Month: November 2010

10 Commandments

1. Do not have any other gods before Me

2. You shall not make for yourself an idol

3. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God

4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy

5. Honor your father and your mother

6. You shall not murder

7. You shall not commit adultery

8. You shall not steal

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor

10. You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor

Exodus 20:2-17
Deuteronomy 5:6-20

love and tolerance

The contemporary definition of tolerance is that you are expected to agree with, validate, affirm, indulge, coddle, adopt, and consider as equally true the contradictory opinions of everyone around you.

This is particularly bogus, because the tolerant crowd is conspicuosly tolerant of everything except Biblical Christianity. Try it, just say “Jesus is the ONLY way” in a crowd and see what happens…

The classical definition of tolerance is: “I don’t believe you should die or be imprisoned simply because we disagree.”

People should be able to discuss, compare, and contrast their differing views and then still be able to go out to lunch together afterwards even if they never reach an agreement.

Unfortunately, in this post-modern culture, if you don’t agree with and affirm someone’s opinion, they get all huffy and take it as a personal attack on them.

Everyone is so used to having their egos stroked and their self-esteem built up by other people.

Teacher: Johnny, what is 2+2?
Johnny: 5?
Teacher: Oh, Johnny, spoke so well in your answer. Didn’t he class? Why Johnny, you are such a smart little boy, here have a sticker.

BALONEY!

The whole self-esteem psychobabble has accomplished nothing but raise two generations of milktoast mamby pamby wimps who need constant coddling from an enabling nanny.

Instead, it would be far better–and far more beneficial to the person–to correct them when they are wrong.

People need to get their confidence from KNOWING THE TRUTH. Jesus said, “You will know the TRUTH and the TRUTH will set you free” (John 8:32).

It is the TRUTH that sets you free, anything else is BONDAGE.

The post-mods need have to have thier self-esteem artificially inflated because they are taught that everything is relative, that everyone’s opinion is equally valid and true. Having no foundation of their own, they are enslaved to the need of someone else constantly around to affirm and build them up.

When challenged, they fall apart. They take it as “you don’t like me”, and as a personal attack directly on them.

They have no concept of: “I love you and care about you enough to tell you the truth”.

There is a horrible misconception about what it means to love someone.

If you love someone, you want what is best for them. Sometimes what is best is not what that person wants, and can even be painful.

Love is NOT about:

– “whatever you want, as long as it makes you happy”
– avoiding making waves or offending people
– wanting people to like you
– supressing the truth because it might make them feel bad
– making people feel good about being wrong
– making people feel relaxed and comfortable on their roadtrip to hell

Love IS ABOUT:

– letting people know when they are heading in the wrong direction
– pulling people out of the fire

Speaking the truth in love is NOT about watering down the truth or sugar coating it.

It IS ABOUT speaking the truth motivated by love for that person.

You don’t tell people the truth because you want to impress people, demonstrate how smart and holy you are, or bring attention to yourself. It is also not about being obnoxious for the sake of being obnoxious. Apply what is necessary to get the person’s attention and make the point.

You tell people the truth because you care about them and don’t want them to burn eternally in hell.

many will come in my name 2 of 2

Luke 21:8 And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, “I AM Christ“; and “the time draweth near”: go ye not therefore after them.

An interesting take on this concerns the fact that the words in italics (or sometimes braces or parenthesis) in many translation signify words that did not appear in the original text, but were added for understandability.

Considering that Jesus referred to Himself several times as the “I AM”

John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

“I AM” is reserved exclusively as the name of God. In Exodus 3:14, God refers to Himself as “I AM, that I AM” because He is the ultimate standard, there is nothing else for God to compare Himself with or describe Himself as other than Himself.

It is open blasphemy for anyone but God to refer to Himself as “I AM”. Jesus could apply the name “I AM” to Himself because He is God.

A case could be made either way concerning Luke 21:8 whether Jesus was talking about others coming claiming to be messiah or others coming claiming to be god. Since there are other scriptures indicating that there will be many false messiahs as well as people seeking to become gods, both are end time indicators.

What we see happening before our eyes is the oldest temptation of man:

Gen 3:4-6 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Gen 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

Also, what we are seeing is the one-world religeon of the last days that has been steadily on the increase, especially over the last 30 years. It is the New Age pantheism that proclaims the “god within all of us”. It has crept into mainstream popular culture, and is now the “in thing”.

Oprah Winfrey has been the leader in bringing the new age into the popular culture, particularly by promoting “The Secret” and the “law of attraction”. Now, Joel Osteen has been introducing it into popular christianity. The fruit of this is now revealing itself in widespread blasphemy.

It seems rampant right now in popular music. A handful of examples include: Madonna’s documentary “I AM because WE ARE”; Rapper “will.i.am“; Christina Aguilera has a song entitled “I AM”; Beyonce is currently promoting her 2010 “I AM” tour and also has a song “I AM” that has featured Lady Gaga. P-Diddy’s twitter account is “iamdiddy”, and he too has a song “I AM DIDDY”.

Mormonism believes that it is possible for men to become gods. This concept of man being god or becoming god meshes nicely with new age thinking. Is it any wonder then when in Glenn Beck’s monologue on October 29th, 2010 he starts out describing how “I AM” is God’s name and should not be taken in vain, then immediately invites the audience to apply that name to themselves in self-affirmation:

I want you to answer. “I am,” what — fill in the blank. “I Am,” the name of the God … Why do I say you can do it? Because you say, I am worthy, I am strong, I am smart, I am loving, I’m charitable, I’m able, I’m creative, I’m peaceful. These are the things “I am.”

Countless other examples can be found in everything from advertising, modern psychology, contemporary education theory, and liberal theology. I’m quite certain that you will begin seeing more and more examples.

Be on the look out, see that you are not decieved, and go ye not after them.

many will come in my name 1 of 2

John 6:51:”I AM the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever;”

John 8:12: Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I AM the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

John 8:23: And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I AM from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

John 8:24 “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I AM (He), you will die in your sins.”

John 10:9: “I AM the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”

John 10:11: “I AM the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

John 10:36: “do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I AM the Son of God’?

John 11:25: Jesus said to her, “I AM the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.

John 14:6: Jesus said to him, “I AM the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 15:1: “I AM the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

John 19:2: Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I AM the King of the Jews.”‘”

Acts 7:32: Stephen speaking of Moses’ encounter at the burning bush “saying, ‘I AM the God of your fathers– the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look.”

Acts 9:5: And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And the Lord said, “I AM Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

And in case there is any doubt at all…

John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

“I AM” is reserved exclusively as the name of God. In Exodus 3:14, God refers to Himself as “I AM, that I AM” because He is the ultimate standard, there is nothing else for God to compare Himself with or describe Himself as other than Himself.

This principle can be seen also in:

Hebrews 6:13 (KJV) For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself

In any case, it is open blasphemy for anyone but God to refer to Himself as “I AM”.

Jesus could refer to Himself as “I AM” because He is God. He is the Word, the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity made flesh.

foundation on the rock

Matthew 7:24-29

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and
does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

One thing that I never really considered before was that there is a prophetic element to Jesus’ teaching on this.

Great storms are coming, even greater than those we experience now. Those who are offering strange fire in worship of a god of their own imagination will be washed away by the storms.

Post-Election

Now we get to see how long it will take before this new crop of politicians get corrupted by the system. I reckon the only thing we can hope for “politically” is that there will be at least some gridlock to slow down the progressive’s socialist agenda.

While we should and will continue to fight against the corruption, the one-world socialist machine will continue the long march toward disembowling the American economy. America represents two things to the globalists: 1) the globalist agenda cannot move forward as long as America stands as a superpower, it must be brought down and made to kneel; and, 2) a pile of wealth to be looted for the purpose of funding their agenda — socialism works great until you run out of other people’s money to spend…

Is this at all surprising? I’ve always been puzzled as to, if we are indeed in the end times, why a “superpower” like America is not mentioned in Bible prophecy.

There will be a world government, but it cannot come to power until America steps down and falls in line as one of the 10 regional governorships.

My hope is that the final straw will be the rapture of the church. America will likely be the one that is hit hardest from a loss of possibly 10-25% of its productive population. This, however, is not a requirement.

It is quite possible, and I believe likely, that we may have to live through some of the rough ride leading up to the tribulation. The tribulation, especially the second half, will be worse than anything that has ever happend in history. While we have the promise of being spared from the worst of the tribulation, the times leading up to the tribulation will likely be at least as “bad” as any that history records.

Today, evil is called good, and good is called evil. Coalitions never thought possible are joining together against Israel and biblical christianity (I recently learned a new term called “Syncretism”). The times are dark, and getting darker.

It is when evil is darkest that the light of truth shines brightest.

Regardless of how long we have left here, we must continue to hold on to the blessed hope that only we as believers have. Our job in the meantime is to be salt and light, to take a stand, stand firm, and speak the truth.

When we see these things begin to happen, we look up, for our redemption draws nigh. When people see that hope in us, our job is to be ready to give an answer to them.