiritual truths.
    I was calling this, "Five Minute Theology, because that is about how much time it takes to read each topic.
    Those who are not born again, might have difficulty accepting it, as they do many things of God, and of course, even believers have trouble accepting and understanding the things of God at times. If that were not true, then all believers would agree on all doctrines, and likely denominations would be far less common or important.
    Copyright issues will keep me from posting the entire book online, but I thought perhaps, some people might be interested in reading a chapter at a time, so I thought perhaps I could quote small amounts of it at a time, in the Bible Study room of the Arrow Chat or Comet Chat feature of Worthychat.
    For those who choose to participate, they will not receive a seminary level degree of instruction on Christian theology, but they will come away knowing the basics of historic Christian theology, which in my estimation, would bring them easily into the upper 5% of believers, in terms of knowing what the church has believed and accepted, as the teaching of the Bible, concerning faith and practice. This amounts to, essentially, an elaborate statement of faith.
    My idea is to paste quotes of this book, into the room, and those present may read these quotes. Then afterward, if people have questions, or want to comment or otherwise discuss what was posted, they are of course, welcomed to do so.
    Now, of course theologians and lay Christians alike, disagree over so details or peripheral theology, and that will be no different here, so there may be some debate, some disagreement on some points discussed. This is okay, that can be done as long as people are willing and able to be civil and respectful in their discussions. For those who do not care to attend this event, or do not want to participate in the discussion and or just hate debate and disagreement, the regular section of Worthychat is open for them, without be disturbed by the activities in the Bible Study room.
    My hope and goal here, is that this will prove to be both instructional, and edifying, and that the discussion of these topics, will add a dimension of depth for our chatters, that is too often absent at times.
    We had the first chat session in July of 2015. I cannot commit to the frequency of these events, but I hope to make them a regular feature. This is still a bit of an experiment. Our chatters come from every time zone, and some have schedules which will keep them from participating no matter what time is chosen.
    This is a problem for which I know no solution. Possibly, it can be reduced by doing this at more that one day of the week, or hour of the day, we'll have to see.
    There are 94 topics, so as you can see, if we did this once a week, this would take about one year and 9 and a half months to finish. That is a big commitment for those who would want to attend, and for the one leading.
    Of course, chatters do not have to commit to attendance, but I do not think there is a chatter who would not benefit from attending.
    Of course, if you are interested, you can always just purchase and read read the book , but my thinking is, that we would or could benefit, from the discussion of the topics. Perhaps, we could even do more than one topic per week, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts and suggestions - about if you would be interested in participation, and best of good times to do this, etc.
    I am going to disable comments on this post here in my "Thoughts and Rants Blog" - I put this here for the exposure. If you want to comment, I suggest that you do so in the Worthychat section of the forum.
    You can see more of my blog entries here.
  15. Omegaman 3.0
    I am a poor steward of my body at times, probably most of the time. One of the ways in which this is true, is that I tend to avoid sleep. It is not something that I plan to do, I just often have too many things that I want to do. I usually plan to go to bed a little past midnight, especially on Saturday night, since I have church in the morning.
    Last night (Saturday – well early Sunday really) was no exception. However, I have done this several days in a row, and the lack of sleep is catching up with me. My alarm was set to go off at 7:20 A.M. with my intention of getting the things I need to get done, so that I may leave the house by 8:20 at the latest.
    I do not drive, so I walk about 8 tenths of a mile to catch a bus which takes me to my church. My alarm went off, and I could really feel how tired I was, so I hit the snooze button in order to grab a few more minutes sleep. That part went as planned. When the alarm went off the second time, I was tempted to hit the snooze again, but knowing that I had things to get done, I heroically decided it was time to just get up, so I turned the alarm off.
    The next thing I remember, after closing my eyes for a minute, was waking up on my own (or maybe God woke me up, lol), and I looked to discover, that it was now 8:4o. 8:40 Is the time my bus leaves the bus stop. There was no way I could catch the bus now, and the next one would not be for another hour, oh well!
    As I said, I do not drive, my next best course of action  (at least to my mind) was to walk. Now, I was not going to walk all the way to church, but I figured that I could walk to the street where the bus runs, and hitchhike there, since it is a pretty busy street.
    That (the busy street) is part of the reason I would go there,  for there are other equally short ways to walk to church, but I was going to hitchhike. I am 67 years old, have congestive heart failure, and have just recently shaken off my pneumonia, which I had for almost 2 years. Needless to say that although I am breathing better, I am not really in good enough shape, that I should walk 3.5 miles to church, not to mention how long that would take. The other part of the reason to walk that particular, might have been a plan not of my making, that will unfold in this post.
    Okay, so that is the basic background to this story. Now, I think perhaps I should mention, that seeing hitchhikers here, is not common, in fact I do not think I have ever seen a hitchhiker here in the almost 10 years I have lived here.  However, I am going to point out that during that time, I think that I have hitchhiked myself, perhaps 10 or a dozen times. When I do, I always ask God to provide a lift, after all, I am not an idiot, what could it hurt?
    In those times, I have always (and I mean no exceptions) gotten a ride. One time in particular, a couple had passed me and went about half a mile before (as they said) they felt moved to turn back and pick me up.  As that one turned out, they were going to the very intersection that I was heading to.
    I do not want to judge anyone, but on two occasions, when I had to hitchhike to church, I was picked up by a Buddhist. I could not help but wonder, how many Christians had driven right past me. It was Sunday after all! Now I understand that people have fears, some rational some less so, so they can be excused, I totally get it! Still the Bible says “do not fear” of “fear not”, 365 times as I recall.  Therefore it is difficult for me to not wonder how many of us either do not read the Bible, or do not take it seriously. Well, I have decided, that when I am driving again, I plan not to bypass hitchhikers, but that is easy, since I said I do not see them here anyway.
    So, going beyond that then, I ask God: “Bring me people, make me aware of people whom I may help, in all sorts of other ways. Let me be the kind of person who when a person asks of me, I will do even more than they ask.
    "Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two." and  "Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you"  Matt 5
    Well,  I did not come here to write a sermon, but it never hurts to remind people of things in the Bible, so back to my story:
    I could list the other times where people picked me up hitchhiking, but I would like to instead mention, that I live in the Mojave Desert of California.  It easily exceeds 100 degrees here in the summer.  Two times I have been walking in the desert heat under those conditions (some have accused me for being wise, but they do not know of these events).  One these occasions, and this has only happened under these conditions,  I have had people come and offer me a ride. I was not asking, not hitchhiking, I do not think I was even looking forlorn! One of these times,  a person went past me about a block, and turned back and asked if I needed a ride. I thought that was fairly remarkable, he drove me right to my house.   The other time, I had an almost identical thing happen, except this guy only turned around about a few hundred feet, to come and ask me that. This one was extraordinary, in that it was in a residential neighborhood. Who offers rides to stingers who are not asking for one, in a residential zone, why would one thing a person had far to go anyway? Truthfully, I was a little bit lost. I would have found my way, but I was not quite sure of where I was relative to my destination. I think that day, I might have been close to a sun stroke.
    So back to the story, the one where I was hitchhiking, or planning to hitchhike, the 3.5 miles to church. Remember that story? I walked to that busy road, and stuck my thumb out. One time in the past, I had thought that of all these people driving past, a certain number of the must be Christians, and that not helping me was similar to the story where some did not help Jesus (Matt 25:45 "Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.') So, with that thought in my mind, I decided that I would pray for those who passed me by, for their forgiveness).
    As I did that, I had just done something that I had never done previously. Today, I decided also to do something that I had not done previously while hitchhiking. I elected to pray for the person, who was going to pick me up this morning.  This will mean something (perhaps) in a later part of the story. I had not gone too far when a 4 door pickup truck pulled over and stopped past me, perhaps 200 feet away. I ran as fast as I could to get to it, but at my age and in my shape, that is not very fast. The driver was a woman, and she told me to get in and motioned toward the back seat, so that is what I did. Once inside and on our way, she said: “I am a Lyft driver, but I am giving you this ride on the house. The "on the house" thing was good, since she would have been disappointed to know that I only had 75 cents on my person (one way bus fare for seniors).
    She asked me where I was going, and I told her the names of the streets - the specific intersection. She was not familiar with where those were,  but I could guide her. I told her that the first street was the second signal ahead.  That may sound close to some of you, but FYI, it is a mile between signals here. I thought I was pretty clear, but as we approached the first street of the two I mentions, where the turn would be to the second street, she was not moving over to get into the turn lane. I tried to communicate with here about that, but she was not understanding!
    I do not know why, but it took another mile and a quarter to get her to understand. Then she wanted to go to the next major intersection,  which was about another mile to a particular highway which heads back (more or less in the same direction), because these two streets meet at an angle. Now we were heading back west again, to the first street that I had wanted to turn on. This time we would be turning south, instead of north to get to that second street, the intersection closest to my church.
    So then finally headed in the correct direction she gets a message on her Lyft app on her cell phone. Someone needed a ride, and needs to be picked up on the block where my church is, only about 300 feet from church as it turned out. Gee, isn't that a coincidence, how ‘lucky’ for me that someone  needed to be picked up, by a Lyft driver, 300 feet from the church that I was trying to get to, riding with a lift driver that I did not arrange for. Anyway,  feeling like I might even get to church now, she asked me: “Where are you going, anyway?” I told her that I was going to church. “She said, ah, that is nice, will you pray for me?” I said, sure, I could do that, but I already have, before I even saw you, I was praying for the one, who would pick me up!
    She dropped me off, right at the door, and we said our goodbyes.  That is where this story ends, or at least this chapter, I may never know if there are other chapters.
    Now, I am not going to tell you that God arranged all of this, and I am not going to say that He did not. I certainly do not know. The skeptics, will see a set of coincidences, others might  see orchestration.  You can be persuaded in your own mind, all I know is that it worked out well for me, and I am thankful. Feel free to offer a prayer for Elisabeth, the kind woman who gave me the ride to church. Oh, by the way, she told me that she never picks up hitchhikers, and she really REALLY would not consider giving a ride to a strange man under such conditions. I told her, I was not really surprised that she did.
  16. Omegaman 3.0
    Someone who read this list elsewhere, suggested that I post this in my blog, so here it is:
    Things some people say (which the Bible DOES NOT) about the End Times   Notice, that this list, does not establish any end times theory, it tries to prove nothing. It does not even attack a theory, or attempt to refute one.    What it does attempt to do, is to get people to ask themselves, why they believe certain things, that the Bible never says.   So basically, in between the lines I am asking:    If we believe certain things that are not stated in the scripture, and claim that we believe them because that is what scripture teaches, aren't we in principle adding to the words of scripture?   Furthermore, if we teach these things as though they are true, does that make us false teachers?   So, what things do I claim the Bible does not teach?  Following is a short list:   1. It does not say there will be a Rapture of the Church, which occurs before the Great Tribulation.   2. It does not refer to a 7 year period as the Great Tribulation. (See Matt 24:21 & Rev 7:14)   3. It does not say that the Holy Spirit is missing from the Earth at any time during the Great Tribulation.   4. It does not refer to the Great Tribulation, as the wrath of God.   5. It does not say that Jesus will return secretly or invisibly to take His Church.   6. It does not say that no man will ever know the time (the day or hour) of His coming.   7. It does not say that Jesus can return at any moment.   8. It does not say that Jesus will return like a thief in the night for His church.   9. It does not say that believers will not be in the great tribulation, or skip suffering and persecution, or even death.   10. The Bible does not say the Rapture is the Blessed Hope. (Titus 2:13) 

    11. The Bible does not say that Jesus will return as a thief in the night, in any context that necessitates a pre-tribulation return.   12. It is often said: The Rapture is Jesus coming for His church, the Second Coming is Jesus coming with His church. Those definitions may be workable, however the Bible does not say there is a multi-year interval between those events.   13. The Bible does not say, that there are 144,000 evangelists or witnesses, during the tribulation.
  17. Omegaman 3.0
    I just woke up from a dream. You might be tempted to think this is a literary device, but I assure you that this is a true story, the dream was real.
    I dream a lot, perhaps we all do, but what makes the difference, is whether we remember the dream. Most of my dreams either involve things related to my real life, such as people I know, places I have been, or things which have happened. My next most common kind of dreams is usually some unfolding of events. They are more movie-like, having scenes, and involve the senses, primarily sight and sounds. Those dreams are usually in color, but they are not in stereo, nor is the sound even high fidelity.  This second category of dreams has a plot, a story, but it is often very weird. They are often emotional, sometimes profoundly sad, or very scary, but I do not consider them to be nightmares, though I sometimes have nightmares also.
    The dream I am about to attempt to describe, is not like ones I have mentioned above, in fact, I am not sure I have ever had a dream like this one. There were no people in this dream; at least there were none in the regular sense of that word. No visual content, no sounds. It almost seemed conversational, except I do not recall it having any dialogue. The dream was more of an awareness of ideas, though I cannot say with any certainty, whose ideas they were. I can say though that the ideas where not ones I had ever had before, and that the ideas came to my awareness not all at once, they sort of unraveled, developed over a short space of time.
    I mentioned that it seemed conversational, yet without a dialogue, there was no back and forth it was just "forth". I want to say that it was almost as if, I was allowed to 'listen in", on the thoughts of another. I have spent a lot of words, attempting to bring you into the experience of this dream, and I am not sure why I am. What i want to share is the content, more than the experience, but before I do (momentarily) let me tell you what I am NOT saying.
    I am not saying that this dream was from God. I do not know where it is from, it could be from my imagination, my subconscious, or wherever it is that thoughts and dreams come from. Do I wish it was from God? Sure, a little, but I would be very hesitant to ever make or even think such a thing. I am not one who considers himself to be sensitive to hearing or understanding ideas from God. Maybe that is a shortcoming of mine that I do not readily allow for the idea that I am hearing from God. It seems presumptuous for me personally.
    On the one hand, I do not want to give God credit - not because He doesn't deserve credit where credit is due, it is just because I worry about diminishing God's greatness, by claiming what might be the thoughts of a mere man actually came from an almighty God. Let me put this another way, by putting you in an imaginary situation, with which you may be able to identify.
    Suppose you were to sit down in a church and the preacher took up his place in the pulpit and said: “Today I would like to share with you, a message that was given to me, by God Himself.” You listen attentively, but and you hear nothing profound, nothing that spoke to you personally, and nothing that you have not heard before nor thought before. If fact, you leave the church, thinking that you could have found dozens of ways to have better spent you time. Might you be tempted to think: “Wow that sermon did not seem that inspired by God, I have read more profound things on a fortune cookie!”?
    If you can identify with that scenario, then you have an inkling of why I hesitate to give credit to God.
    Now finally, onto the substance of my dream.
    My dream was a sort of consideration of music. In this case it happened to be classical music, but for the purposes of what I took away from the dream, it could have been most any music, or other forms of music, even many things other than music.
    I was thinking of how wonderful, how rich, how beautiful to the senses this music was. Then my thoughts became about what it took for that music to come to exist. Someone, had to compose the music, layer upon layer, to get it all to work together as the masterpiece it is. While the composition of the work, is a marvelous feat of its' own, it is not yet much more than a concept in the mind of the composer. To translate the concept into reality, there are those skilled in playing cellos, violins, coronets, drums, flutes, oboes, and the like. There are hundreds of instruments. Each instrument is the result of the craftsmanship of the instrument maker. Each instrument maker, in turn, relied on the considerable knowledge and skills of those who made and forged the alloys of metal in the horns, the selection and handling of the woods, the fabrication of strings and reeds, you get the idea. Then, there are the musicians. They study and practice for years, most of their lifetimes in order to bring the sounds symbolized on their sheet music and transform those into the vibrations that are carried through the air to our ears. Even the acoustical environment that is the music hall, is the result or architecture, and building, the physics of acoustics. It is as much a part of the music itself, as all the rest is, and also took a tremendous amount of skill and effort to finish. The conductor - his or her job is to get all the musicians working together, without the conductor, each musician will only contribute to a cacophony, not an aural masterpiece.
    Again, you get the idea. Getting this music all put together and functional, is a huge undertaking. The content of all of these things, took much less time to dream (I suppose) than it did to write out. Now, with all of that said, it is time to go to that part of the dream that meant something to me, and perhaps might mean something  to someone who reads this. All of those details (though I admit I have not really thought about) were not the point or the centerpiece of the thoughts.
    What I came to understand (you may decide for yourself if this is even true) is that the outcome of creating that masterpiece of music, is not the most important part. Yes, it is the result off all that effort, which we enjoy as music; we tend to enjoy the outcome, normally without considering the process. The process though is the important part. The song, or what have you, is a result, but in the final analysis, it is just a thing. The process is about people, their efforts, and their motivations. The quality of the output reflects how skilled the various people were, but it does not reveal how hard or why they tried.
    My thoughts then went to how it is for God. He desires a result, but when He looks at the believer, He looks upon their motivation, their heart, what sort of love for others and for Him, did these efforts reveal.
    That is as far as my dream took me. I believe it was shortly after that that I woke up Then, I pondered this a little more, for application. Of the things that occurred to me, were things like evangelism.
    Evangelism
    It is not how many souls I was able to “win to the Lord”, the outcome, it was about my motivation, my effort to produce a quality result out of my love for God and my love for my neighbor.
    Bible study
    Is that something I do, so that I can be proud of my acquired knowledge, or do I do it for God to help those who God wants to reach, for those for whom Christ died?
    Giving
    Do I give out of some sense of duty or obligation, or do I do it to support causes that are important to God?
    Service, hospitality, and on and on, same questions.
    We all probably have similar resources. I do not mean the same quality, or the same quantity. We have the same KINDS of resources.
    We have Time, Talent, and Treasure, and they all belong rightly to God, and should be used in service to Him, and for His glory.
    Looking back to the analogy of that musical masterpiece, if that was a picture of the effort and the output of our works, it is God’s purpose for us, that we try, that we are making the effort. The outcome is in His hands. He has His role to play, and has given us the privilege of partnering with Him to make the world a better place, and to get His message to the lost.
    This reminds me of a short conversation I had with someone the other night, part of which made reference to Ephesians, chapter two, particularly this part:
     8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
     The knowledge of the fact, that God saved us by grace, not because of our works, is a common and loved (by Christians) aspect of what God has done for us. That is His part, and His part is all there is, regarding our salvation, it is not of ourselves. However, there is an “our part” as well. We were created to do the good works, which He has prepared beforehand for us to do.
     Part of that conversation which I just mentioned was about the word “workmanship” in verse 10. The Greek word for that is poema, from which we get our English word “poem”. We are His poem, His masterpiece. There is no masterpiece, without a Master. We are the outcome, the result, of His planning and work (think back to the music). We though, are not just the result, we are also the instruments which help to complete His other masterpieces (those who do not yet know, that they have been saved by grace).
     Then, in Romans 10, we have this:
     8 But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
     14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!”
     Let’s have those beautiful feet, and be instruments in the Masters hands, let’s be His poema.
  18. Omegaman 3.0
    Recently a young man asked me how one knows when one is mature enough for marriage. I responded to him, with some thoughts that went beyond his specific question. I am about to include my reply here. I should add though that some of these principles are for men and women both, and can also be considered in other aspect of life in addition to marriage.
    Also, I would like to add, that before getting married, I think it is wise (in terms of human wisdom, not Biblical revelation) for people to consider carefully the idea of being established as individuals before starting life in marriage. Finances, careers, education, and other skills in living, can go a long way to reducing the stresses that marriages can encounter. When considering marriage, good, Christian pre-marital counseling can be a very good thing.
    Try not to start off a marriage with financial problems. Learn about another before learning about them in marriage. Be aware that people often put their best foot forward during courtship, only to become lazy in marriage, revealing their true character. Be careful people, this is a life long commitment, and you do not want to make mistakes here.
    In my country (U.S.A.), it has become common practice to engage in a ritual we call dating. Unfortunately, dating often interferes with learning about one another. We have a tendency to make dating about being entertained in each other's presence. We go to a movie, or a theme park, or a restaurant, things like that. That can be enjoyable, but it typically prevents us from having meaningful communication about things we need to know about each other.
    I think it would be better, to meet with other people, more often than going out on a date. I suggest that being around people who are more experienced in life, especially people who already have long term, successful marriages. It is not the most enjoyable way to spend time perhaps, but it is a better way to learn about each other and focus on important things, than watching the latest Fast and Furious movie. Group Bible studies and prayer meetings, even getting together with others for fellowship, are better ways to get to know each other.
    Group situations are better, being together as only a man and a woman, is giving opportunity to temptation. Any time spent kissing, is time spent NOT getting to know one another, and you know once you start down a path, it is hard to turn around. Stay on the true path, do not get side-tracked.
    Anyway, what I wrote in answer to the question of know when one is mature enough for marriage, was this:
    That is an excellent question, and I am not sure that I am wise enough to provide a good answer, but I will offer some thoughts.
    First, if marriage is something you seek to do, as in something you are pursuing as a priority in your life, you may have your priorities wrong. Pleasing God, pursuing His will should be your priority.
    When I say pursuing His will, I do not mean things, like "where should I live", "where should I work or go to school" or questions like that. One can pursue God's will no matter where one lives or where one works. Paul, as an example, pursued God's will from a Roman jail. Jesus did the will of the Father by dying on the cross. Paul instructs us to expect troubles and persecution and learn to be content in our circumstances. Jesus tells us to take up our cross daily, and to count persecution as something to be joyful about and count as a blessing.
    So, I think that much of what we are called to, as Christians, has to do with our attitude, and our willingness to serve both God and others. If we pursue worldly pleasures as a priority, it will not be long before we go off track. This can be true even in subtle and harmless, even good things.
    There is nothing wrong with things like good food, or entertainment, a shiney new car, a wonderful home, the latest smart phone, or even a wife and family. However, when any of these things, distracts us from God, or cause us to split our loyalty or to seek them first over the kingdom of God, they we have allowed them to become idols. Take note that niether Jesus nor Paul ever married.
    Paul pointed out that there is a danger in being married, in that pleasing our wives, can distract us from our service to the Lord. When you think about it, the world was cursed, because one man, decided to listen to his wife over listening to God.
    Paul also tells us that it is good stay single, but if a person lacks self-control then they should marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with lust. Of course, it is better to have self control, and I suggest that since self control is part of the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit, that we really have little or no excuse to not have self control. That is part of Christian maturity.
    I think one way we know that we are ready for marriage, is when we have come to a place where (instead of looking for the right person) we are more concerned with being the right person.
    Paul gives husbands the instruction to love our wives, as Jesus loves the church, and died for her. To translate that to human action, husband to wife, we are willing to sacrifice for her, and serve her, and most of all love her.
    The problem with modern, western men, is that we have come to think of love as having warm, fuzzy, pleasurable feelings about someone. This is very distorted. Love is about serving others, sacrificing for others, seeking the well being of others.
    As much as it appeals to our flesh to live with a woman and enjoy the benefits of marriage, it is more loving to seek her well being, doing what is best for her instead of cooperating with her in fulfilling mutual pleasure.
    I believe grounded Christian women, and grounded Christian men, recognize that men have been assigned the role of being the spiritual leader of the couple. That is not something that we hold over our spouse, as some sort of boss or authority, it about being wise, caring, and wanting the best for her, and nurturing her relationship with God. A functional couple is not spending all of their lives, gazing into each others eyes, it is looking outward (and upward), in the same direction.
    I think also, that we not only need to seek being the right person for our spouse, we should seek a spouse that is right for us. They do not need to be perfect, and certainly things like appearance are extremely low on the priority list. People who are of good character, who both love the Lord first over all, are great candidates for each other. That can take a lot of patience, but to settle for too little, will lead to the people in a relationship, dragging each other down when they should be pulling in the same direction.
    A couple like that can accomplish a lot for the kingdom of God, and will have a very fulfilling relationship if they can manage to maintain that focus.
    Take some time to familiarize yourself with 1 Cor, chapter 7, and 1 Cor, chapter 13. Meanwhile, I shall pray for you, and suggest that you not be to shy, to ask others to do so as well.
  19. Omegaman 3.0
    June 1st, 2014
    Is Social Security a Ponzi Scheme? I think I originally posted this as a regular post. Later, the worthy news bot published it. However, it definetly qualifies as one of my rants, so I am republishing it in my blog, Also, if you read it, and want to reply, you might want to do so in the regular part of the forum, where some have already replied. Is Social Security a Ponzi Scheme?
    Reading a lot of forum comments, I see that when Rick Perry referred to Social Security as a Ponzi Scheme, that many people took exception to that characterization.
    I will give my opinion on that topic in this thread, because I did not want to hijack another thread where this topic is incidental, not the main point. I will give my opinion on that topic in this thread, because I did not want to hijack another thread where this topic is incidental, not the main point.
    First, let me say up front that I do not think Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme, and I will give a few reason why in a moment.
    It would be helpful if we had a working definition of a Ponzi scheme, but I cannot help you there. Looking for a definition on the web, was not that helpful, as the term in general, come from a specific case of fraud perpetrated by one Charles Ponzi, but the term has grown to include many schemes that have some of the same characteristics, so the definitions can vary somewhat.
    Since we are talking about a government program, it might be best to find out what some of the characteristics of a Ponzi scheme are, from the U.S. government itself. From the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website, I learned that Ponzi schemes have the following characteristics:

    1.They involve the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors
    2.They focus on attracting new money to make promised payments to earlier-stage investors instead of engaging in any legitimate investment activity.
    3.They divert funds from the investors to other purposes, besides the generation of return on investment

    So far, we can see why Perry (and others before him) refer to S.S. as a Ponzi Scheme, because:

    Social Security involves the payment of purported returns to those “investors” who are now retired, from funds contributed by “investors” still in the workforce
    Social Security focuses on collecting new money to make promised payments to earlier-stage “investors” instead of engaging in any legitimate investment activity.
    Social Security diverts funds from the “investors” to other purposes, besides the generation of return on investment for retirees etc.

    Now, with such striking similarities, you might ask:
     “Why do you say that Social Security is NOT a Ponzi Scheme”?

    That is a good question. Let’s look at some of the differences instead of the similarities, and we will see a few reasons why.

    Does a working person have the choice to not join?
    Ponzi scheme yes, Social Security no.

    Is there an upper limit on how much you can get back?
    Social Security yes, Ponzi scheme no.

    If you are collecting your return on installment payments and you die,
    can you will your balance to your descendants?
    Ponzi scheme yes, Social Security no.

    Is there a huge, inefficient, expensive bureaucracy that guarantees the investors money is wasted on overhead, so that much of the money is not available for the investors later?
    Social Security yes, Ponzi no. (although most Ponzi schemes have dishonest operators who do siphon off funds)

    When there are too few new investors to pay the early investors, will the plan collapse?
    Ponzi yes, S.S. no, the govt. just mandates more and more money to be taken from paychecks, increases the retirement age of earlier investors, and reduces their benefits, and possibly declares a needs assessment in order to qualify for benefits.

    Does the law prosecute systems that seek to knowingly and intentionally fleece victims by taking more from them that they will get back?
    Ponzi yes, S.S. no, it is immune to this sort of prosecution.

    Does the system increase the required contribution over time?
    S.S. yes,: 2.25% of pay between 1935 and 1953 to 4.5% by 1960, 6.9% by 1970, 8.1% by 1980, and 15.3% by 1990.
    Ponzi, no, all investment is voluntary.

    So, now you can see for these reasons, that I do not consider Social Security to be a Ponzi Scheme. I feel it is an insult to the memory of Charles Ponzi, a criminal, cheat and crook, to compare the more abusive and lame-brained Social Security system, to his particular fraud.
  20. Omegaman 3.0
    The McDonalds Hot Coffee Lawsuit - What You Didn't Hear

    Published May 6th, 2008
     
    Probably at some point, you have heard of the woman who spilled hot coffee in her lap, and sued McDonald’s for millions. What you usually hear, is how this woman drove into the drive-thru at McDonald’s and bought hot coffee, that she then stuck between her legs. Because it was a Styrofoam cup with a slip on slid, the coffee spilled in her lap. Then you hear that that this lady was awarded nearly 3 million dollars because she burned her lap. Generally, most people tend to feel more sympathy for an individual, than they do for multi-billion dollar corporation. In this case some people side more with McDonald’s, reasoning that this woman doesn’t deserve much, if anything, afterall, McDonald’s did not spill the coffee, she did that herself, it was her poor judgement that led to the accident. They also think that 3 million is a ridiculous amount of money, for a coffee scald.
    Perhaps, you are one of those people. We are always hearing of frivolous lawsuits and/or excessive judgement is lawsuits. Perhaps this angers you some, because you know that these things, cost us all money. Perhaps you believe that if you were in her shoes, you would not have brought this suit, but just admitted your own fault and move on, after you stopped screaming from the pain. Those are easy positions to take, aren’t they? You may not have your facts strait however, or at least you may not have all of the facts. For example, this woman was not driving, she was a passenger in the car, and the car was not in motion. She was opening the lid to add cream and sugar, yes, the coffee was between her legs as she attempted to remove the lid. The lid was on tight enough (which is good, because you would not want the lid to come off if the cup overturned while driving) that she had to squeeze the cup with her legs to keep the cup from lifting, while she pulled the lid off, but, once the lid was off, the cup lost reinforcement, and the pressure from her legs squeezed cup out of round, and the coffee squirted up and out of the cup. In a moment, the coffee was absorbed into her sweatpants which kept the hot coffee in contact with her skin. The pain made her react instinctively and uncontrollably, spilling the rest of the coffee – you get the picture.
    Now, this doesn’t make the spill the responsibility of McDonald’s, but it does transform the incident from one of a really foolish driver with hot coffee in her lap, to a mistake and accident that anyone of us might have made.
    Now, what you also might not know, that this was not simply a painful burn. The burns she received were extensive. Six percent of her skin was third degree burns, with additional second and first degree burns. How did it get to such a large about of her body? Well, after the initial burns on her legs and groin, the coffee ran downhill to the car seat, where her buttocks were burned. Without getting too detailed, she was burned everywhere in between. She spent the next eight days in the hospital, having dead tissue removed and receiving skin grafts.
    The woman sought $20,000 from McDonald’s, but McDonald’s refused. This is when she sought relief through a lawsuit. During the discovery portion of the trial, McDonald’s produced documents which showed that there had been at least 700 claims by people burned by McDonald’s coffee, in the ten years prior to this woman’s case. This shows that McDonald’s knew that it had a problem with the temperature of it’s coffee.
    McDonald’s also provided information, to the effect that they keep their coffee on hold, at 185 degrees, plus or minus 5 degrees. This is substantially hotter that other establishments. Coffee at home, is usually served at 135 to 140 degrees. To give a perspective, most adults cannot make themselves, no matter how hard they try, hold their hand in water over 130 degree. Water at 105 degrees, is about the most people can tolerate in a hot tub, 95 to 100 still feeling quite hot. Eighty  degrees above that, is quite hot! Water at 180 degrees, can give you a third degree burn, in as little as two seconds.
    There are other facts that you may not have heard, but I will skip most of them. Remember that three million dollars? Well 2.7 million of that was punitive damages. For those of you not familiar with how are civil court system works, punitive damages are not awarded to the plaintiff, because the plaintiff deserves or needs them. The are designed to punish the defendant (McDonald’s), so that they will have an incentive, to change their behavior, and stop serving coffee that unnecessarily burns 70 people every year. This amount, at the time, was the equivalent of two days worth of coffee sales for McDonald’s.
       Damages, the amount awarded to the plaintiff as compensation, was awarded by the jury in the amount of $200,000, but it was reduced to $160,000, because the jury found that the plaintiff was 20% responsible. The punitive damages, were reduced by a judge, to $480,000, but the judge said that McDonald’s was reckless, callous, and willful. The parties entered into a secret settlement subsequently, so we do not know how much McDonald’s actually payed. I am guessing that it was less, that McDonald’s threatened to appeal the verdict and/or awards, and that the plaintiff might end up with nothing, so, a compromise was stuck. I do not know, this is just a guess. O.K. What does all of this have to do with a Christian administrator’s blog?
    I do not know if know the facts of the case that I presented about, change your opinion about it at all, that is not the point. But you can see, that someone might come to different conclusions, if they have all of the facts, or in some cases just admit that they do not know all of the facts, and suspend judgement until they do have the facts.
    We, as Christians, have a lot of insecurity usually on the topic of judgement. Some of us think think that it means that we should not criticise others. It does not mean that. If you want, you can see my thoughts on judgement as a theological topic, you may, but that is not what I am talking about. I am talking about how quick we can be, to leap to false conclusions, when we do not have the facts. Sometimes we think we have the facts, but we do not know how much more to a story there is than is apparent. Sometimes, it is none of our business to know all of the facts, and in such cases, might we want to consider suspending our opinions out of recognizing our own ignorance? We often have too much pride, to consider that we might be wrong, might not have the facts (who wants to be ignorant?).
    How do we do this? How does it manifest, where is the harm?
    We do this when we become critical of others, when they behave in a way that we do not approve of, but we may not realize, that we might have done the same thing in their position. Friendships can be damaged, congregations torn apart, or, if not torn apart, we separate into factions or cliques, where we justify why we are not like those other guys, as the do the same thing concerning us. This is not pleasing to God, we are one family, we are to love the brethren, bearing one another’s burdens, making peace, forgiving each other, as God also forgave us. Before you are tempted to reply and scold me and tell me that the Bible instructs us to judge those in church, save your breath, I understand that. Again, that is not the subject here. My topic is more about jumping to unfounded conclusions.
    Another way that we manifest this faulty type of judgement, is we sometimes blame God, when something in our life is not as we think it should be. We have no idea what is going on behind the scenes. God is the only one who knows all of the details, that lead Him to the actions He performs, or allows things in our lives, that we may not like. We do not know what greater purpose might be served by our discomfort, or how those things are shaping us into better people, perfecting us in areas that need change inour lives. Perhaps the biggest thing we forget, is that while we may approach His throne and make requests, the decisions are His, and they are always right. We were bought with a price, we belong to Him, and we have no rightful claim on our own lives. To the extent that we maintain our own sense of entitlement, we are outside of His perfect will for us. We are at our best, when we complete surrender ourselves to His will. It is not a natural thing for us to do, it is a supernatural quality. Jesus said it best:
    “Never-the-less, thy will, not my will, be done.”
    Omegaman
  21. Omegaman 3.0
    So what is all of the above about? Hopefully, you took a little time to look it over, and to consider it. Given enough time (about a minute), it should have changed a little from when you first looked at it.
    At the very top, is what appears to be a phrase, with  the letters partially obscured. Most people who look at that, I assume will make a conclusion of what the phrase says. However, since there is some obscurity, not total revelation, it is possible to assume something that is not true.
    We can do this in the Bible. When you looked at the "phrase", did you make an assumption on what was meant - what the meaning was behind the obscured letters? When you did not have "all of the picture", was your assumption correct?
    When we read, we do not just perfectly see letters, and perfectly understand. We come to sentences and make judgments, based on things we have learned it the past. It is hard for us to read scripture, without importing our pre-conceptions to it's pages. This is what I am trying to illustrate above.
    There was also the little graphic, many people perceive that there is a different shade on letter "b" than on letter "c". That image has a sort of 'context' to it. We perceive two objects, or two parts of one object, and it might appear to us, the the two objects are different, due mostly to the different background. Sometimes we might do this, for example, when comparing scripture of the Old Testament to the New Testament. Sometimes we might be right, and the nuance is different. Good exegesis, takes a lot of things into consideration. 
    Some people see the Old Testament, and see a lot of rules that need to be obeyed, and might even conclude that salvation depends on following those rules. They might look at the New Testament, and perceive that as having more tolerance, being more relaxed, less rigid, and tend to say it is the 'age of grace', where God forgives us, and the rules are not as important.
    In that picture though, when you can compare the two objects to something in common to both (the band of grey overlaid when the image changes appearance), we see that both objects are the same shade of grey.
    If we are familiar with scripture sufficiently, we can see that salvation was never earned, not even in the Old Testament. It is the same God in both testaments, and it is His grace that saves his people no matter when, where or who they are.
    Finally, there was a paragraph with a lot of "f"s in it. Were you able to correctly spot them, accurately count them? If not, why not. Many people fail to see them all, and count to the low side. They miss a few, because they do not pay enough attention to details, again, making unwarranted conclusions.
    So, my point here is "don't jump to conclusions", and try to learn disciplines that help you discover things (in the Bible) that are not always easy to see. You can read the Bible casually, and derive benefit from that, but getting the most out of it, might take a little work sometimes.
    (for a little help on exegesis, studying the Bible to get more out of it, see my topic on that!)
  22. Omegaman 3.0
    Originally published September 28th, 2008
    In as much as several of you lately, and many over the years have asked how I go about Bible Study and why I think my approach is a good one, I have decided to blog on that topic.

    First off, I do three different types of Bible studies. Expository, topical, and word studies.

    As I define the terms, an expository study is one were I select a passage, a chapter, a whole book, or some other contiguous grouping of words from the Bible, and then go verse by verse, looking at the verse, it’s context, the intended audience, the historical setting and any parallel or related passages, to gain an understanding of the grouping of words which I am examining.

    I would say that a topical study, would be an examination of a specific subject, such as abortion, the rapture, tithing, marriage, etc.

    Finally, a word study is where I begin by looking at a word in a verse or verses in English, where either I am uncertain of it’s usage, or just want to more fully understand it’s significance and nuances, Then look ate the original Greek or Hebrew word that was translated into the specific English word at the location in question. Once having identified the original language word, I then look at every occurrence of that word in the Greek or Hebrew to see the ways the word is used, and also consult works written for the purpose of original language study, such as Lexicons.

    My favorite type is the topical study, but the methods I use are based on principles that can be applied not only in these different studies, but can be applied to other historical literature as well as current literature.

    There are rules of interpretation than most conservative theologians agree upon. By and large, they look to me to be good common sense rules, so I try to stick to them. This minimizes the “that’s your interpretation” phenomenon, which is so silly. I prefer to have a good interpretation any day, than MY interpretation. Many of these rules come from traditional Jewish rules of interpretation. Now immediately, we must concede, that there are obviously limitations to these rules, or most Jews would have recognized their Messiah. The problem is, that we are human, we make mistakes, and we bring our own prejudices and preconceptions to the interpretive table. It is true for me, it is true for you also. So, sound rules are a foundation for understanding the Bible in a consistent manner, they are there to help you see past your own prejudices, but they will only work if you are willing to be consistent, and not change the rules to suit an interpretation you prefer.

    So what are some of these rules? In no particular order.

                    Always examine a verse or passage in it’s context

    This means that you look at the verses leading up to that passage, and following, so that you can see what the cubject actually is, being discussed. Ignore the chapter heading and number, these are man-made, it is up to you to determine when a subject begins and ends. Examining a passage in context, also involves not just reading and understanding the nearby verses, but also identify who is being addressed in a passage, for whom is the message intended. Sometimes it is a specific individual, some times Israel, sometimes the church, sometimes it applies universally to mankind, determine this. The historical context is also important, Understanding things about a time and place, can affect how you understand the passage. Context, is one of the most important aspects of Biblical interpretation.

    Okay, suppose we have done all that. We have arrived at what we think the verse is saying and to whom. Remember that the scriptures are divinely inspired. Therefore, they will never contradict each other. We can use that to help us check our understanding of a verse or passage in question. The next rule is:

                    Compare Scripture with Scripture

    Here, we search out other passages on the same topic. For example, let’s say we examined the ten commandments, and saw there: “Thou shalt not kill.” We have now the understanding that it is always wrong to kill. However, as we read in other places in the Bible, we find that God ordains wars, and prescribes putting people to death for certain crimes. Knowing that the God does not contradict himself, we understand that we must have a faulty understanding of “thou shalt not kill”. This brings us to another rule of interpretation.

                    Examine the Verse in the Original Language

    Time was when you had to own quite a library to follow all of these rules effectively. In modern times, there are theological libraries in the form of software, which are substantially less expensive than they would be in printed form. Additionally, many of these helps are online. Go and experiment with sites such as blueletterbible.org, biblestudytools.com, and/or biblehub.com. You will find many things to aid your understanding on those sites. In the case of thou shalt not kill, we would find that a better translation of the Hebrew would have been “You shall do no murder”.

    Another tool which is indispensable is a concordance. A concordance let’s you look up Bible verses by words that exist in English in the verse. For example, if you looked up the word “locusts”, you would discover the word occurs in 17 verses. The concordance would show you part of the verse - a partial context. This is useful if you want to find verses that have a word in common with a verse you are examining. Seeing the context, lets you see if the verse is related to the topic you are studying, or to the verse you are studying, In the Gospels for instance, the different authors some times have additional details that another Gospel writer left out. Perhaps you are wanting to find a particular verse you are thinking of, a concordance can be useful for that. This can also be done with online Bible search sites.

    The next ones are not rules, but recommendations. Read a passage in several translations. Translations are not all alike, nor equally good, and none is without error. Most are pretty good for casual reading of the scriptures, but by reading a passage in a different version, you can often uncover some nuance, that you may want to explore further.

    Additionally, it is a good idea to to read about a given passage in a commentary or two, or three. In that way, you reap the benefit of the work that someone has already put into understanding the passage you are looking at. Here again, none is without error. In fact, by reading commentaries, you may come across views you never considered. Consider them, but stick with the Bible text itself, which brings me to the next rule.

                    Let Scripture Interpret Scripture

    What do we mean by that? Sometimes a verse you may be considering, is already discussed in another passage in the Bible. Since the Bible is inspired by God, you have to accept the Bible’s explanation of itself. How would you know that a passage is commented on in another section in the Bible? My primary answer is read the Bible until you are familiar with it. I realize than not everyone will follow this advice, so there are other ways. The commentaries I spoke of, will often point such passages out. A good reference Bible, such as Thompson’s Chain Referance Bible, will show related passages - a very helpful tool.

                    When reading a passage, assume it is literal, 
                     unless there is a compelling reason not to. 

    In John 10:9 (NASB) Jesus says:
    “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”

    A literal translation of that would be to think of Jesus claiming to be a slab of wood on a hinge. There is no need to be so literal. The context of the passage will usually indicate what the author was saying. Parables and visions, similes and metaphors are frequently used in the bible. There is an excellent book on parable and metaphors, learn to spot them. Some times it may not be so obvious:

    John 11:11-15
    after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, that I may awaken him out of sleep.” 12 The disciples therefore said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. 14 Then Jesus therefore said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead",
    (NASB) 
    In the passage above, we see that even the disciples took things too literally.
    Understand the Historical Background

    This takes some digging, but it is most helpful to understand figures of speech, customs and historical circumstances surrounding a passage. Where is the author, why is he there? To whom is he writing and why? These type of things are very useful to stay aware of. For example, some passages are written directly to a person of a people, and may not apply universally. Strive to avoid interpreting through the eyes of your own experience and culture. A helpful tool for this is the book: "The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah"
    Keep with precedents

    Some people love inventing new meanings for words. Understand what the words meant when they were written from the original languages, if you are working in your own language, understand the meaning of the word when they were translated. For example, you may run across the word “quick” in the King James Version. Quick meant ‘living’ or ‘alive’ in 1611, not ‘fast’. Many modern commentators have erred by insisting that certain words mean certain things that they did not mean when written, don’t make the same mistake and don’t make the mistake of assuming that what they say is true, do your own research.

                    Use Common Logic

    This one seems like a no-brainer that I should not even have to mention. Ask yourself, if a given understanding of a passage makes sense. Be careful here though, not everyone thinks alike. When I say to ask if it makes sense, I don’t mean does it make sense to you! I mean is the conclusion a rational one given the words used, the circumstances etc. is it where the majority of scriptural evidence points you? Don’t make the mistake of using you logic to over-rule the plain revelation of scripture. For example, I don’t like hell. It makes no sense to me that such a place would exist, why punish someone eternally for things done during the short span of a lifetime. However, I must keep in mind, that my thoughts are not His thoughts, and my ways are not His ways, so, I go with what scripture plainly teaches - there is a Hell.

                    Recognize and determine the validity of inference

    This is similar to the above. You may find it difficult, for example, to discover a verse that indicates God is a triune being. However, you might fine a verse that refers to a person known as the Holy Spirit, and that the person is called God. You might find a reference to the fact that there is a person called the Father, who is also called God. Then you may find a reference to a person who is called the Son, again, He is called God also. You will find verses that indicate the these person are distinct. You will also find versed that categorically state that there is only one God. Putting them all together, we realize that there are three separate persons who are each God, and there is only one God. Therefore, the three persons are the one God. That is inference. For some, this makes no sense, I have no problem with it. This is a case however, where you may have to suspend what you think is logic, and accept that this is what is revealed in scripture, we have no right to over-ride revelation with our opinions.

                    Recognize the unity of scripture

    The 66 books that make up the Bible each has it’s own story to tell. However, there is one author behind each of them, and He has His story to tell as well. When you read and study the Bible, be aware that there are themes that thread their way through the various books of the Bible, some books cannot be fully understood without the benefit of the other books. If you have an interpretation of a passage, that is a contradiction to another passage, then you have not reached a correct understanding, for God does not contradict Himself.

    There may be more that I am forgetting, I will add them in if they occur to me, but that is the way that I approach the study of the scriptures, I hope some of these principles, are ones that you will find helpful in your own studies. Be Blessed!

    Ω Omegaman 2.0
    This page has been visited 11,913 times since September 28th, 2008
    5 Responses to “How I Study the Bible - one approach”
    Sharon Graham Says: 
    December 12th, 2008 at 9:58 am Thank you for explaining how to study the bible it is a big help.
    FresnoJoe Says: 
    February 28th, 2009 at 9:39 am “there is one author behind each of them, and He has His story to tell as well”
    Oh So Amen Dear Brother, So Amen!
    “Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,” Psalms 40:7
    “Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.” Hebrews 10:7
    AyinJade Says: 
    March 2nd, 2009 at 7:27 pm Lol Mega, with a date of Sept 28th, you are always assured of having this post as the first one seen in the admin blogs. I had a hard time finding my latest blog entry until I realized that the date of this blog was incorrect.
    Omegaman Says: 
    March 4th, 2009 at 3:09 am That is when it was posted, Sept. 28th, 2008
    jayblayze Says: 
    April 23rd, 2009 at 6:11 am Thanx for your thoughts and all the support at http://www.worthychat.com tonight april 23 You keep on speaking the truth will ya. Thanx again,
    Jamie
  23. Omegaman 3.0
    Should everyone vote?
    Going out on a limb here, but, I have always been of the (somewhat unpopular) opinion, that not everyone should vote. Some think it is the right of every adult, U.S. citizen. Some think it is an obligation of every adult, U.S. Citizen.

    True rights and true obligations, come from God, not from documents written by governments made of men. However, dispensing with this technical opinion of mine, I am saying that I do not believe that being an adult, U.S. citizen, should be enough of a qualification to vote. The voting should be a privilege, not a legal right. Actually, I think it might be a privilege already. As far as I know, felons are not supposed to be voting, so it seems to me that if that has been taken from them, we already recognize voting as a revocable privilege.

    I think there is a reason, that we have a minimum voting age, and I suspect that the reason for this, is because we deem children to have insufficient knowledge and wisdom to take part in deciding policies for the country. Let's face it, children could conceivably vote to have candy bars and soft drinks everyday as a public school provided lunch.

    If we recognize that children may not be the best mentally equipped people to take part in deciding matters of government, then why does that same concern NOT extend to adults? Does it really make sense, that people with and I.Q. of 40, should vote? Do we really want people, who do not understand or know, history, economics, germ theory etc, deciding matters like what form of government we should have, what manner of economic policies we should employ, or the types of things that the Center for Disease Control should be concerned with?

    Supposedly rational, educated adults (the people in charge now) don't do that well of a job at these things, so maybe it would not hurt that much, but I prefer not to risk it. I believe there was a time, when  only white, male, property owners could vote in this country. While I would not want to go back to that situation, I think in principle, there is wisdom in NOT having a one person, one vote policy.

    For example, if it comes to the place where the impoverished in this country, significantly outnumber those financially better off, should we not expect that someday, the poor will rise up, and demand that their representatives tax the rich, confiscate their bank accounts, retirements, etc, in order to make the lives of the poor more pleasant? 
    Charity is a good thing, and should be encouraged, but the confiscation of property without an owners permission, is called theft. It would not be all bad, for the government to tax the rich to provide for the poor, after all, there could be a benefit to some in doing that. However, if such things are not done sensibly, then eventually, the rich will no longer be able to pay taxes themselves, and will not be building the businesses that keep people employed.

    The founders of the constitution, were pretty smart fellows. They understood that people need to be protected from their government. When the people are not familiar with history, and the contents and purposes of the constitution, then they will undo it's benefits eventually, and repeat the mistakes of the past.

    I am 64 years old, chances are I will not live long enough to see this country unraveled, but my children may. I hope they do not, but it seems to me as if, the U.S. is peculiarly missing from note in Bible prophecy. My suspicion is, that this is because in the future, the U.S. will be a minor player in terms of military might, economic solvency, and social influence in the world. I do not think that there is anything that is to be done to prevent that. I have no reason to really think that it needs to be, or should be prevented. However, I do think that it is a good thing, if citizens do what they can to do good at home and abroad.

    It is my opinion, that responsible voting is part of that. I also believe that responsible voting, requires responsible voters. Voters should not be only interested in their personal welfare, but in the welfare of their neighbors. By neighbors,  I mean everyone other than themselves.

    When we naturalize a person of foreign birth, to become a U.S. citizen, we expect them to know a few things about what is to be their new country. I just took a test online, of sample questions, the sort of questions asked of those who desire to be U.S. citizens. U.S. citizens, have the right to vote in our elections. Does it make sense, that we allow people of U.S. birth, to vote in elections, who do not possess knowledge that we require of immigrants before we let them vote? Personally, I do not think it does.

    The test I took, was at http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0104/Could-you-pass-a-US-citizenship-test/Who-signs-bills/ .

    When I finished, I saw this:
     
    I am certainly no genius politically nor historically. I don't think public education was all that good when I was going to school. I suspect though, that it has become much worse, and I have to wonder if our current average citizen, could achieve the 58% percent expected of them on these tests.  I think as Christians, we should be able to, but that is just my opinion!
  24. Omegaman 3.0

    Test

    By Omegaman 3.0,

    Blah blah blah
    .
    This is paragraph 2. This is sentenced to of paragraph 2.
    This is paragraph 3. This concludes this part of the test.
    The end.
  25. Omegaman 3.0
    Is the Old Testament for today - one opinion
    Posted by Omegaman 2.0 on the January 15th, 2007
     
    I got tired of seeing my last blog, as the latest blog, so I did another to bump my position.

    I came in at the tail end of a conversation in chat one night, not long ago, it was close to venomous between a few, or at least in seemed to me to be so. As near as I could figure out, it began on a topic like war or the death penalty, or something along those lines. Those topics are still what I would call peripheral theology, yet I cannot deny their importance, because human lives are at stake. What I saw in that chat, was that everyone was under the assumption that their opinion was the right one or the superior one, and felt that their view was justified by scripture.

    Now, it is great, that everyone is willing to back up their ideas, and form their beliefs, from the scripture. I Try to do that, and just like all of these good people I watched, I too, have opinions, which I have formed from the scriptures. Unlike some of those I observed, I am willing to entertain the notion, that my understanding is limited, and my opinions can be wrong, very wrong. I am going to let some of those opinions show through in this blog, they are not the subject, they are the illustration, feel free to have your own convictions, in fact, you are not only entitled to them, you SHOULD form you own conclusions, for you are accountable to God, not to me, only somewhat to your brothers.

    At the same time, we should all be open to hearing the opinions and convictions of others.
    To quote Paul (out of context): 1 Cor 8:1-3

    Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. 2 If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; 3 but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.

    Now, in the discussion that night, there was a recurring theme. “That is not in the New Testament”, “We are not under law, we are under grace”. There were others, but the point seemed to be, that we do not have to bother with the Old Testament anymore, the New Testament is what runs the show.

    Is this notion true? Is the question which Testament we are under? Is it, which parts of the Old Testament, can we dispense with? Or, is it possible, that we should be asking, if the New Testament is an edition to the Old Testament, a clarification, not in any way a replacement? Are there other ways we could ask this question?

    I have some thoughts on this, and, I have some of my opinion on social topics, woven in as well. If you think that you would like to see it, I would be happy for you to do that. I am afraid, however, that it will not be received well by some, because my opinions are there. They will be unpopular with some, and I accept that. I ask you, to consider, whether you can read my opinions, opinions which I would share openly in chat, without holding them against me personally. It is our responsibility, to love each other, and harbor no ill feelings, yet recognize, that differences of opinion are inevitable. We can agree to disagree, agreeably. If you have that maturity, or if you can isolate good principles from a mans opinions, then by all means, check out my thoughts at the link I will provide. Also, feel free to leave you comments in this blog, about what you read, but be forewarned, I am not going to drawn into a debate in this blog, the one I watched, got too close to ugly.
     
    http://www.omegascripture.info/worthystudy/opinions/law-grace_OT
     

    15 Responses to 'Is the Old Testament for today - one opinion'
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    Rebekah David said,
    on January 20th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
    Read your link oman . Interesting ideas can not say i agree with them all tho that is okay.
    I do have a question tho when Jesus was talking about the law i have always understood that to mean the Ten Commandments? is this incorrect?
    My humble opinion is that the OT is just as important as the NT and have seen the same Lord (of both) making them each very relievant to my life. I will say there are parts of each i do not understand and yet do see them as both compatible and neccessary to understand a small glimpse(and darkly at that)our Wonderful Creator.
    Omegaman said,
    on January 26th, 2007 at 2:34 am
    Thank you for your taking the time to read it Rebekah. I do not expect everyone to agree with me, when they do, I will assume I am wrong.
    I do not think that Jesus, in referring to the law, is talking about the ten commandments. Observe this familiar passage:
    Matt 5:17
    “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.
    Notice there are two things He did not come to destroy. The Prophets, is a reference to the Books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekial, etc. Similarly, the Law, is also a collection of books. It was terminology well known to His audience. The Jews had divided the scriptures into categories, but these are manmade, just as our chapter and verse number system is. Jesus was basically saying “I have not come to destroy the scriptures, but to fulfill them.” There are other similar phrases Jesus used.
    Luke 24:44-45
    “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures
    There - you see Jesus talking about the Law of Moses. This is probably a longhand version of what He meant by the Law in the previous verse. The Law of Moses, might sound again like the ten commandments to our ears, but it is a referance to the first five books of the Bible. Christians sometimes refer to these as the Pentateuch, to the Jews, it is Torah. The Torah, is obviously more than the ten commandments.
    When we divide things into categories like this, it is good for some purposes, we like things organized.
    Consider this. Jesus was always being criticised for things like violating the Sabbath. That, is a violation of law.
    In the following, you can see that Jesus saw the law as prophetic. Maybe one could make the case that the ten commandments are a prophecy of the Messiah, but I won’t try.
    Matt 11:13 “For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John.
    Here is more evidence, that the Law is more than a few “thou shalt nots”:
    Luke 2:21-24
    21 And when eight days were completed before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.
    22 And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every first-born male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
    Now all that being said, I think there is a sense in which you are correct. If you think of the Law as rules for behavior, it is obvious that we do not obey the law flawlessly. Whether you limit yourself to just the ten commandments, or the multitude of other commandments in the Bible. Since we do not obey, we need a way to deal with sins. In Old Israel, they depended on the sacrifice of animals. This, was only a picture of what was to come. The blood of a few animals is not sufficient to cleanse us of sins. Faith in God, and His provison for us, is how we access cleansing from sin. I believe all the animals in the world. can not atone for a single persons sin. I do not belive that the sacrifice of a single sinless person, could atone for the sins of mankind. The math just doesn’t work. However, if God Himself were to sacrifice His body, He is of sufficient worth to cover all of mankind. Problem is, in order for God to do that, He would have to have a body which can shed blood and die. This is why the Diety of Christ is a vital doctrine.
    Pauls refers to the Law as our schoolmaster, as I believe I mentioned in the link you read. It teaches us two things. The first, is that we are not good enough, the second, is that it points out, through prophecy, who would save us from our sins.
    I know that was way more than your questioned looked for. so I will do a recap after all my typical longwindedness.
    Your short question:
    I do have a question tho when Jesus was talking about the law i have always understood that to mean the Ten Commandments? is this incorrect?
    My short answer:
    Yes, it is incorrect, lol.
    Donna Ps25 said,
    on February 20th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
    Wow Omegaman,
    As always God amazes me. My sister told me this weekend she plans to obtain a new tattoo. So I asked her what the Bible said about it. She mentioned well, there are many Christians she knows that have tattoos. I said yes. And so she thinks we can do as society says is correct?? Then she is conforming to the world. I showed her the passage in Lev. 19 about Tattoos, and so we discussed how several items in that passage are still things we consider we should practice today (as Christians) but yet things like weaving 2 types of material together and cutting sides of hair we have never thought twice over.
    Later that evening, I just happened to check blogs, and this new one had been posted by you. Very interesting that it came together.
    Thank you for adding in to our study on the topic. It’s now up to her to pray about her decision.
    Rebekah David said,
    on April 27th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
    Thanks oman! (sorry this reply was so late in coming)
    I appreciated your long version as it really clarified my misconception and also the short recap as my mind got lost thinking about your long version
    jackie said,
    on May 24th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
    Greetings brother, I after many years of bible study am inagreement with you. I would like to to go even deeper about the role of the Jews and what we owe to them. God tells us to pray every day for Jerusalem. This is very important and again why the Old testement is very important to all of us. We are adopted into Gods family. Sorry I hope I didn’t open up any problems. Thank you for sharing your thoughts (well done) 2 Tim 3: 16-17
    Have a blessed day
    nobdy said,
    on May 27th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
    Thank you for your blog.
    In order to understand the new testement and specifically what Yeshua teaches, you must have the Old Testement.
    Myself, I have never read a scripture written by God that tells me to do away with the Old Testement.
    I think however, one must discover that which is created by man (Church dogma), and that which is commanded by God.
    An example of what I mean…..for a very long time and maybe still, catholics were not allowed to eat meat on friday….so who deceided this….God or the pope.
    It has always amazed me that christians do alot of man inspired things and totally ignore the commandments and the Festivals commanded by God.
    Another example, it is my belief that the Puritans were not celebrating “Thanksgiving”, but the Feast of the Tabernacle.
    It is by the Grace of God through our belief in He Who is the Christ that we are saved.
    How folks think that eliminates the Old Testement and it’s teachings is beyond me.
    Donna Ps25 said,
    on June 13th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
    I’m currently reading an amazing book I’ll recommend by Ray Stedman called ‘Adventuring through the Bible’. It has really opened my eyes to looking at the Holy Book in different ways. He very much ties the OT and NT together. The prophecies, the fullfillments, the reason behind each book and why it was written and to whom. I just started the NT part, but the OT was a wealth of info to me.
    Joel R. said,
    on June 28th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
    I have read your link and it is very ineteresting. Like you said we can have a discussion about meanings and literal translations but the Lord taught us in the OT to be responsible for our own actions, something of a rare occasion in our present time. To ignore the OT, which spawned what are now the three main religions of christianity, judaism, and islam (yes even islam) and to replace it with the NT is rather extreme. Watching the end of the movie is much less enjoyable than watching it in it’s full context.
    Robert Cartwright said,
    on July 5th, 2007 at 8:35 am
    I had an ‘out of body’ experience when I suffered a cardiac arrest. The comment I have to make about,” is the Old Testament relevant for today.” is simple. Yes it is!
    I say this because I thought and quite rightly that my last breath had been taken from me.
    I uttered the words, “well I’ve finally bought it Lord and I’ve failed you.”
    The reply came back, “My ways are not your ways, neither are your ways my ways; I have chosen you with all your faults, you didn’t choose me. I know your faults. Now go back and follow my laws, do this and you will greatly please me.”
    So where did I go? To the ten commandments of course. Then I began to study different laws and see if they were relevant to my situation and the modern day or if they were directed to the peoples of that period in time.
    A great deal of wisdom, understanding and discernment are needed to interpret these correctly and that is why we have God’s Holy Spirit who will direct us into all truth and knowlege. We are human and we will continue to make mistakes but remember that God knows us and all our ways.
    The Old and New Testaments compliment each other and there is a wealth of instruction and hope in the old as well as the new. Prayer is the key to heaven and faith unlocks the door. Enjoy both old and new.
    Bryan said,
    on July 29th, 2007 at 11:59 pm
    Jesus did not come to “replace the law but to fulfill the law”.
    God does not change and people are not different from thousands of years ago. Societies and mans laws change.
    What applied to mankind b.c. still applies today. Living by faith instead of the law does not negate the law. God still expects the same from mankind as any other time.
    RJAVF said,
    on August 18th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
    I am aware that not many Christians truely know what OLD TESTEMENT means. Some even those who retun tihe believe that the OT is simply the book from Genesis to Malachi.
    But the OT in reality refers to ANIMAL / BLOOD SACRIFICES.
    When we say that we are not under the OT what we must undrstand from this is that we are no longer obligated to use animal sacrifices, or high priest or any of the ” shadows” that represented Jesus.
    The book of Hebrews chapters 7-10 give a good discription of the old covenant and new. and the book of Acts chapter 15 gives a good indication that we ( NONE HEBREW BELIEVERS IN JESUS) must continue to obey the laws writen in the book which we call the OT.
    The division of the bible into books of OT and NT is not divine. Its a human doing. God divided His SCRIPTURE into two divisions: THE LAW ( written by Moses) and THE PROPHETS. Now these are the divisions made by God and are divine, and ALL of them regardless of what book we read apply today
    Marguerite said,
    on September 4th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
    Hi, Omegaman,
    Read your blog, superfantastic, meaty with scripture and none ramming - down - your - throat - style. I have and still do struggle with new and old testasment scripture, but know that Its not about me, its about God.
    I do stuff wrong, we all do, but I just say, hey God I mucked it up again looks like I really do need you. he just needs us to acknowledge our sin and he gives us his grace. Don’t know about you but I live by faith and Grace and Gods Love alone.
    I have left the pentecostal church I attended because of legalism, saying we should be right with God and be righteous, but We can never be right with God, He makes us right by sending Jesus Christ to shed his blood for us. That and only that Is being right with God. Be real people, stand for Jesus just as you are. live under Grace, and let him love you into being holy through faith in Jesus and his grace and mercy.
    Thank you for writing what I feel is inspiring to my walk. Refreshing and Real.
    May God truley and richly bless you with his Love.
    marg
    bobinthegong said,
    on November 9th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
    Hi omegaman.
    I’d say that the old testament is alive and well. I only just escaped from a christian chat room where they were discussing the merits of castrating child molesters and rapists! When I asked what we do with women who do those things, stony silence was the stern reply.
    Seriously though, I have to agree with you. The old testament is rich with God’s promises, the fulfillment of which we see in the life, death and ressurection of Christ. In truth, I don’t think you can have one without the other. The old testament, taken as a whole, is the story of God’s law, and how utterly we are unable to live up to it. The new testament is about what God did about that.
    I am what could best be termed a ‘returning backslider’. I have been in the wilderness for many years, but just last week I finally took the Book off the shelf, blew the dust off it, and asking God for a ’sign’, for want of a better word, opened up at Isiaih 41. It got my attention, especially vs 8-20. I couldn’t think of a better scripture for someone in my position. There were no flashing lights, no bells or whistles; just a feeling of assurance that I am loved, that God has not forgotten me, that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
    My conclusion? The Word of God is a thing of beauty, of promise, of love and grace. Check out John 1:1-5. Jesus is the Word of God. And it says somewhere,(Revelation?) that not one jot or tittle of the word will be nullified, or words to that effect.
    As for you, Omegaman,(revelation again!), you seem to be a fairly sensible, well adjusted bloke. I think, in my experience, that a lot of Christians forget one of the Lords greatest gifts to us: Commonsense.
    Grace and peace.
    Ruth said,
    on November 11th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
    After reading most of the blogs on this issue about the Old and New Testaments, I felt strongly moved to chime in. It’s funny– I’ve been reading the books of Exodus, Numbers and Leviticus lately because I’ve grown deeply fascinated with the Tabernacle in the wilderness and Yahweh’s Laws concerning its building and sanctification. All things about the tabernacle symbolize our Lord Jesus Christ: the sacrificial bronze altar, it’s annointing with blood, the priest’s robes, and the curtain that is before the Most Holy Place. One of God’s instructions to Moses was to use the colors red, purple and blue year when making the curtain of the tabernacle [Exodus 26:1-2],when making Aaron’s priestly sash and other things. [The Jews Torah? states that the purple yarn represents the Messiah. Purple as you know, is a mixture of red=earth and blue=heaven. There is so much more symbolism that points to Christ, just as he told his apostles. Is the Old Testament relevant for Christians. You bet. I was able to understand Jesus’ even better after reading about the very detailed laws and procedures that Yahweh gave to the Israelites through wonderful Moses.If we don’t consider the ancient symbols that represented the Savior, I feel the we’ll miss out on a lot.(Exodus 26:1-2). PLEEEZE read the Old Testament books–then look at Revelation 1:9-16). Peace.
    Ruth
    Rev Albert said,
    on November 14th, 2007 at 12:37 am
    Omegaman
    In all you have said, you have demonstrated what the church currently suffers from. Not the subject on the Old Testament, but about how every uses the Scriptures to push forward their own opinions. I am truly impressed with your level of Comprehension as one who has stepped back and look at everyone doing their own thing.
    This day, the day you read this tread, declares the Lord God of the heavens, and his only begotten Son Jesus Christ, the Angel of the Lord will make camp with you; and will endow you with all the Gifts of the Spirit and indeed increase your understand.
    In God’s word we are commanded to humble ourselves; and God will raise us up. You can never know personally that you are humble, but your demonstrated love through how you deal with others shows your humility. You think about your words before you write them or say them; that speaks about your heart.
    The Angel with you will teach you how to heal the sick and raise the dead; and will also teach you how the power of healing works; and will move you to show love to everyone that you want to help. Once you desire to help, he will move upon anyone you touch and give you tangible evidence that he is there. Even if you do not believe that he is there, he will not leave; and only when you start desiring to show love to someone by either giving or helping them, that he will move upon the person.
    And God Bless you
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