Not Living Life to the Fullest

For years I've noticed a flock of pigeons that gather on a traffic light post stationed on an off ramp that intersects with the 5 Interstate freeway. There are four lanes of traffic on that street, along with the off ramp and below the bridge, the freeway. The noise and air pollution must be abhorrent, but these birds sit there day and night oblivious to the congestion, noise and smell. Just to their left is a patch of pine trees, which might give them some respite, but they don't seem to notice. With their wings they might go anywhere, maybe a few miles south to the Pacific Ocean, a few miles north to the mountains, but they never move. Whenever I see these birds I'm reminded of human self imposed limitations and how we don't move far from our perches. We get up and do the same thing day in and day out, even though the environment might be noisy, polluted and the route congested.

It's really hard to get up and out of ourselves, and not just physically, but mentally and emotionally, to try flying to the left, the right, north or south. Instead, we watch the sun rise and set on our lives without ever expanding our wings to our full potential.

Satan - Team Player

I've had difficulty writing this article, lest we forget the truth behind it and who doesn't want this truth known. I found everything else to do rather than sit down and address Satan, and yet I had made notes to write this some time ago. In my mind I heard all the reasons why I should not write about this evil one.

No one cares.
You'll be wasting time.
No one reads this blog.

Satan is an accuser and a deceiver.

That's not to say I rebuke him, as only Scripture has that power, and we shouldn't ever attempt to outwit, out play or out last Satan. Without solid foundation in Christ, we're simply easy prey.

Our current culture has elevated Satan to the A-List. He's got carte blanche into every affair, whether that's in Hollywood, the governments, or on Main Street. Carte blanche means he has full powers, delegation (law) and a blank check to do evil. There was a time, not so long ago, most Americans believed in Satan, and his hell. People were not as willing to error in the direction of everlasting suffering. Fear of hell and damnation was preached at the pulpit. Nowadays, churches often don't mention Satan or hell, or the damming of souls for eternity. Those subjects are just not popular with the masses, and today's modern churches have got to get revenue into the pews, even if those souls are not being saved from the manipulations of Satan. Divorce, addiction, pornography, sexual perversions are increasing in the Christian church. The church fails us if it does not tell the truth about Satan and his business of suffering.

He's also good looking.

Satan moves freely in our world in several ways. The easiest is most people in modern America don't believe in Satan. Wikipedia claims, "For most Christians, he is believed to be an angel who rebelled against God—" You see, Satan is free to work in the world because the world has made him the accuser of "only Christians," and no one else. Or, they've made him less demonic, more of a fairytale. Wikipedia also states: "The popularly held beliefs are Satan was once a prideful angel who eventually rebels against God, however, are barely portrayed explicitly in the Bible and are mostly based on inference."


This is not the devil:

Everyone uses Wikipedia for quick reference, right? Do they dig further for the truth? Often our references are no more than our friends or radio personalities. People just don't do the work to get to the truth, rather let others make decisions that will last them for eternity. Satan loves Wikipedia and talk radio.

Jesus Christ had a personal encounter with the devil and that encounter isn't an inference (assumed premises) in the Bible, but a reality, but you won't hear about this in popular culture.

Satan is often sited as a myth. If popular belief is Satan does not exist, then he's free to do as he pleases without opposition. Things could never be better for him. Satan will continue the fraud. He's technologically savvy and can use anything we can use, and more, to spread his lies.

• People have stopped believing in Satan because he is a deceiver. He's convinced the modern masses that he doesn't exist by using many methods, not just radio and Internet. Science has disproved his existence (along with God's), and these atheists (armed with degrees) use their platforms to spread deceptions. Education does not mean wisdom.
• Satan imitates God. His desire is to be God. Some of his work is to counterfeit righteousness and religions. There are many world religions that are spear-headed by Satan, and carried out by well-meaning members that haven't a clue they're following Satan.
• Any one who does not believe Jesus Christ is the Way The Truth and The Light, or in Satan's existence are within the grasp of Satan's Kingdom. Those who scoff at the idea of Satan, work for him, even in ignorance.

We should not forget the Christians even today who are persecuted all over the world for believing this Truth. Nor the apostles who died a martyrs death for Truth. People are afraid. Satan wants you to be afraid. He does not want you to stand up to Truth. He will continue to whisper in your ear that to be tolerant you must not believe in the words of Jesus Christ.

"There are two kinds of people. Believers who build their faith on the words of Christ, and those who do not." Luke 6:46-49

A Chance Encounter?

Pretty much everyone knows the story of the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. If you don't, read John 4:1-54.

Here's a woman who encounters Jesus Christ. She wasn't looking for spiritual enlightenment, so that idea, that we have to seek God, is bunk. She's not of his faith, in fact, she's far from even a moral person, since she's known to sleep around with men. In the culture of that time a woman with an immoral lifestyle would be shunned. We can fairly assume she was abused and shamed, that she her openness and trust were deadened. Her sense of hope was lost, and surely she felt flawed.

The Samaritan woman is the same broken person today walking around with internalized shame, which fuels addictions. Especially sad for those who know about Jesus but don't believe he's their salvation, or who think somehow they'll be okay if they drink, eat, have sex, get more money, work harder, or whatever. They are an object of scorn to themselves.

These kinds of people could be considered enemies of Christ because they denounce him as their savior. In this story we can learn how to be non-judgmental and how to share Christ's message of salvation with broken people even if it's not comfortable. This is a way of thinking we can strive for, and share, that there is someone who could want and love us just the way we are, and his name is Jesus Christ.

These passages challenge the claims that Jesus and his message are not authentic, or relevant to all ages. It does this in several ways. Let's first get some background to this amazing story, because its way more than a chance meeting at a well. Jesus never did anything by chance or accident, not in this story and not in your life.

Between Judea and Galilee was a little country called Samaria. This country used to belong to the kingdom of Israel; but when the Israelites were carried away as captives by the king of Assyria, strangers from other lands came into that country and made it their home.

These strangers learned about the God of the Israelites, but they never worshiped God at the temple in Jerusalem. Instead they built their own temple in their country and worshiped there. They became bitter enemies of the Jews, and at the time of Jesus they were still despised by them. In going or returning to Jerusalem the Jews of Galilee would not take the shorter road through Samaria, but would travel the long road. This would lead to and across the Jordan River, then along the border of land where the Samaritans lived.

We have to understand that Jesus was a Jew, and studied in the synagogues as a Jew. He had been brought up the same as all Jewish boys of his time, and likely taught to feel the same way about all the customs, especially those laws about clean and unclean. He would certainly know everything there was to know about the Samaritans. Preconceived ideology about other races is born into families and religions. This wasn't just a nationality that the Jews looked down their noses at, no this was pure and bitter hate and disgust! This was a deep and hateful prejudice, maybe similar to the ways of the South during slavery, and maybe now like some clashing cultures in our own time.

Maybe your Samaria is right in your own city. Perhaps there's areas you'd rather "drive around" than run into a Samaritan. Maybe the Samaria is your family. There may be members you'd rather "avoid" at all costs and you'd rather take the long road than see them!

On the day we're talking about it was the middle of afternoon in Samaria, and brutally hot, but the Samaritan woman walked to Jacob's well at this time to avoid the cooler evening hours, lest she run into other Jewish women who might say something unkind to her. She was not only a Samaritan woman, but she was living a reprobate life. People knew she'd slept around with many men. Her shame was most likely great, but she bore it in the heat of the day, and lived in the margins of her society. No doubt she wanted to hurry to get her water, and to head back as quickly as possible before she was seen. But isn't it like God to put something in our path, and change it?

The Samaritan woman spotted Jesus. There he sat, at the well, likely seeing her approach. How many times do we encounter Jesus without knowing he's present? She probably had a lot on her mind, and very likely it wasn't her relationship with God. Without any warning God may be near and asking us to stop worrying about the world and get into relationship with him. This is especially true for people who do not know about Him, or believe he's not their salvation. New believers often have profound revelations about Jesus Christ because they meet him at "their well."

As a Samaritan woman, she might have been frightened to even approach a Jewish man alone. Her fear would be in her heart, for she knew that a Jewish man would not speak to a woman in public. Jesus had every reason under Jewish law to shun her, and no one would have thought any different of him, not even his followers. Instead, what he went on to do overrode all the old prejudices and hate and later brought consternation to his disciples.

Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" John 4:7

Why would Jesus, outside of his own Jewish faith, his own Jewish culture surrounding the affairs of women, engage her in conversation? He could have said nothing, or said, "Good afternoon," and left it at that--shocking enough, but no, he did not share the bitter feelings of the Jews toward the people of Samaria, nor did he have any issues with talking to women in public. He knew she was just as precious in the eyes of God as were any other person, and he longed to teach her about the kingdom of heaven. Oh, if we could only live as Jesus lived! If only we didn't prejudge who we thought would or wouldn't be receptive to our witness!

That he would say anything to this woman surely was shocking to her, and perhaps her fear doubled. She must have felt like she was blinded in his bright light! Imagine Jesus Christ appearing and talking to you? Surely she felt something from him--some magnetism some peace, something incomparable to any person she'd ever come across.

The first thing she says back to him, even though she's surely shocked, is, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" John 4:9

We can imagine she wished she could pull those words back! Socially she had no right to question a Jewish man, and her response was rather outrageous. She certainly would have expected something reproachful in return.

Jesus, not dissuaded said, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." John 4:10

This entire sentence went right over the woman's head. She took it literally, thinking he could somehow magically produce "living water" that would save her the long trek out to the well every afternoon in the blazing heat. Maybe she thought he was poking fun at her ignorance, but she turned and said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep." John 4:11

Rather than stopping there, she added: "Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?" John 4:11-12

It's interesting that she argued with his ability to do what he claimed he can do! Even though the circumstances are unusual (A Jew talking to a Samaritan woman), she challenged him further by asking if he was greater than Jacob! She turned things around, if you will, and asked who was he to question that which has been working fine all along, thank you. Living water! Whatever! This woman was gutsy and foolish at the same time. All her stored up hate of Jewish people and "men" seemed to have come out at once.

Jesus didn't flinch, he simply and calmly told her, "Go, call your husband and come back." John 4:16

I'm sure the blood rushed up to her face. "I have no husband."

Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true." John 4:17-18

He agreed with her, not arguing and not condemning. He agreed she's living a life of sin. It was only then that it dawned on her that he was someone, indeed. She thought he was a prophet, but she still couldn't face up to the ares of her life that needed changing.

So often we don't want to look at those areas in our life that need changing, and yet we know they keep God's spirit and light from shining into our world.

"Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem," she declares. John 4:19-20

Isn't it obvious she didn't want to talk about her lifestyle? She was trying to divert the conversation in another direction. It's doubtful she cared where her people worshiped. She wanted to take the spotlight off of her sins. This is what we do, right? Rather than confess our sins, we start pointing out the problems of others. How can I change if the world isn't changing. It's his fault, their fault, your fault, but not mine!

She's also stirring up the old controversy between the Jews and Samaritans. How many conversations have you found yourself in with unbelievers, or those who follow a counterfeit faith and the very first thing that happens is they'll point out the old controversies. It's never anything Christians haven't heard before, usually regarding harsher laws in the Old Testament, and it was the same here, with Jesus and this woman. But, she couldn't draw him into an argument, just as we can't be led into arguments.

Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." John 4:21-24

Imagine her surprise when he included the Samaritans in salvation?

The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." John 4:25

Ah, ha! She knew about him! How many say they know him and he'll explain everything, and this gives them an excuse to do nothing but wait?

Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he." John 4:26

This was the first time he declared he's the messiah. Think of those implications! This is why this story would not have made the cut if man had written the Bible. Why would Jesus tell this Samaritan woman first, who lived in sin, and not his disciples, or the Pharisees, or the king that he was the messiah?

Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people
"Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ? They came out of the town and made their way toward him." John 4:28-30

This brief encounter with her savior restored her back into society. The people she told this story to believed her and went to see for themselves whom she spoke. Jesus gave her that power and that grace, and that's what he does for us, if only we believe.

This is a powerful story of revelation and change. Jesus offered salvation without anything in return but to believe in him and share the good news. She received his spiritual nourishment through faith and she harvested more souls for the Kingdom. Despite her reputation, many took her invitation and came to meet Jesus.

Father of the Faithful

PBS produced a movie, titled, "The Bible's Buried Secrets," and it aired on November 18, 2008. It is now available online. It is considered an "an archaeological detective story tracing the origins of the Bible."

Every time I see a production like this advertised, I'm certain it will be "bent" towards devaluing Christian beliefs. First things first. Our God is a God of emotions and he gets angry about these kinds of productions. Let's take just a moment to read just how angry God can get, and what is the "typical human response to that anger."

Numbers 21

4. They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5. they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" 6. Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7. The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.

God sent snakes to kill those who grumbled against him; and the people cried to Moses to pray for them. This is what happens. People strike out, rebel, curse the name of the Lord, but when troubles come--down on their knees they go looking for that miracle.

This PBS Documentary suggests the Exodus is not real and will upset anyone who claims a literal and inerrant interpretation of Scripture. "It challenges the Bible's stories if you want to read them literally, and that will disturb many people," says archaeologist William Dever, who specializes in Israel's history. The program claims the Bible was written by hundreds of authors in sixth century BC, at least five books of it during the Babylonian exile. It challenges Abraham, Sarah and their offspring as actual historical figures.

This is more than grumbling, isn't it? People have absolutely no fear of the Lord, none. They seek to disprove him entirely, or his Word--that alone can save us.

What do these kinds of programs mean to Christians? How does does it impact our beliefs? Should we turn a blind eye and just "keep the faith" when there's material evidence, or lack thereof? This is one Christian who doesn't ignore claims against the Bible, especially something so profound as a missing Abraham! If we're missing Abraham, we're missing Jesus!

A little genealogy:

1. A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: 2. Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3. Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 4. Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5. Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, 6. and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife, 7. Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, 8. Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, 9. Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10. Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, 11. and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. 12. After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13. Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, 14. Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Eliud, 15. Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, 16. and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

If we don't have Abraham, we don't have Jesus Christ. But the producers of these kinds of programs are not going to tell you that--they assume that most people are Bible illiterate and it doesn't matter if someone is deleted from the Word of God. Even worse, they simply do not believe in the Christian God. Self included for a swath of my life. Not all faith is righteous faith. You can have "faith" in absolutely nothing.

I've been there before--blind by fake faith. I had such allegiance to a guru that I believed that anything discovered about him or the organization (church) was a lie. I went so far as to never question anything about this church. Looking back now, I can actually laugh at some of the absurd stories that we believed to be "truth."

I thought I was "right" and my pride nipped all other doubts. Pride is a downfall for many of us. We'd rather live a lie than have to admit we were wrong.

Not to bore my readers "again" with my rant against spiritual disciplines (even though that is what this blog addresses), but the point is--if someone is decrying our Christian God, and producing"evidence," we've got to saddle up alongside of them with our magnifying glass and have a look at what they've found. If our faith is "real," we'll discover they've found nothing at all to undermine our God. Who do they think they're dealing with but our most powerful sovereign God who created everything?

How much do we believe when evidence is presented in the "ah, la concrete realm of archaeology?" Now that we know what we know about DNA and carbon dating, do we bury our heads and think, "I won't believe anything that conflicts with my belief." We have to ask ourselves if Jesus would have done the same? What does he expect from us as believers? I believe he expects us to know our Bible. He expects us to dig deeply into it's message, and from there all the answers to everything will be revealed.

Is there a place for science and God?

If God created everything (and apparently this is one thing every religion can agree upon), that means he created science. Science can determine many things, and everyday they discover something new. But science cannot tell us how this universe began--exactly. They have theories. Unbelievers, archaeologists, atheists, agnostics, etc., are quicker to believe theories than the Word of God. They rebel, as they have done since the time of Moses. Man is evil, and nothing can save us but the blood of Christ. This truth is more than science can handle. It blows their mind. It can't be examined in a test-tube. It bothers them so much that they're setting out to prove he doesn't exist. They're looking at rubble for their Truth.

Think about that for a moment.

Since they can't find the leader of the Hebrew Nation, he doesn't exist--he was a fable. This is news to Abraham and to God.

Now, I know that many blog Christian readers will skip this post because they frankly don't care about a PBS documentary that makes this claim. Many just don't care what is "found" or not "found" in archaeological digs in the Holy Lands because they're "faith" is like a rock, and they'll just ignore these claims. By ignoring it, we allow it to spread, we give carta blanca to Satan. Maybe they have their head in their righteous sand, and that's enough for them. Or, those who don't believe in Jesus anyways, lean toward agnosticism, or who-knows-what, these kinds of docu-movies just affirm what they think they already know about God.

Giving erroneous fuel to disbelief in God's Word with statements such as "hundreds of authors in the 6th century BC," wrote the Bible, needs to be addressed by Christians. Especially when it broadcasts on a public radio station supported by the public and major corporations. Just because the producers of this program can't find evidence that Abraham lived, doesn't mean he didn't. There are billions of people who lived on this earth and all of them can't be found and categorized by sifting through sand. God's ways are not man's, and yet, man continues to belittle God by making such outrageous claims.

This is what God told Abraham, it it still rings true today: "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield, your very great reward."

First we must remember that Abraham was the "Father of the Faithful." That means we must have the same "faith" that the claims made against him and our God are false. The second thing to remember is hundreds of authors, or story tellers, surely would have re-written his yarn if given the chance. One of the things that makes the Bible so real, is the human qualities. The "Word of God" was written by God and no doubt it was copied by men, but these particular writers (we can not compare to writers now) took particular care in not changing one coma. Paul says, "Now, we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might now...not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches," (1 Cor. 2:12-13).

Jesus believed in the authority and inspiration of Scripture. He said, "The scripture cannot be broken," (John 10:35). He said a person cannot treat a historical event in the Bible as though it never happened. Jesus Christ has declared nothing can or will be changed.

First patriarch, Abraham was the founder of the Hebrew nation. In Jewish, Christian and Muslim tradition, he emerges as a father-figure--dignified, firm in his faith, humane, respected.

Abraham can't go missing. It's just not possible to dismiss him because they can't find his DNA. But, this show came and went without much of a bleep on the Christian radar. And there you have it.

Stand up to the truth about our God.

Nothing but Feelings

While reading a New York Times Bestselling book, I felt compelled to write a review that's going to call into question the author's beliefs, but she's freely calling into question the beliefs of Christians. My husband asked me if I felt the writer was telling her own story, or if she was pushing a belief system on the readers. She's pushing a belief system on her readers, I told him, making statements of fact, such as meditation is the only way. Then I said, "I think that Christians, as a whole, are too passive. Few of us are defending Christ in the manner that say, Paul, defended Him, through great suffering, opposition and death. Would we die for the name and Truth of Jesus Christ?

Are we a bunch of Peter's crouching behind the water fountain in the courtyard, lest someone finds out we're Jesus followers and not cool? By not speaking up when we see or hear Jesus persecuted, isn't that the same as denying Christ? Is it a sin to be passive about how people speak, write or portray the Son of man?

Without a doubt there's a movement to eradicate Christianity. The American Atheists are clearly pushing an agenda in Washington. The media, even public television, is out to debunk Christian beliefs. PBS just presented a program that brings into question whether Moses ever existed. The celebrity anti-Christian circus would require another article, but even the least of us who follow celebrity gossip know about Kabbalah and Scientology.

Then, of course, I began to wonder just how well I, not only shield my eyes from lies, but really stand up and defend Jesus?

While eternal life is a free gift given on the basis of God's grace (Ephesians 2:8,9), each of us will still be judged by Christ. This judgment will reward us for how we have lived. God's gracious gift of salvation does not free us from the requirement for faithful obedience. ¹

When I meet God, what if he asks, "Did you defend my Son?" And when I say, "Why, yes," and he asks, "We'll, what about the time when your friends used His name in vain and you said nothing?" I'll of course look dumbfounded, shuffle my feet around and make some lame excuse such as that using the Lord's name in vain became part of the American lexicon. "But what about that time you watched a TV show that made fun of my Son, and that time you enjoyed a movie that ridiculed him? What happened there?" I'll probably say something like, "What could I do even if I didn't like it?" Here God will say something like, "Why didn't you turn it off, walk out, warn others about the content? Why didn't you post the Truth on that blog you kept? I happened to be one of your readers."

By now you want to know what book I'm talking about that's led to this conversation with God.

First things first. This author is an amazing writer. There's nothing negative to say about her writing, in fact, I envy her ease of it and how she turns a phrase into a living, breathing thing. Her writing was so good that, even though it prompted this article, I kept reading. Perhaps more than anything that's why I'm here, now, not to defame her but to tell others that one must be prudent with the ideas and feelings of others when it comes to our spiritual life. Always look for the truth in the Word.

The name of the book is, Eat Pray Love, and her name is Elizabeth Gilbert.

She claims to have no personal issues with the many names of God, but prefers to use the name "God," rather, than, say for example, Shiva. She also believes God could be a woman, but prefers to think of him as a man. Culturally she claims to be a Christian, but not theologically. I stopped and re-read this again, scratching my head, wondering where the editor was because clearly there's no such animal as a cultural Christian. One either believes in Jesus or not. The writer goes on to say that Jesus is just a great teacher, and to quote her directly: "I do reserve the right to ask myself in certain trying situations what indeed He would do, though I can't swallow that one fixed rule of Christianity insisting that Christ is the only path to God."

How can anyone believe anything at all about Jesus if they don't believe what he said about himself? How can she "not swallow" what Jesus claimed himself to be? What did Jesus claim?

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." John 3:16-18

For those who claim the Gospels were not composed by Jesus, it's important to note that they were written by four eye-witness accounts of the life of Jesus and all four recount similar, if not exact experiences, including the resurrection. These four disciples wrote what they remembered, not what they extrapolated off the Internet, out of books, or heard from a guru. In actuality there were hundreds if not thousands of people who saw Jesus, both before and after he was resurrected.

I came across something else in the Bible about the testimonies of Jesus. He makes a case for himself, perhaps knowing there would be people in this world who reserved the right not to believe in him, which of course is free will, the very gift God gave humans over all other creatures on this planet.

"If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid.

You have sent John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony, but I mention it that you maybe be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you posses eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me, to have life.

I do not accept praise from men, but I know you, I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe if you accept praise from one another yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?

But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?" John 5:31-47 NIV

Sadly, many Christians don't know exactly what Jesus said and they can get sucked into false teachings that promise they're in harmony with Christianity, and without much dissension.

"...most of the Christians I know accept my feelings on this with grace and open mindedness..."

She doesn't know any Christians. Christian's profess belief in Jesus as Christ and follow the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus. There is no middle ground with Jesus Christ. One only has to pick up a Bible and read the RED.

Open mindedness means having or showing a mind receptive to new ideas or arguments. She doesn't present new ideas or arguments. To this writer, any explanation other than none would have helped me have an open mind to her feelings pertaining to Jesus.

After a few more chapters about her painful divorce (which I feel no empathy as she left an otherwise decent man), she flies the reader to Italy. Now, the story holds me tightly and is so provocatively written that after beautiful, breathless months spent in Europe we're abruptly dumped in India, and pummeled on Hindu philosophy, a detailed, rehashed monologue about yoga, ashram life, meditation techniques and how to find the right guru, peppered with cheeky comments about God being a turnip. Nothing unique in selling Hinduism, different, untold, or captivating. Her guru hammer had me ready to sob. She'd taken us out of glorious Italy on an amazing journey and dropped us on our heads in a shabby chic ashram.

Inside the ashram she meets more privileged spiritual seeking cohorts (whom she points out are all successful (which isn't true or they wouldn't be there). One even has a PhD, mind you! Why some people think education justifies bad choices, I'll never know. So, all these inmates of hers had the free choice to put their lives (and those of their husbands, wives, children, employers, friends, cats and dogs) on hold to travel half way around the world to suffer (but not too much) for their guru, completely unconcerned while zoning out in meditation, about the millions of real Hindus who haven't enough clean water to drink. The devoted ones eat delicious meals, have their personal needs met, with just a few inconveniences (for effect), yet on the other side of the wall people are living in abject poverty.

Christians would have been working outside, in the trenches, to help those in need, not spending their days in service to those within the ashram. Therein is a pivotal difference between Christ and a guru. Christ wants us to roll up our sleeves and administer to the poor and needy, but guru's want you serve them first, then their devotees (who support the guru's pampered lifestyle), while ignoring the poverty and suffering all around them.

I wanted rip the book in two and keep the part I was adoring! But no. Here I am reading what I already know about Hinduism (or any variant of it) and wanting to find this writer's phone number and call her and scream, "How could you have ruined such a perfectly fabulous book?"

I understand that she had to write about her experience in the ashram since she went there, but she presents her case for yoga with an air of professional qualifications, discounting Christ, to proclaim her own feelings, with certainty that her--struggling in a dark fake cave and sitting rigid for hours of meditation is the only way to know God. This chapter tries to sell a package that all Hindu guru's have sold since Swami Vivekananda successfully introduced yoga to the West in the late 1800's.

Her single experience wasn't based on years and years of this kind of spiritual pursuit but a few months, and yes, the ashram makes for an interesting adventure because of her talent as a writer, but she's not walked this razor's edge long enough to weigh in with such authority that the actual teachings are superior to Christ's.

Now, as I continue reading, weary from frustration, she begins what I call the Hindu witnessing and proof they all proclaim, in one manner or another, yet they deny witnessing.

* You're chosen

* The guru was unique, chosen by his master, enlightened

* You received an initiation.

* The guru seldom visited the austere, desolate ashrams in India that were run mostly by volunteers, rather her guru lived most of the time in America. This void is explained. The devotees do not need the guru in their presence to benefit from them. They can be alive or dead, here or thousands of miles away. It's all the same.

* Ashram life was difficult. There are long hours of physical work and tedious hours of meditation. Devotees are exhausted and under fed.

* To come to the ashram the guru wants the devotee to be in good physical and mental health and have financial assets. This is stance is viewed as practical, giving credence to the guru.
You're not to be a drain on anyone.

* If your family objects to you coming to the ashram, you should not to come. Your family is not to be a drain on anyone. You're to serve the guru and his/her followers without any resistance.

* Any abuse you receive (hard labor, lack of food or sleep and hours of still meditation) will help you on the path.

* The guru came from a "line" of guru's.

* The guru gives a mantra, and special lessons.

She presented many other commonalities of yogic life seen in similar sects, but there are too many to list. What's important to note is her "feelings" were her guide to truth. Because she "felt" something in her meditations, this was proof enough to her that she was communicating with God.

Why then were her original feelings about her husband not enough to sustain her marriage? Feelings are never accurate, especially when God is involved.

Group experiences seemed to hold some value to her as well. She tells a story about a rowdy crowd of people waiting to see their guru and calmed into bliss when he appeared on stage, therefore the yogi is authentic by his ability to transcend people who came looking for spiritual joy.

A crowed can be convinced to drink cyanide.

Yogi's are seeking an experience. They gather for that experience. They come together with silly "bliss bunny" smiles and meditate together. Whether in a group or alone, they are not meditating to just sit there. They're straining for something God-like, whether it's a breathless state or to gaze into the third eye (often described as a blue light with a white star), or some form of out-of-body feeling. They may very well hallucinate by a self imposed hypnotic states, fueled by opiate type endorphins.

She writes, "In mystical India, as in many shamanistic traditions, kundalini shaki (life force) is considered a dangerous force to play around with if you are unsupervised; the inexperienced Yogi could quite literally blow his mind with it."

I knew such an inexperienced man and after doing a technique to control Kundalini, he went behind a gas station and stabbed himself to death. Read that again. I did not mean to say that he cut his wrists. He, quite literally stabbed himself to death. If this is any indication of what she means by blowing ones mind, then on this note she is indeed accurate.

I studied, mediated and followed a very famous Indian guru during most of my life. I was a profoundly excellent devotee. Though I didn't live in an ashram, I'd stayed in one, and visited many in America. One need not travel to India to have this deprived experience. I knew hundreds of yogis for up to 30 years, but not one of them had ever attained much. I don't mean money, though most of them had little financial success, but happiness. There were drugs, alcohol, affairs, divorces, physical abuses, and because yogi's do not believe in sin and have no way to be absolved the guilt. They seemed a bunch of shame driven antisocial beings. I'd never seen anyone enter into the highest state, Samadhi, and yet we heard many times of our gurus experience. None of these struggling yogi's were better off, if anything, all of them suffered mental and emotional problems. Guru's offer much to the unpopular, the antisocial and the broken people who never quite fit into anything. Here they become special, and needed, chosen, ripe for picking. If they came from the Christian faith they generally grew up with a distorted view of Christianity perpetrated by their parents.

Everything this author shares about her yoga experience I've heard before, accept this one thing: "You come to your Guru, then, not only to receive lessons, as from any teacher, but to actually receive the Guru's state of grace. Such transfers of grace can occur in even the most fleeting of encounters with a great being."

I experienced no Grace in eastern religion. Grace is the divine favor toward man; the mercy of God, as distinguished from His justice; also, any benefits His mercy imparts; divine love or pardon; a state of acceptance with God; enjoyment of the divine favor.

When I left my guru, I did so for reasons that had nothing to do with his deceptions--those I learned about them many years later (his followers continue to disbelieve what's been uncovered). I had no grudge to bear against the guru, I loved him dearly. I just needed space from the people he attracted, including the monks and nuns who ran the organization like a gulag. I was completely unaware that I'd been slowly brainwashed into believing the Hindu philosophy, and had abandoned so many years ago the truths in the Bible.

I came back to Christ in a simple way. I began reading the Bible. Truth was revealed. I remember setting the Bible on my lap, glancing up at my husband and saying, "They (our old guru church) have it all wrong."

The first thing the Lord showed me was that the Christian life is a fight against evil forces from without and temptation from within. Christ paid for our sins. God wants us to live by faith, not by magic, or by trying to manipulate God. Satan tried to temp Jesus into sinning by quoting scripture. Don't be fooled. One can't believe Jesus was a good teacher if one doesn't believe what he taught.

Jesus said, "If a kingdom cannot stand against itself, that kingdom cannot stand." Mark 3:24

"It is also written: Do not put your God to the test." Matthew 4:7



₁ Life Application Study Bible, Zondervan

Bad Vibrations - More on Love

Much of what I've shared on this blog relates to the stark contrasts between my life in eastern religion and conversion into Christianity.

If I can't take 30 years of striving for perfection in a yogic life, and the pitfalls I encountered with eastern religious logic, and share this with others heading "east," and warn them, then those 30 years were a waste. But we know that's not true, right? Nothing is a waste if we glorify it in Christ. We are the sum-total of our experiences. Jesus told me not to "hate" any part of my life. That's how most of us live. Denying big chunks of self and trying to do something with the part we like. We run very fast from our sins, bury them as deeply as we can so they remain hidden, lest we have to face them again and again. Horror of horrors.

The Bible's message will set us free, even though some Christians struggle with believing God hates sinners, and is angry with them. The Bible plainly explains we're not perfect, we're not going to be perfect, so stop trying. Jesus loves every single hair on our heads. Jesus wants us to embrace our true selves.

Eastern religion does not teach that there is a savior who loves us and wants to redeem us. Instead their message is that only through yogic works can we be "free" of the ego and attain a state of enlightenment, or oneness with God.

As I've shared before, leaving my eastern religion was extremely difficult simply because I'd been such good devotee of the program. My unending quest to connect with God, to seek that eternal joy within, kept me attuned with Indian philosophy and the striving for perfection. That eternal joy I embraced wasn't eternal, I eventually learned those moments of peace were as long as the meditation.

I struggled for many years with a "holy" life or "holier-than-hell" life. Eastern religion is more attuned to isolation, meaning that though Hinduism is ancient, it does not have a blueprint for those living in a modern world.

Now, where does love fit in? Being a yogi requires intellectual study and meditation, not the cultivation of relationships, which is where you'll find love.

Because karma can't be forgiven, you work out your karma through yoga, but yoga is a means not an end. There are many disciplines in yoga. I followed Raja Yoga, a "royal yoga" that is, a highway to self realization and enlightenment. The royal highway means you have work to do; you have to transform and purify yourself until all karma is burned, releasing you from the chains of this world. The ordinary man could not conceive the absolute spirit, only a self-realized yogi.

,

Meditation was the place to seek wisdom, yoga postures is a way to attain the discipline of body, Bakti yoga is a way to attain devotion. Many practices but no official word from God. They often use the Bhagavad Gita as God's word, there's nothing in the document that can be verified as an actuality. It's a wonderful poem about man doing his duty, but it's not the word of God.

The Bible is roughly ignored in eastern religion. Because the church I belonged to referred to Biblical scripture on Sundays and limited it to an interpretation by their founder, no one considered reading the Bible on their own. Often we were told that it took a "master" to understand a "master," and therefore we would not understand the Bible without the guru's interpretation. I honestly didn't realize the Bible was God's word, or that it's alive. It's called a living Bible. There are over 37,000 promises to be found in the Bible, as well as history, prophecy, wisdom literature, letters and instructions.

Okay, so, again, where was the love in eastern religion? Did God love us when we went to that temple? How did we love God if we were bungee corded to the earth in a dreadful karmic cycle?

What I came to learn was God wasn't the image of man, rather we were told he was a vibration and was part of everything, including this computer screen. It was the vibration of God we loved and were to mold the vibration into an image we could understand and desire. To love God we were to cultivate the desire for God by coming up with a concept such as a guru or a statue of Krishna or a picture of a God, even the picture of Jesus. We were taught that ordinary love is selfish and rooted in desire, so we did not love in an ordinary way. We were told to talk to God in the language of our hearts, that "wanting to love God--was loving God." God would not deny anyone his love if we made a sincere effort. We were told there is no sin, and no Satan, that the world is made up of light and darkness. Good and bad. That the laws were universal and applied to everyone.

When did the holes get poked in my eastern religion faith?

The night my mother died. Sitting in a stairwell at Long Beach Memorial hospital, clutching my cellphone, having just hung up with an arrogant monk, I knew my guru was a god impostor. Sometimes life changes in a stairwell.

My eastern religion leaders told me my mother deserved to die a horrible cancer death, and that she really didn't mind dying in this way, that her soul understood. She had done something to someone, somewhere and she was paying her karmic dues. After she suffered and died, her soul would be whisked off to be reborn again in the body of her choosing. I would never see my mother again. While I sobbed on the phone, the monk told me to be happy for her. Her soul was going to be released. He felt he could do more by meditating in the Pasadena hills, where the ashram resided, than coming down to the hospital.

None of the devotees knew how to comfort me, for to show grief was to show ego earth-binding inclinations. They almost seemed afraid of me, as if I had seen what was in store for them.

No, I was to pick up and carry on in my quest to find God and let the dead bury the dead.

All those years, I'd believed dying to be part of the karmic wheel. Well, here was death. I can say I lived in shock for a good long time after mom passed. The one person I needed to accept me, died, and her last word to me was "shit." I was trying to make her more comfortable, telling her it was okay to pass, to let her pain go, and she jerked her hand from mine and said, "shit," and then she lapsed into her final coma.

I found a bathroom and vomited. I heard someone tell my father of my state and I heard him say in an angry voice, "she'll be fine." I was not fine. There was no way out. There was nothing I could do. It was absurd. 30 years of meditation was not going to save my mother nor give me an ounce of grace. I was on my own. The pain was so unbearable that I was chewing pain pills and Xanax.

It was my inability to reconcile mom's death--or find peace about it, that eventually, though not entirely at once, turned me toward Christ. Because I had been so completely brain washed about the nature of God, when I first began reading the Bible I couldn't grasp the message. In talk therapy I learned I'd formed a religious addiction. Through meditation I sought escape, and so did everyone else I knew that was striving for this oneness, perfection with God. Within their lives, broken marriages, alcohol, drugs, affairs, deceptions, continued but while in they meditated they could numb out, and all these other problems would go away--but they don't go away. They cling to you like tar and feathers.

We would escape into this unreal mythical world where a guru, his monks and nuns, along with rules and regulations put a divide between us and God. There was so much perfectionism running amok that it became alarmingly difficult to do anything within this church without someone pointing out that it wasn't good enough. Silly things like using a ruler to measure the exact location a plastic spoon and fork should be set on a table. The devotees used this perfection system to humiliate and wound "lesser" devotees and to pump their egos. These helpers would be reduce to tears and told they were ego bound, and that "master used to upbraid his devotees," and they were only doing what the master would do. Or, "they were doing (fill in the blanks of abuse) because they loved the master, and we should be more understanding if we loved him.

My eastern religion prescribed to toxic shame in the name of God. They severed my soul. They brought me feelings of distrust, worthlessness, inferiority. Because I came from a shameless home, where abandonment, ridicule, abuse, neglect and perfectionism existed, eastern religion became my new family. Many devotees were from similar abusive families and they passed it on to others through control, perfectionism, contempt, criticism, blame, envy, judgment, power and rage.

When I began to seriously question the flaws of the teachings, I was excommunicated. They excommunicated me by abandonment. I was so wounded I wasn't aware I was being excommunicated. They didn't need me. Not really, there was another putz who'd just joined. Why keep the trouble makers? Hadn't they been really good at getting rid of them? What about those mysteriously missing monks who quit? Where'd they go? Where do people go when they are excommunicated? Don't think we didn't ask! We lost many monks to mystery. The really good ones never stayed.

Spiritually, I was a zombie. I could not pray, nor meditate. I drifted. I tried to read the Bible.

Everything I'd studied was now in direct conflict with the God of the Bible. The Bible was telling me I didn't have to do anything but accept Jesus Christ, that Jesus loved me. He loved me so much that he died for me. I didn't understand this kind of love. I didn't believe it. The Bible is just something made up, I told myself because that's what my church told me. They said Jesus orchestrated his Crucifixion, like a play, that he cast his own characters, that it was just done as an example of how much one could be devoted to God. We could all be Christ-like, or attain Christ consciousness. Jesus Christ had gone to India and had learned Kriya Yoga and that's what he'd taught his disciples, but the secret teachings were written out of the Bible, don't you know? And now Jesus was working with an Indian Avatar named Babaji, and together they were running the World. They were the CEO's. I believed this remake, and so does thousands of world wide devotees, even still, if not more.

The Bible says love compensates for our sin. Eastern religion says you have to work off karma to know God. There's no hall passes. The guru can not release of the work you must do; he's more of an adviser.

While I was in spiritual recovery, I came across this poem, and it seemed to be Jesus speaking to me.

Welcome to the world, I've been waiting for you.
I'm so glad you're here.
I've prepared a special place for you to live.
I like you just the way you are.
I will not leave you no matter what.
Your needs are okay with me.
I'll give you all the time you need to get your needs met.
I'm so glad you're a girl.
I want to take care of you, and I'm prepared to do that.
I like feeding you, bathing you, changing you, and spending time with you.
In all the world, there has never been another like you.
God smiled when you were born.

(John Bradshaw, Home Coming, Bantam Books)

When I began to do inner child work, I began to develop a new relationship with God. It didn't come quick, and God dropped a few wake-up calls into my life to move things along. Jesus' warnings about false teachers hit me hardest. The closer I examined the Bible the more I realized that though some eastern religion has nice-sounding messages, they do not agree with God's message in the Bible. I learned God's love is truly complete. How great is the love of the father! Never had I read so much about love, or how it could change my life. In just a few years as a believer my life is completely changed.

Now I know I will see my mother again. She believed in Jesus Christ. She is already glorified in heaven.

The Lord our God is a merciful God. 2 Sm 24:14

The Godly are Not Crazy (And other hype you’ll find on the Internet)

Sometimes I’m cruising around the internet doing research and I come across Blogs lambasting Christians and they make me want to pull my eyeballs out and wipe them off and stick them back in for better focus.

Case in point, the article, The Godly Must Be Crazy.

For the record, there are crazy Christians, just like there are crazy “name your religion” or person. Craziness is not reserved for anyone in particular, but too often there’s an accepted license to drag Christians through the mud, laugh at them, and kick them, too.

Just turn the other cheek and everything will be fine. Right? Wrong.

Christians should ban together, wake up, shake up, and defend our Lord. It says in the Bible that “Anyone who knows the right thing (to do), but does not do it, is sinning.” (James 4:17) Apathy sleeps with the devil. But we’re afraid, especially of the faceless-nameless internet dweebs, and where immorality is rampant. People are basically evil (Roman’s 3:23), especially behind their keyboards where many are exhibiting unrestrained forms of evil. I've personally received vile messages from strangers, all because I believe in Christ.

Though the article I'm referring to was written in June of 04, comments are as recent as June 08, meaning, browsers are reading this writer’s opinion of Christians, and believing it, without stepping away from their web browsers to really search for the truth--which they can find in a good Life-Application Bible. One commenter stated:

Well at least the religious right buffoons must be (Crazy). If they believe in such a dismal future, why do they still have children, do these people know what kind of message they are sending to the younger generation?... we as human beings do alot [sic] to help mold and shape circumstances, so we have alot of power to turn things around for the better if we make that commitment and want to change things and have things turn out diffrently, [sic] but it takes the village, but of course not a village of fantical [sic] religious idiots. What a shame that they don't care enough to want to make a better future for their own children ... They are just selfish, self centered and nihilistic

Sometimes I don’t know where to begin to witness my faith when many who attack Christians are Bible illiterate! It’s vogue to attack Christians, and not only on the Internet. Christians are still being persecuted all over the world, including in this country, and while this is happening the ACLU is helping to tear down our Christian imagines one cross at a time.

I might as well unpack this article I stumbled upon to better explain my irk. What I want you to do is notice a few things about these statements that are stated as factual instead of opinion. So, here we go…

Forty-five senators and 186 representatives in 2003 earned 80- to 100-percent approval ratings from the nation's three most influential Christian right advocacy groups -- the Christian Coalition, Eagle Forum, and Family Resource Council. Many of those same lawmakers also got flunking grades -- less than 10 percent, on average -- from the League of Conservation Voters last year.

There is no reference to this comment. One might assume this writer did his own research and wants us to do the same. Since this article was written, the LCV has upgraded 2007 and 2008 as “banner years” for the environment. Apparently all the Christians have left office.

There are all kinds of graphs you can download from his site, which few will really do—just move on with more erroneous messages about Christians.

He goes on to say…

These statistics are puzzling at first. Opposing abortion and stem-cell research is consistent with the religious right's belief that life begins at the moment of conception. Opposing gay marriage is consistent with its claim that homosexual activity is proscribed by the Bible. Both beliefs are a familiar staple of today's political discourse. But a scripture-based justification for anti-environmentalism?*

Okay, hold on here. Christians do not oppose all stem-cell research. I’ll give this writer a break, as he wrote this a few years ago, and we’ve since learned that stem-cells can be harvested from other things besides zygotes. Yes, Christians do believe that life begins at conception, because it does, but the argument is that until said zygote pitches a tent in the uterus, it’s just traveling through like a blood clot. Just because some pre-embryos don’t attach to the uterus, doesn’t discount God’s involvement and I suppose he’s there with the millions of frozen zygotes waiting for a chance to develop into a human being, or for a death sentence. At the time of conception a human begins to grow if you leave it alone; if you do not value a growing human being because he or she is just a zygote, you might not value an infant since they cry and poop all day long. You’ll find ways to minimize the importance of life. What this writer might have wanted to say was the Christians believe that the soul begins at the moment of conception, but he didn’t write that. Soul holds too much water, so let’s use the world life which is a sieve for contention.

Women who’ve had abortions often regret that decision later in life, especially when they later have children and realize what they’ve done when they see that infant either on a sonogram or in their arms. Sometimes it takes some living to understand the frailty of our lives. I don’t doubt when I was 17 years old I would have opted for an abortion without thinking twice, and I might have counseled my daughter to do the same when she was in High School. I had no clue about the importance of a living being within a womb. Of course all this leads to responsibility not to get pregnant in the first place. That’s another topic.

Yes, the majority of Christians oppose gay marriages, and yes, they do believe that homosexual activity is not natural and, like it or not, it is forbidden in Scripture. But you don’t have to be Christian to have that opinion, and an opinion isn’t the same as intolerance or violence. Fact: our bodies are made male and female, with ports and docks that are not meant to be interchangeable. Where is the rationality of evolution if this statement isn’t true? Homosexuality was as widespread thousands of years ago as it is in ours. Why haven’t we evolved to have two sets of organs? Because that’s not how God set things up.

Other religious faiths are far more intolerant of homosexuality than Christians. There are countries where execution is the punishment for this lifestyle. Homosexuality is a sin just like any other sin, and just because we like the lust it stirs in us, doesn’t make it right. People are being told that homosexuality does not hurt people. But homosexuality hurts individuals, and we’ve all seen families torn apart over a daughter or son coming out of the closet. My own family has a broken marriage from the husband coming out.

No one gazes down upon their newborn thinking, oh, how darling he or she is, I hope she grows up to be gay! I hope she chooses a different, unaccepted lifestyle where he or she will be subject to ridicule, basing, discrimination, and disease. We are god’s darling children. He doesn’t want any of the pain that a homosexual lifestyle will inflict, either physically or emotionally. You can propose all the laws you want regarding the rights of homosexuals, but ultimately they’ll never be fully accepted by all of society or by our Christian God. Marriage is between a man and woman. Anything else is rebellion against God, but that doesn’t mean hell. Only God makes that decision and that’s where zealous Christians veer off.

Many Christian fundamentalists feel that concern for the future of our planet is irrelevant, because it has no future. They believe we are living in the End Time, when the son of God will return, the righteous will enter heaven, and sinners will be condemned to eternal hellfire. They may also believe, along with millions of other Christian fundamentalists, that environmental destruction is not only to be disregarded but actually welcomed -- even hastened -- as a sign of the coming Apocalypse.

This statement is outright insane. This is the opinion of the writer. There is no proof that any of this statement is true. Yes, there are websites that feed the apocalypse, but do politicians really base their political platform on the return of Christ? No way! If they did, maybe they’d be more honest!

This same writer quotes Senator Zell Miller (now retired), as a Christian fundamentalist politician having no concern for the planet because he quote from the book of Amos: "The days will come, sayeth the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land. Not a famine of bread or of thirst for water, but of hearing the word of the Lord!" Of course, the blogger didn't reference the quote, making Senator Miller seem like a wing-nut aspoucing scripture out of context!

Like it or not, faith in the Apocalypse is a powerful driving force in modern American politics.

As a Christian, I’ve never heard this preached before (and I’ve attended many churches), nor do I know where this information came from to research it futher. American politics is driven by money, greed and power.

Stand up for the truth, stand up for Jesus Christ.

Atheism and The Cross

Our Christian God, our God of Moses, Abraham and Jesus Christ is being portrayed as an intolerant evil SOB who cracks a whip of hate, intolerance, violence, fanaticism and zealotry. His followers are automatically gay haters, contemptuous of the environment, anti-abortionists (which means we abhor woman’s-rights), reject same sex marriage, and if you say “out loud” you love Jesus, you’re automatically classified as a fundamentalist–or worse.

The day I was dunked into the Pacific Ocean and accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, I stopped and at the shore and picked up my Cross.

Being a Christian is a hostel place, it was 2000 years ago and it is today.

I generally write about my experiences with a church in America that blended Christanity and Hinduisum, and I’m in the middle of a series, but I had to weigh in on atheism. One of the reasons I’m interested in this subject is I’ve had a few strange conversations with people who are parroting high profile atheists who are pumping out propaganda through publishing houses, media, colleges, and the internet. In particular best sellers, Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, Christopher Hitchens, God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything and Sam Harris, Letter to a Christian Nation, have started a buzz, and it’s spreading.

Approximately 1/3rd of the population of the earth carries the Cross and believes Jesus Christ is their Savior. There’s roughly 7 billion people on the planet, and that makes about 2.3 believers, according to one current atheist speaker, as suffering from a “kind of mental illness.” 2.3 billion people, according to another ashiest, have “blind faith.” Even if you take out the people who are uneducated and illiterate (97% of Americans are literate), you still have billions of people sized by a few popular atheists as having a defect in their emotional state.

Though this list is a few years old, here’s some stats on where Christians call home:

1. USA 224,457,000 85%
2. Brazil 139,000,000 93%
3. Mexico 86,120,000 99%
4. Russia 80,000,000 60%
5. China 70,000,000 5.7%
6. Germany 67,000,000 83%
7. Philippines 63,470,000 93%
8. United Kingdom 51,060,000 88%
9. Italy 47,690,000 90%
10. France 44,150,000 98%
11. Nigeria 38,180,000 45%

Apparently all of these people, in all these countries, are out of their minds, especially those who live in the first country to reach and walk on the moon. Oh, I forgot, some people don’t believe that, either.

Since becoming a Christian, I’ve learned there’s way more to being a Christian than believing in Christ and being saved. I truly, really, thought that Christians were that shallow. My thinking was in line with the atheism, only I pushed eastern thought in its stead.

In David Marshall’s book, The Truth behind the New Atheism, quotes Blaise Pascal (French mathematician, scientist and philosopher) as saying, “...Faith must not be lightly given, for “reason is a thing of God...”

When I accepted Christ, I had no clue the responsibility, and perhaps had taken it too lightly. To be honest, I was looking around at the bikini clad women thinking I looked fat in my shorts and T-shirt. When I had accepted Jesus as my savior that summer afternoon, I was a little naive walking into the waves, but God has changed all that. In here lies the testimony of a Christian, and every Christian converted at an age old enough to remember. Our stories of how Jesus Christ changed our lives can’t be harnessed in a test tube. Atheists try to retaliate by throwing facts and figures that, amazingly can't out number the sheer testimony of the human voice.

“But by any secular standard, Jesus is also the dominant figure of Western culture...much of what we now think of as Western ideas, inventions and values finds its source or inspiration in the religion that worships God in his name. Art and science, the self and society, politics and economics, marriage and the family, right and wrong, body and soul - all have been touched and often radically transformed by Christian influence. Seldom all at once, of course - and not always for the better....the same gospel he proclaimed has underwritten both democracy... Often persecuted - even today--” Newsweek 1999. 2000 Years of Jesus

When Atheists offend Christians, they offend our Western culture, our arts and science, the self and society, politics and economics and democracy.

While researching atheism in America, I came across a powerful article by George F Will:

“Modern science is about the strangeness of things: solid objects are mostly space; the experience of time is a function of speed; gravity bends light. The human mind no longer seems to be a sovereign "ghost in the machine"; it seems tied in unexplained ways to our physical selves, and to nature. The philosopher's question ("I can do what I want, but can I want what I want?") has become a general anxiety. We are born without intending to be, we die without intending to, and perhaps our intentions don't matter much in between. If neither reason nor passion makes the world go round, what does?

“...Science and religion seem, to many, less competitive than complementary because science deepens, rather than diminishes, the sense of life's mysteriousness, and religion speaks to anxieties science stirs.

“...But Christianity is a religion of unadjusted people whose obligation is to adjust to something that transcends the culture of the day, any day. That is why, 70 (99) years ago, Charles Peguy said that this century's real revolutionaries would be the parents of Christian families." Newsweek, October 15, 1979; George F. Will

And here we are, some raised in Christian families, some not, but all grown up, the largest diverse society known to humankind, and yet a small group of vocal atheists are trying to silence our voices, and so far, doing a remarkable job at getting their word out.