Random Thoughts on the Really Good News

"In a beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1) "The LORD (YHWH) God formed man  of  the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7) When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek at least two centuries before Jesus was born, the Greek word Kurio s was used for the divine tetragrammaton YHWH ( Yahweh ). When Kurious was translated to English the word Lord was used. I have been pondering on the following New Testament scripture in light of the above: 1 Corin. 12:3 "No one can say Jesus is Lord (YHWH) except by the Holy Spirit." Romans 10:9-13 " If with your mouth you confess Jesus is Lord (YHWH) and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. . . . For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord (YHWH) shall be saved." Philippians 2:11 "and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (...

"Lazarus, our friend, has found REPOSE, but I am going that I should be awakening him out of SLEEP."  The disciples, then, said to Him, "Lord, if he has repose, he shall be saved."  Now Jesus had made a declaration concerning his DEATH, yet they suppose that He is saying it concerning the REPOSE OF SLEEP."  Jesus, then, said to them with boldness then, "Lazarus DIED." (John 11:11-14) When Lazarus died, he is said by Jesus to have gone to sleep - not to heaven. "Now Jesus, again crying with a loud voice, lets out the spirit."  And lo! the curtain of the temple is rent in two from above to the bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rocks are rent,  and the tombs were opened. And many bodies of the REPOSING SAINTS were ROUSED,  and, coming out of the tombs AFTER HIS ROUSING, they entered into the holy city and are disclosed to many." (Matthew 27:50-53) Jesus died and was put to repose in the tomb - asleep as was Lazarus. After His body wa...

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."  (Proverbs 3:5-6) "Have faith in God" ... "Now faith is an assumption of what is being expected, a conviction concerning matters which are not being observed ..."  (Mark 11:22...Hebrews 1:1) We are to TRUST in the Lord and have FAITH in what He SAYS. It is sad to see our world filled with those who are trusting in politicians and having faith  in what they say - whether liberal or conservatives. NONE OF THEM have the power to do what they say. So, I simply TRUST in the one being who can  be trusted, and I have FAITH that He will  do what He says. “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.   She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus,  because He will save His people from their sins.”   (Matth...

T he Hebrew word  Sheol , and the Greek words  Hades, Gehenna  and  Tartarus  (each translated  “hell”  or  “hades”  in most English versions of the Bible) do not refer to a place of eternal conscious torment called hell. What  about Luke 16:19-31 - the rich man and Lazarus?   That is a parable spoken by Jesus in a series of parables beginning in Luke 14:7. Jesus was addressing the Sopherim (Scribes), Pharisees and Sadducees - religious leaders of the Jewish people similar to modern day Christian pastors, evangelists, and teachers. Jesus told His disciples that He spoke to them in parables because these religious leaders had not been  “granted to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven” .  The  “Kingdom”  He was referring to is the Kingdom of Israel that God has promised to reestablished by the Messiah on the earth. These religious leaders rejected Jesus as the Messiah of Israel. So, Jesus spoke to them ...

Two Inescapable Truths about Blasphemy and Adding to Scripture  Truth #1. Blasphemy of the holy spirit will not be pardoned in this age or the next.  Truth #2. If you add to what God has said in the book of Revelation, God will add to you the plagues found in therein.  "Every sin and blasphemy shall be pardoned men, yet the blasphemy of the holy spirit shall not be pardoned. And whosoever may be saying a word against the Son of Humanity, it will be pardoned him, yet whoever may be saying aught against the holy spirit, it shall NOT be pardoned him, neither in this age nor in that which is impending."  (Matthew 12:32)  "I am testifying to everyone who is hearing the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If ever anyone may be appending to them, God shall be appending to him the calamities written in this scroll."  And if ever anyone should be eliminating from the words of the scroll of this prophecy, God shall be eliminating his part from the log of life, and ...

“The Earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it” (Psalm 24:1). This verse declares that all the people who have ever lived on this planet are the LORDS! We should not fall into the trap of thinking that Christians are the only ones who are HIS. Consider the term “lost" - it is a declaration of ownership. When “Christians” refer to the lost, they should realize that they are acknowledging God’s ownership! Humans may be made to feel lost - but none of us are ever truly lost. For now we are sinners, all of us, and fall short of the glory of God - but the free gift of God is eternal life. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD...And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those He has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day." (Romans 3:23, 6:23; John 6:39)

 " Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." (Luke 24:45-47) The only way to "understand the Scriptures" is for Jesus to open your mind. "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." (Romans 12:2) When Jesus opens your mind you will see the plan of God for humanity was for the Messiah to "suffer and rise from the the dead" . And you will see the Devine result of His suffering, death, and His resurrection - to provide the way for humanity to "inherit the kingdom of God" ...

"For the ration of sin is death, yet the gracious gift of God is eternal life, in Christ Jesus, our Lord." (Romans 6:23) "Trustworthy is the saying, and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost." (1 Timothy 1:15) Why good people do some evil things is sometimes so incomprehensible to me that I find myself in need of some explanation from God - I find it only in the Bible, His word. Following is the confession of the Apostle Paul, who considered himself the " foremost" sinner, yet God used him to pen thirteen of the New Testament books of the Bible. "For I know that there dwells in me nothing good, that is, in my flesh. For to will is present with me, but not to do good. For the good that I desire, I do not do; but the evil that I do not want, this I practice. Now if what I do not want, I do this, it is no longer I who do it, but sin dwelling in me. So, I find the principle in my des...

  I hear people say that the world needs a great “revival” and believers should pray for one. However,  I find NO evidence in the Bible that believers are to unite to pray for revival. What believers ARE to do is to pray in “private” and “by yourself”  for the soon coming of the kingdom of God . “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly…when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private…like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven...” (Matthew 6:7-13) After praying that prayer, believers are simply to wait for King Jesus to come knowing that Jesus is the Savior of the world and trusting Him to do so. While waiting we are to mind our own business and treat others as we would like for them to treat us. “For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed...

"...grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18) When I look around I do not see many growing toward those with which we disagree - whether in the political or religious arena. And I rarely encounter any growth in the "knowledge" of our Lord.   When is the last time you learned something new about God's plan and purpose as revealed in the Scripture? I attended a denominational church for more than 60 years and cannot remember anything new in its teaching during that time - just the same old traditions passed down in its statement of faith. Much of which I consider to be what Jesus said about traditions of men... “You neatly set aside the command of God to maintain  your own tradition... you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.” Mark 7:9-13) At the end of each year I ask myself whether I have grown in grace and in knowledge of our Lord.  Those areas in which I...

"And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned to fables.” (II Timothy 4:4) The Final Solutions of Sinful Humanity: One: Hitler’s final solution was to eliminate the Jewish people who he believed were corrupting the world.  Two: The final solution of institutional Christianity  and  Islam is to offer salvation from hell for sinners if they repent of their sin and join their religion. If anyone refuses they will die, and then be tortured in a lake of fire they call hell - forever in the Christian religion and until their sins are paid for in the religion of Islam. The Final Solution of the God of the  Bible: God’s final solution is to ransom, save, redeem, and reconcile all sinners to Himself through the incarnation, death, entombment, and resurrection of His Son, the LORD Jesus Christ. My anger towards institutional religion's final solution seems well founded to me. HOWEVER, I think that most members of those religions who are involved in ...

  "Do not for a moment suppose that I have come to abrogate the Law or the Prophets: I have not come to abrogate them but to give them their completion .” (Matthew 5:17) The Old Testament contains the Law and the Prophets. Whatever the Law and the Prophets said was completed when Jesus came to Earth. “The Law and the Prophets continued until John came; from that time the Good News of the Kingdom of God has been spreading, and all classes have been forcing their way into it. ” (Luke 16:16) John the Baptist was the final Prophet to Israel. The message found in the Law and the Prophets ended with John the Baptist. Jesus presented the good news message of the Kingdom of God – and all humanity started forcing their way into it. By force is meant they were opposed by the Jewish leaders who refused to believe that their God was also the God of all other nations (gentiles). The last Prophet was Paul, who was given the secrets of the Kingdom of God, one of which is that the God of ...

 "...pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with all who are calling upon the Lord from a clean heart." (2 Timothy 2:22-23) Righteousness: Pursue things that are right for yourself and those around you. Faith: Expect things God has promised to come to pass even if you cannot see how they could happen. Love: Do for others what they cannot do for themselves, and do it without requiring anything in return. Peace: Attempt to get along with others, and get away from those you cannot.

 Jesus had this to say about the predominant views of the influential rabbis…. “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men”  (Matthew 15:7-9) And the Apostle Paul had this to say about the teachings of those Rabbis… “These will all perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such restrictions indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-prescribed worship, their false humility…”  (Colossians 2:22) The truth about the reconciliation of all sinners to God was given the Apostle Paul by Christ Jesus, the Son of God… “He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created, things...

"And those not be receiving you, and refuse to hear your words, come outside of that house or city or town, and shake off the dust from your feet. Truly , I am saying to you, it will be more tolerable for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judging than for the people of that city." (Matthew 10:14-15) The judgment will not be "tolerable' for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, but it will be "MORE tolerable" than for the people who hear about and reject the good news about Jesus.  When the grace of God in saving humanity is revealed to unbelievers at the judgment of the Great White Throne, the shame will be greater for those who heard the gospel of Christ Jesus and rejected it than for those who never heard about him.  YET, all at the Great White Throne will bow and acclaim that Jesus is Lord. Yes, they will have missed out on the thousand year reign; but will have slept through it, unaware it is was going on. Then they will be cast into the secon...

  “And the sixth messenger trumpets. And I hear one voice out of the horns of the golden altar which is before God… The One voice is… …saying to the sixth messenger who has the trumpet, "Loose the four messengers who are bound at the great river Euphrates. " And loosed were the four messengers, made ready for the hour, and day, and month, and year, that they should be killing a third of humanity… Wow, think about that! The Current World Population Clock as I write this post today says there are 7.942 billion people in the world. A third of them would be 2.647 billion people. So, who kills them, and how? …And the number of the troops of cavalry was two hundred millions-I hear their number. And thus, I perceived the horses in the vision, and those sitting on them, having cuirasses fiery and amethystine and sulphurous; and the heads of the horses are as the heads of lions, and out of their mouths is issuing fire and fumes and sulphur. By these three calamities were...

"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines." (1 Corinthians 12:4-11) Are these gifts still active within the Body of Christ today?  I was raised in a church who taught that only the  spiritual g...

   “To you  the command  is  given , you peoples , nations , and populations of all languages , that at the moment  you hear  the sound  of the horn , flute , lyre , trigon , psaltery , bagpipe , and all  kinds  of musical  instruments , you are to fall  down  and worship  the golden  statue  that Nebuchadnezzar  the king  has set  up . But whoever  does not fall  down  and worship  shall immediately  be thrown  into the middle  of a furnace  of blazing  fire . ” (Daniel 3:4-6) Millions of people across the world get up on Sunday and go worship a god who they believe will everlastingly torture most people in a lake of fire. And there are a few who stay home worshipping the LORD whose "mercy is everlasting" and whose "faithfulness is to all generations" . "Shout  joyfully  to the LORD , all  the earth . ...