Spirit of Truth/The Bible on Trial

Renewal and Reunion! This morning I posted a picture on my FB account showing me with my wife Becky, our daughter Emily, our big GSD Charlie, our small Min-Pin mix and Emily's dog Luna out on a walk together. Em's husband (fiance at the time) Arin took the picture. Sadly, Charlie is no longer with us, as we had to put him down about 5 weeks ago due to a sudden and in-operable illness. Taking these walk with the FAM always brings me a sense of renewal; I feel so much better after the walk than I do before, and especially when I don't actually feel like taking a walk in the first place. And as sad as it was to loose Charlie, we still go out with the family (dogs and all) from time to time, and I still receive as a reward that sense of renewal that makes me want to be with this group even when I am not feeling 'chipper' at the start. This reminds me that even though we live in a world where there will be bittersweet partings from time to time (both human and pets) the love generated by these experiences, as simple as they are, renew my spirit to such an extent that I desire that these 'good times' go on forever. Each time our family has the opportunity to get together this way (or any other way for that matter) the inevitable partings at the end make the prospect of a future reunion that more desirable, and inevitable. What would really make these gentle meetings with loved ones truly awful would be if there was no hope of ever being with them again in any future. So knowing that God has provided a way for our families and friends of living together forever permanently in that Gentle Future gives me the desire to learn the way to the Kingdom of God, and show them that way once I have found it. If you don't know the way, you can't show the way. We can only learn that truth of salvation through the words of Jesus that He gave to His own eyewitness disciples.

Pants Before Shoes~ There are certain things that when put on order just seem to make sense; letter A before B, number 1 before 2, takeoff before landing, pants before shoes. If we try these things in any other order they don't work, or if they do not nearly as well. Yesterday I wrote that before a beginning there must first come and ending, and in this case the reverse seems more applicable to our spiritual lives that a beginning before and end. When we consider the existance of God, the Creator of the Universe, who is a being that has no beginning and no end, we can see that ORDER is critical to Their very existance, and hence ours.  The order of creation is delineated in Genesis Chapter 1 and 2. We see LIGHT created after dark, FORM after void, animals after the plants that sustain them, and TIME CLOCKS after chaos. The existance of God is seen in the order in which everything is processed and made. And this is also true for the nature of our own individual and unique spirits-our souls. Humans beings as a species were all created on the 6th Day of Creation. Each had a unique 'soul' that began existance the moment consiousness awareness made its presence felt. Seeing this amazing creative power of God Satan decided that he wanted a piece of that action, and "deceived the nations" (Isa. 14:12) into believeing that he was creator. This reversed the order of things to such and extent that everything we now hold to be true is backward to what is actually true. Jesus came to earth with the words of the Father to reestablish the order of ORDER. When our minds connect with THIS concept we accomplish what Jesus said in John 17, UNITY with the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit, through the WORD that will bring Truth and order to our spirits/souls, such that we can enter the Kingdom of God as full members of Their family.

Endings and Beginnings~ So many things to remember from this Christmas season. Our daughter and her husband went to North Carolina to visit his parents for Christmas, and before they left they invited my wife and me, and my son and his wife to dinner the night before I took them to the airport. We had gift giving after dinner, and the final present was a small package given to my wife by my daughter. Becky opened it, and took out a small 'onezy' that looked like it belonged to an elf. Becky held it up and looked a Em, and then realization came to all of us-Em and Arin are going to have a baby. Sometime in August my wife and I will be 'Gramma' and 'Grampa'!  Three weeks ago my son defended his dissertaion and was granted a Ph.D. in Music Composition from UCLA! The amount of work that this takes is astronomical, but he persisted and finally won through after a difficult three year writing process. I can now say, "My Son the Doctor"! In October, he and his fiance were married in the church where he works as the church organist. Very special times indeed! Most of us move (in our minds) from the front to the back, from a beginning to an end. All of the good things that I experienced this Christmas season started when something ended. Before there can be a new beginning something must come to an end. This is especially true in our spiritual lives. Lies must be brought to an end before we can hope to find Truth. Lies and Truth cannot exist in the same mind. We must all decide what must be brought to an endin order find truth, things such as believing that Jesus came to save sinners IN their sin; that just because someone says they are sent from God does not mean that they are; that the 'apostle' Paul was who he said he was. This New Year resolve to make room for the Truth From Above, brought byJesus, who Is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!

Heavenly Music~ I am sitting here in my easy chair listening to an online radio service that is playing 24 hour Christmas music. This is not the kind you hear on commercial radio, with it's pop singers singing "Here Comes Santa Claus", with electric guitars and rock drums. This station  (KUSC.org/holidayspiritchannel) is playing some of the most Heavenly Music ever written, because it  celebrates the birth of the Christ Child in a joyous and loving way.  This got me thinking about what it was like to be near the manger in Bethleham on that day when Jesus was born. We have no idea what really happen there, at that time, beause there are no eyewitnes accounts in the Bible of what actually happened. In reality, the account in Luke that is use most to describe the birth of our Savior is most probably fiction. We do know that the description of the angel meeting  separately with Joseph and then Mary, and then the appearance of the 'Wise Men' in Matthew 2 is more reliable that that of the description in Luke. We do know that the music that has come from this event over 2000 years is some of the most beautiful ever written, and some is surely based upon heavenly inspiration. The truth of the actual events are best described for me in the 'music' of John 1, where the Word is revealed as Jesus Christ. What ever your perspective on Christmas, whether you actively celebrate the 'season' or not, the mustic that reflects that part of hte heart of mankind that seeks their Savior is poigniant and beautiul, and is an loving reflection of what it means to find truth in the sentiment of this joyous season, where we celebrate what Jesus has done for the world through His Kindom come to earth in the form of a human baby. So in this respect I wish for all of you a Joyous Christmas time, and for our Savior that came to earth to bring the truth from heaven.

The Best Christmas Present of All~ When you and your family gather round the Christmas tree on Christmas morning to open presents what will be the best present there? Will it be a new bike for Jimmy, or a talking doll for Jane? Will dad get a new putter, or mom get a trip on a plane? Each gift will be wrapped well in fine paper and ribbon, and no one is left out, not even the dog or the kitten! There is, however, a present that cannot be put in a box, or tied up with a bow; it is not something a hand can hold. It can only be seen with eyes and held in the heart, when heard by someone that loves the WORD of Truth; That WORD that was "made flesh and dwelt among us", that brought the hope of salvation to a world filled with lies. These words that Jesus brought from heaven, with which He testified to that Truth from above, The Truth the Father sent with Jesus that will bring all those that Love the Truth back to Him. Merry Christmas from your Friends at Spirit of Truth Ministry!

Comeback~ Making a comeback is hard to do. There you are, going along swimingly, family is wonderful, work is good, and you are feeling good and looking sharp. Then out of the blue you are blindsided by an event or a personal situation that simply derails everything. Suddenly you don't know which way is up. The pain of loss, the uncertainty of disease, the burden of an unlooked for financial catastrophe puts everythng in your life on hold.  All of us have experience something of this in our lives. And after the initial shock wears off we must decide what to DO about it. These situations demand action and accountability; we must take charge and overcome - or die! This death is most often not the literal kind. It is the 'dying' inside of giving up, or giving in to circumstance that sends our lives into a potientially fatal tailspin. These situations require a comeback, sometimes of epic proportions. We all have some understanding of what it takes to win over. Yet when faced with similar situations in our spiritual lives we have been told by our Pastors, teachers or even parents that all God wants from us is to "Give everything over to God, and let God deal with it." We have been assured that "His grace is sufficient" to solve all of our spiritual problems, and when we "Let Go and Let God" we will have found the answer to all of our difficulties. Unfortunately, doing this will not solve the problems in our physical lives, and neither will it solve our difficulties with our spiritual lives.  Jesus teaches us to make a 'comeback', by coming back to His Words and His Teachings that He gave to His own eyewitness disciples. WE must accomplish righteounes the was that Jesus taught by "Practicing the truth so we can come to the light" (John 3:21).  WE are accountible for our own salvation, and we must COME BACK to Him to do it.

Graduation~ Yesterday my son, Zach, defended his Ph.D. dissertaion, was passed by his committee, and has now been graduated into his Ph.D. in music composition at UCLA. He is now able to use the title Dr. Zachery Neufeld in his professional life. This is truly a watershed moment in his life, and will inform everything he does from here on in his career in both writing and performing music.  This accomplishment did not come easily, as you might well imagine. He finished his academics a little over 2 years ago, and has been in dissertation mode ever since. The striggle (in his own words) was to decide whether the effort to write his final dissertation was going to be worth the effort and heart ache that would be necessary to to accomplish the task. Many grad students at this level (in all disciplines) simply give up, because life gets in the way, and it is VERY difficult to justify the end result with the inconvenience and expense of doing the nearly impossilbe. Getting a Ph.D (or any doctoral level degree) is purposely made almost impossible to accomplish, in order separate out those that have the commitment and drive to succeed from those that simply 'wish' and 'hope' for success. This is also true for those that 'say' they want eternal life, but don't have the determination and drive to DO what is necessary to achieve it. Most 'Christians' want eternal life, but have come to believe that it is their RIGHT by the free gift of grace provided by Jesus death on the cross, and as long as they believe by faith they will be granted their graduate degree without the hard work of DOING the truth.  "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it" Matt. 7:14.  "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God." John 3:21.

Missing in Action~ Why would God take the time to prepare an army of 'the Faithful' only to take them off the battlefield just before battle is engaged? This situation sounds unlikely, if not impossible, but this is what many Christians believe will happen at the end of time via the 'Secret Rapture' that will supposedly take the 'Faithful' out of harms way into the heavens before they go through the horrific events of the 'end of time'. The reason not to spend time in refuting this misconception is for one reason only, and that is the fact that the word of TRUTH actually matters in understanding salvation and the events of the end of time. If all you needed was 'faith' to gain eternal life, then learning and practicing Truth would not matter. Why go through the process of sanctification and all that entails if what we do has no bearing on where we end up? If the operation of salvation was literally based on the idea that all you had to do to be saved was to believe you were saved by faith through grace thef an army of the righteous going 'missing in action' before the final events would be a non-issue; it simply wouldn't matter to the outcome of who is saved and who is lost. On it's face it is ludicrous to believe that God would send His only Son to die on the cross to save people that have, by their actions, expressed NO interest in being obedient to the Commandments of the King of the Kingdom of God. Yet this is what ALL Christians believe IS true, because they have been instructed by a false apostle to believe that going 'missing in action' is an acceptable alternative in the fight to save the Kingdom of the Heavens from the "hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth '. (Rev. 3:10). If you are missing in action you will also be missing from eternity.

Pay Attention~ One of my dad's favorite expressions was, "Don't keep your head in the sand."  When I was a boy I didin't really understand what he was saying; I mean, how do you stick your head in sand when you aren't at the beach? Why would you want to stick your head in the sand anyway? We had gone to the beach at Santa Barbara many times, and each of us four siblings had been buried up to our necks at least once. I found it to be very uncomfortable, and didn't like it a bit.  As I grew older I finally figured out that dad was speaking a metaphor, a life lesson hiddien in a single phrase. I now understand that there are two parts to this mataphor, one literal, and one spiritual. In my youth my dad would never have considered that there would be a physical component to this phrase based upon something called a cel phone. We have all seen people walking down the sidewalk looking down at their cel phones and nearly (or actually) run into something and hurt themselves.  People today are so attached to their cel phones that they can't look up from them to even acknowledge a comment from a friend, or the needs of their child. There is also a significant danger factor in this as well, and not just in being hurt by tripping and falling.  For many people they are so intent on their phones that they lose all 'situaltional awareness', and are actually being attacked by muggers that they neer saw coming.  The other meaning of my dad's saying is spiritual. We NEED to stay aware of our spiritual surroundings as well, otherwise we WILL become unavailable for learning the truth when it presents itself. We need to (as my dad also put it)  "keep our heads on a swivel", constantly watching for opportunities to find truth, so we will not "be deceived" (Matt. 24:4). If we watch and stay awake we will find Truth that will set us free.

Rockroller~ Yesterday Spirit of Truth Ministry provided a Past Program on Blog Talk Radio. This was a program from Nov. 26, 2012, and the highlight for me was hearing our good friend Dr. Rich (Humpal) interact with Dr. Don and myself (Dennis) as we fleshed out a topic concerning tempering boundaries.  I highly recommend that you go to our 'Episodes' page on our BTR web site (blogtalkradio.com/sot) and listen to this program. It will be well worth your time. After hearing this program yesterday Dr. Don (who was out of town with family) texted (in part): "WOW!!! I am sitting here stunned. To hear Dr. Rich's voice and his incredible clarity of thought, and your precise explanation of tempering boundaries, and going beyond what Jesus said was "on the spot". "What Dr. Rich said aobut legal and hear-say evidence are most appropriate for RIGHT NOW." Dr. Rich died suddenly April 5, 2013. You can read his obituary at: spiritoftruthministry.net/STM. He left a legacy that has reached thousands of people world wide, and will continue to do so in the future as Spirit of Truth Ministry continues to present the truth of the Words of Jesus each week via our programs The Bible on Trial and The Revelation of Jesus.  The thing that Dr. Rich taught us was that we should leave 'No stone unturned' in searching for and finding the truth. Dr. Rich posted on numerous blogs under that 'handle' Rockroller, because what he did was to roll the rocks of ignorance, deceipt and lies out of the way, exposing the truth that is undernieth, This was the purpose of Spirit of Truth Ministry back then, and it is our purpose still today and always. Join us in our journey from darkness into light, as we reveal the purpose of the Words of God in bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to a truth starved world.