A witness encounter with a strange twist.

Have you ever watched a movie that had a surprise twist in the ending? One that made you say No Way! You then look back at the entire movie and see the little details a new perspective? A bunch of previous insignificant things all come together to paint a bigger picture. Well that’s what this witness encounter was.

Some of you know that I do online evangelism. Lesser of you know I have a real problem talking to people (pray for me!). Not just about Christ, but any subject. I have gotten tunnel vision and could not hear my own words, gotten lightheaded etc. when speaking to groups. One on one I go red and usually steer clear of small talk at all costs. That being said sometimes The Lord has a fish jump right in my boat and He takes control of my mouth.

Here is what happened. I had to take an important phone call for a project at work. I knew it was going to be a long one with some deep thinking. I was driving and I saw a park pulled in there and sat on a picnic bench. An old man pulled in and parked at the far corner of the parking lot. 20 minutes later he pulled out and parked nearly in front of me. I continued with my phone call but got the feeling he wanted my attention.

When I say old I mean old! I later learned he was in his upper 70’s, he was tiny and could barely see over the steering wheel. As the feeling grew stronger I thought The Lord was making it clear he is bringing me this sweet old man so I could tell him the gospel. On a hunch I told the person I was talking to I would have to call them back. I casually walked by his car to see if my feeling was right. If it was meant to be, God would have to initiate the conversation because I was not going to. Sure enough the man waved to me, I approached his vehicle and asked if he needed something. He babbled and did not make much sense. He asked what I was doing and didn’t really complete any sentences. I thought he was completely out of it and was shocked he was driving! He asked me to get in his car, I thought that was strange, but he was so old I did not feel any danger, the car was not running and I left my door open.

Despite my fears of speaking to people, I knew I could overcome them with an incoherent elderly man. I made up my mind he was going to get the gospel. I asked if he had a religious background. Nope. I told him I have a ministry and asked if I could show him what I do with people (which is to give the law, then the gospel ala Way of The Master, ala The Bible). Although this man never stole anything in all his years (I just let that go). He was a lying, blasphemous, adulterer at heart. He admitted he was guilty. He no longer seemed incoherent to me, but he had all his means it was clear there was nothing wrong with this man’s mind at all.

It also seemed clear he was ready to end the conversation. Twitching in his seat he admitted although he was guilty it was not up to him to decide if he should go to hell. I used the analogy of a judge on earth rewarding lawbreakers. He admitted a judge would not be good nor just by not punishing lawbreakers. He admitted a good judge has to punish the guilty. He finally admitted he deserved to go to hell.

I asked if he knew what God did so he would not have to go to hell. He did not. Amazing! A man in his upper 70s never heard a clear gospel presentation we should all be ashamed of ourselves! I told him of the brutal torturous punishment God laid on Himself, that he deserved. I told him this way God could remain just and still dismiss all of his sins. "Jim", I said, "you broke all the rules and God paid your fine." I explained repenting and trusting Christ. He said he was going to do it. I asked when, and he said sometime soon. I reminded him of his age and said even someone in their 20s could die any second and he need not put it off. He agreed and said he would do it soon. I asked if he owned a Bible, he did not. I said I usually have one in my car that I would give to him but today I didn’t. He said he would get his hands on one himself and read it.

I told him it was not a coincidence we met. He said he comes that park a couple times a week and asked if he would see me again. I said I would certainly come back and look for him.

That’s the basic story I told my wife. I added one more detail, which sent me through the entire encounter with a new perspective. I mentioned when he was trying to get my attention he had a $5 bill in his hand and said that was weird. She asked what it was for and I said he was just holding it in the air when he parked the car in front of me. She said are you sure he wasn’t gay? Many other details I left out of the story flashed through my head.

I remembered that when he asked me to sit in his car one of the first things he did was move toward me and his hand toward my leg. His hand suddenly stopped right before my leg, it was awkward, but I discounted that as a lonely old man, who was not all there. Then what at first seemed like gibberish small talk about what I was doing there he was really feeling me out if I was interested (perhaps a little nervous his talk made no sense to me). Then I learned that park was a place where people looked for that sort of hook up. To top it all off the obvious clincher was something he asked me. When he was convicted and saw his sin for what it was he straight out asked me, “What does The Bible say about homosexuality?” He wanted to know what God thought about it! It never crossed my mind he was asking about himself. Luckily I told him it’s a sin like many others that God will forgive if you trust and repent. Wow I thought God delivered me a sweet old man to hear the gospel perhaps before he passed on, but really sin motivated the conversation, but God was faithful to turn it into something more. With all those clues, I never saw it, however just the $5 bill and it was my wife's first instinct.

Don’t get me wrong the gospel was preached and he seemed to receive it well. However when I thought about the other details it went from God delivering me a sweet old man, to vile sinful lusts delivering him to me. Maybe I am ignorant, but such an old man picking me up? I am a 31-year-old man who could pass for his early 20s. I never once thought that he was looking for…..Praise God, regardless of the circumstance, I think Jim is going to get saved!

I am going to visit that park again and hopefully I will run into Jim. I will bring a Bible in case he did not get one of his own yet. Please pray for him.

The End of Faith?

The Bible says many will claim to be too intellectual to believe it's deep words and wisdom. An atheist friend of mine sent an excerpt of a book by Sam Harris called The End of Faith. The excerpts from the book, or my friend Dan's comments are in italics, and my replies in regular text. Please notice how this author sets up arguments against "religion" which is very easy to do as religion on a whole is joke. Than once he has his straw man set up, he attacks Christianity based on the arguments built up against religion. I see this more and more in the world of atheism; they refuse to separate the two because if they did, their arguments lose strength, their conscience eats at them and they realize they have to face a holy God one day. Because of this, God haters will use any trick, no matter how intellectually void it is, otherwise they would have to submit to their Maker, or let their conscience tear them to shreds.

A belief is a lever that, once pulled, moves almost everything else in a person's life. People do what they believe in, in my humble opinion that is not much of a revelation. Wow people act on what they believe in! What triggers the belief? In my case, I researched this stuff for 12 years before I even committed. When the trigger is pulled based on years of unbiased research is it really that surprising that you commit your life to that belief. I would not expect anything less, or what is the point of having beliefs? Actually I was biased against Christianity. I was quite happy with all my sins. As The Bible says sin can bring much temporary joy. However the more I learned, ever so slowly, my logical side screamed this is obvious truth.

There seems, however, to be a problem with some of our most cherished beliefs about the world: they are leading us, inexorably, to kill one another. Our beliefs are leading us? We are not responsible for our actions? It is our beliefs fault? That is what The Bible says man will do, justify their actions and not take responsibility. Furthermore The Bible says these wars based on religious beliefs will happen, proving scripture right again. If these religious wars were not happening and we were all living in peace, you could easily discredit The Bible. The fact that they are happening is just proof again that The Bible right. And as we know Christians get attacked, we don't go attacking.

A glance at history, or at the pages of any newspaper, reveals that ideas which divide one group of human beings from another, only to unite them in slaughter, generally have their roots in religion. Christianity does not look for war; they are the target of it. And even if you want to say the Crusades or the Inquisition (which was not a war, but an atrocity blamed on Christians), that would still only be 1 throughout all the wars of history. Now The Crusades of course were directed by The Catholic Church, not Fundamentalist Christians, and in fairness they were taking land back from Muslims that were taken from them first. The Inquisition again Catholic, in a time where no one had The Bible available to them (because the Catholic Church buried it). It's no coincidence that with The Bible removed from society completely things got so dark. Other than that there are religious wars mostly spawned from people hating Jews and Christians (and still are today) just as The Bible states will happen.

Our situation is this: most of the people in this world believe that the Creator of the universe has written a book. We have the misfortune of having many such books on hand, each making an exclusive claim as to its infallibility. Like what, let's worship cows, or that none of this is reality and were all dreaming, or that we are all getting recycled via reincarnation. Only one book is supported by thousands of 100% accurately fulfilled prophecies, historical, archaeological, and scientific evidence. My favorite book that claims the origin of the universe is the science textbook (insert sarcasm here). It claims that a small piece of matter came from nothing, exploded, and formed billions of ordered galaxies each billions of miles long with more stars that can be counted complex right down to the cell. Then some goo formed into people, from the goo to the zoo to you! The Bible hits the creation account dead on as all other issues that face man. Including why there is pain and suffering. It is also supported by evidence like no other. Again The Bible says there will be many other writings about false gods further proving its divine nature. If this was not happening The Bible would be wrong.

People tend to organize themselves into factions according to which of these incompatible claims they accept—rather than on the basis of language, skin color, location of birth, or any other criterion of tribalism. Are you serious? How does one organize themselves? Of course people with a common set of beliefs will be organized into factions, that's by definition. Using the definition of a word to disprove religion should be insulting to the intelligence of this man's readers.

Each of these texts urges its readers to adopt a variety of beliefs and practices, some of which are benign, many of which are not. All are in perverse agreement on one point of fundamental importance, however: "respect" for other faiths, or for the views of unbelievers, is not an attitude that God endorses. That is flat out lie. This author uses the term "most religions" implying Christianity but never saying it. He gets away with broad generalizations like the above because most religions are like that. Again The Bible is proven right by saying other religions will be spawning religious wars, they hate truth. Christians do respect all others. As you know many call themselves Christians that are not (again just like The Bible says) don't lump is into their actions when by very definition their actions prove they are not Christians.

Intolerance is thus intrinsic to every creed. Christians are intolerant when it comes to compromising our creed. Christ did not compromise, neither will we. We are not intolerant of others. We do not force anyone to be a Christian, it has to be a choice of the believer. Don't get me wrong, we desire others to submit to Christ and do our best to convince them of the danger they are in with out Him. That however is out of love for their very souls, we care more about them than what they think about us, so we warn them of their sickness and give them the cure, the rest is up to them.

Once a person believes—really believes—that certain ideas can lead to eternal happiness, or to its antithesis, he cannot tolerate the possibility that the people he loves might be led astray by the blandishments of unbelievers. Certainty about the next life is simply incompatible with tolerance in this one. This is getting very dangerous. The definition of tolerance is switching to that of a sociopath. When did saying something is wrong become intolerant? This slippery slope of tolerance (which in reality is just "tolerating") is becoming that you can't say anything is right or wrong. When everything is relative there is no right and wrong and you have a society sociopaths. The Christian religion is tolerant of all other religions. When a Christian shares truth with a loved one that is not being intolerant. If a person does not want to hear The Bible is clear that you leave it alone, pray for them, and show them kindness above all else so your testimony can speak to them. Once again generalizing on religions is just silly. Does this guy really claim to know everything about every religion, because he writes as he does.

Moderates in every faith are obligated to loosely interpret (or simply ignore) much of their canons in the interests of living in the modern world. No doubt an obscure truth of economics is at work here: societies appear to become considerably less productive whenever large numbers of people stop making widgets and begin killing their customers and creditors for heresy. The first thing to observe about the moderate's retreat from scriptural literalism is that it draws its inspiration not from scripture but from cultural developments that have rendered many of God's utterances difficult to accept as written. In America, religious moderation is further enforced by the fact that most Christians and Jews do not read the Bible is its entirety and consequently have no idea just how vigorously the God of Abraham wants heresy expunged. One look at the book of Deuteronomy reveals that he has something very specific in mind should your son or daughter return from yoga class advocating the worship of Krishna:
If your brother, the son of your father or of your mother, or your son or daughter, or the spouse whom you embrace, or your most intimate friend, tries to secretly seduce you, saying, "Let us go and serve other gods," unknown to you or your ancestors before you, gods of the peoples surrounding you, whether near you or far away, anywhere throughout the world, you must not consent, you must not listen to him; you must show him no pity, you must not spare him or conceal his guilt. No, you must kill him, your hand must strike the first blow in putting him to death and the hands of the rest of the people following. You must stone him to death, since he has tried to divert you from Yahweh your God… (Deuteronomy 13:7-11)

This is not my Bible quote of course, I am a KJV fellow myself, but this is not true. He should know better of his subjects before he writes. Everybody knows that is from the Civil Law of Moses which is dead. Christ crucified that right along side of himself. The Bible is very clear that that was a law for the people of that time and the savior ended much Jewish tradition.

Furthermore when people pull out harsh sounding verses to prove there is no God makes me very wary of them. Tell me, if I told you that I don't think George Bush exists and I proved it to you by saying: There were no WMD's, the war is failing, and he wants tax the poor! You would say that does not prove he does not exist, that just proves that I don't like him. That's what these people do, they say God does not exist by going "see, he is such a meany", when in reality you need to know the whole story. Furthermore there is not one recorded stoning of a child (kids actually listened back then!) Unlike today where innocent people are being killed all the time by law breakers, you don't hear of many being killed by the law breakers or by punishment back then. Because of strict law in those ages, order was kept, in fact better than it is today where much more innocent blood is flowing.

Whatever I am now commanding you, you must keep and observe, adding nothing to it, taking nothing away.") The above passage is as canonical as any in the Bible, and it is only by ignoring such barbarisms that the Good Book can be reconciled with life in the modern world.

More ignorance; man is not allowed to take away or add to the word, but of course God is. And as I pointed out, Jesus said with his own mouth that he put an end to these laws. Lest he suffered and died for nothing. The Bible is a progressing book. That's one of the reasons it's so amazing and unlike other religions. It progresses through thousands of years of time with many different authors that never knew each other and lived thousands of years apart. It has one common theme of the Jesus Christ throughout. This is no ordinary book. God has changed the rules and your above Bible verse is not to be done any more according to God Himself.

Not allowing ourselves and our ideas of how to treat one another evolve seems like a major mistake. They have evolved clearly, obviously the above verse is not in effect, and many thousands of other things have changed. This mans argument shows he knows NOTHING about Christianity and should keeps his thoughts on the subject to himself until he gets educated on it.

Clinging onto a set of laws and beliefs in something so old and inappropriate for our times, trying to take everyone back to a less enlightened state of affairs because we don't want to admit that the wisdom of the time wasn't perfect and complete eternal, doesn't seem like a smart way to live, and is most likely quite dangerous.

I will go with something that has survived time even though EVERY GENERATION has tried get rid of it. This is not unique. Think about all the attacks and the fact that is still around is another testimony. People were killed throughout history just for having a bible. These "aren't we just too smart now" attacks are nothing compared to what The Bible has seen. Trust me, living a Christian life is not dangerous. Also notice how he starts writing about "all religions" than just switches to focus on only Christianity. If you ask me, he could have proved his opening arguments better using Muslims. Funny he went after Christianity, so sly like too with the subtle switch.

Our world is fast succumbing to the activities of men and women who would stake the future of our species on beliefs that should not survive an elementary school education. That so many of us are still dying on account of ancient myths is as bewildering as it is horrible, and our own attachment to these myths, whether moderate or extreme, has kept us silent in the face of developments that could ultimately destroy us. Indeed, religion is as much a living spring of violence today as it was at any time in the past. The recent conflicts in Palestine (Jews v. Muslims), the Balkans (Orthodox Serbians v. Catholic Croatians; Orthodox Serbians v. Bosnian and Albanian Muslims), Northern Ireland (Protestants v. Catholics), Kashmir (Muslims v. Hindus), Sudan (Muslims v. Christians and animists), Nigeria (Muslims v. Christians), Ethiopia and Eritrea (Muslims v. Christians), Sri Lanka (Sinhalese Buddhists v. Tamil Hindus), Indonesia (Muslims v. Timorese Christians), and the Caucasus (Orthodox Russians v. Chechen Muslims; Muslim Azerbaijanis v. Catholic and Orthodox Armenians) are merely a few cases in point. In these places religion has been the explicit cause of literally millions of deaths in the last ten years.

The Catholic church as a whole is actually on the other side, not mine. The Bible makes that clear. True Bible believing Christians will defend themselves, and stand up for their fellow man when true atrocities are happening. However they are not causing wars. Of course we all know the US is no longer a Christian nation, so don't confuse them in this.

The Bible also speaks on intellectuals, knowing that they would have their day of attack. In fact, it speaks most of the battle with intellectuals during the end times period. Here is what is says about them:

Romans 1, the people that turn from God will profess to be wise even though their conscience and the creation clearly point s to God

[20] For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
[21] Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
[22] Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools

First Corinthians 1 points out that people who preach the cross will be considered fools. Those who are prudent will not understand our beliefs. God decided to use "the foolishness of preaching" to save those that are humble. Of course this sounds foolish to this author, God said it would.

[18] For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
[19] For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
[20] Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
[21] For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
[22] For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
[23] But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
[24] But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
[25] Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
[26] For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
[27] But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
[28] And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
[29] That no flesh should glory in his presence.
[30] But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
[31] That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

First Corinthians 3 pretty clear:

[18] Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
[19] For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
[20] And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
[21] Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

Sounds like this book will fall right in line with scripture; a better title to me would be Strengthening Faith. Thanks for the great blog material

Take care,

Paul

A form of Godliness but denying the power

So often my biggest critics are those who were raised in the church, or at some point they "gave their life to Christ". Usually given a "God is all love" gospel, they make a profession of faith and never truly handed over the reigns of their life to God. When trials, tribulations, and persecutions come they spit the bit out of their mouth. They never truly said "Lord Thy will be done", so in turn God said to them, "alright have it your way". They abandon their maker believing they can "re-mold" themselves when really they are throwing a perfectly good creation into the fire.

Every time I encounter someone is vehemently against The Lord Jesus Christ I can almost always guess that they got burned by trying out God at sometime in their life. The Bible does not promise a bed of roses when you become a Christian. In fact it promises trials, temptations and persecution. The thing is, those who are truly saved gladly weather the storm being a faithful soldier. Those who were never saved say, this Christianity is a bunch of bull. They are worse off than if they would have never stepped foot in the church. The chance of reaching this person for Christ is practically zilch. Of course all things are possible with God, so never count them out completely.

If you read nothing else on this blog, please read this paragraph. Having an intellectual belief in Jesus Christ means absolutely nothing, and it does not make you a Christian. Believing in God, does not save you, the devil believes in God. If you thought you were a Christian becuase you acknowledged God the Father, or The Son you weren't one. No one has ever expierenced the power of touching the hand of God and walked away.

Let me illustrate this for you. I believe in parachutes! In fact I have even seen them, I know there are parachutes. This is an intellectual belief in parachutes. Now the questions are these. Do I trust in the parachute? Will I put it on? Will I jump out of airplane trusting it with my life? Heck no I won't. In a parachute religion, I would be a false convert for sure. The only way I am ever trusting in a parachute is if I have absolutely no other choice. So often that is how man feels. We have all seen it, people who never go to church have a loved one dying or they themselves are and they are praying and asking for prayer. They are trying to put on the parachute while they are falling, friend put it on now! People will try everything and anything before trusting Christ, and often they hit the ground before they ever see the need to put Him on. Friend your need is today, you could be closer to hitting the ground than you think!

The Bible speaks about people in the last days. It says they will have a form of Godliness with out the power. To me, these are the people that believe in parachutes but never get the experience of jumping from 10,000 feet and having the parachute save them. There is power in the cross of Christ. If you have not experienced it, than you just had a form of Godliness with out the power.

Here is scripture that talks much about what I have said in this blog. It's 2 Timothy Chapter 3. I know this chapter is specific to the last days, but it fits real good for right now (is that a coincedence or are we getting very close?). It gives a great account of those who never trusted vs. those who have. Examine yourself and see what camp you are in. Check verse 2: are you number 1 in your life? Do you constantly desire things you don't have? Do you boast of your goodness? Are you proud of it?(The Bible says there is none good, no not one). Do you use the Lords name in vain? Did you listen to your parents? Are you thankful for everything God has given you, like your taste buds and your vision? Unholy? It keeps going ask yourself what it says in verses 3 & 4. Uh oh are you sexually permiscuous jump to verse 6. Are you an intellectual that does not like Christ? Than check out verse 7. Starting at verse 10 you will see the attributes of a true believer.

[1] This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.[2] For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,[3] Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,[4] Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;[5] Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.[6] For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,[7] Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.[8] Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.[9] But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.[10] But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,[11] Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.[12] Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.[13] But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.[14] But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;[15] And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.[16] All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:[17] That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

If you are a bitter "former Christian" I just want to let you know, you were never a Christian. It's not too late to become one. You just have to be willing to trust solely in Christ Jesus to save you. You could start falling at any moment 10 out of 10 people die. Repent and trust Christ now.

Open letter to my friends

This is an open letter to all my friends. If you are not a Christian, the natural man in you will want to laugh this off and perhaps not even finish this letter, and certianly not think seriously about it. However since you are my friend, please do me one last favor and think hard about this.

To my dear friends, both old and new. I beg you read this. Whether you are my oldest and dearest friends I grew up with through middle and high school, or a new friend I have met in the last 13 years. I beg you read this with great discernment. Knowing that my only motive is a love for you. A strong love and desire for you to not go the broad way which leads to pain, suffering and destruction that so many take.

First of all, those of you that know me know I am not some crazy religious wacko. My friends, those from high school. We grew up together as a family. All of us had problems at home in some way or another. We escaped that trough our friendship. Every day we spent together, it's not supposed to be like that. Now that I have a family, four beautiful children, I see the way we were all raised as a tragedy. The family unit should be woven together tightly, a bond that cannot be replaced with friends, drugs, alcohol, and parties. Those things ended up defining us in our very important and impressionable teen years. It saddens me that now in our 30s many of you still have that exact same life. This is not a rebuke, nor a rip on you, as you all I know I am not like that. I know how hard it is to leave a lifestyle that defined who you are when relying on yourself. I also know that many of you have no desire to move on, to learn truth, and what life truly is about; which is to serve our Father The Lord Jesus Christ. He truly wants you to be His son and it hurts Him, that you live your life with out acknowledging all that He has given you. I have lost touch with some of you, I know most of my friends do not even know the names of my children, and have not even seen the younger ones. I miss you guys, and do love you. Although we lived our lives all wrong I have many great memories with you. To my new friends, my earnestness is just as sincere. I pray you to listen.

I am now a Christian. I had studied the claims of The Bible for over 10 years. This wonderful book with hundreds to thousands (depending on what you consider a prophecy) of 100% accurately fulfilled prophecies. Ones that name specific countries and times. Ones that you can confirm with a Bible and encyclopedia. The scientific, archeological, historical and prophetic evidence, led me to believe the claims of The Bible were true. However, I was not a Christian after those 10 years. I had an intellectual belief in The Christ Jesus, but that alone cannot save you. Of course demons believe in Christ, we know that they are not children of God.
Awaken your senses! Look around at this wonderful world we live in. It is created with order and complexity that could not happen by accident coming from nothing. Look at your eye and all it's complexities. From the universes and galaxies, all the way down to the single cell, everything has order and design. Your conscience is God's law written on your heart. Your DNA is an actual language, much like Morse code! Who wrote that language and designed all this stuff? As a Christian, I can proudly proclaim My Father did.

The truth about God has been distorted, and my concern is you do not have a correct understanding of God. Sadly, there has been a move in America that says God is all love. Believe in God, pray to him when you need to be picked up, or even at night in your bed. Than He will love you and save you. This is not true; this is not what The Bible says. The Bible says unless you are born again you will not see the kingdom of God. I know that word makes you cringe, but brace yourself, I am born again. Being born again means you die to yourself and become a new creature in Christ. The good news is you don't have to have the strength to leave the old ways and become this new creature. That would be work righteousness, which God hates. There is nothing you can do to save yourself, it is a gift granted from God. Also it is such a radical change; you know there is no way you could do it yourself, that it truly is God manifesting Himself with you. He gets all the credit and glory. You just have to be willing to let Him turn your life upside down and inside out and mold you into His image. You have to be willing to admit: in and of yourself you are a lowly sinner, nothing more. You have to be willing to bend a knee and worship God. As a good child would respect and revere their father, you need to do the same to your Heavenly Father. If you can humble yourself in front of God, remove the pride, He will do the rest. You have to be willing to take on the trials and tribulations that come with being a soldier in the battle of good versus evil. Friends and family will turn on you. People will call you names and you will lose friendships, but I assure you, you will have the strength to endure and march forward. It also strengthens your faith because The Bible says that is exactly what will happen; and has happened to me.

I know many of you believe in God, but have been fooled by the "God loves you, and is an all loving God" gospel. God does love you. But he is also good, just, and righteous. God always existed he did not make Himself, and He cannot change. He is what He is and always was. He has to give justice; otherwise he would not be good. As you would not consider a human judge to be good if he did not punish law breakers, God cannot be good if He does not either.
You see we are all in transgression of God's law. Many people think Christians are "holier than thou" goody two shoes. The fact is we are just like non-Christians, with one difference. As a sinner, you are a sinner period. As a Christian, I am a sinner saved by Grace. That is it. If you take an honest look in God's mirror (The 10 commandments) you will see you have a very ugly face. Have you loved God above all else, ever stolen, ever lied, ever taken God's name in vain, ever had sexual desires about someone else's spouse? You will see you are a lying, thieving, blasphemous, lustful, coveting creature. One who does not love God, or thank Him for all things He does for you. One that has created a God in your own image, that suits you and that you are comfortable with. How many times have you used God's name in vain this week? Whether it be GD, JC, or just Oh My G**! This is showing no respect for your Father. You would never use your mother's name this way. Nor would you even use Hitler, or Mohammed's name this way. The Bible says people naturally hate God and that is why we use His name this way. I did not even touch all the commandments, but that is enough for you to see you are guilty of breaking God's law.

God has to punish you, but He loves you and the thought of you perishing grieves Him greatly. God does not want you to perish, so He came up with a plan to reconcile His love for you, with His righteousness, His justice, His goodness, and His holiness. He decided to lay the punishment on Himself. He lowered Himself to our form. He came in humility born in a filthy manger with the dirt and filth that is in barn animals homes. He lived His adult life as a servant to us; our mighty God who created billions of universes with a flick of His finger came to us. What did we do? We killed Him. He became sin so He could lay the punishment that we deserve on Himself. After a gruesome scourging that would have killed many, he was crucified. A horrible, torturous and painful death. He had fear, felt pain like any human. While in other religions people die for their God, our God died for us.

Now you have a decision to make. Picture this. You were in a court room owing a million dollar fine, or being dragged off to prison. A man comes in that you don't know gives the judge the million to set you free. Would you say, "I can't accept this man's money, please take me to prison" or would you take the gift? Jesus did this very thing, he stepped into the courtroom 2000 years ago. You can accept His payment for your sin, or let the punishment fall on you. It's your choice. One day all will bend a knee and declare Jesus Christ as Lord, please do it now, because if you do it on the day of judgement it will be too late.

Look at the world today. It's getting worse with every passing day. Everything that is going on right now is in The Bible. It's all going by The Book proving it's supernatural origin. Don't take my word for it, start reading it. If you do want to live for The Lord, tell Him you are sorry. Sorry for living your whole life in rebellion to Him. Believe in The Lord Jesus Christ. Confess Him with your mouth. Admit your sins, and turn from them. That is called repenting. Ask God for a new heart with new desires, repentance is granted from God, it is not a work you can do. He will turn you from your sin when you turn toward Him. Get a Bible and read it every day. Do what it says. God will not let you down. He is patient and longsuffering that not one will perish that is willing to come to Him.

I pray for all of you every night. Not just I, but Andrea and the kids do as well. I cannot explain the radical changes that happen when you give your life to The Lord. Things you could never do on your own. In fact things you would never desire to do on your own. God reveals Himself to you. Don't love your sin so much that you are not willing to let God take it from you. Please don't let sin cloud truth. Pride and sin are the only things stopping you from doing this. The choice is life and death. Eternal life or the second death, it's up to you.

With sincere love in Christ,
Paul

If you had to choose between admitting a lie, or being killed defending it, what would you do?

If you are still thinking about that question I am scared to know what you are hiding! Obviously you would confess to the lie; rather than face death, now let's add a torturous death. It's obvious you would confess to your lie. Apply this same logic to what I say next. I can't stress enough, that when faced with such common sense if you fail to see any connection than examine your conscience. Could it just be that you like the way your life is and would have to give up too much to follow God? Sadly many people make that choice every day. However many do not.

Between 1900 and 1980, approximately 26 million, more than half of all Christian martyrs up to that point, were killed. Yes comfy American, there are countries right now all over the world where you are killed for being a Christian. There are countries that do not allow the bible at all! Please ask yourself, why is this happening? Why is the Bible being snuffed out? Also please note the bible prophecies it will happen, there are many fulfilled prophecies in the bible, thousands.

Imagine people choosing death over denying Christ all throughout history; millions of people. Why is it that you give little to no thought over something you know millions have died for, you may have not even read the bible once in the last year. Aren't you a bit curious to know what people are dying for every day? Right now someones life is in danger simply for proclaiming Christ.. These same countries that persecute Christians want to destroy Israel, God's original chosen people, as well. Please at least do some research yourself, read your bible and do what it says, give yourself a fair chance to both sides. How many other things do you completely deny that you may know very little about? The bible says this happens, many will not see, but you can if you look!

Lets go back to my original question. Would you die for a lie. You would have know it was not a lie to give your life. So if you still don't want to believe, you must think these people were deceived. Hundreds of thousands of people each year are being deceived to their death, and millions more profess the same belief but are not being killed. If you believe that, than you should really be against Christianity. You should have your own blog fighting this atrocity that people are dying for.

What about those that could not be deceived, because they were there, or better yet. Christ himself. All mainstream historians agree Jesus Christ was put to death 2000 years ago by the Roman government for claiming to be God. He was tortured tremendously. He was not deceived. All the apostles except John were martyred, horrible deaths. At any moment they could have renounced Christ and lived (and been celebrated by the locals who hated Christians, they would have been their poster boys!). They didn't because they had no fear of death. They saw him back from the dead, so did with many others. They saw the miracles, it is historical fact that they died for Jesus, tell me you think he fooled them all? Then the best part, they started the largest church in history that has spread the entire globe and lasted the last 2000 years! If so you have great faith in your beliefs, even greater than mine.

God says if you are not with him, you are against him. There is no straddling the fence. If you are not willing to take the time to do the research and make an educated decision, than you should ask yourself, have you already made your decision? If you are not willing to read your bible for awhile and do what it says and see for yourself, research this phenomena a bit, it should be obvious, you have chosen the world over God. Whether you are content with life, maybe not willing to give up a particular sin, maybe you are too intellectual. Whatever the reason, your silence to God is heard loud and clear.

10 out of 10 people die, make sure you do your homework on what happens next. The answers are there.

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

$100 evolution challenge

Below is another blog I am bringing over from my old blog site (and some others comments). As usual it is one of the most heated whenever I step on the religion of evolution. I can't blame them, it's all they have to quiet their conscience and still enjoy their sin.

It's funny, the bible has been under attack since it's inception. You would think with so many relentless attacks, and all the knowledge we have gained, in our lifetimes alone, at least one thing that could disprove the bible would have come up by now; if there are anything. Since there is nothing, those that choose to war with their Creator have to resort to fables and flat out lies. I plan on releasing a series of blogs that expose the lies Americans are being indoctrinated through schools and T.V. This first one all but disproves evolution. You make the call, and please do your own research.

Remember the bible promises us people will deny the creation account, and they do it for one reason: To follow after their own lusts. So if you read this and refuse to accept the obvious facts laid in front of you, maybe you should question your heart, do you have an ulterior motive? If you are just seeking after truth, than it should be quite eye opening.

All life is built on the basis of information. It's like a series of letters and codes in our DNA. It can actually be read by people who know the language, much like Morse code. Life is built in a great way to support evolutionists. All we need to do is add a little more information here and there and we are evolving! It's logical, and very believable.

Now that we can observe the information that makes up life, we should see information being added millions and millions of places. So take a guess how many instances of information we have observed being added to genetic code? The answer is not one. No one has ever documented even just one instance of new information arising from matter by itself. All observations in science show clearly that information only comes from previously existing information.

If you can come up with one instance of new information being added to the human genome via a mutation or evolutionary change (yes us Christians believe in micro evolution, we just don't believe a lizard became a cat, or a monkey became a human for that matter). Not to get too far off track, but one quick question. With all the fossils we have found, how come there is not 1 fossil of in-between form life? No not one, HELLO!. I admit, one thing evolutionists do have me a bit worried about is they have a stronger faith than I do!

I will give you $100 if you are the first person to send me scientific evidence of new information being added to our genetic code. If you can't send me proof, please at least start using a new theory, and remember the bible has gone challenged and unchanged for thousands of years.

Here is the best part you must watch:

Leading evolutionist (and God mocker) Richard Dawkins being asked for one simple example of new information being to the human genome. Please watch it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaKryi3605g

Yes that was 11 seconds! Even better, listen when he comes back. Whenever anyone anwers a question, that has nothing to do with the question, you know they are dancing! Plus that comment after he cut, was a bunch of rhetoric explaining why there is NO evidence for evolution.

	~~Me~~	Your Bible has NOT gone unchanged (nor unchallenged) for thousands of years. First of all, the new testament is under 2,000 years old. Second of all, it has been translated, revised, retranslated, and the chapters that the Bible consists of have been VOTED on by men. ..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> You cannot witness changes in genetic code during such a short period of time. However, new species are being discovered all the time. Here's something that is observable and indisputable: the cell theory: all living organisms consist of at least one cell, the cell is the smallest unit capable of sustaining life, and only existing cells can give rise to new cells. Is your supreme being merely a cell? From the archebacteria through the eukarya, every organism fits this description. You are propagating ignorance. You not only need to brush up on the science, but you also need to learn your own history. Posted by ~~Me~~ on Sunday, April 15, 2007 at 8:05 PM [Reply to this]

	Paul	The Bible's various translations (or at least ones respected by Bible believing Christians) are always translated from the original language. Don't be silly we don't translate to one language, then translate another from that, then another from that. New languages are translated from the orignal language The Dead Sea Scrolls found in the 20th century were an exact translation as to what we have in the King James Version of the Bible. These were ancient documents written between 200 BC - 100 AD. This was an amazing discovery! It had tons of scripture carried by Jews 2000 years ago, and it matched what we have today. Prior to this our oldest copies were about 900 years later. Yes they are uchanged, and always challenged. I am concerned that you would use an argument that you would know to be false just from reading wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea_Scrolls). For anyone to base such an important decision as knowing your eternal fate on something they just heard is very scary. Others have gotten this idea from a fictional novel Please do not believe anything you read in a fictional novel, or are just told by someone. Please do your research, always! It is clear The Bible as we have it today is written as it was thousands of years ago, God kept his book in tact. It was not voted on like The Da Vinci Code (fictional novel) states. Please read what really happened at the councel of Nicea. Mixing a little bit of truth with lot's of fiction is effective, and thats what this book does. It obviously works since people will base their eternity on what it says. To your other point, how long does it take to witness change in the genetic code, shouldn't there be little changes by now? Yes everything has cells, Darwin called it "the simple cell". We know now it is more complex than anything man has ever built. Darwin based his theory on the cell being simple, well it's not! But what does that have to do with God? Of course he is not a cell, that does not even make sense. I have no idea how the fact that he used cells in creation, would possibly make him "merely a cell" Listen, I don't get paid for this. I have 4 kids and 2 jobs. I only do this because I care about where you will spend eternity, more than what I care you think about me. Please give it fair shake, do some research, and read your Bible. Try doing what it says, and ask God to give you wisdom. If you are sincere it will be a radical change. If you are not willing to do that, would you please let me know why? Posted by Paul on Sunday, April 15, 2007 at 8:29 PM [Reply to this]

	Jessie	Can you prove that the Bible has been the unchanged for so long? 2000 years is a long time. Posted by Jessie on Monday, June 04, 2007 at 1:12 PM [Reply to this]

	Paul	Yes I can. The Bible has more copies (that all match) closer to the originals than any other ancient document_ In fact it's not even close, the numbers are exponential. You have to throw out EVERY OTHER historical writing if you throw out The Bible. Please research the numbers, I don't have them in memory. It is the most reliable ancient book. It is also dead on with all the secular history it names, and it name a lot. Rulers, dates, wars, cities, countries and much more. It has had more attempts to be stopped than anything in history and yet it lives on with the blood of millions willing to die to keep it marching on. 100% precision on all it's prophecies. I am rambling on now, there is more but I digress. There is more on some of my other blogs. Also research The Dead Sea Scrolls. Found in the 1940s. These ancient documents are dated from Before Christ to after His death. They not only had scripture but secular writings as well. This most amazing discovery showed that what we have in the King James Version of the bible, is an exact match to books written in The Old Testament. Again please research The Dead Scrolls. I have written about them, on this blog I believe in a different response to a comment. That brought the closest copy of some books of The Bible 900 years earlier than anything we ever had, and still an exact match! I prefer to let The Book speak for itself. Before questioning The Bible, read it with an open mind and research the other side to the argument. The Bible says it will not make sense to those that come with with a proud heart. Read it with a humble spirit seeking truth and it will be much clear. Posted by Paul on Monday, June 04, 2007 at 3:54 PM [Reply to this]

	Chris	Allow me to elaborate. You said, "Please do not believe anything you read in a fictional novel, or are just told by someone." However, this, to my mind, is the basis of why most, if not all, Christians (or members of ANY religion, for that matter) follow their faith: because of things they read in the Bible, and things they were told by parents, ministers, and the like. In other words, this is all a rather roundabout way of saying that, though you may not be aware of it, this was, in my view, a rather hypocritical statement for you to make. Posted by Chris on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at 2:41 PM [Reply to this]

	Paul	The Da Vinci Code was written and published as a fictional novel. The Bible was written as literal history. There is no hypocrisy in my statement. Furthermore I don't believe anything told to me by ministers/parents or anyone unless confirmed in The Bible. I trust solely The Word of God, as do all true Christians. I am not following a cunningly devised fable here. First, before I was saved, I was quite happy in my sin, I loved it. However truth is truth, I was not indoctrinated by anyone. I was not raised in the church and I went to public schools. Once the truth is revealed to you it's a whole new world. I gain nothing by spending my little free time I have on this. I don't get paid, I do lose friends, but who am I to deny truth? And now that I know it I must stand for it. Posted by Paul on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at 2:43 PM [Reply to this]

	Chris	"The Da Vinci Code was written and published as a fictional novel." I agree. Good read, though. "The Bible was written as literal history." I disagree. Some of it seems purely poetic; Song of Solomon for eample. And Paul's letters are mainly designed to preach dogma, rather than record history. But I digress. "Furthermore I don't believe anything told to me by ministers/parents or anyone unless confirmed in The Bible. I trust solely The Word of God, as do all true Christians." Exactly: Unless "confirmed" in the Bible. You exhort others to do "research" to discover the truth, but if your own "research" is based entirely on viewing the Bible as the Holy Word of God, it is based entirely on faith, which is the exact opposite of research. Hence, hypocrisy. And please don't disappoint me by quoting 2nd Timothy as proof that the Bible is divinely inspired; that sort of circular logic is so laughably childish I'll have no response except to mock you mercilessly. True, you were not raised in the Church, but I'd wager anything you're raising your children in the Church. Now, do you really encourage them to think critically, ask questions, and research various sources to come to well-rounded conclusions and find truth for themselves? Or do you do the exact opposite, stifling their capacity for independant thought and critical thinking, by teaching them to unquestioningly believe, as you do, that the Bible is flawless Holy truth? "...but who am I to deny truth?" I've never known you to do anything else, my friend. :) Posted by Chris on Monday, December 10, 2007 at 4:04 PM [Reply to this]

	Paul	"I disagree. Some of it seems purely poetic; Song of Solomon for eample. And Paul's letters are mainly designed to preach dogma, rather than record history. But I digress." I agree with you. I did not mean the entire Bible is History. I just meant it included literal history in it's pages. ----------------------- "Exactly: Unless "confirmed" in the Bible. You exhort others to do "research" to discover the truth, but if your own "research" is based entirely on viewing the Bible as the Holy Word of God, it is based entirely on faith, which is the exact opposite of research. Hence, hypocrisy. And please don't disappoint me by quoting 2nd Timothy as proof that the Bible is divinely inspired; that sort of circular logic is so laughably childish I'll have no response except to mock you mercilessly." That may be true for many. But the truth is my dad has been trying to get me to Bible study for years (he got saved when I was an adult, just to make that clear). I want to have my own unifluenced beliefs about The Bible so I have been studying independently through reading and meditating on the word and prayer for wisdom. I did not have a presupposition that The Bible was the holy word of God. I researched it tentatively for 10 years before I commited my life to Christ and His will. Your arguments don't hold water in my circumstance. I don't need 2nd Timothy to tell me its the word of God, I have experienced it. No one can have God revealed to them with out it smacking you right between the eyes. People know it's the word of God because of the radical changes it brings you. The small miracles God lets you see. Like I told you before, I wish I could it explain it, but its unexplainable ----------------------- "True, you were not raised in the Church, but I'd wager anything you're raising your children in the Church. Now, do you really encourage them to think critically, ask questions, and research various sources to come to well-rounded conclusions and find truth for themselves? Or do you do the exact opposite, stifling their capacity for independant thought and critical thinking, by teaching them to unquestioningly believe, as you do, that the Bible is flawless Holy truth?" Yes my children are raised in church. I have told them all that being a Christian is something they have to decide for themselves, and I can't do it for them. I told them to never be afraid of letting me know if they decided not to be Christians (because I would want to know so I could do some serious praying and fasting). I don't have to tell them to critically read The Bible, because I know 100% with out a doubt it is the word of God. I don't know how many times I can say this, but God reveals Himself to you, thats why I am a bold Christian. Chris, the only way you can see it is by agreeing God is higher than you and you have to answer to Him, and be willing for Him to take any sin out of your life that He wants, two things that you don't want to do right now. You like being top dog, and you like your sin, so you can't even argue this, you have no way of knowing if He is real because you have met the requirements for Him to become your God. The Bible is very clear, you are serving the prince of this world and he is your father, not God. -------------------- About me denying truth, I can't say the same for you. You can't deny something you don't understand. You haven't experienced it and you never will if you won't humble yourself and turn from sin. However if you do, you will know exactly what I am talking about. Take care Chris, I appreciate all your writings, don't lose touch. Posted by Paul on Monday, December 10, 2007 at 4:36 PM [Reply to this]

	A Double You	You're a fag! Posted by A Double You on Monday, April 16, 2007 at 7:42 AM [Reply to this]

	Paul	Thank-you for those words. They mean a lot to me. Two things actually. First as seen in 2nd Timoth versus 1-4, the bible says people will be like this, there are tons of examples where the bible speaks of man's heart, especially in the last days, which I believe we are in. So kind words like this just remind me the bible is right: -------------- 2nd Timothy 1- 4: This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good. Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; ---------- Second you are reminding me that I am blessed by God as shown here. ----------- Matthew 5:11 &12: Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. ----------- I don't even know you, and you despise me, ever wonder why? Posted by Paul on Monday, April 16, 2007 at 7:48 AM [Reply to this]

For Christians Only

If you are not a Christian, this is not for you. You are a guest, I want you to read my blogs, listen to your conscience, and hand over the reigns to The Lord God Almighty!

If you are a brother or sister of mine I am looking for partners. I witness to people online via IM, chat rooms, social networking sites, and blogs. I also work with parents with disabled children (especially congenital amputees like my little Savannah, born with out a left hand). If you would like to be a part of every soul this ministry brings The Lord, or every family we help please donate. Thank you in advance.

You can support this ministry using the donate button at this page
A Fighting Chance Ministry

Jesus died for my sins? That does not even make sense. What exactly do you mean?

Below is a blog (and some comments from where I use to have it published) that explains God's awesome grace.

First a bit of background. Let's start with the fact that God the Father is just and righteous. God is good; evil is the absence of God. Evil is nothing that was created; it's simply the product of turning away from God. When you examine your conscience, when you feel certain things are just wrong (i.e. rape, stealing, pedophilia, murder, lying). Where did we get that from? Obviously our Creator put that there. Our conscience is God given (I invite your thoughts on where you think the conscience comes from).

Ok, so going back to God, he is all perfect. He has a perfect place that is free from sin and evil. He cannot allow fallen sinful beings into his presence. It would be like us fixing up a room real nice with expensive white furnishings and letting dogs covered in mud into the room, it would completely wreck it! We would do the same thing to heaven in our current nature; we would ruin it. Furthermore God is good, and therefore has to punish transgressions. As I will expand into a bit later with the good test, God is our judge. Tell me, would you consider any human judge to be good or just, that did not punish people for their crimes? No, you would say that they are a horrible judge! Of course we can't hold God to less standard than a human judge. People must get their just deserve. I assume you agree, people should be punished for their breaking of the law. Ok, so you are saying you agree…. but "I am not that bad. I certianly didn't need anyone to die for me, my my neighbor maybe, but not me"

Let's examine our goodness. Treat this like a conversation; please answer each question before moving on to the next, as if we were talking face to face.

Have you ever told a lie? Answer___________ What would that make you? __________Or better yet, what would you call me if I told you a lie? You would call me a Liar.

Have you ever stolen anything? __________ Regardless of value or how long ago it was. Lots of people say, well I did once, but I don't anymore. If that is the case for you, I would ask you if a judge was facing someone who said "Judge, this crime I committed was 6 years ago and I have not done it again since." Would he be a good judge to let him go? Of course not, there must be a punishment for the crime. So if you steal something, what would that make you?__________ Answer: A thief.

Have you ever used God's name in vain? This God that gave you your life and everything you love, and you drag his name through the mud to show disgust. How would you feel if I used your Mothers name to show disgust? Forgive me for assuming you have done these, I am basing this on my life, I certainly have done all of these things; so I am not judging, just using my personal experience. Using God's name to show disgust is called blasphemy.

Jesus said God is so holy he judges our thought life. He states that if you look at a woman with sexual thoughts, God the Holy Father sees that as committing adultery in your heart. So if you are anything like me, than by your own admission you are a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart. You are standing in front of God on judgment day, are you going to be innocent or guilty? Obviously you are guilty, as am I. Those were just 4 of the 10 commandments; there are 6 more pointing at you.

You are now found guilty in the site of God, and since God is just, he must punish you (as you would feel any human judge should do for breaking our system of law). God is clear on the sentence, you cannot enter His holy kingdom. Since God is just, he has to punish sin, just as you would say any good judge in the court of law has to give punishment to law breakers. How could you hold God to less of a standard than a human judge? There must be a punishment otherwise He would not be just and good.

This may sound harsh or even unfair, until you go further in the story. God decided it to be good to lay the punishment on Himself! He came to earth in the form of a human as Jesus the son. A human that feels pain, that is tempted, that gets tired, hungry, has a mother etc. It pleased God to take the punishment for us, and to put Jesus through horrendous torture via scourging, and the most gruesome form of the death penalty, crucifixion. Jesus Christ stepped in and said I will take this man's punishment, apply my blood to clean him up so he may enter your kingdom. He suffered greatly, all so God could say on your judgement day "this man's transgressions have been dealt with, the fine has been paid in full" and that's how Jesus died for you. You broke the law, He paid the fine. You just accept the free gift, and put on the blood of Christ, it covers all your iniquities. Your sin will be punished one of 2 ways. Through the suffering of Jesus, or eternity in hell, it's your choice.

1:40 AM - 7 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment -

	Juliet	Grace is awesome! Posted by Juliet on Friday, April 13, 2007 at 8:25 AM [Reply to this]

	Chris	You explain the theology very well, but if you wish to convert non-Christians, starting your argument with the assumption that the Judeo-Christian god exists may render your argument unpersuasive. How would you minister to, say, an atheist? Posted by Chris on Thursday, May 03, 2007 at 11:41 AM [Reply to this]

	Paul	Great question, I appreciate it! I would do it the same way for an atheist. Hebrews 4:12 says For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. God brings people to him, not evidence. Bypassing the intellect and talking to the conscience is much more effective. Even if I can convince someone that God exists using evidence, it does not save their soul, so I try not to get into arguments when evangelizing. People already believe in God, even those who say they don't. Romans 1:20 says For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:. Everyone believes in God, they either don't want to admit it due to pride, or they flat out despise Him. There was a study people given lie detector tests, and everyone who said they did not believe in God was shown to be lying. Everyone has a conscience. Even if I could win an argument presenting all the evidence that the God of the bible does exist, it would not save them. Like I said people choose to not follow the Lord, so convincing them he exist does not do much. Believing in a parachute, will not prevent you from splattering on the ground, you have to put it on, and you put it on because you believe it will save you. Don't get me wrong, I love apologetics(giving evidence for your faith). When I first observed how much evidence there was supporting The Bible I was quite impressed and it helped embolden my faith. Growing up in public schools, and outside the church, I did not know there was any evidence, so I was quite impressed with the tons of historical, scientific, archeological, and prophetic evidence. It is all quite powerful and I do use it a lot when needed. However starting with the law, showing someone why the need a savior, is the best way to bring people to know the Lord. If someone has a hang up on why they can't believe in God, and I can provide evidence to help them get over the hump I will. To sum it up, whether your an atheist, agnostic, Muslim, Hindu, Jew etc. putting the mirror of God's law in front of someone to show them what they really are bypasses fruitless arguments. Evidence for God's existence really only helps when someone wants to be saved. Posted by Paul on Thursday, May 03, 2007 at 11:42 AM [Reply to this]

	Jessie	I um, I have to admit that, well, I have read this a few times and I still do not understand how Jesus dying saves us... One of the ideas that pops into my head, is that this could be a way of using guilt to gain people's attention and conviction. Posted by Jessie on Monday, June 04, 2007 at 5:56 PM [Reply to this]

	Paul	Ok, here is The Readers Digest Version. God The Father is holy. Like a when a dry leaf get's exposed to a comsuming fire, our sinful nature cannot exist with God. Since we deny Him as our Father, and he is righteous and JUST, there must be a punishment or His very nature would be underminded. Since there must be punishment for trangression, His solution was to lay it upon Himself. He did that while we were yet sinners. You just have to apply that gift to your account so justice can be served. Posted by Paul on Monday, June 04, 2007 at 6:01 PM [Reply to this]

	Jessie	Would it be irony or hypocrisy to remind you that the whole concept of your faith requires bearing false witness to Heaven and Hell? Should we just agree to disagree on the concept of god? Maybe whatever is on this guy's mind is right... http://toolshed. down. net/pix/lat/lateraluscdslev5. jpg And it's Tool, go figure. Posted by Jessie on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 2:38 PM [Reply to this]

Paul

I don't even know what you mean about bearing false witness to Heaven and Hell? What do you mean? Posted by Paul on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 2:39 PM [Reply to this]