Spirit of Truth/The Bible on Trial

Impersonations~ Rick Little and Jonathan Winters were two of the best impersonators of my era. I remember Rich Little being on the Jonny Carson Show (late night comedy of the 1970's) and acting and sounding more like Jonny than Carson himself. It was amazing, accurate, and hilarious all at the same time. When I closed my eyes I really couldn't tell the difference. Impersonations can be funny,  but they can also denigrate the person being impersonated in a very mean spirited way, such as Alec Baldwin on SNL. To me (given my world view) his impersonation  of President Trump is not funny, because it reflects a reality that SNL believes to be true, but isn't. Being mean and nasty just for it's own sake is not funny, it is sad and disgraceful. Another phrase that describes this situation is, "If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck, it probably is a duck"! 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. Rev.3:20. How do we KNOW for sure that the person that is standing at the door in this verse is actually Jesus? After all, Satan is able to masquerade as an angel of light, or even Jesus Himself. Paul was fooled on the road to Damascus because he apparently thought that the being that blinded him was in fact the same Jesus that was here on earth who died on the cross. How do we know the truth of this? The reason the sheep know the Shepherd is by His voice, and what He says. Paul never saw Jesus on the road to Damascus, he only heard the voice and assumed the being was who he said he was. We do the same thing when we listen to words that someone said came from Jesus, but we don't know for sure because we haven't learn His words. If we KNOW His words given to His eyewitness disciples we cannot be decieved by an imposter.

The Right Way~  There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. Prov. 14:12. God gives everyone a choice of two roads that they will follow, the Life Road, or the Death Road. No one is exempt from this choice. Ancient Israel was given this choice two times, and both times they chose the Death Road. The result of their first choice was that they went into captivity in Babylon. The second choice culminated in Jesus removing the trusteeship of the Covenant from them, permanently removing the opportunity for them to be the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt. 21:43). We are currently inside the window of opportunity for the USA, and indeed the world, to make a choice as to which prophetic outcome we will recieve. One outcome is the prophetic fulfillments that are seen in Revelation, especially Revelation 13, where Satan is allowed free reign to afflict the world with the horrors that lead to a one-world brutal and overbearing government, that commands complete fealty from the world that is seen in the Mark of the Beast. Yes, God wins, but the pain and suffering is incredible for those that resist, and stay true to God. The other outcome is seen in the revealing of the Seven Thunders in Rev. 10, where John was shown the meaning, but then told to NOT write that meaning down. The Thunders are NEW prophecies that reflect the LIFE Road where God reveals His truth during a time of Peace and Prosperity, instead of Death and Adversity.   "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants. Deut.30:19. Just as God told Israel to "Choose Life", so too will God give us the opportunity to choose a way that will reveal the Truth of God in a totally unlooked for way, a way that will not lead to death. Choose wisely

DYI Repair~ Well, it's fixed. If you read my note yesterday you know that I was in the process of fixing my dishwasher. Rather that paying for a professional repair person to come to the house and fix it I used the knowledge and skill developed over the years to learn how to fix it myself. So I went to the appliance parts house and asked for the thermal fuse I needed in order to affect the repair. I was told by the parts person that there had been a recall/repair notice on my machine years ago regarding this fuse, and I would not only need the fuse but also a new wiritng harness, which I bought. The written directions for making the repair were clear, but until I went to the parts house I didn't know it was necessary. It took under 15 minutes for me to install the new electrical harness and fuse, and when I applied power to the system (always shut off the power then working with electricity) the old control board lite up like a Christmas tree. It works perfectly. Now I am still going to replace the contol panel when I can get it, to make it like new, but until then I have a working dishwasher. Yay! Salvation is exactly the same. The method of how Salvation really works has been broken, and Christians have been told that they cannot repair their salvation by themselves. They have been told that salvation is way to complex, and that they need a professional savior to do the work for them. Yet Jesus came to earth with the instructions as to how they must make these repairs themselves, and this is called the Process of Sanctification, i.e. the Gospel of the Kingdom. They don't understand that Jesus cannot affect the repairs that will turn sin into righteousness by Himself, for those that simply believe. A person that wants eternal life must take the time to learn DYI Salvation through the words of the Master Teacher (Jesus), who gave these repair instruction to His own eyewitness disciples.

Dishwashing~ Our dishwasher stopped working last Sunday. It just quit. Now I am not one to call a repair man the instant an appliance stops working. My natural reaction is to want to figure out what went wrong and fix it myself.  There are two reasons for this; 1) I just love the challeng of the 'hunt' for the solution, and 2) the cost of an in home repair by a certified technician is prohibitive ($150 for the call, credited to the repair). This becomes problematic the more complex the appliance, and dishwashers are notoriously complex, second only to refridgerators. So the next Monday after work I dug into it and discovered that the fasteners for the touch pad control were broken. So even if the control panel was OK I was going to have to replace it. One down. Next, I got out my multi-tester  to do continuity checks on the latch switch and also check for input power, and I discovered that it's battery was dead. Oh joy! No worries, I would get one on Tuesday when I went to work. So I ordered a panel from the appliance parts store I use, and was told that it wound be in in 2 weeks. Great. I just LOVE doing dished by hand. Yesterday I replace the battery in the tester and started the continuity checks. The latch was OK. Power was OK. So what else could the problem be? Oops. I forgot to check the thermal fuse in the dishwasher. Sure enough, it was bad. No fuse, no power. So after our program today I will go get one at the parts store, and put the dishwasher back together with the old panel until the new one arrives. Yay! Nothing that is electric works without power. Spiritual truth cannot work without power. If the sourse for your spiritual power is disabled, if your spiritual thermal fuse is blown, then you will be left without the power you need to find truth. The multi-tester for truth is the words of Jesus, the power (battery) for truth is the Holy Spirit. Check your battery!

Protest~ There is only ONE country in the world that has the RIGHT innumerated (not granted) under it's Constitution to PEACEFULLY protest, and petition their government for Redress of Grievances, and that country is the U.S.A. Included in the First Amendment is this RIGHT, but that also includes that in order for a protest to be peaceful the protesters cannot bring weapons, otherwise it is not peacful. For the past weeks here in the 'good old US of A' we have seen protests that started out with peaceful intent, but soon turned in rioting, that includes use of weapons, looting, burning buildings, damaging property, and pulling down statues of historic figures. These protests are no longer peaceful.  Reaosn plays no part in riots, or in the starting of war. A long time ago there were begun in Heaven protests against the Ruler of the Universe, lead by a being created by that very Ruler who decided on his own that in order for God to be the 'God of Laws and Order' there should also be a 'god of dis-order without law' to balance out this rule of law, and give other created being the opportunity to choose by whom they would prefer to be ruled.  God allow this protest, because all of Their created being have the power of Choice. God tried to reason with this Dark Angel and the others that followed him, and explain that there did not have to be EVIL in the universe in order for God to demonstrate 'Good'. One-third of the Angels followed this Arch-angel, and there was Protest and WAR in the Heavens. Satan and his angels were cast off of the Heavens to this earth. Two-thirds of the Angels chose to follow their Creator.  Now we too are at a crossroad, where our choice is to follow the way of LIFE, peace and prosperity, or choose DEATH and destruction. If two-thirds of the people choose one way we will have LIFE, even though one-third chooses Death.

Progress~ America, and indeed the world, is having a crisis of perfection. We see this crisis manifested in riots and protests that have caused death, destruction, mayhem, and anarchy, because a small faction of 'citizens' have declared that since their countries are not perfect that we must 'burn it all down' and start over in order to achieve equality of result for everyone. What these people are really saying is that must adhere to their idea of perfecton of they will destroy society and remake it in their image. And on the other side of this argument, and to a lesser degree, we have all heard that even though perfection is an admirable goal "no one can ever be perfect" so we really should not even try to achieve it. It seems that seeking perfection in any endeavor is moot and counter productive because perfection in this world is unattainable. Is perfection in the physical world is really not possible? Is so, then how was America able to send astronauts to the moon and bring them back? Do your really want to be operated on by a surgeon that is just 'good enough'?  Perfection is an image of reality in the physical world, and it is not possible for humanity to every reach perfection, because entropy plays a big role in how everything turns out. Yet humaity does remarkable things, like going to the moon and back with engineering that is 'just good enough'. Even in the spiritual realm perfection seems impossible. The Faithful and Sensible Bondservant of Matt. 24:42 is named by Jesus as "good enough" to accomplish his assigned task of "feeding His fellow servants their food at the proper time."  Spiritual perfection must be the goal because Jesus said that we must be perfect in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Yet this perfection is a process through which we learn to become righteous in fact in keeping the Covenant.

Do Not Be Afraid~ In 1776 Thomas Paine gave a speech that encouraged the people of the Colonies to through off the shackles of Britain that started with the iconic phrase, "These are the times that try men's souls." It seems that this is still true today, although if he were alive today he would certainly have said 'the souls of men and women'. In Matthew 24:6 Jesus said, "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."  And this sentiment has been in this world since Satan took over management even before the incident in the Garden of Eden. Tdday we have worries such as Covid-19, and riots and social unrest that can be nerve-wracking to say the least, and have put the people of the world in a seemingly untenable position of having to choose sides in a conflict that has taken over the news cycle, and won't leave them in peace.  'Times like these' have been with us since the beginning, one way or the other. Everyone is experiencing undertainty and nervousness, which makes living a normal life less and less likely. Even Jesus said, "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." Matt. 24:6. But Jesus also said, "It is I; do not be afraid." John 6:20 We do not have to be afraid of the future knowing that Jesus has  brought comfort and safety to His people in the past. The world right now is in the process of making a decision that can put us on an alternate path that is seen in  the prophecies of Revelation 13. We can choose the 'Life Road' alternative to these 'Death road prophecies by choosing Life through Jesus Christ. God always give us a choice. Choose wisely!

Truth Humbles~ Have you noticed that in the news lately there are a lot of people that are absolutely, positively sure they are RIGHT/correct about whatever it is that they are saying? The reporting of the news has taken on a new identity in that whatever certain people say is reported as fact just because they said it, and other people are dismissed as unworthy of notice simply because the go against prevailing belief. Certain people are being CENSORED on Twitter and Facebook because a 'commitee' has decided that what they have said about a 'hot' topic disagrees with what that committee says is true. What? Truth is being decided by a commitee? So whoever it is that establishes that committee is the person that decides policy? Hmm! This sounds familiar. (Ref. The Spirit of the Church by Sterling and Neufeld-Tate Publishing 2007.) Truth has to be based in FACTS, otherwise it cannot be truth. We are being led to believe today that unless you feel a certain way about a certain topic, whether political, religious or social) you cannot take part in pubic discourse. If your feelings are hurt by someone because they believe differently than you then itis YOUR fault and you must change your belief. This is not the way it used to be. Facts are Truth/Truth is Fact! Facts don't care how you feel, facts simply ARE! An arrogant person will express his belief in a lie with certainty, and if you don't believe his way you are automatically wrong. Jesus in His parable/prophecy in Matt. 7:24-27 spoke of Truth as a house built on a Rock. If your house of belief is built on the lies of sand you will have not stability, and your house will fall. If you build your house of understanding on the rock of Truth, the words of Jesus will be complete.

Peace in the time of Turmoil ~ Turmoil and rage are not unique to our time. These two 'imposters' have reared their ugly heads from time to time throughout the history of the human race, from Cani and Abel to Covid-19 and the current rioting of Antifa and BLM. There is an underlaying identity that causes people to lash out in reacton to events outside of their control (seemingly), and that is implacable frustration. When people as individuals or in groups feel that their voices are not being heard there is at times a premature reaction whereby they decide to vent their frustrations by physical means, not caring whether that venting hurts the innocent as well as the guilt. Cain murdered Abel because he felt that God unfairly rejected him, and chose Abel over him. It turns out that this killing was unjustified simply because Cain's sacrifice had nothing to do with being a Lamb over produce; it was that Cain's sacrifice was of inedible and second rate produce, while Abel's sacrifice was a perfect Lamb. Had Cain's given the 'firstfruits' of his produce his sacrifice would certainly have been accepted by God. He became frustrated over this, and killed his brother as a reaction. The peacful protestors have their frustrations under control, but the rioters don't, and are willing to harm others to 'get their way'. This is the difference between adults and children - adults can handle frustration, children can't. When we are given access to truth, reject it out of hand, and react with frustration to the person bringing it to us by lashing out at them, we are behaving as spoiled children that do not get their way.  But if we become 'as a child' that is hungry for learning of truth, humble ourselves and learn, God will give to us the understanding of His words through the Holy Spirit, and we will have peace.

I found this today on Facebook: Deuteronomy 24:16 says that no man can die for another man's sins. How come Jesus died for my sins?" This is a GREAT question that actually plagues Christians that actually THINK about their salvation, rather than just feeling that they are 'saved by faith through grace'. This question was asked on a forum, where lots of people gave their impressions and understanding as to how salvation truly works. Most of the answers reflect the consistent Christian identity that is found in the writings of Paul. Doing this is like trying to put out a fire with gasoline. Most cited texts were from Ephesians, Galations, Corinthians and Acts. one text was cited from Matthew. Others from Mark and Luke were also used. One person referred to the Passover Lamb. But NO ONE referenced the Kingdom of Heaven as having anything to do with salvation and eternal life. This shows that Christian don't have a clue as to how salvation really works, and what Jesus said about how to achieve it. My responce was as follows: "Jesus DID NOT die for the personal sins of individuals. He died for the FORGIVEN sins of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is His kingdom on earth. The idea of the forgiveness of personal sins comes from (guess who) Paul. Jesus never taught this concept. Jesus taught 'the gospel of the Kingdom' that says that in order to gain eternal life a person must be INSIDE the Kingdom of Heaven. To do that a person MUST (in simplest terms) "Keep the Commandments of God, and hold (only) to the testimony of Jesus" (Rev. 12:17). The Kingdom of God has the requirement (given at Sinai) to OBEY the 10 Commandments, which is the Covenant of the Kingdom seen in Deut. 4:13." In order to learn how to enter the Kingdom of the Heavens we MUST learn the truth that can only come from knowing the words of Jesus that He taught to His own disciples.