Patriot or Priest- Our government and God

Most of my friends on Facebook are far too aware of the fact that I read the news and keep myself comprised of what is going on in our country. I make very little effort to hide that when I post 3 or four articles with captions like "WHY IS AMERICA FUNDING TERRORISM AGAINST AMERICA" and "STOP GIVING EGYPT FIGHTER JETS"

I spend 5 to 10 minutes here and there through out the day reading headlines, and I'm sure that in my news feed, it probably looks like I'm scouring the internet pasting together articles in some dimly lit room mumbling about drones or whatever. I'm sure that it looks worse on Facebook than it actually is.

This isn't my life...
However, there are things that I read and I see going on in this country that do effect my life.

The right to bear arms is kinda a big deal to me. I was mugged once when I was 14 and living on the racial divide back in Michigan. Ever since that moment, I never wanted to feel like a victim to an unjust oppressive force. It doesn't matter if that force is 16 people of a specific ethnic persuasion or specific branches of a government entity.

I was talking to a very nice gentleman about something that I struggle with as a believer. The balance between being a patriot, and being a priest. Our government was established with certain ideas in mind...

Life...
Liberty...
the ability to pursue happiness....

Are these God given rights?
I assured him that for the first two I could make a solid case.

Life and liberty.

Can these two things be supported from a biblical text ?

Deut. 30: 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, 20 by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

Proverbs 14:27
The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.

A case can be made that we are each given the right to choose, Life or death.
We are given an inalienable right to Life, by God.
God doesn't force Life upon us... but HE allows us to chose it.
HE allows us to choose Him.
 Or, we can choose our way, the ways that defy him, and death.


Choice. 

I honestly think that many of us believers want heaven.  We want heaven, and we want Jesus to come back, but if he's coming back, we want it to be a suitable place for him... and it isn't a suitable place right now because look at all these terrible sinners... 

I think we have this idea, that if we start legislating Biblical ideals then more people in this godless nation will have to follow the law, and therefore sin- less. We picture this in out minds and we want something like that to play out. Sometimes we get so desperate for heaven that we try to create it in our own image. 

Recently, the Defense of Marriage Act was struck down by the Supreme court. They stated that it was unconstitutional. I thought long and hard about that, and I had some conversations with some godly people regarding the separation of Church and State.  My brother pointed out the position of the Anabaptists who initially called for the separation. Christians. Christians stated that our government, and religion should have no partnership. 

He poised a question so deeply profound that here, weeks later, I still am wading in the depths of.

"IF God Himself, gives man the option to either follow His ways or to not.... .... ... Then who are we impose a demand on others to submit to His standard of rule" 

I believe that homosexuality is a sin. The Bible states that it is a sin. Do I have the right to force people who engage in homosexuality to submit to God's standard? 

I don't believe I do. 

In fact,
1 cor 5
9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; 10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. 11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? 13 But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.

What have I to do with judging those who are outside ? 

It isn't my place to judge those who choose the things not of God. 

I can't find a place were Jesus says "go forth and picket a funeral, be a complete tool to anyone who is not a believer in me, and hate... hate a bunch of folks because then that will really show them my love"
I don't know what version of the Bible that everyone else reads, but that isn't in mine.

The Bible states that Jesus was tempted in every way... That includes sexual immorality.


Our Government isn't Biblically focused. Our leaders are men of power and flaw. 

We won't know the fullness of Life and Liberty until our Messiah establishes His everlasting government. 

Our government isn't going to solve all our problems. 

Until the Messiah gathers all whom are His from the corners of the earth... 

We submit.. 

We pray for our leaders instead of mocking them in really hilarious facebook posts.... 

We pray for them instead of photoshopping them with underwear on their face. 

We pray that God be stronger in all of us as a nation, and His Spirit would stir our convictions to repentance. 

Matthew 7 13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

I see much of being a patriot as political dissent and rebellion... which is really cool, but the opposite of the Biblical prescription
I see being a priest as being submitted to God so much that we can serve even the most sinful of hearts with an attitude of the one who has saved us.

I'm working on that.

"Our Father. "

It's Fathers day. I started writing this post about a week ago, but something said "wait, there is more to it than you're ready to write" and I got distracted.

I recently listened to an in depth study from a very godly man who was teaching on praying in the spirit of God.  He was talking about the Lords prayer and when he spoke something resonated with me, loudly.

We know the model in which he taught us to pray:

Matthew 6: 9 “Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father who is in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

‘Your kingdom come.

Your will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

‘Give us this day our daily bread.

 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’


Our Father. Ours.

Growing up, I spent a lot of time alone, locked inside my head. Pouring over books and thoughts and concepts, because in my young life, I felt like there wasn't anyone I could really talk to. I felt a great sense of isolation after I saw my dad die.  That isolation and sadness carried on with me for a great many years.
Growing up, I had a revolving door of people coming in and out of my life, as my various family members sailed from one trauma to another.

Growing up, I had a really strong sense of self reliance. In my head, it was me vs the world that wanted to destroy me.  As I grew, God and I found each other.... or I found Him, I don't think he ever really let me out of His sight.  Then, in my mind, it was just me, and God. God and I walking around among other believers. God and I walking around among the world. There were these walls that I had built up in my heart and mind to keep from trusting people, to keep from getting hurt by people.

This one man Army mindset was even in my prayer life. When there was a need, or  I felt lead to pray...
It was always like I was asking my God for things for other people. It was still me, and my God, even if their God was also my God.

I was still holding walls. My Father, was Their Father.... but he wasn't Our father.
and it has occurred to me, the divisional aspect of such a simple thing.... it isn't a good thing.

Our Father...


Even in praying for others...  for individual needs, I know that they are not the only ones in the body of the Messiah that are hurting or in need of the same thing.

So and so is feeling alone, and he's hurting and feels like God isn't answering his prayers, or if he is, he can't hear the answers...   and so I'd pray, God please help so and so. Meet the needs specifically of so and so.
I know that this is a good thing, I know that this is a needed thing......

...but the bigger picture here...

The Our Father picture....

God, I pray for all your people who are fighting this. God I pray that you meet the needs of all who are part of your body that are struggling in this area...

 Give US this day, OUR daily bread, forgive US OUR debts as WE forgive OUR debtors....

Taking a step back.... I can see a little clearer.
If I, and probably others... if We can adapt the mindset that when one falls, we all fall, when we stand, we stand as one.  Perhaps, when we think as the collective "One body" and we move as "one body"... we will repent as "one body". We can walk righteously as "One body"

The royal "we"
-
I'm seeing this too.

A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
God makes a home for the lonely;
He leads out the prisoners into prosperity,
Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land. Psalm 68:5-6

post

God there is still much to be destroyed in my heart.

I believe that is something that you have been trying to show me for the past year, holding me in places of humility where men of pride speak over me.

In each of the places I have lived you have shown me a different type of pride in each of three men.
I prayed to you about how terrible it was for me,  and how ugly I saw it to be in each of them.

Like a tailor holding a mirror for the one he dresses, you have panned the angles around me and shown me the various ways that each reflection is me... and how I present myself in differing lights.

God, I have seen in my heart, again, and again and again, these areas of pride, and again and again and again I tell you about them before I say there is something I need to do about them.

I'm trying.
I fail, but I am trying.


And God, I need you to be stronger than where I start, fail and finish.
God I don't want to be an asshole.

I know that you're not an asshole, and I am supposed to be a reflection of your character.

I don't want to just feel bad about sin, God I want to be free from it.

I'm a believer, help me believe.
Help my unbelief.
I know that in every moment that I am more me, than I am like you that my actions are crying out that God isn't really on the throne

and I want nothing to do with such a decree.


I've prayed "God make my spirit stronger"  and I have prayed "God strengthen my resolve"

Tonight I am praying "God, keep me from getting in the way of You living in me, YOU speaking in me, You working in me , You keeping me from dying and running and falling and failing... because You are my Savior. YOU are so much more than I can or could be.

You have got to be bigger than I keep keeping you from being

And I am sorry God, I am sorry.

and I want to believe that I can change, and that I will change....
I do believe that you can change me....
 but there is this doubt God.

There is this doubt in my mind that says "do not tell him that you repent because if you slip again it is as if that repentance never transpired  ... and I don't want to lie to you God.
I hate dishonesty.

 Your ways are not my ways...

But I want it your way.

To all the friends I've lost.

I'm sorry.  

I'm sorry that we aren't still friends.  I'm sorry that you felt that there were things in my life or yours that we couldn't work through. 

I regret that at times, my depression was heavy. 

I know I leaned on some of you more than I should have. My burden wasn't for you to carry. 

I look back over our friendships.... my old friends, my former friends. I grieve over much of what was lost. 

Friends I've called brother.  

Brothers I've stood before God with in praise, and served with. 

I'm sorry for all the times that I wasn't a better reflection of his character. I'm sorry for the moments when my pride won out over my spirit and I spoke to you in anger of flesh. 

I know that I hurt some of you. 

I pray that you forgive me for that. 

I'm not going to make excuses for not being better or stronger, or anything like that. 

I'm not going to justify what happened. 

I miss you old friends.

There were times, in our friendships, each one of them that I sacrificed for you, and you sacrificed for me.  There were times when we fought and yelled, and screamed, and it was ugly... 

...and then we healed and were stronger in the fresh air of honesty.

That is what I thought.  

Perhaps, I had just pushed you a little further to the edge each time. 

Forgive me, if you are able for my times of vanity. Forgive me for my times of pride. 

Forgive me if you are able, and May God watch over your travels. 

Irony. Being all Ironical.

In my studies and researches and biblical goings on, and my emphasis of the living in the manner of Christ...
I underscore the points of God's eternal and holy law, as it is called in scripture.


Now a point of irony has dawned on me,

In my research of God's law and its role in the life of the believer...


I've been called a Pharisee .

Can you believe that? For having a heart for God, and desiring obedience to his word... A pharisee.

Now the Irony that I may not have been aware of or by God's grace for my heart, I've forgotten...

I was reading this passage among a handful of others, in a study of Honor when I came across this passage again..

This is the REBUKE for the Pharisees....


Matthew 23

23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.


The text in the King James says

28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.


Defining iniquity

Greek: Anomia

1) the condition of without law
    a) because ignorant of it
    b) because of violating it
2) contempt and violation of law, iniquity, wickedness


Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for not keeping the Law of God

.... and When I say to my brothers and sisters in Christ, Hey guys, this Law of God is important...

I sometimes am labeled as a Pharisee.


Am I the only one who thinks that is kinda funny?


This same word, iniquity, meaning lawlessness is used some other places.

Matt 7


21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

Matt 24

9 “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10 At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 14 This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.


Matt 13
    Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us       the parable of the tares of the field.” 37 And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40 So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.


Titus 2
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

You don't want God.

God said something like that to me one day.

I was sitting in a chair praying a normal Christian formula prayer.

I said  with a dry and calloused heart " God, I want to know more of you"


I had tried praying, and things felt stagnant. I knew I had some sin that I wasn't dealing with.
But I prayed, because that is what Christians do. They pray.

So, out those words came.

I don't know why I didn't expect such a blunt response when he replied
"No you don't. You don't want to know more of me. If you wanted to know more of me, you would seek me."

I felt something penetrate my wall of numb emotion. I felt a stirring. 

I searched my heart, and my soul decided to be honest with GOD, who knew when every I was lying anyway.

"You're right " I said, like he didn't know that already " But... I want, to want you more. "

Yeah, I desired the desire to desire him.
God is real, I knew that. God is powerful, I knew that too.  Why is it that I didn't want to chase him?
He saved my soul and I remembered how in the very beginning that I latched on to him. I clung to him fervently. Now, I treated him... well, .... like a thing.

" That, I can work with that" He said to my second request. I'm sure I have told you guys this story in other posts....


But that is what is on my mind.


Who is God in your life?

Who is he?

Really?


I'm not asking you to recite a few passages, or off the top of your head tout some greek-hebrew title.

No.

Who is HE.  ....and do you know Him?

 Do you read the book of John and say

14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.


This... THIS is my God... HE is grace upon grace upon grace.



.... and nothing else.





Is that it? Don't get me wrong, that is HUGE..... but.... that is one verse.
There are thousands of verses in the book.


Is he your provider?


but just the provider?



Is he he your redeemer who redeemed you from sin...



..... just so you can keep on sinning?

How much do you love sin?

Certain sins?

That one specific sin?

Do we love that one more than God?

Do we tear out the part of the bible where God told us that one sin isn't okay.


....or do we say, no, God says its fine. MY god says its fine.


We've all done it.
Many of us still do it.
MY god would never tell me that, because this thing that I like... well, I like it. God wants me to be happy. He wants me to be rich and He wants to give me all the stuff that I want...right?


^ take a look at who is really sitting on the throne there.


God wants your heart.  He wants you to surrender.  He wants you to serve Him. He wants your repentance and your confession that YOUR ways are not HIS ways.

He wants you to be free, and the ONLY way to be free is if you let him free you.



.....but He has to be God.  You can't be.
I can't be.

 Thus says the Lord,
“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes flesh his strength,
And whose heart turns away from the Lord.


All those moments where we say, I AM GOING TO DO THIS!!!!!!!!for god.
and I WILL DO THAT!!!!!my way.


How big is He?/


It's a whole different story when He says "Listen, move, now, go, do this as I have commanded you!"



I know personally, I want Him in my life. Not just because He gives me stuff and feeds me.  

He isn't just that.

I want Him in my life because HE is so much better than I am. He is so much greater than I have ever been.
He is Holy. He listens. He cares. HE is Just. HE is so so SO much smarter than I can even imagine.
I want Him in my life because He is.

.... and He says to me, If you want to be like me, I will help you walk like me, and talk like me, and I will give you My words, and I will break your chains, and I will show you my power,


I sometimes am reminded how God is so much bigger than we allow Him to be in our lives.


and He is jealous to reveal Himself to us.

Thinking About Gay Stuff.

It's 5:03 in the morning.
I was just laying in bed, about to sleep and feeling tired finally after a nights work and mental stimulation.
I was comfortable and I was ready to sleep.
However, I couldn't stop thinking about a conversation that I had with someone while at work tonight.


I was on patrol and an acquaintance sought to have me weigh in on the discussion that she was having with her co-worker.


 "Do you go to church?"  She asked me.

"Yep. Why, would you like to come? " I replied.

"I have a question, and you can answer honestly, please answer honestly..."

By the tonal fluctuations in her voice I could tell that she was sincere and was about to ask me a very personal question.

" Am I going to hell for being gay?"

I'm going to be honest here, when she asked it, a part of my own heart instantly hurt with her.

" Are you afraid of going to Hell because you are gay?" I asked.

She told me how in her relationship, her significant other is starting to become increasingly fearful of the end times, and in that, she is afraid that they're going to hell for being gay.

There were many things that I wanted to say. Many responses that I wanted to give... and all of them were focused on the truth, and the heart that was seeking it.

I started off by telling her that I am not qualified to judge who goes to hell and who doesn't. I personally am far to faulty for that... plus, the job is taken by a qualified applicant.... Jesus. I mean he passed the bar, I failed half the exams.

To respond to her question I stated the fact that the Bible states that homosexuality is a sin.

The more important fact that I really tried to emphasize, is that God loves her/us/you/me.

HE does. IF you are reading this, know that God loves you. If you are gay, and you are reading this, Know that God loves you.

A lot of churches like to quote verses from the Bible in a pointed context to stab folks with it.
IT is almost as if they get a sense of enjoyment and satisfaction from it.

Westbro Baptist Church is a prominent face out there holding up signs that "GOD HATES FAGS" or "GOD HATES GAY PEOPLE"

Some of them will  quote Leviticus 18: 22 You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.

I'm not sure.... maybe its me.... but I didn't read anywhere in that text that God hates people who deal with homosexuality.

I confessed to her that there are things that I struggle with as a heterosexual man. Are these sins of mine any less offensive? Is lust any less lustful for a man than for a woman?

... Am I defined by this one thing?
... is my struggle with this sin, the summation of who I am as a person?

Hell no. ( I said it)

John 3:16
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.


God so loved the world...
 God, LOVED, WORLD.

Even gay people.  Are you defined by the fact that you're attracted to someone.... or are you defined by the fact that you are created by God, in His image, Knit together in the womb?


Deuteronomy 14:3 Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing

Proverbs 16. 5 Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

Jerimiah 13: 27 “As for your adulteries and your lustful neighings, The lewdness of your prostitution On the hills in the field, I have seen your abominations. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you remain unclean?”

Homosexuality is a sin. Eating pork, shellfish, snake, owl and other things God said aren't food ... is a sin. Being proud in the heart is a sin. Lusting is a sin.

My friend isn't less human for the sin. Jesus died for her too.
Repentance is a huge part of the salvation process, and it is important for all believers to exercise grace and patience with all people.

I gave my friend one of the cards I carry for church. I hope she comes and enters into the House of God, as the gentiles did in Acts 15... I hope that she comes and hears and applies the word to her life.


I hope that for a lot of us out there.

The Law, Love and Fulfillment

m sure that there are some people who read this blog and might think " Why does he always talk about the Law?... Shouldn't he be talking about Jesus more instead? 

Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: No. 

Let me explain that. 

The focus of everything here is to point to the Savior, Our Messiah, Our redeemer. 
When I talk about the Law of God, I am talking about the things that Jesus taught about. When I talk about keeping commands of God, I am talking about what Jesus kept. When I talk about following in his footsteps, I am literally talking about what scripture refers to as the path
"And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."- Isaiah 2

"Many nations will come and say, “Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord And to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us about His ways And that w
I'e may walk in His paths.” For from Zion will go forth the law, Even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."- Micah 4 



Now in my study I have heard people, in some cases pastors tell me that the law has been done away with. THat usually causes me to take their words and compare it to the Word of God. This is the contrast I see:


17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. - Matt 5


This really does seem to say that Jesus didn't come to render the Law of Our God to not be followed. In fact, he said it. Now, when I have pointed out that he fulfilled the law, not rendered it not to be followed... many people still think fulfill means to keep once and then discard. The text above points out that the heaven and earth thing hasn't happened yet, and there are other scriptures that talk about that too.

Lets take a closer look at that line of thinking in comparison to some other scriptures. 

"But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. 3 The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. 1 cor. 7 

Fulfill his duty. Looking into the wording on that... that means... you know... husband wife time.  Getting busy.... being fruitful and multiplying so to speak. Yeah, It means to biblicaly " Know" each other. 

How silly would it be to think that the scripture is saying that once you're married, get it done only once... then you have done away with marital relations and therefore rendered them obsolete. Or to say that marital relations was some sort of burden instead of a God orchestrated blessing WITHIN THE GUIDELINES OF MARRIAGE.

I couldn't fathom that.
 Moving on.


"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." -Galatians 6:2

If we take this scripture and apply the "Fulfill means to render not following" mindset... then by bearing the burdens of one another, we are disregarding the law of Christ? We're making the Law of Christ to not be followed? 

According to scripture that doesn't make sense. 

8 If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.- James 2

IF you are doing away with the royal law according to scripture love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing good? NO WAY!!! IF you are keeping God's law, you are loving your neighbor as yourself. You are loving God with all your heart and soul and resources.


Isaiah 8:20 says this:

To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.


I'd like to point out that most of those who call on the God for their salvation, who read the word and seek to live like Christ, are following a lot more of the Law of God than they realize.

Regarding this text in Isaiah, I was thinking about this today.

I remember who I was before Jesus came into my life. I remember what I thought was acceptable. I know that there were things and lines of thinking that I thought for sure, were fine. I'd tell God, " Look God, This is fine. I don't need to change that, because really this thing... this thing in my life is no big deal." 

but... that thinking doesn't line up with the word of God.
It doesn't co-inside with the Truth. 
The truth is that if something God says isn't acceptable, then there isn't two ways about it. It's unacceptable. Granted, he'll give you grace and be patient with you as you and Him work on other things in your life, but the standard isn't going to change. HE's just got to get your heart to a place where you take His word for what is right and what is not, or you remove Him from your heart. 

Man cannot serve two masters. He either hates one or he hates the other.

There is war in the body between the spirit and the flesh, Paul writes in Romans. He tells a story about the law of the flesh ( carnality) being in contention with the God's law.
I remember before I began to keep more of God's law, looking at the scriptures and my fleshly mind saying that they were a burden. In my sin, I would look at things like Leviticus 11 on where God says do not eat certain things, because I am God and you are not, and in my fleshly mind I would think... man... what a bunch of rules. What a bunch of restrictions. What a bunch of stuff that isn't .... exalting me.

I prayed about it and I searched God's word. In drawing closer to Him I could see that it was insane to think that it was some great mill stone around my neck to not eat something that God calls an abomination. 
It was quite easy actually. In my heart, I really wanted to abstain from the things that are unpleasing to God according to His definition  and not my standard.
The Sabbath rest? That is a delight!!! God says I have set the 7th day aside for you and I FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME! How could I possibly think that Gift from Him is anything other than wonderful?

....because that flesh sometimes wants something else. It says things like " Forget God, you need money..."  or " God helps those who help themselves ( not actually in scripture)" 

....that flesh says, Let's be God because we know better. 

... That flesh says  forget the scripture and just think of the taste

.... that flesh says don't help them, because they can't give you anything. 


The word says :
1 John 5:2-3
 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." 
Love and Fulfillment. 

A Broken People.

I've know some atheists in my time.  Some of them are more agnostics, others are more militant haters of the idea of faith. I've known a few people who were once believers in God, and when God wouldn't fit their image, they rejected Him.

One of the things that a good many of these people have said has stuck out with me, and has always seemed ... off.

 " Religion is a crutch for the weak" 

I've heard men tout this as some new truth, as they throw their Bibles in the trash.  

The irony of this, I suppose...  is that the book says pretty much that very thing. 

IF you read the book, from Genesis to Revelation, the story tells of a broken people. A rebellious people that  bring about destruction upon their selves. The book talks about what people do, and live like, at the height of their self reliance and pride. It categories mans wickedness and depravity. 

The book records the capabilities of Man, and how evil our hearts are. 

Religion is a crutch for the weak. Yet we're all lying to ourselves if we think that any of us, regardless of what we believe, aren't weak. 

You have those that see what awful things they are capable of, and what harm and pain people are capable of... Who want to get better. They want to walk right. Stand right. People that want to change, and therefore turn to a loving and accepting God to help them change who they were, into something better. 

.... .... What kind of person takes it upon themselves to kick a crutch out from under a broken person? 

What kind of person figuratively beats a man in a wheel chair? 

Psalms 34:18
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.


I've heard many of these men, old friends, close friends, speak as if to say that they are smarter and stronger, wiser, and perhaps even more compassionate than the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob.

They say these things without holding a respect for the beliefs contrary to their own.
I respect their right to reject God, people have been doing that since the beginning.

Romans 1
28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful

Of the Annointed Christ I Ask

I know you...
of you at least.
or maybe more. Maybe I've seen you in my heart.
In my mind I wonder if what I see is a remnant of things you were seeing.
I ask you Son of Man.  I ask you in no elevated tone or stature, for whom am I to ask
I am not any one man that could demand an answer,
but I ask...

How alone were you?
As a man aware of a kingdom... your kingdom,
and your people, angry, violent and proud.
Did it break your heart to look them in the eyes and see their thirst for stature?
How could it not?
How many times did you just want to be alone?
Because they didn't understand.. or many of them didn't care to..
Did you retreat to the shoreline to gaze upon the reflective waters, and reflect upon them?
What crossed your mind? Did you think of the beginning?
When there was just water, and darkness, and a hovering spirit over it?
Where you able think on it? Were you distracted by the swarms of people that crowded around you?
Was there isolation within the company?

Then I think of them, the men, the ones that knew every rule.
They knew the Torah through and through but,
They didn't know what it means to live it. Or, live it right.
I want to know what you saw when you looked in their eyes.
Did you hate them the way God hated  Esau?
Was your anger burning slowly, and righteous?
Or, where you with grief? A sadness dripping in as you peered into their souls and saw them destroying things with the means of imparting life?

I see it.
I've seen it. So many times when I have looked at them.
Occasionally when i've looked within.
Graceless as they were or I've been.
Isn't that the thrust of it all? Compassion, servitude, for us, for each other.
Why is it that we have such a hard time with that?
The taking care of each other.
Isn't that why you washed their feet?
or fed the crowds
or healed them
... It was always for them.
Was your life lonely as it was lived for others, whom lived for themselves?

I know it mattered to you, to matter to them...
How disappointed were you when they wouldn't stay awake for even an hour, in your final hours
Did it annoy you when you told them everything that was going to play out, and even, as it was playing out, and they still did not understand?
Was there any comfort found in the words of the thief, that as he died, he knew you...
that he saw you truly?

Tell me Son of God,
as you are, in what you have done, and what I have seen, as I fall and fail and stagger, and try to stand again...
Will you call me friend?
do you look at me as you did Peter?
My desire is to walk with you, and yet still, the undertow tends to take my focus.
I know you are King, I know you are worthy. I know you are holy.
I know these things. I know them about you,
but it terrifies me that though I know much of you, that I may not really know you.
Will you tell me, if it is pleasing to you, do I see you truly?
Do I know you as you are?

Church Softball. Part 1.

I was sitting in this chair of which I currently write this post from, sipping a can of Coke, when my phone began to buzz. I flipped the top up and pressed it to my ear. It was my brother.
"Hey, what are you doing tonight?" He asked
I looked down at my coke and then across the room to the freezer that currently housed the frozen burritos that I intended to make for dinner.
"I don't have any concrete plans" I respond. Having lame plans isn't the same as having no plans. 
"HOW...Would ... you feel about joining a softball league? .... with me?... tonight?"
I could tell from the slow progression of words that he was probably driving and his attention was slightly divided. 
"Yeah man" I exclaimed " I love baseball, but I don't have a glove"
"We'll get you one" He responded.


Its interesting to me to see that this is how I joined the church league, but it is very similar to how I was saved.  I was about nine going on ten or so, and my brother was staying with us in Santa Fe for a few months.  A knock came to my door followed by it creaking open without a response. His face peered through at me laying on the cleared out spot that I slept. "Hey, you wanna come with me tonight? We're going to go play some football?" I didn't care much for football as it were, baseball was really more my sport but I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to spend some time with my busy brother.  In the back seat of a beat up Chevy, I listened to my brother profess a testament of God, His Son, and the Spirit in which He sends. He spoke of sin, and death, and heaven and hell, the cross and redemption. I politely listened to his story with a slight apathy as a child might if he were to partake in a lecture of the history of British Parliament. Distant figures of long ago times didn't seem to mean much to me. That is, until he enlightened me to an aspect of Gods character that should be true, was absolutely irresistible.  "He'll never leave you, or forsake you" he said.  I couldn't pass that up.  We pulled into the tree lot, where they were holding a bible study, and my brother beaming with joy regaled the tale of my coming to Christ.
They began to crack open their bibles and asked If I wanted to read. "I don't have a bible" I said as I looked to my brother. "We'll get you one" he said with a smile.

The Bar Scene

Earth is a night club called purgatory. We're born in line waiting to get in and when we do, we see our cover charge was the choices we made to get here. Me, I've made my way to the bar and I'm trying to drown out the hedonistic trance music that is playing over head. 

I order a glass of wine and it comes in a grail from an Israeli bartender, and he warns me that sipping of this cup will cost me my life.  A casual glance around the room and I am aware of the lack of light in the place. At one end of the bar I see what looks like a neatly groomed man with his hair parted to the side and a genuine smile on his face. His suit is black and his hair is blonde and he moves with a rigid composure in my direction. I can tell this man has the appearance of light as it shimmers so dimly off the gold cufflinks. I remark to myself on how clean his appearance is as I look him in the eyes and see a quiet darkness. He introduces him self as The Latter Day saint and offers his card while grabbing me a coaster. "Sign here on this line and we'll give you stock options, and direct deposit of spiritual blessings with 10% annual growth" His voice is smooth, convincing and for a moment I think about joining until he hands me his solid gold pen.  I thank him for his kindness and his service as I turn back to the cup of wine sitting before me.

 The music in this place is so awful, but the beat, it can be enticing, the longer I sit here.  At the other end of the bar there is a woman in a deep blue dress standing on one foot on the bar stool. I find her beauty alluring, as she seems to be perfectly at peace with the fact that she is doing something so absurd. Her hair is long and dark, pulled back into a pony tail the way that I find so attractive. She seems so unphased by the crowded room and all the people fighting on the dance floor. Now that I think of it, I see most of the people are driven mad on the dance floor for they want so desperately to stop dancing, but they can't, because they equate the moment with feeling alive, and the high they get from the fun is their god. To stop is to die, and they aren't ready to admit that they are already dead. I turn back to the woman in the dress and her eyes are shut. She is aware of everything that is going on, but you couldn't tell from her face. The eastern slant in her eyes and her composure tells me that she isn't American to say the least. I think about asking her to dance, but there are a group of people with their fingers in their ears with wide eyes screaming that none of this is real, and that when you stop dancing that is all.

The bouncer at the door is holding a staff with a cross as he is patting people down and pointing people to where they can score some blow. I sigh a heavy sigh and say aloud that "I see too much" as I stare down into this grail of wine.  I turn and look at the mirror across the bar, glaring deep into my eyes, into my soul and I beg to know who I really am. My thoughts are interrupted by the Jewish bartender with the white rag wiping the insides of some beer mugs. "you're dead" he says.

I take a sip of the wine, which is strange because I have never really cared for it before, and I ask"how'd you know?"  "Everyone is from the second they're born, and the irony is they spend their time looking for the meaning of life." I ask him what her story is as I point to the woman at the end of the bar. "she thinks we're all just energy, and she has part of it right about balance and things. Your friend over there who passed you his card, has the essence of what it means to be a servant, but, some of the finer details of who and why are off. Let me ask you, why not dance?" HE asked as he set his glass down and peered over the bar. The tone in his voice resonated with me, like  he had some authority, and I knew better than to lie to him.  " Because I think that that life is a wasted life. That is a real death. If I am a dead man already, I don't dance. I just move when moved." I answered.  He smiled through his thick beard and he took my glass in his hand. " This is the wine of the covenant, my blood, poured out. Keep drinking dead man, and I will show you what real life is."

War.

War is a hell of a thing.

I believe that we each have our battles, and struggles. We all have our fights and the wars we wage. Many of us think that admitting that we don't have it all together is a flaw, others believe admitting adversity itself is weakness.

From the day we are born we are at war. We are either at war with God, or at war with ourselves.


I think about that some times.

Is war the opposite of peace?
Is peace only obtainable through war?
What properties mirror each other, I often wonder.

I picked up a copy of the Screwtape letters by C.s. Lewis a while back, with every intention of reading it. However I think it was right before a move and my interests waned.

The premise is of a demon writing his nephew advice on how to disrupt the walk of a follower of the Christ.
I've wondered from time to time in the back of my mind about the question of a plan.
How would the enemy take me out?


It isn't something that I would say that I dwell on, as some might say that the question is irrelevant if you're focused and pursuant of God...  But then again...  Ephesians 6 makes the point that  our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

So in transparency, and awareness I can tell you what has worked on me, and on many occasions still does, as a point of caution, transparency and honest vulnerable accountability i suppose.

The Moment that I met God I was cautioned and aware of the enemy that sought to separate me from the one that I believe imparts life and light. 

First off, I believe the goal of the enemy is to isolate and destroy the believer. This is done by undermining  the value of both, Christ sacrifice, and also the soul that accepts it as such. 
The enemy would tell you that you are part of some sort of package deal, like your soul came with the redemption of everyone thus minimizing the fact that Christ sacrificed his life for yours. Instead of being that person that he shed his blood for, you're now the coconut air freshener that they kinda just threw in with the free car wash. This is a clever tactic of the enemy, because you are in fact unworthy of such a gift. The irony is that , you were unworthy before you received it, and you are not any less unworthy of it having obtained salvation as such.

Upon the realization of that, and the monumental epiphany that Christ would have still gone to the cross for just me, because I matter to God, as I am made in his image... the enemy cleverly works in extremes and will push a strong sense of superiority, self righteousness, pride and hyper-spirituallity. Its times like this that the word of God becomes a pill that is forced on people, instead of life saving wisdom for those who really would like to live.  This fosters the "Us" vs" them" mentality.  Instead of seeing myself as a sinner who was redeemed and strives and fails daily, we start to draw lines of those in the church and those outside of the church. Those who are saved as being superior to those who are not. This is asinine when you pull from the entirety of scripture and see how many times God got pissed off at those who thought they were better than everyone else. 

So, there is this delicate balance that we struggle to maintain between a sniveling nothing, and a condescending jerk.  An awareness of this doesn't help maintain the complex balancing act that one has to do.  Some times this is frustrating. When you fail, the enemy says that you're always going to fail, so why try. When you think you're doing alright, then you may be blind to the occasional helpful bit of criticism that might help you grow.   It's interesting that a little advice is great wisdom, and too much a detriment. 

When you get a pretty good balance of this after years of failure and refusing to just give up because things are hard... Then the enemy will say that you're spending too much time focusing on yourself. They'll start throwing up sins of the past, and ways that you have hurt others... and how you need to change all of these things about yourself.... 
which is a truthful lie.   While we do have to surrender the things that aren't godly and die each day to self, the enemy pushes a vast emergency on that order, mandating that one must change everything that they were at once. The task of changing everything that you are, all your habits, thoughts, ticks, memories, quirks, dreams, mannerisms... in the blink of an eye, is more than a person could bear. The word says that God is patient. 

That is when the enemy will try to push patience to a distorted extreme. They'll keep a person distracted from working on any one specific thing, all the while citing the patience of God as a justification for an obscure sense of apathy.  

The adversary will try and get things pushed really far one way, or another. All head and no heart is out of balance. All heart and no head is equally out of balance.  The head can be ignorant, and lack wisdom as the scripture comments on. The heart also can be deceitfully wicked, but is the place where God writes His Commandments for any whom are part of the Covenant. 

Sometimes, God will show you something and because others do not see it, the enemy will do what it can to make you seem crazy. The oldest and only sin really is "did God really say" 

Doubt, when honestly explored isn't the enemy of faith... but often establishes it. Yet, the enemy will often try to instill a fear of the unfamiliar in regards to biblical text. Asking questions may prove a doctrine to be false when rendered to scripture. The fact that there are many false doctrines out there, as stated in the Word, will make a person amazingly unpopular when you reconcile them to scripture. The enemy will show this to you, and you will have to make a choice between standing firm in your convictions, or compromising for comfort. There is solace in the fact that Israel killed all their prophets. There is warning that Christ says that if you seek to save your life, you'll lose it. 
The enemy will tell you that the only thing that matters is love. What they will fail to emphasize is that love encompasses discipline, consequences, justice, sacrifice and serving others.  IF they don't shy away from the point of serving others, they will try and twist it to the point where serving comes to the point of being treaded on.... then they will morph that perception into the greater body of the church, that all serving is the abuse experienced. 

The enemy will either try to get you ridiculously dependent on God, so that you are to the point where you are starving to death, while praying that God put your shoe on your foot, and then when he doesn't then there must be something wrong with your faith... or they will try to get you so completely self reliant  that you try to take everything that you have handed over to God that you couldn't fix, and then you try and fix it.  Both of these are wrong. Remember that God brought them out into the wilderness and fed them Mana, but they still had to gather it. Depend on God, but also be obedient to what he has called you to do, things you should know as you mature as a believer. 

The enemy will try and make you think that all of this is some burden. That God is nothing but work. That God is busy and wouldn't have time for you, and you must keep following a set of rules for the sake of being "spiritual" or "holy". If you are following rules to avoid hell, the point of the work of salvation has been missed. If you are following the commands of God for any reason other than your heart is compelled to out of the love that you have for him, then something is off.  The enemy exploits that.

The enemy will exploit sicknesses and illnesses. they will say that you are sick because you lack faith or because your sin has caused God to remove his hand of protection over you. This is possible, but it isn't the standard I don't think. Sometimes you're broken because God made you broken... and if you were made broken with a purpose, then you aren't really broken at all. I fight bi-polar disorder. I have all my life. Though this has been something that has been really really tough for me, as some people yell at me for being sad or hurt from time to time, it does not denote a lack of faith in God. The disorder has enabled me to see patterns and draw deep connections that not everyone sees. However, I feel emotional pains and highs deeper than most people. This goes back to the head vs heart thing. My mind keeps the feelings in check most of the time. The enemy would often say that an acknowledgement of this disorder is to speak a curse, and that God could deliver me from it if I just had more faith. I am reminded of the fact that it was the faith in God that resulted in the physical breaking of Jacob. Sometimes God does things contrary to human thinking because he is a masterful artist with a pallet of wonder no man could match. That doesn't mean God couldn't heal me if he wanted to.... because he has the authority and the power... but he also has the sovereignty. I've always struggled with that idea of speaking curses over my life by admitting  I have a sore throat or something. I mean, I don't think that I am some kind of mythical wizard that with the power of the word can just say something and have it be. If that were the case, I'd have blessed myself with riches that would have cursed me a dozen ways. On the other hand I know that the word does say that there is an element of authority that we are given in God. Authority to cast out sickness.  I've seen this first hand when praying for my nephew or other family members. 

God says blessed are the peacemakers, and he also states that he has come not to bring peace but a sword.  The enemy will try and get the simple sinful mind to take this as an excuse to toss out all of faith at a surface glance. Pretend that this is a contradiction and go out living lustful  worldly desire feeding every whim and fancy.  There is an explanation, and a rather simple one.Look for it. Ask questions, seek the truth. yearn for understanding, and help those who fall around you.

So yeah, I hope that helps. In this perceived dichotomy of guidelines and advice in which the enemy has tried to bring my mind down from within, know that there are answers, and that that it is called the straight and narrow for a reason. 

A Reasonable Post on Faith

It seems that when discussing issues of Biblical faith with those of the scientific doctrine, I have experienced what I perceive to be a superiority complex from those of the scientific persuasion.
It would appear that many who follow (some blindly) the faith of scientific interpretation think that the Bible and science are opposing forces. As if to say that science is based on nothing but facts, and The Bible is only about dead myths from primitive people

Some have said that if anything in the Bible contradicts, then the entire thing is to be thrown out and discredited. This is an interesting sentiment as many people who assert this claim have never actually looked into the Bible's validity at all.  To say that something doesn't make sense because you do not understand it or have never really looked for an answer seems lazy.

Some cite trivial things to attempt to disqualify the text. Others have a slightly more merit to their claims for example, in the books of Matthew and the book of Luke, the genealogy of the Messiah differs.  A little resaerch shows that one is through the mother, the other through the father, neither contradict, and the emphasis on Hebraic thinking and understanding explains it nicely.

To say that the Bible contradicts without ever studying it is equal to saying that  A + B cannot = C because AB and C are letters and not numbers therefore algebra is a lie.

Did you know that the reason that we even have some discoveries is because the Bible says so?
For example,  Matthew Maury, the father of oceanography, was an avid believer in the Bible. After study of Psalms 8 he sought to study these "paths of the sea" and is credited to have helped reduce sea travel.

This kind of example of partnering faith and a bit of reason should be encouraged.

Before Sir Isaac Newton discover that light can be divided into prisms, God mentioned that light can be divided when he was yelling at Job . ( Job 38:24)

Scientist have tried for a long time to state that the universe is eternal . Well, the Bible states that  it had a beginning in Genesis 1:1 and Hebrews 1:10-12. Many Scientist refer to the discovery that the universe has a beginning as "The Genesis problem" in which it admits that there is no explanation for the origin of the universe outside the hand of a creator.
In light of this discovery, it in fact takes more faith and belief to hold to the doctrine that there is no "god" or "creator" It is interesting that many in critique of Biblical understanding, accuse others of finding things that fit and explain supposed conflicts in the text... but easily dismiss the fact that science does this in their own research and on occasion... has no answer at all.

The second Law of thermodynamics states that the universe is running down and becoming more disorderly, as cited with the article above we can see that this is more proof against the idea of an infinite universe. Also this was cited in Psalm 102:25-26.

Where Scientific study has been revised, reworked and edited... the Bible had pretty consistently been the Bible.

Consider this, The bible states that the earth is round long before it was "discovered" as being so (Isaiah 40:22)

Pangaea and continental drift are inferred in the Biblical text  in  Gen 1:9-10 and  7:11

The Law of Bio-genesis is outlined in Genesis 1. all life comes from existing life.

Scientist have laughed at the verse in Psalms 19 , which in speaking of the sun states
"Its rising is from one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat."

They laughed thinking in their understanding that it taught geocentricity, that the sun revolved around the earth. They laughed saying that the sun is stationary. Science has recently discovered the fact that the sun moves.... fast... on a circuit, thus giving even more credibility to the Bible.

It is even more interesting that this is something known without a ancient Hebrew version of NASA.  How did they know that the earth hung independently in space, as Job 26:7
"He stretches out the north over empty space, And hangs the earth on nothing"
This is thousands of years before Armstrong or Russian Cosmonauts. Yet there in the text it states matters of scientifically proven fact.

The text states that there is weight to the wind in Job 28:25, something that meteorologists have come to discover as storms carry thousands of pounds of rain. To carry this load, air must have mass.

At a time when the wind was thought to just blow strait, The Bible mentioned Jet streams.
Ecc. 1:6 
Blowing toward the south,
Then turning toward the north,
The wind continues swirling along;
And on its circular courses the wind returns.

It wasn't until WWII that airmen discovered the Jet streams.


The Bible describes dinosaurs in Job 40:15-24, this is the description of Sauropods

The Bible states that there were cave men. Job 30:1-8

Pleiades and Orion star clusters were mentioned.  Pleiades is gravitationally bound while Orion is loose and disintegrating because the gravity of the cluster is not enough to bind it together. 
This is a recent discovery, yet God asked Job 4,000 years ago
“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion? Job 38:31


There is no mention of primitive ancient aquanauts, But Jonah is about as close as we get... and He mentioned underwater mountains. Jonah 2.

Here is another thing. The chicken or the Egg... Which came first? The Bible says it was the chicken in Gen. 1: 20- 22.

Which came first, DNA or Proteins? The code for each protein is in the DNA/RNA system, however proteins are required in order to manufacture DNA. The explanation is that they were created together.


Based on statistical probabilities, Either God created us, we are part of some intelligent design, or we are by and far the luckiest most random result of a meaningless purpose.  For example, we wouldn't exist without water, and if the earth were closer to the sun it would boil and evaporate or something, of if we were farther we would freeze.( see Isaiah 40:12) Upon that, the amount of radiation solar radiation should kill us... except for the "magic" barrier that is keeping it off of us. ( see Isaiah 45:18) Further more, the "random mutations that occurred"  to enable such things as the eye. Further more, the probability of cells being able to exist, because the probabilities of the right random gasses swirling in the just right way, to randomly have the right combustive properties, To randomly combust. There are many things which have such a narrow chance of happening, let alone all happening together, That make the mathmatic probability of all these probabilities coming together to form life...  all those narrow possibilities, stacked upon each other... according to Occam razor,  God is the scientifically more likely cause of the universe that we live.

Hebrews states that the world was created from things not seen. Later we discovered atoms and subatomic particles, things not observable to the naked eye.

We have learned that Stars emit radio waves.  Stated in Job 38:7.

Science expresses the universe in five terms: time, space, matter, power, and motion. Genesis 1:1,2 revealed such truths to the Hebrews in 1450 B.C.: "In the beginning [time] God created [power] the heaven [space] and the earth [matter] . . . And the Spirit of God moved [motion] upon the face of the waters." The first thing God tells man is that He controls of all aspects of the universe.


The Bible talks about not eating swine or shellfish, which scientific studies have found links to all kinds of health risks.



So, to draw to a close... Believing in the validity of the Bible isn't just a blind endeavor. The people following the Bible like sheep are no better or worse than those who lean on the religious  elements of scientific faith. Both sides of the isle can be ignorant or arrogant.

The Bible is far more than dead myths.  Perhaps there are elements of life and death that we have yet to discover.




_

In putting this together I pulled from various sources... and it frustrates me a little bit to see that now at the end, I find this site that did it all better and cited more things than I did