Spirit of Truth/The Bible on Trial

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.

I am going to take a slightly different tack in my comments today, because of a rather pessimistic article I read that details why the author thinks that Unity in the USA and in the world can and will never happen.  He laments the loss of our central identities as Americans that have traditionally united us, even though we are the most dirvers country in the world. You can find the article Walsh on Daily Wire. I will link it below. My response to this article was the following: I do not take such a pessimistic viewpoint as does this author, for one reason; Donald J. Trump! If HRC had won the 2016 election we would not only be in the situation as described by Walsh, but we would be right in the middle of the horror described in Revelation 13-nearing a one world totalitarian government, where all freedoms are removed, and the Central world government controls all aspects of life. As it is, by his election Pres. Trump has derailed the Death Road scenario in the prophecies not only in Revelation but in Daniel 2, 10 and 11, and we are in the process of realizing the Life Road scenario that God has always given in prophecy, where if we make the right choices we will achieve Prosperity and Peace. Seeing this situation, the Left in this country and the world is participating in a 'last gasp' effort to bring about and manufacture the fulfillment of the Death Road prophecies by any and all nefarious means at their considerable disposal. This is tragic, but it won't work IF we as a people recognize the value of acknowledging the God of Creation in continuing down the Life Road by electing and supporting the people that are acting on behalf of the King of the Kingdom of the Heavens, even if they don't know it. We the People have this choice between Life and Death, Blessings and curses, Prosperity and Adversity. Choose wisely! We can change the outcome of prophecy IF we make the right choice!

Never Never Land~ We are now living in Never Never Land. Whether you live in America, or anywhere else in the world, it appears that the worst of fiction writing has come to pass in real life. You can't make this up! Those of us that have lived  in the 50's, 60's, and 70's would never have believed it if someone told us that we would live in a time when every cultural norm in which we grew up (for good or ill) would be turned upside-down. It is my belief that this all started when the idea of mothers and fathers rearing children together in a household where dad went to work and was able to provide for the family so that mom could stay home and take care of the household. The movie "The Christmas Story" reminds me of how this used to work. Today, mothers and fathers (in whatever configuration that applies) both work full time jobs just to make ends meet, and the day-care facility rears your children for you. Never Never Land. No one thought to not call the police when you needed them; and they came quickly, and dealt with the situation efficiently, effectively, and with respect for all parites. Today, for many in our society this perspective has changed dramatically, even though for the most part most policing is that same as the past. Now cities are 'defunding' the police, and are willing to let their citizens police themselves. Never Never Land. Jesus came to this earth to teach the truth about how to live in a world gone mad, and maintain our perspective on what it means to be both human and divine.  "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life". John 6:63. If we live in this world we will always live in "Never never land". Never knowing peace, Never knowing truth, Never knowing God. His words bring truth and peace.

D-day~ Seventy-six years ago today thousands of young men of the Allied Expeditionary forces climbed into open top landing craft from troop transport ships , and moved toward the beaches along the French coast at Normandie. Well trained and prepared German troops were ready to defend against this invasion, and when these LCP's (Landing Craft Personel) hit the beach thousand of these young men took their last steps and last breaths as the steel ramps dropped and machine guns and artillery from the German gun emplacements decimated these young men, killing and wounding thousands. This did not stop them. Along the beaches designated Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword, fierce fighting on both sides occurred, with the determined invasion force finally overcoming the stiff defenses of the Germans, and the invasion of the European Continent commenced. Six months later my mother's first husband, Maj. Thomas Harris (324th Infantry Regiment, 44th Division), was killed on the border of France and Germany near Hottviller on Dec. 13, 1944.  All of us have been touched by the horror and sadness of war, in one way or another. And yet, we all recognize the pride and commitment that these young men that fought in War II (and other conflicts through the ages) had in giving of themselves the "last full measure of devotion" (re: Lincoln) to an idea and ideal that was greater than themslves. We are facing the same things today, but with different issues that contend in our souls. The battle between Truth and Lies is still present not only in society and culture, but in our minds and hearts, our intellect. No other time in history has this been more apparent than now, but not in the way you think. Jesus knew there would be a time at the end such as this, where physical battle would mask an intense spiritual battle between Truth and Lies. Jesus came "to testify to the Truth". Will you listen?

Join us today for our program The Bible on Trial at 10 AM PST.

Surprise Ending~ All of us have read a book or watched a movie that had a surprisingly sad twist to the ending that we didn't see coming. Murder mysteries where the butler didn't do it. Movies such as La La Land where at the end the boy didn't get the girl. Where the person that you thought would end up the hero became the goat. Sad endings often are more poigniant than happy endings that are predictable and cliched, and often hold our interest long enough to want to see what happens at the end of the story, rather than putting to book down early and going to bed. For me, being an incurable optimist, I love story lines that lead me to believe that the protaganists will not end up 'happily ever after', yet at the end there is a 'twist of fate' that allows at least one of the main characters to end up in that 'happily ever after' state of being, even though another main character had to sacrifice their own life to allow that to happen. (A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickins comes to mind). Not surpisingly, recently our studies here at Spirit of Truth Ministry are now leading me to believe that the events listed in the prophecies of Revelation that involve the sadness and horror of the Seven Trumpets and Seven Bowls of Wrath that have humans dying by the millions, with blood flowing up to the height of the bridle of a horse, and creatures coming up out of the abyss with tails like stingers tormenting those that take the Mark of the Beast, and The Angel of the Abyss mudering the Two Witnesses in the Street of the Great City, may NOT have to occur. But how can this possibly happen? Don't all prophecies of the end have to be fulfilled before Jesus can come in the clouds? Well, maybe not. Maybe there is a prophecy in Revelation 10 that gives humanity an 'out', if they decide to choose the Life Road instead of death? Can the ending change?

RIOT~ The death of a man in Minnesota due to how police officers conducted the arrest, and the fallout from that death is tragic, and shows how close is the distance between civilization and anarchy. It appears that the police officers making the arrest went outside of the law in suppressing the person being arrested, resulting in his death, and the reaction of certain members of the populaion of Minnesota (and other states) in breaking the law by rioting, demonstrates the importance of obedience to Laws designed to protect the public from looters and unconstitutional activity that can cost both additional lives and property damage. When Law becomes less important than emotions and feelings society can break down with tragic results. Emotions are tricky things. Decisions made while in a highly emotionsl state can cause unintended consequenses that reverberate through a community for a long time, and can change the outcomes for eternity. Allowing emotions to dictate decisions have cause untold damage not only to property, but to friendships, business partnerships, and marriages. When a person gets 'worked up' over a situation that has gotten out of control any decision that they make will have a component of insecurity that can cause the mind to spiral into chaos. Adam and Eve experienced this in the Garden, when Satan created an emotional environment where they began to doubt the motives of God. Both Eve and then Adam seccumbed the emotion of the moment, and look what that produced. Laws must be recognized and administered outside of emotion or there can be no safe result for either society or for the Kingdom of the Heavens. We are secure in Salvation when we recognize the value of obedience to the Covenant of the Kingdom. The Laws underwhich God wants us to operate free us from the tyrrany of sin, and set us free to do and be the people that will advance the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

Blinding Light~ Lets say that you are a professional house thief, a good one! You are very careful as to the areas in which you work, and the types of houses you burgle. You 'case' the joint thoroughly, and do a recon of the property, making sure there are no dogs or alarms to deal with, and know if the residents will be home or away when you break in and enter the house. After you are inside the house you have your routine as to what you are looking to steal, and where it is. You want to spend as little time as possible inside the house and on the property as possible, in order to minimize the chance of something going wrong and being caught. You have disabled the alarm by cutting the power; your eyes had adapted to the darkness as you have made your way silently through the house in the pitch dark, filling your list, and have taken a variety of expensive and important objects by using a dimmed flash light, and placed them in your satchel. You have moved silently upstairs onto a landing, listening for the slightest sound that is out of place as you move down the dark hall way. Suddenly, you hear the soft squeek of a floorboard, and you freeze in place, eyes wide looking intently down the hall. Then, out of the dark comes the clack/click of a gun slide, and a piercingly painful bright light hits your eyes, blinding you. A quiet, calm voice says, "Please, don't move, or I WILL shoot you!" You don't know who this person is, you don't know the kind of gun he is holding, and you don't care.  All you know is that you believe him. You don't move because you are terrified, and you wait. This is like what Saul/Paul experienced on the road to Damascus. He was blinded by the light of a being that he didn't see, didn't know. He heard a name and believed because he felt threatened and terrified. How would Paul know who it was? He didn't!