NOTHING MAKES SENSE WITHOUT FREEWILL

I might add that everything makes sense with free will. Pick the subject that would keep anyone from believing and view it as if we have free will and it is obvious that we (mankind) are responsible for it.

 

Sin abounds in this world and if we have no free will then God would be responsible for it. It is sin that separates us from God. If there is no free will then it is God that separates us from Him by making us sin. Those who understand God know He would not do such a thing.

 

There are those who say “I can not believe in God because a loving God would not allow war”, but God must allow war, because if He stopped it no one had the right or power to sin in that way. The fact that man goes to war proves free will: just as any sin proves free will.

 

We pray that God will stop sin, especially when someone is sinning against us, but with a little thought it can be seen that God has tied His own hands and can not stop sin without ending this age.

 

I believe that it is right to pray that sin be stopped, however I think we should always add that we want God’s will to be done. There are more sinners that God knows will turn to Him and therefore He does not end this age.

 

Pick your sin, any sin, murder, theft, even child abuse and if you apply free will to it you can see that God cannot completely stop it without removing the power to commit it.

 

It is God’s plan that we have the power to sin. He did not prevent Eve from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, though it cursed all of mankind. Unfortunately all sin hurts others as well as the one that sins: which is one of the reasons that God hates sin.

 

Consider these two verses. (Exo 32:33 NIV)  The LORD replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book” and though I usually quote from the NIV it seems to me that the KJV says this better, (Mat 18:7 KJV) Woe unto the world because of offences! For it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!

 

It may seem a dichotomy, but I am not saying God can not stop sin. If you believe that God can do anything then stopping sin would not be beyond His abilities. I just don’t think it would be in His will.

 

Right now we face a great depression and life will not be as easy as it was. It will help if we can keep in mind that it was the greed of the rich that has caused it and if we are adversely affected it is not God’s fault. It is time to remember what God has done for us and to know these problems will not last forever. After theses times we will live forever happy.

 

Now we need to feel sorry for the rich and pray for them, because they are the ones who are really poor: poor in spirit and that is true poverty.

FROM MY SIDE OF THE TABLE

Picture a Bible study. The study consists of a square table with a student at each side. Al is on the north side, Bob on the east, Chuck on the south, and Dave on the west side. All of the students have tunnel vision. Sitting with each student is an instructor. These instructors look uncannily alike and sitting so close to their perspective students they are almost invisible.

 

A Bible is set on end in the middle of the table at eye level. The front of the Bible faces Al and they begin to explain to one and another what each man sees. Because each man suffers from tunnel vision they see only what is directly in front of them. Al sees only the front cover, Bob looks directly into the right edge of the Book, Chuck sees the back of the Book, and Dave looks at the binding of the Book.

 

Al begins after consulting with his instructor and he says, I see an object that is red in color, approximately 12 inches tall, 9 inches wide, and it has Holy Bible printed on it in a Gold color. After consulting with his instructor Bob says, although you are correct about the height of the object the width is only about two inches”. It is red only on the outer edges and white in the middle. Chuck agrees with Al about the size and color, but he says there are no words printed on it. Dave agrees with Bob on the size, but not the color, and he agrees with Al about the printing.

 

You can see that each man is correct about what he sees and if you gain any understanding from my writing I hope it is this, that is possible to be correct about what you see and yet even more correct if you view the same question from a different angle. Viewing a question from a different angle may change what you thought you already knew.

 

Even though the views of the men at the table are different, they are all 100% correct about what they see and yet not one of them fully understands that it is a book and will not until they change seats and views with their peers. 

 

If you haven’t figured it out yet, the instructors are all the same person, they represent the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can only answer the questions which are asked. If you are one of the students at the table and only ask your instructor if what you see is true, and it is true, He can only answer yes, but if you ask if one of the other students is correct the answer could also be yes.

 

The only way each man could fully understand what is on the table is to move to another side of the table and look at the Bible from that perspective. Combine that view, or information, with his previous view, and then move again until he has seen the Bible from all four views. Of course the next step would be to actually open the Bible and begin to study God’s word.

 

I have been moving around many tables studying the Bible, trying the view from other sides. Now I try to tell you about the view from my side of the table and how I see from your angle also (if I do see from your angle).

 

Think about what I write here and I believe you will see at least one subject differently when you view it from my side of the table. I believe you will be surprised and amazed at the view from another’s side. I know I have been when the Holy Spirit has revealed a fresh new way of viewing or understanding something which I thought I already knew, by allowing me to see it from another side of the table.

 

I have a few disclaimers and I would like to state. First and foremost, if you see any wisdom or insight in this blog it is from God and if you see any mistakes I will assume credit for them. After all I should get credit for something! Shouldn’t I?

 

Second I am only a student, not a teacher, and I write this blog for other students, not for teachers (Unless they are honest enough to admit that they too are students). The Bible says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). I have heard this verse quoted many times by those who work in the Ministry. There are exceptions, but as a rule Ministers do not work with their hands. It seems most of them think the verse means one man can sharpen another man. However, it may come as a surprise, but iron doesn’t sharpen iron. You do not sharpen a knife with a knife, nor an axe with another axe and you can’t sharpen iron with iron. (You don’t tug on superman’s cape, you don’t spit into the wind, you don’t take the mask off that old Lone Ranger, and you don’t mess around with Slim)

 

So take what I say with a grain of salt, but don’t just assume that I am wrong; though I certainly can be. Please tell me if from your view, my view looks wrong. Perhaps I have not explained my view very well. But above all let all of us quell our pride of “knowing it all” (because we don’t).

HOW SHOULD WE FAST?

Well, I have to laugh. It seems as though I am always asking a question and then answering it for everyone. The truth is I am giving the answer that seems correct to me and I try to use the Bible to find my answer. If your answer is different from mine that is fine, because I am only human and all humans are flawed (Don’t forget that you are also human).

 

Fasting use to be a problem for me. I didn’t understand how or why going without food for some period of time would help my walk with God. Then I found Isaiah Chapter 58 and God explanation of fasting: what He meant it to be.

 

(Isa 58:5 NIV)  Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?

Is this not the same as going without food for a day?

 

The very next two verses explain what God wants a fast to be. (Isa 58:6&7 NIV)  “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter– when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

 

Fasting is to go without something for a reason. If it is food that one chooses to go without then use that food to feed the hungry. If you do not give it away isn’t it still there in your refrigerator waiting for you when your fast is over? What did you really give up? I might add (I’m always adding; aren’t I) God didn’t say totally abstain from food. He said share it with the hungry.

JUST QUESTIONS THAT HAVE OCCURRED TO ME LATELY

1. Do you think that the economic situation that we face today is just a step in God’s plan to let a one world government be formed? I say this because the economy is the one entity, other than God, that has the power to form a one world government. I might add that the power of government is money.

 

2. How far do you think God will let the value of money decline? If you read Revelations chapter 18 and view Babylon the Great as money many of the things that are said there could be said of money. But then the same could be said of greed. It should be obvious that what ever Babylon the Great is, it is only a symbol. Babylon has been here as long as nations. It is said that Babylon gave herself glory and luxury and it seems that it is talking about a person, but doesn’t money give glory and luxury? Aren’t the rich glorified because of their money? We are supposed to emulate Jesus and Jesus was as far away from money as He was from the fish of the sea (Mat 17:24-27). When Jesus wanted a denarius (Roman penny) He had to ask that someone else produce it.

 

3. Do you really think that the American people control the government? Would you have given your money to those who, by their greed and dishonesty, caused the economic problems that we face? Does that make any sense? Isn’t this from men of this world whose reward is in this life?

We are not a nation of free people we are slaves to the government and this is a communistic government. Well, perhaps we need a new name for this government, because communism is controlled by one political party and we are controlled by two that have hoodwinked us and possibly themselves into believing the people are in control.  This whole “Bail out” scheme is like the ship has a hole in it and it is sinking and those who are in charge say we must drill a bigger hole to stop it! I might add that it is because our nation believes in money: not God. Instead of calling on the power of God to rescue us we call on the power of money. God cares, but money is an idol and cannot care.

 

4. If Ephesians 6:12 is true and we were in control then wouldn’t we be the authorities and therefore the enemy?  (Eph 6:12 NIV)  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

 

5. I wonder if those Islamic terrorist have figured out that they worship a god that is so weak that it can’t even do its own killing! If the God of the Bible wanted someone dead they would be so. The fact that anyone is alive is proof that God wants them that way. By the same reasoning, to kill someone is to declare God wrong. The true God will take everyone’s life the way that He planned, but because He allows sin some will murder. He has given everyone the power to sin, so He does not stop terrorist from sinning, but there will be a terrible price to pay for it.

 

Well, I have many thoughts and some deserve a post instead of just a few lines so these are all the questions I am listing today. Anybody got any answers?

THE HEAVENS DECLARE THE GLORY OF GOD.

When I first read Psalms 19:1 ((NIV) for the director of music. A psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.) I thought it meant the vastness and beauty of the universe was what declared the glory of God. After thinking about it I see that the heavens declare that there is an end to everything and therefore has to be a beginning, so there has to be a maker and of course anyone who could make a universe has to be a God and so that is the way the heavens declare the glory of God. (That was a rather long sentence, wasn’t it?)

 

It doesn’t take a mental heavyweight to understand that the universe is decaying and there is no way it can be recreated by natural means. Though even a mental heavyweight can not see it if he does not want to.

 

Stars are visible because they are producing light or energy. Energy is produced by destroying matter or releasing the bond that holds energy into the state of matter, converting it into pure energy. So stars are destroying themselves. Even a rock that is floating in space has a higher temperature than the space that surrounds it and the only way that can happen is it is decaying into energy; just not fast enough to produce light.

 

It is said that matter can neither be created nor destroyed, but if the bond that holds energy together as matter is constantly being broken and never rebound then it not only can be destroyed, but is being destroyed; in massive amounts.

 

Science in general says that everything was formed by a large explosion of compacted matter, but that raises the question “Where did the matter come from?”

 

At some point it is obvious that something must always exist: either God, matter, or energy. If matter were everlasting then there would have to be a way to restore energy to matter. Well there is no way.

 

Matter is a form of energy that is held together by some force and energy is “The capacity of a physical system to do work (American Heritage Dictionary)”. At the risk of repeating myself, if that bond is broken and never recreated then matter is destroyed.

 

If science were correct then the “Big Bang” would have to be a recurring event in a cycle of everlasting matter. There is a major flaw in that theory. If matter is being converted into energy and not being returned to the state of matter anywhere in this universe, then eventually there will be no matter to compact for the next “Big Bang”.

 

Energy that is not bonded into matter is only the capacity to do work and without matter to apply the energy too there is no work. So what really is energy? If all of the matter in the universe is converted to energy, then what would energy do with no matter to act upon? Matter is attracted to matter by gravity, but there is no attraction of energy to energy, so it would not gather together as matter can.

 

If light is directed onto a surface of matter it will cause the temperature of the surface to increase and when the light is removed the temperature of the surface will return to the temperature it was before light was directed onto it. Here is a fundamental question “How will that energy be converted to matter?” or “What happened to that energy?” some would say that it was radiated into space, but the temperature of space doesn’t change.

 

My answer is the matter is no more as the bond has been converted into energy and the energy of the bond is no more because it has been used up to raise the temperature of the surface of the matter.

 

Now I realize that some will say that the matter has increased by absorbing that energy, but if that were true wouldn’t all planets be increasing in size; especially Mercury? Hummmmm

 

Yes I am aware there are those who say the earth is increasing in size and one way is light being converted into matter by photosynthesis. I would argue that view, but in this case it means nothing as there is very little photosynthesis in the universe.

 

It would be kind of funny, if it weren’t so serious. The best minds in the world can not, no matter how intelligent, understand what even the dullest Christian does and because they rely on their own understanding they view Christians as lunatics. It seems like I was once accused of having the brain of a grapefruit by someone that was more intelligent than I: but then he did accuse me of having a brain. Well, don’t be too hard on those who do not understand because they can not. God says (Through the Bible) that they can not understand spiritual things and realizing, or admitting that the universe is finite is a spiritual revelation: even though it is also logical.

 

I use to think there is a difference between worldly wisdom and Spiritual wisdom and there are some differences, but no one could learn anything about either if they do not even believe in the existence of that class of wisdom.

 

As for me, I find no pleasure in understanding something others do not. I wish everyone could understand spiritual things and in the end they will. However it will be too late for them then and that bothers me.

 

If you are an unbeliever and you have managed to read this far, I challenge you to truthfully look for the existence of God. If you look in truth you will find the answer, just as I did. There is no other question more important to any man than to know truth.

OK I WAS SLIGHTLY WRONG ABOUT MELCHIZEDEK!!!!

OK so you aren’t as surprised as I am. It seems to me that being wrong about Scripture is a lot like sin. Being a little wrong is about the same as a little sin: it is the same to God and therefore the same to me. Any little sin is the same as great sin. That said I have much sin in my history and because I am human, I will have more in the future. I have been seriously wrong about Scripture in the past and because I am human I will error in the future.

 

If you are laughing up your sleeve at me then why didn’t you tell me that I was slightly wrong? Well maybe you missed it also. Anyway if you are laughing at me, you are laughing with me.

 

The problem with my post “Melchizedek is the Holy Spirit” is that if the Holy Spirit is a separate being and divine then God had, or has two Sons and that is not compatible with the Bible. God only has one son (John 3:16-18 & 4:9).

 

I now think that Melchizedek was Jesus in the form of a man. When the Bible uses the phrase “in the order of” it means in the order of birth. The phrase is used 10 times in 9 verses in the NIV and only two times in the KJV. The KJV uses the phrase “after the order” in 4 of the other verses and makes clear it means in the order of birth in the first three verses that the NIV uses “in the order of”.

 

What I think now is that Jesus was first born a Spirit and then born a man and that is the order of birth; King of Peace (Law) and then King of Kings (Mercy). That is what was meant in Hebrews 7:11: a priest born of God only, not just of man.

 

To say the same thing a different way, when God said “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” he meant His son was and will always be His High Priest: born of Spirit first and then born of man.

 

I believe that God had given me the right understanding of the Holy Spirit some time ago. I described it in my post “The Trinity as you have never heard it”. Some times I manage to confuse myself and I did so when I began to think that Melchizedek was divine and yet was neither God nor Jesus. If I confused you along with myself I apologize.