Why I no longer attend Church.

This thought all started when I wondered why The Church would not recognize Matthew 6:5-15. What I mean is though the Church calls Jesus the King of kings , their Lord and Master, they will not obey this part of Scripture! After it became clear to me that they will not obey this part of Scripture I saw many other parts of Scripture that they refuse to obey and I began to wonder what God the Church is following!

Before I continue let me make clear what God I follow. The God I recognize is the God of the universe. My God knows everything. That is, He sees the past as clear as the present, and the future as clear as the past. There is nothing that my God does not know. Then please understand that the God that I worship is all powerful. There is nothing that my God cannot do. So, if I see something that I think should be changed, and it is not changed then God is allowing it and I should sit down and shut up, because I am not in control. There are other things that I believe about my God, but let me stop there and apply my understanding, or compare my understanding , that I have revealed to you, to the actions of the Church.

This is the time for a disclaimer. I can only explain the Churches that I am familiar with. You may well attend a Church that is different than the ones that I have attended, but the ones that I have attended are consistent with the one I am describing.

So, my God knows when I am sick. I do not have to tell Him that I am sick, as He already knows this. Because He knows everything, He knew that I would be sick at this point in time before He made anything. Now the Church worships a god that does not know that I am sick. They think that I must tell their god that I am sick, so that he knows this and if he knows this he will heal me! And they do this claiming that they worship the same God as I do!

Now, the God that I worship has said that He will heal me of my sickness, but He will do so His way, by removing me from this earth and creating a new earth, where everything is as it should be. In other words I must die, the first death, be separated from all this sin, changed, and be made like Jesus, before I am recreated and completely and perfectly healed. So then, what does your God say? Has he promised to heal you as you live on this earth? If God healed us every time that we asked we would never die the first death and so we would never experience Heaven.

My God says that if the Church is to be strong everyone must contribute to the service (1 Cor 14:26-32). The Church says that a preacher should speak and everyone else should listen! The two are different.Can that be the same God, giving different advice, or is the God of the Church a different god? Is the Church of today becoming stronger, or is it becoming weaker and closing many of its doors? If my God is the real God, then Churches would be weak and closing. If the god of the Church is the true God, then the Church would be stronger. Look around and see the result of what is happening and you can see which God is the true God.

My God says that He will give the Holy Spirit to all who repent and are baptized (Acts 2:38&39) and we are given the Spirit to teach us all things (John 14:26). The god of the Church says that we need a man to teach us. We should hire a preacher to teach. Would God give us His Spirit and then command us to appoint a man to do what He said He would do? Who is really qualified to teach about God; God or man? To top it off, God says (Mat 23:10 NIV) “Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ.” Do you look at your preacher as a teacher? Does he claim to teach?

God says (Mat 6:7 NIV) “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” One of the churches that I attended created a prayer list, because they think they will be heard because of their many words! They pray for physical healing! They place their faith in the medical industry to keep them here, on earth, instead of going to Heaven!

Then there is the Tithe. My God says that He gave the Tithe to His people. The god that the church serves says the people gave the Tithe to their god! Both can not be true. Does no one check Scripture to see if they are being taught correctly? Tithing was a wonderful ritual that showed God’s people that He would give them everything that He had, but man has managed to change the meaning to God demanded they give Him something back.

Then wine. The God that I worship did not condemn wine. That is a rule created by man. The God that I worship stated that His people could have wine or any fermented drink at a party where He attended. (Deu 14:26) Jesus made about 150 gallons of wine for a party where the attendees had already drank everything in sight. Jesus drank wine (Mat 11:19). Because men have made wine a sin, in their own eyes, we can no longer use it for Communion, which means we cannot properly perform Communion!

Then Country. My God says this Country, The United States, was formed in rebellion to Him (Rom 13:1&2). The god of the church says this Country was a gift of god. Again, both cannot be true.

At this point I changed my emphasis of my thinking and tried to find something about the church that was in line with the Scripture that God gave. I immediately thought that the church taught that Jesus was the Son of God sent to save the lost and I was happy for a brief time. But then I thought, ‘what good is it to win a convert when he or she will be taught what the church teaches?’ (Mat 23:15)

So, I believe I understand the difference between the God that I worship and the god of the church. The god of the church is the church. That is who they serve: themselves! They do not do the work of God (John 6:29 NIV) “Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”” They have hired a man to do the work of God for them, but no one can be hired to believe for another.

The church has changed over the years from a group of followers into a group of leaders. A group of followers of Christ into a group of leaders of men. However men are not qualified to lead men, it is the blind leading the blind.

Well, that is why I no longer attend church. If the church repented and started to hold services as God commanded, then I would joyfully return. Until then I will wait for my Lord all by myself. Well, because the Spirit of God is in me, has become part of me, I am never all by myself.

If I attend church services, knowing what I know, what God has taught me, then some might say that I approve of the way they are conducted, I do not and I do not want anyone to think that I do. Surely the Church of today is the church of Laodicea; lukewarm. A church that has surrounded themselves with a great number of teachers that say what their itching ears want to hear.

Why did God make everything?

Now there is a question that I use to ponder before our Father gave me the answer. When He gave me the answer I was amazed at how simple it was and amazed at my lack of understanding and how dull I really was. (Yes, I already know that you are not as amazed about how dull I am. I view it as funny as you do. Well maybe even funnier than you do.)

I am going to try a different method to explain the answer that God gave me. It is the same method that God uses to teach me. God teaches me by asking me questions, not by giving me direct answers.

When I ask God why He made everything He did not tell me why, He ask me a question and I knew the answer to the question that I ask Him, because I knew the answer to the question that He asked me in return!

Now, before you start to disbelieve me, because I said I asked God a question and He answered me, understand this. The Holy Spirit was given to me when I was baptized. He is now a part of me and He lives in me. The Holy Spirit is the Mind of God and His Mind is in my mind, so He talks to me thru my thoughts; not by audible words. I have to be careful that I understand which thoughts are His and which are mine.

So, let me parse this explanation by pointing out some Scripture that doesn’t directly answer why God made everything, but yet leads directly to the answer. In the Old Testament God declares Himself to be abounding in love (Exodus 34:6) and in the New Testament God is described as love (1 John 5:8 & 4:14).

So, I asked our Father “Why did You make everything?” and He asked me “What does a Father that is all alone and full of love need?”

And now you also know!

The Tithe – what it was – who it belonged to – how it was determined.

(Lev 27:30 NIV) “”‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.”
31 If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it.
32 The entire tithe of the herd and flock–every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod–will be holy to the LORD.
33 He must not pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.'”
34 These are the commands the LORD gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.
These were commands given to the Israelites, not to the gentiles.

Redeem means to recover ownership of by paying a specified sum. It is not possible to redeem something that you never owned. So both God’s animal and the animal that was attempted as a substitute belong to God. We are told, or it is implied that God gave Israel 100% and then required them to give back 10%, but that is not true.

The tithe was not given so that anyone could give it back to God: He already owned it. He only commanded a way to determine what was His. If an Israelite did not own land then he could not Tithe as the Tithe was on everything the land produced: therefore Jesus did not Tithe, because He did not own land. God did not require the poor to Tithe. Actually He did not require anyone to give Him anything.

What was to be done with God’s Tithe?
(Deu 12:17 NIV) “You must not eat in your own towns the tithe of your grain and new wine and oil, or the firstborn of your herds and flocks, or whatever you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts.”
(Deu 12:18 NIV) “Instead, you are to eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place the LORD your God will choose–you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites from your towns–and you are to rejoice before the LORD your God in everything you put your hand to.”

(Deu 14:23 NIV) “Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always.”
24 But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the LORD your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the LORD will choose to put his Name is so far away),
25 then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose.
26 Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice.
The first two years the entire Tithe was for a party for God’s children.

(Deu 26:12 NIV) “When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.”
The third year God’s wealth was to be given to those who did not own land, so they could experience the generosity of God.

(Exo 23:10&11 NIV) “”For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops,” “but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.”

There was no Tithe on the crops the seventh year. However, there would still have been a Tithe on livestock.

Now if it was God’s money and it was used to buy something – then who really paid the Tithe? Didn’t God spend everything that He kept for Himself on His children? So wasn’t it really God who paid the Tithe?

(Mal 3:10 NIV) “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
They did not do this. They stole God’s portion.

Do you see the difference between what you have been taught and what the Tithe really was? We are taught, or it is implied that all of Israel was required to give back 10% of everything God gave them, every year, and none of that is true. No one, rich or poor, was required to give back anything.

Jesus did not pay the Tithe. However He did pay the temple tax.
(Mat 17:24 NIV) “After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?””
25 “Yes, he does,” he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes–from their own sons or from others?”
26 “From others,” Peter answered. “Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus said to him.
27 “But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

Most of, if not all ritual sacrifices were from Israel to God, but the Tithe was a ritual sacrifice from God to His children! “O” how it has been twisted in order to milk those who do not study God’s word and therefore do not understand the Tithe.

Now I would like to say what is apparent to me. At the end of days, when all of the testing of man is over, God will restore the Tithe. Just as God prophesied through the ritual of the Tithe that He would give everything that He owned to His children, He will do so, and the Tithe will be completed.

What a wonderful God and Father we have!

Now, if you want a laugh and I usually want one, then if you are asked to Tithe say “OK” “I will Tithe just as Israel and Jesus did”. Then do so. You owe nothing! Well, I think it is funny anyway.

WE DO NOT HAVE AN EPIDEMIC OF COVID-19

What we have is a world wide case of Thanatophobia (abnormal fear of death). It was created and is sustained by the news. What we used to call the 5 O’clock News has evolved into the 5 O’clock Lies or the 5 O’clock Propaganda. The news has merely substituted Covid-19 for death and it has caused a world wide Thanatophobia!

They have put their own name on death and implied and continue to imply, day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute, that if you avoid Covid-19 you can avoid death! And by default, if you do not avoid Covid-19 you will die. However death has many names and there are many causes of it. You might be able to hide under a rock and maybe avoid Covid-19, but you cannot avoid death.

No one can escape the first death. Death can be described as separation. The first death is a permanent separation from the world and everything in it. It cannot be avoided. A Birth Certificate and a Death Certificate are a matched set. I know that you have the first because you are reading this and of course I know you do not yet have the second for the same reason.

The second death is a permanent separation from God. That death can be avoided. However one must believe and trust God to avoid it. If one believes God then the first death will not be feared. It is the last step up to Heaven. Just as Paul the Apostle said,” “If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!” I am torn between the two: I DESIRE TO DEPART AND BE WITH CHRIST, which is better by far (Phil 1:22 NIV).

When I look around me I see many who believe in God, but not many who believe God! If you think that you make a great statement of faith when you say that you believe in God, then know this, even Satan believes in God. God wants those who worship Him to believe Him; not just believe “in” Him.

If you really believe God then death cannot frighten you. It is very disheartening when Christian brothers and sisters, because of their unbelief, are caught up in this Thanatophobia.

(Phil 1:21 NIV) “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Why isn’t the Church teaching this, instead of teaching what the world is saying? That is to stay 6 feet apart and wear a mask. A virus is so small it will pass right through a mask and even the slightest breeze will move it farther than 6 feet! It is just more lies from the world. An imaginary way to avoid an imaginary pandemic!

(John 11:25&26 NIV) “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;” “and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?””
Do you believe that? Then teach it. Calm the nerves of those whose faith is weak, instead of preaching what the world believes and what upsets everyone.

If God decides to use Covid-19 to rescue me from this world, I will be grateful. I will not hide from my God when He calls, or hide from the method that He uses to call me and neither should you. That is what we should be teaching, but instead the leaders of the Church have fallen for Satan’s deception and teach his plan!

It is one thing to be deceived and quite another to refuse to admit the deception.

ARE YOU SAVED BY ASKING JESUS INTO YOUR HEART

There are those who say that all you have to do is ask Jesus into your heart and you will be saved. Those are the words of man. The words of man should always be tested with the Words of God. The Word of God is the Bible, so what does the Bible say about that claim?

God says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16 NIV) The verse seems somewhat softened by the second part of it. If you do not want to believe the first part, then because it does not say ‘Those who do not believe and are not baptized will be condemned’ one might think baptism is not necessary. If that is the way you read the verse, then ask yourself why God would include baptism in the second part of the verse? If one doesn’t believe in the sacrifice of Jesus then why in the world would they allow someone to baptize them? It would be redundant to repeat baptism in the second part of the verse.

Those that claim that you only must say Jesus come into my heart and that will save you must do something with baptism, because God’s Word says much about baptism and therefore they realize it is necessary to somehow nullify it. So, they make the claim that it is only symbolic in nature! Again, what does the Word of God say? Does it agree that it is only symbolic, or does it say baptism actually has the power to change someone?

“(All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)” (Luke 7:29&30 NIV)

You see that baptism is not symbolic, but powerful to add understanding to those who believe and are baptized.

If that animal Satan can convince you that baptism is not necessary then he has accomplished his goal, which is to deceive you and cause you to be condemned as Mark 16:16 states.

Jesus told his disciples go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Mat 28:19 NIV). If you are listening to some one who is telling you that all you have to do is invite Jesus into your heart, then he or she is not doing what Jesus said to do and they are in great danger and they are also placing you in danger as well.

Baptism makes straight the way for the Lord. It washes away sin so the one without sin (Jesus) can become one with one that has, or rather had sin. It is necessary so that Jesus does not become unequally yoked to someone who has sin. That is not to say that we will no longer sin, but for an instant we are clean and at that instant the Spirit of life can become one with us and not violate the Law.

Go, be baptized and be saved.

IS IT DISGRACEFUL FOR A WOMAN TO SPEAK IN CHURCH?

First Corinthians fourteen verses thirty-three thru thirty-eight has always puzzled and annoyed me. It just didn’t make any sense that God would stop anyone from speaking in the Church. It seemed to me that it was not fair and just to say that it was disgraceful for a woman to speak in Church. It belittles women and does not follow the Golden Rule of do to others as you would have them do to you. Paul would not like it if someone told him that it would be disgraceful for him to speak in the Church, so he should not have said it about anyone else.

God has finally revealed the answer to me, only because it seemed wrong to me and I keep asking, not because I am any more special than any of His children. I have to laugh, because the answer as always been there and just as plain as the belittlement: even in the same verse! Do you see the answer? It is the last phrase: as the Law says!

Paul spent much time declaring that we, who have been baptized, are now free from the Law. However, he would still place women under the Law!

We all look at Eve and condemn her for being tricked by Satan, but as Christians we should have compassion instead of condemnation for Eve. Adam was right there at the time Eve was tricked (Gen 3:6) and he did nothing to keep it from happening. He also was tricked by Satan and was just as guilty as Eve: maybe more so as he did nothing to stop it. All of us who condemn Eve have also been tricked by Satan, but we, both men and women, also blame others for our mistakes! Like little children that say ‘he did it first’: as if that makes us innocent!

How great is the grief of Eve for being the first to sin, but instead of sharing her grief we blame and condemn her! That doesn’t say much for our Christianity does it?

Paul says, “My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism.” (James 2:1) and then he shows favoritism toward men! Women are part of the body, just as men are, (Gal 3:27&28 NIV) “for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Paul also says, (1 Tim 2:11-14 NIV) “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.” I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.

I would say that a man should also learn in quietness and full submission, so what is the difference? Adam was formed first, so what? Eve was formed from Adam, not from anything else. Actually, Adam was formed from dirt, so because Eve was formed from Adam, she was a little farther from dirt than Adam was. Paul was wrong about Adam when he said Adam was not the one deceived, of course Adam was deceived and became a sinner.

Now, Paul says, (1 Cor 14:37&38 NIV) “If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command.” If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored.

Well, I do think that I am spiritually gifted, but I do not believe that what Paul wrote is the Lord’s command. The commands of Jesus are only two,”Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” He says nothing about condemning women. So, I will side with my Lord and if I am ignored because of it, then so be it. After all no one but God and I know who I am, so who will you ignore?

All of God’s children sin. That includes Paul, although it is bold of me to point it out, still it was wrong and very inconsistent of his other teachings to belittle women. Paul’s statement about it being disgraceful for a woman to speak in church is Paul’s command not our Lord’s command. He says it clearer in (1 Tim 2:12 NIV) “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.” The key word there is “I”. God certainly permits women to have authority over men as He appointed Deborah as a leader of all Israel.

So, if you are a woman, do not let others belittle you by quoting just one verse from the Word of God. If someone should do so they do not yet understand.

WHY DO CHRISTIANS HAVE TO SUFFER?

As Christians we understand that God is all knowing and all powerful, so why does He allow His children to suffer? We have all asked that question when we or other Christians suffer. We know that God can end the suffering with only a word, but He does not and those whose faith is weak are further weakened.

Satan whispers in the ears of believers and unbelievers ‘If there is a God then He would heal His followers and not allow them to suffer’.

Christians pray to be healed and released from the pain and suffering. They seem to think that God does not hear them and some even ask others to pray for them, as if that would make a difference!

I have had this question myself and so I asked God why. Now, I know that the Spirit of God lives in me and I know that the Spirit was given to me to teach me all things. That is to say I believe God, so when I asked there was a small thought somewhere, in the back of my mind that I am sure came from the Spirit. He asked me, “How would anyone know what they were saved from, if they did not experience it?” This question answered my question. If we do not experience pain and suffering then they would be only words and we would be saved from only words. Our salvation would mean nothing.

However, as I thought about it more I understand that because God lives in me, when I feel pain He also feels the same pain right along with me. We tend to think that God is somewhere in Heaven, sitting on His throne, aloof from the earth. However, I know that He lives in me and is part of me and I understand, because of that He knows and also feels the same pain; maybe even more than I do. It was necessary for Jesus to suffer and so our Father let it happen, though He could have stopped it. It must have been doubly hard for Him. Because He also loves all of His children it must be very hard on Him to hear one beg Him to take the pain away.

Having said this I am sure that He will take all of our pain and suffering away when He sees it is time. He will take us home and we will never feel pain and we will never suffer again. Those who are left will look at our body and think God took our life and did not heal us and Satan will affirm their thoughts. But the one that is taken will know that God keeps His Word and heals His children.

THE SABBATH AS I UNDERSTAND IT

Has anyone else wondered why and what the Sabbath is? Why did God command Israel to do no work on the Sabbath?

Yes, we all know that God said that the Sabbath was holy to Him (Exo 16:23), but does no one wonder why a day of no work would be considered holy?

So, I believe that the Sabbath rule that God gave Israel pointed to, or was a symbol of this day, just as sacrificing a lamb was a symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus. It seems to me that all of the Law of Moses was symbolic.

I must start my explanation with the very first verses in the Bible. I understand, because God gave me this understanding, that the days revealed as the seven days of creation are days of God’s time frame; not man’s 24 hour days. They cannot be days of man’s time frame, because the two great lights that mark the days of man were not created until the third day of creation. God’s days are marked by what He set out to accomplish. They are not the 24 hour days that are marked by the sun and moon, which are the length of man’s days.

If you think about it you can see that everything that was created before verse 5 was created before the first day. There can be no morning before there was light. After light was created it was possible to have an evening, so when the Bible says. “And there was evening, and there was morning–the first day”, you can see that the sky was created on the first day and everything that was created before verse 5 was created before the first day.

Understanding this one can see that man was made on the fifth day, not the sixth day. Most people think man was made on the sixth day. I see the sixth day as everything that happened and is explained after verse 31, until Jesus came as the sixth day.

Scripture says, (Mat 4:15&16 NIV) “”Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles–” “the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.””

I believe that was the dawn of the seventh day. There could be a different meaning, but the concept certainly fits with what I believe.

So, now I can explain what I believe the symbolic meaning of the Sabbath is. This is the day when no work can be done to add to God’s work of salvation. One might ask ‘Why is it important to God that one should not try to add to God’s plan of salvation?’ and my answer is, because God suffered greatly to implement His plan. That is right, we seem to think of God sitting on His throne, aloof from the world and its problems, but that is not true. To attempt to add something to God’s plan is to attempt to claim credit for part of it and no one can truthfully do so.

Viewing this attempt from God’s point of view, I can understand why it would anger Him.

Because I understand that we live in the Sabbath of God’s days (God’s time frame) if I were to observe the seventh day of mans days (man’s time frame) as special, I would be guilty of not observing the Sabbath. In other words every day that I live I live in God’s Sabbath and I know that I did not and cannot add anything to the work of God. Every day is the Sabbath and every day I acknowledge that I did nothing but accept His grace. So I actually observe the Sabbath every day.

SHOULD WE PRAY FOR SOMEONE TO BE PHYSICALLY HEALED?

Well, at first glance it certainly seems the right thing to do, but the obvious is not always the right choice of action. I am going to make another strange statement, just as you knew I would. I do not believe God wants us to pray for someone to be physically healed.

Yes, I know that I seem to always say something that sounds wrong, but what I say always makes sense to me and if you think about it, I believe it will make sense to you as well.

I am aware that there are verses that say we should pray for the sick. James 5:14-20 is such an example. It seems clear to me that these verses are referring to someone who is spiritually ill, not to someone who is physically ill.

I asked myself, who is really sick and dying? Is it the Christian that is lying in bed with cancer and the doctor said he has only a few days to live? Or is it the athlete that is in perfect health, but does not know God? I would say it is the athlete that is facing death. No, already dead in his sins and will surly die the second death if he doesn’t repent and allow himself to be baptized. We all must die the first death, it is the second death, separation from God, that we have some control over and it is real death.

Here is the way I view the question. First I state the basics to myself. I believe that when I pass from this phase of my existence I will ascend to Heaven where there will be no sickness, worry, or problems that we face now. So, believing this, why would I try to stay here?

A long time ago I used to attend a small Bible study at a large church. One of the members was in charge of visitation. He once told me that some of the patients that he visited, who were very ill, would say to him, “I don’t understand why God doesn’t just take me” and I burst out laughing! You see they buy health insurance, have checkups, take any medicine that the doctor prescribes, have operations, and do anything else that they can do in order to stay here and then say “I don’t know why God doesn’t just take me”! Well, maybe it is because they were fighting like hell to keep Him from it!

(Isa 57:1 NIV) “The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.”

So, I have to ask myself “Is it right to ask God to heal the physically ill and subject them to more evil, or is it right to just trust in His judgment and not ask?”

I am not perfect so I may start to feel ill and ask God to heal me, because no one wants to feel bad, but I know that what ever happens, it happens for my and your good. May God’s will be done; not mine.

There is an example in the Bible where someone prayed for physical healing and received it, even though it was not the will of God.

Consider Hezekiah, King of Judah. (2 Ki 18:5 NIV) “Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.”

Hezekiah became sick and God sent Isaiah to inform him that he was going to die. Hezekiah, because of his lack of faith in God, had a fit and God heard his prayer and granted him fifteen more years of life on this earth. During those fifteen years Hezekiah showed all of the treasurers of Judah to the envoys of Babylon and they came back, after Hezekiah had died and took those treasurers. They also killed many Jews and made slaves out of those they did not kill.

In those fifteen years Hezekiah also fathered Manasseh who was such a bad king that provoked God so much that He said He would wipe out Judah; and He did.

Hezekiah got what he asked for, but all of Judah suffered because he did! If Hezekiah had just accepted what God said then the Babylonians would not have known about the treasurers of Judah and Manasseh would have never existed.

(Gal 1:3-5 NIV) “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

To leave this earth is to be rescued from this evil age. To stay here only endangers us as Satan is always trying to thwart God’s plan for us.

I am old now and I am not in perfect health. I have prayed that God would heal me, but I am not going to have a fit. What ever God has in store for me is the best thing for me and for others also. So, do not pray for my physical healing and I will not pray for yours as well. Let us place our faith in God and not in what we want, or what we think is best.

DOES A CHRISTIAN HAVE TO STAND FOR JUDGMENT?

Well, I usually have a different understanding than others and this is no exception.

My answer to this question is “No”, because a Christian has already stood before God, pled guilty to sin, and asked for mercy! To stand before God, to be judged for sin again would be “Double Jeopardy”.

Now, there are those who will point to (2 Cor 5:10 NIV) “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” And again I would say that we have already appeared before the judgment seat and pled guilty. Because we were honest with God and we asked to be forgiven, God has honored His Word, and granted mercy to us.

Others will point to Revelation 20:11-15 and say we must all stand for judgment and again I say “A Christian has already stood before God, pled guilty to sin, and asked for mercy”. These verses do not apply to a Christian, because they say the dead will stand to be judged, but we are not dead. (John 3:36 NIV) “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

Then there are those who would point to Matthew 10:15 and say that there is only one day when all men will be judged, but it would not be possible to judge all men in one 24 hour day. I believe the day declared in Matthew 10:15 is a day of God’s time and God’s days are defined by what He has set out to accomplish, not by time as man’s days are numbered.

I believe that we are in the morning of the seventh day of God’s time. The day began when Jesus was born. (Mat 4:16 NIV) “the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” This is the seventh day, the Day of Judgment, and also the Day of Salvation, the Sabbath Day, the day when no work for salvation can be done, because God has done all of that work. Later this day God will transform this earth and everything will be made perfect, then He will enter His rest.

Consider the story of the beggar named Lazarus in the Book of Luke. The rich man had already been judged and sent to Hell where he was in torment, so his day of judgment had past and yet he asked Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers to warn them. You see, if there is only one day of man’s time, when all men will be judged, then it would not be possible for the rich man to have been judged and not his brothers.

To sum this up I will say this. God loves me and I do not believe He will make me stand before all of mankind and reveal my sins to them. He would derive no pleasure from humiliating me like that, because I am His child and fathers only want what is best for their children. He doesn’t even want to look at my sin, so it makes no sense that He would want others to view them.