Pondering the Cost to Accost

I've been so busy debating on Facebook. The Christian chatroom I frequent most, is very good. There are three austere atheists that frequent the room, and a lot of profound Christians, as well as many baby Christians. Most of the atheists make fun of the Bible, in an unending rant of skepticism and stereotype. You explain something in a way that you hope they consider, but more often then not, they are not really seeking God, instead they are just looking to vent their skepticism. In all actuality, they are looking for God subconsciously; just being in the room on a daily basis "begs the question" of their motive. Just last night we discussed in length if there was a talking snake in the Book of Genesis. I had a hard time pointing out that Satan was a fallen angel, not a snake. In the Bible, Satan is called an angel of light, a roaring lion, a dragon, a serpent, and so on. These are metaphors that describe not what Satan "looks like" but what Satan "is like." Satan is sly and cunning, and I would suppose that he tempted Eve in much the same manner he tempts us today. That is, he sits on our shoulder, and mind-to-mind temptation becomes real as we lower the full armor of God, letting him in. I was challenged by the atheists as well as some Christians. A lot of comments get taken out of context, so further explanation is needed for contextualization. People share their burdens, their clichés, their testimonies, and a lot more. The scope of the room fortunately bleeds over into Christian Apologetics and theistic philosophies such as Theism, big-bang cosmology, and intelligent design. Strange as it may seem, the atheists are often the best debaters on the big-bang, origins, macro and micro evolution, and intelligent design. I suppose this is because they don't study the Bible, and have more time for other things. As far as Christian history goes, it seems that atheists and many Christians are equally illiterate. I just debated a Christian that claimed the 4th Century Roman Emperor Constantine changed the Christian day of gathering from the Sabbath (Saturday), to The Lord's Day (Sunday). That followed by blaming the Church in Rome with changing the Ten Commandments. The fact is that Christians gathered on The Lord's Day over and over in the New Testament, because Jesus rose on Sunday. This was more than three hundred years before the rise of Constantine! God rested on the seventh day of creation, and we are to rest as well. The emphasis of The Sabbath changed as it kept pointing forward to its coming fulfillment. We now rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ, and are no longer bound to the ceremonial law (shadow) that pointed forward, and had its fulfillment in the Crystal Christ, The Paragon of Virtue! Once the anti-type has come, we no longer look back to shadows and types. That would be equivalent to what the Book of Hebrews says "would be the trampling under foot the precious blood of Jesus Christ." Are you resting in the life and Person of Jesus Christ?

Get Up, And Get Out!

You've got to get tired of what you're going through, or it'll never change. As long as you're comfortable where you are, it's never going to change. As long as you're satisfied to stay in the pig pen, you're never going to get up. If you lay down with a bunch of dogs, you may as well expect to get up covered with fleas. Do you ever wonder, is this all there is to life? Am I going to rot, and rot, and rot, until I'm dead? Does anybody even know I'm alive? Does anybody really care? God's tomorrows are always a surprise! You see, this is why we really short-change ourselves when we choose not to live with God on the throne of our hearts. We think we know more than God. But friend, I'm here to tell you, if you walk one day, two days, or just three days with The Lord, He is going to surprise you! God rewards those who diligently seek Him. That's His way! You think you know what He has in store for you, you balk at pursuing Him, and you've earned yourself another day, another week, another year, in the pig pen of life. The Bible says, "that which a man sows, is what that man shall reap." We have the ability to change. There are new frontiers out there, beyond our wildest dreams, but you have to get tired of sleeping with the pigs, and being a pig. We reap that which we sow, I know the principle all too well. I've sowed a lot of hate. Malice, drunkenness, enmity, jealousy, pride, thievery, slander, yes I've sowed it all, but in the end it wasn't my hate for someone that came to fruition. It was a broken heart, and shattered dreams, that I had invited to destroy me, the seed I had sown, and now it was harvest time. We reap what we sow. Still, God holds out His hand, and bids us, "Come home!" God holds us. He follows us, watching what we are doing. He burns the midnight oil, waiting for us to come home. Someday you are going to fly right out of this world, and into another world. Once again, you are going to reap what you have sown. At that point perhaps you will wish you had done things a lot differently, but that chance will be over. You don't need that. Life is too hard as it is. You don't want to spend eternity learning the depths of suffering. You don't have as a guarantee, next year. You don't have next month. You don't necessarily have tomorrow. But you have now! And that's why "NOW" is the best time of every day! You have got to make up your mind! You have got to get up, and discover who God created you to be! There's more to life, but you will never come close to finding it, until you find the Giver of Life! He'll be The Lilly of Your Valley, your Bright and Morning Star. He's the One that believes in you more then you believe in yourself. Every single day He changes hearts and lives. You've got to believe me! He's real! He is this world's greatest hero. Not only did He die for your mistakes, but He walked out the other side in the greatest victory of all time. I thought it was cool sleeping with the dogs, but thank God, I got tired of the fleas. You might say, "If He can help me, He can help anyone!" Well, I would have to agree. God bless, and thank you for reading my ramblings!

The Stench, of mediocrity

I don't know about you, but I do not want to just live a mediocre existence, going through the motions of life with little or no meaning, just looking forward to the end of the work week to escape the job I hate. So often I have someone tell me on Thursday or Friday, "one more day, eight more hours, then we are free." So often when I am walking close to God and I hear the "one more day" desperation chant, it just buries my heart! It really does! Don't we realize the "now" of life?" "Now" is all we really have! What good does it do me, to hate the now moment, and look forward to a moment that is yet to happen? I enjoy working, but I also know that the Bible teaches that when we work for our employer, we are to do it as if we are working for The Lord. When I saw this in scripture, it struck a chord in me. I already liked to work, I already loved God, and now I see God revealing to me that behind the scenes of my everyday job, He is there. He gave me the job, He sustains me in the job, and above all He gives me extreme importance and meaning in the job and position I hold. Even the Christians fall for it, "just a few more hours", a few more hours and then what, I ask? Go home and raid the refrigerator? Go home and write an article for the paper? Go home and surf the web or watch television, or sleep, or something else? All that is fine, but you just left home! In fact, you've been here just one hour and your heart's desire is to go home. What kind of pagans are we anyway? Grown men crying like a bunch of babies. I don't get this. I don't get it at all. Forgive me if you think this is strange, but all I am saying must be contextualized as living in the "now" presence of God. I remember once, working at the golf course, there was a big tournament. I worked many, many hours that week, and even some of the members had helped out to make the big tourney a success. It was Friday evening, and the course was just about as good as it could get for the big weekend tournament. Suddenly on fairway eight, just before dark, the big mesquite tree on the right side of the fairway broke and fell into the fairway. One of the board members was near to see this, and he just hung his head. Then he lifted his head with a smile and said, "just leave it." After all it was almost dark, and we had been working nearly sixty hours that week. But when he said, "just leave it." I said, "you've got to be kidding!" I said, "I was born for a moment like this!" I know it sounds funny, but that's exactly what I said. And, I meant it! I rocked a huge part of the stump of that old mesquite tree upon my shoulder and cheated it unto the trailer. Part of my skin went with the stump, drawing blood, I didn't feel a thing. I didn't feel a thing because my real boss was there, and I was there loving the life He gave me. All day, all week, riding the mowers, listening to Christian teaching, singing, memorizing scripture, praying, living my life on the edge with My King Jesus. It just doesn't get any better than this! Living with passion! Have you been there? A good day's work, for a good day's pay. But God gives the entire thing meaning! And without God, things are just meaningless! I don't want to live another day, just going through the motions, of a life I found myself living. I challenge anyone reading this article, learn to see that God is your employer. Work will never be the same! To God be the Glory!