But That's Just the Body!

Adam and Eve fell by disobeying God. But that was just their bodies. Souls can't eat forbidden fruit.

God expelled them from the Garden. But that was just their bodies.

Adam and Eve died. But that was just their bodies. Their immortal souls lived on. No one can find anything like it in the Bible, but since everyone believes so, it must be true.

The curse of death was laid upon all mankind. But that was just their bodies.

Jesus was whipped and crucified. But that was just His body.

He died upon the cross. But that was just His body.

He lay in the grave three days and then arose. But that was just His body.

His immortal soul went to hell, so He did not really die. It was only His body that died.

Jesus ascended into heaven. But that was just His body.

Some day He will return to resurrect the dead saints. But that only means their bodies. Their immortal souls go to heaven within about 15 minutes after death.

When we are resurrected it will only be our bodies. Before we go to heaven we will be put "back together". Our souls will return to our bodies.

The Bible says nothing about the creation of an immortal soul, but preachers tell us it either always existed or was made from dust! Are you tired of being deceived by paganism that makes the Blessed Resurrection an afterthought? I know I am.

Why the NIV?

Occasionally, I refer to the New English Bible. Most people around the world read it. My sentimental favorite translation has always been the King James, but I find that it has become a cult. Other translations are compared to it, rather than to original Hebrew and Greek sources.

Our language has changed since 1611, and there are many doctrines retained in this Bible that have been inherited from the Babylonians via the Roman Catholic church. Modern, more precise Bibles have dropped these. This exclusion has come at the loss of a number of money making inclusions such as immortal souls burning in hell--maybe the biggest money maker of all time. Almost every religion uses it. The charts I sent you show that this is not a Biblical doctrine.

So no one need have just one type of Bible. The Holy Spirit is still inspiring translators and readers. He did not cease his work in 1611.

The Yellowstone Caldera and the Day of the Lord

And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. Ezekiel 32:7

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. Joel 2:31

The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. Joel 3:15

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. Revelation 6:12

The speculations about blood moons (plural) being of prophetic significance are not valid. The darkening will be of the moon, the sun, and the stars. The opening of the 6th seal places this event in the future and after the rapture of the church. After Revelation chapter three, the church is no longer in view. She will be in heaven as the Bride.

So what could possibly be the cause of this darkening of the sun, moon, and stars? A cloud is mentioned, and the general darkening of the sky means that this is more than an eclipse.

A study of the potential eruption of the world's largest volcano could explain it. But this dormant volcano is in America. How could its eruption fulfill this part of prophecy which applies to Israel? As far as its range and extent, it is more than adequate. It will be far greater than Mt.Saint Helens or Pinatubo, and its ash, it is said, will darken the entire northern hemisphere.

Am I saying this will fulfill prophecy? No, just that its unique size could do that. It is valuable to hear what geologists predict about this vast eruption.

See the following:

• Yellowstone National Park & the Caldera Super Volcano [Documentary]
• Yellowstone Supervolcano on High Alert

Jews, Greeks, or the Church of God

Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God- I Corinthians 10:33, NIV

Paul was a universal preacher. He could, and did, talk to all kinds of people. But what are we to do with this division? Is it ethnic? If so, how is the church an ethnic group, as it is composed of both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles)?

And did not Paul offend? When he was stoned, was it not by those he offended?

I will be so bold as to say that Paul was writing about the elect. For he addressed each of these in his teaching. He spoke to Jews after he was converted, by appealing to their heritage and national promises, as in Romans chapter 11. He addressed the Greeks on Mars Hill. His letters to the churches of God are our most complete church epistles.

In these speeches and writings there is no offense to the elect, but so great an offense that he was under the sentence of death, finally committed in Rome. So to the elect, no offense, but to the non elect, great offense.

If you will allow me a brief "Columbo minute", since Paul listed both church and Israel as separate groups, how can the Church Replacement boys say that the church is Israel?

The Artist and the Pie Pans

An artist friend told me about a fellow artist who had a factory job, where he put a sheet of metal into a machine and pressed a button. A hydraulic press then descended on the sheet and formed a set of pie pans. His friend put them into a box and when the box was full he placed it onto a conveyor belt. Same thing, every shift.

He asked his friend, a bright fellow, why he did such an unchallenging job. "When I am at work, I can think about my art all the time," he replied.

I know just how he felt. I have avoided jobs that require a lot of thought. It is as if I felt, "You can have my body for eight hours a day, but my mind belongs to me." That is how I became the nothing I am today.

When we think of those who tended flocks, great men of the Bible, it speaks so well of their occupations. By the time of the birth of Jesus, I understand shepherds were "out of style", relics of a pre-empire age. Yet the angel announced His birth to them.

At His resurrection, women were the first witnesses. No status there either.

Later, as a night time security guard, I found the ideal job--read for hours on company time. And I did, for years.

Society may look down on shepherds, uneducated women, and security guards, but I am so thankful that God does not.

Mr. Smarty Pants on Circumcision

Dear Smarty Pants,
I just read your meandering piece called Believer's Circumcision. You said that Roman Catholics believe that the soul of uncircumcised infants go to Limbo. Where did you come up with that one? It is unbaptized infants whose souls go to limbo.

Answer: Dear critic, you are absolutely correct about this. I meant to say unbaptized. Would you care to explain a baby's immortal soul and the doctrine of Limbo? Please use scriptures. As for meandering, I am also guilty of that. But even meandering rivers eventually reach the sea.

Believer's Circumcision

And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, Genesis 17:12

And the uncircumsized man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant. Genesis 17:14

A man child breaking a covenant? If a child's will is involved, then we are saying a child can be held accountable. Just as in the Roman Catholic church, a baby who dies uncircumcised is in deep trouble and headed for Limbo--that is his soul is.

Must it be the infant's will, or is his fate determined by someone else? Can adults be involved? And this does not even touch the issue of how girls and women are brought into or excluded from covenant relationship.

While a baby cannot circumcise himself, neither can a baby baptize himself. May I be so bold as to say that the will of someone else is involved?

Can parents bring their children into a covenant relationship with God? Can a covenant people or a church do this? Can God select people and bring them to himself? All this is to bring into question the emphasis on the will of man.

I think of Ruth, a Moabite woman who most certainly joined God's people, but was neither circumcised nor baptized. Could her circumcized husband have joined her into Israel?

Concerning the age of one brought into God's family, it may be objected that a baby (or anyone under the age of twelve) has not exercised their free will in this contract. Therefore, a circumcised infant could, upon coming of age, "go bad". All who are baptized are not saved people, even adults. Ask any preacher how so called converts fall away.

It may be directed to me, that since I was baptized as a baby, it was not a Believers Baptism. I object. My parents were believers.

In Love With the Future

Of the three tenses--past, present, and future--my heart and mind are in the future. All my hope and pleasure are there.

We all know those who live in the past, if only to mourn there. Then there are a large number who live for the moment. One of the joys of having a dog is that they are not concerned with anything but the "now". Their all too soon deaths do not touch them. They are not aware of what lies ahead.

One of my grievous faults has been to think so much of the future that I do not enjoy the present enough. The great plan maker dreamed of what would be, far too much. Now, my possessions, and those of my wife's, are being sold. All that is left of our car is the license plates. Soon there will be an auction of almost everything we owned.

After losing her, the rest became easy to let go of. What was once my fault of looking ahead, is now my greatest source of joy. She will be restored in glory, and even such a one as I has hope for the same.

But, old man, do not you see that death awaits you?

Yes, I think of it every day, and I welcome it. Like an animal leaping through a blazing ring of fire in a circus, I know that on the other side there will be a reward.

So many Christians believe in a glorious future, yet lose one of the greatest of all opportunities to witness their faith to others. I have seen the look of terror in the eyes of those who anticipate death, and I have seen the peace of one who trusts the Lord completely.

What a wonderful play we are in. Last act, the curtain parts. "You're on!"

Two Preachers Who Quit

They have a hard job, and in order to pursue it, I believe they need a "calling". But this is not about such sturdy heroes as these, but of two who "got out of the business".

First, there was a very humble little man who just wasn't cut out for a "church growth" denomination. He was handicapped in two ways. He was legally blind, and he was a reader/thinker. I counted him as a friend. I loved spending time with him, but it was obvious from the beginning that he was entirely out of his element.

I remember too, his wretched wife, ostracized and lonely.

Imagine a minister mentioning the name of Karen Horney. And to a congregation that neither knew nor cared who she was. He just couldn't come up with a joke filled "motivational" type sermon. Soon he was rejected and passed on to go somewhere else.

The second preacher was entirely different. He was good looking and "charismatic". His sermons were video taped as classics to be heard again. I spent considerable time in his study, being examined to see if my projected class on Daniel was acceptable.

Finally, I "passed". But not before I found that he disagreed with my big poster of the Daniel 2 great image. He listened to my explanation of the two legs representing divided Rome. "But Rome was never divided," he protested. This charismatic PhD candidate had never heard of the great schism and the break away kingdom of Byzantium. Guess he had never heard of the Eastern Orthodox Church either. My, my, my, even a dumb ass security guard nobody knew that.

After I "passed", my pastor wanted to know if I could give him some ideas to preach on. He would pay me for them. I feared he would not approve of the subjects I would suggest. He was running out of ideas. Soon he quit the ministry to "fight pornography".

My legally blind friend also quit. He taught in a university, and I am sure he did well there.

Sometimes a "calling" just doesn't work out.

Free Bible Study Course

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

Well it's not free in a way. It will cost you time, which is far more precious than money. What money? If you are using a computer, there is almost not any outlay at all.

The Bible is online in many translations--might I say, all the ones you could ever use. The complete concordance is online in all these versions, which includes a dictionary of each word in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Besides single words you can look up combinations of words, which can be very helpful.

The number of times a word is used in the Bible pops up automatically. I remember when I saw that David is mentioned more times than Jesus, which includes the times when Jesus mentions David.

Imagine an ad that says something like:

"Fear no man, after you use our amazing product. By applying these secret techniques, you can make Phd.s turn pale, or preachers red with embarrassment. Fathers, mothers, you can defend your families from theological charlatans and predators. Learn at home, in your spare time, in as little as 15 minutes a day. No age limit. Results are guaranteed!"

I needed a reference to the phrase "but now", and when I referenced it, I became aware of how these two words--how they are used--are a study by themselves. Let me demonstrate.

It is said by many preachers of elitest corporate churches, that the Kingdom of Jesus is not of this world. Oh how lofty a concept this is! Perhaps it should be said, piously, with uplifted eyes, to show that any kingdom associated with Jesus must be strictly "spiritual". After all Jesus would not stoop to bother with a physical, real, actual world! And this is said by men who dream at night about real estate.

The phrase "not of this world" is lifted from John 18:36.

Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

The world Jesus speaks of is an age, yet to come. The concordance reveals this. Just as we speak of the "world of George Washington", meaning his era, not that he lived on another planet.

Just two words "but now", but they reveal so much.

I imagine a father, ignoring the TV set and studying at studying God's Word. His son comes into the room. "Hey, Dad, it's time for the Super Bowl!" His father says, "I'd rather be looking at my Free Bible Study course. Care to join me?"

The Rapture as an Easy Way Out

You know you are dealing with a non Bible person when you hear this one. To them, it does not matter whether something is plainly in the Word of God or not. You have committed the sin of opting out (as if it was your choice) from the fate of the damned.

Aren't we all in this together? You have invented a way to get out of the world when things get really bad. Maybe you got it from the Scofield Study Bible?

I feel unusually generous today, so I will agree with these mal-thinkers that the Rapture is a way to get out of the world. But God invented it and put it into his book from Genesis to Revelation.

I'll mention Alex Jones, who I feel is a sincere and good man, though he does attend a Methodist church. Kidding him a little on that one, but his church will not help him and could seriously mislead him on this wonderful truth.

Do you see the "agenda thing" rising here? Amazing how often, when God's program for his people conflicts with men's plans, that their plans win out. I mean, we've got people to scare, and buildings to create! If anyone believes in such an escape as God has promised, he simply cannot be relied on for such activities.

Since they have invented such a lame theology, it is natural for them to assume that your doctrine has been invented by you also. The alternative is to attribute it to the Bible, and of course, to many, this is unthinkable.

Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. Revelation 3:10, NIV

But Now...

But now in Christ Jesus ye who were sometimes far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13

In the movie version of Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut's protagonist begins by saying, "I have come unstuck in time." The flow of time reveals that God's dealings with mankind, especially his saints, changes.

Does this sound heretical? After all, God never changes. The Bible is clear about that. God does not change, but His dealings with us definitely do. They became different after the Fall. They become very different after the Flood. And certainly a whole new dispensation comes about through the giving of the law.

Doesn't it seem so simple and obvious? Perhaps if a lamb was killed on the so called altar of a church even the time-dumb would catch on. But I sure wouldn't want an animal to die in the attempt to prove this point.

Now I am not that most worthy to be worshipped type of person called a scholar. I have heard this word pronounced with such awe that I almost expected the speaker to fall to his knees in admiration. I came out of my last corporate church, where there was such an abundance of scholars that they could be used for door stops. A degree in dentistry, noble as it is, does not qualify one automatically to teach the Word of God.

Why all this preamble? Because this Covenant church could not understand that time changes things, that in the course of time, after the church has been called out, Israel will be restored! To them, Moses was in the church!

Now my question is, as respectfully stated as possible, "If you guys are so damned smart, why can't you get this right?" God loves both His church and Israel. In due time, both will be in the New Jerusalem. How I wish these great wise ones could become unstuck in time.

Jesus and His Mother, the Spear and the Sword

(Yea a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also.) Luke 2:35

But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. John 19:34

Two piercings--one of the body, one of the soul. One symbolic, one very literal.

Why does the Bible tell us of the blood and water from the side of Jesus? There is a theory, often called the "swoon theory", that says Jesus did not really die on the cross, but merely fainted. Later when he came to, his disciples took him away alive. Therefore, no death, no resurrection, no miracles and no salvation. The Devil never stops in his attempt to discredit the Word of God.

Of course, we know that the Romans knew how to kill a person. They sure did a lot of it. But the action of the Roman soldier, a way of proving death with his spear, refutes the swoon theory entirely. The blood of one who is dead separates into two components. This is proof that Jesus died on the cross.

After Jesus rose from the dead, He showed Thomas the wound in His side. But what of Mary and the sword that pierced her soul?

Such a way to tell of her suffering. Mary's pain is often neglected. Some will say it was because of the terrible way that Jesus died. When Simeon in the temple prophesied of her suffering, I believe this was to begin with claims that Jesus was illegitimate, and was to torment her throughout her life.

I heard Michael Savage (not his real name) tell his listeners that he would not accept a virgin birth as real. Of course, he is a Jew and carries on the attack that has gone on since the birth of Jesus.

The foretelling of Simeon and Anna tells of glory and suffering. How often they go together.

Bulls of Bashan

Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. Psalm 22:12

In the Army they gave New Testaments to the Christian soldiers and books of Psalms to the Jews. I told one of the Jewish men I could make a point by reading Psalm 22 to him. I opened the book. There was the familiar 23rd Psalm, but Psalm 22 was missing. Now why would this be, I wonder?

Could it be that in this Psalm we find the most intimate portrayal of Christ's agony in the whole Bible? It is so inescapable that it must not be read by those who deny Him. In many churches, where selected readings are used to soothe, but not to portray literal truth, Psalm 22 goes unread. Here we find not only His physical agony in detail, but a description of those who mocked Him.

Bashan was the cattle country of Israel. It began to be so from the first occupation after their wilderness wandering.

We went to an animal park in Springfield, Missouri. It was strictly drive through. We paid to feed the animals from bowls that were provided. At one stop I saw the largest cattle I have ever seen, even at state fairs. As they approached our car I realized they could crush it like tin foil. They were as immense as nightmare animals and reddish in color.

When I read of the mocking crowds around the cross I think of them. What a picture of hostile people surrounding God's son. How helpless he had allowed himself to become. Not only in horrible pain, but laughed at by those with out thrust lips. And He did this all for us.

Conspiracy

And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. Genesis 37:18

We are told that people who believe in conspiracies are "conspiracy nuts". I am sensitive about this term because such ad hominem terms are readily used by the very people who conspire, and their paid shills. And also because I am one. I bear the title proudly for myself and for those who have a similar stance.

Think of all the words and terms we are not to say. The list continues to grow.

Recently a sheriff was put on leave and told to disband his whole department because they attended a meeting on the Constitution. Let's see, first you take an oath to uphold the Constitution, then you are fired for upholding it.

The police are instructed that if they find a booklet of this founding document in a car, the occupant is very likely a "terrorist". May I say, I agree with the police on this one? The owner of such a document may be one of those who conspire against an illegal dictatorship posing as a "democracy". This is a prospect which terrifies them. Ergo the suspect is a terrorist.

It is we, not they, who are unaware of what is going on. People are dumb enough to even call a republic a democracy. The dolphins are caught in the closing tuna net.

As to the origin of conspiracies, I must say that they are older than that of Joseph's brothers. The prophetic books reveal that the first one was Lucifer and his fallen angels. The father of lies began a long time ago.

Our Train Trip

As a kid, I loved to travel by train. My family had no car, so it was wonderful to travel immense distances, as carefree as could be.

My longest trip was cross country. It was to take three days. I was excited when I was awakened in the dark of night to catch a cab and go to the huge train terminal. I was so happy to be riding on the train, I hoped the trip would never end.

I saw all kinds of terrain, even wild horses. On the last leg, I looked forward to arriving at our destination. Mysteries lay ahead--things I had never imagined. I would be picking delicious black cherries, and running along the big flat beach of the Pacific Ocean. We would drive to the mountains, through forests so dense and dark that the animals' eyes would shine during the day.

My life has been like the train trip, in one way. Once I hoped it would never end. But now, I am ready to sleep and go to a place where I have never been.

Later a great number of us will wake and travel to a place where we have never been. Some will not sleep at all, but we will all go together, on the greatest trip of all.

Blood Moons

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. Joel 2:31

A very good friend was an internal auditor of the Internal Revenue Service. At time he would listen to people giving multiple reasons for their incompetence. He said he was alerted when they attempted to give many invalid excuses, none of which stood alone, as if they could establish truth through their piling up of false truth.

I have heard much being made of the so-called blood moons, supposedly being of prophetic significance. I just watched such a video. I feel like a batter trying to hit twenty or so pitches at one time. Where to begin to refute these deceptive ideas?

I quoted Joel, because this is used by these deceivers as a starting point. Joel tells us simply, yet completely, that both the sun AND the moon will give us signs of the coming Day of the Lord. Yet do you hear of the sun being darkened as a sign accompanying "blood moons"? Prophecy does not even begin to be fulfilled until every element is in place.

Daniel's seventieth week is invoked for the purpose of prediction. This seven year period involves a yet future violation of the temple. There is no temple, and there is no national Israel.

What is presented as the object of prophecy is a fake Israel, created, not by God, but by the United Nations, and populated almost entirely by people with no relation to Abraham, either through blood or faith. What is shaping up is nothing else than an attempted power grab. Only God can call out true Jews and preserve them.

Blood moons are nothing but eclipses of the Moon, not accompanied by a darkening of the Sun. They try to say that the (plural) eclipses are wonderful signs, but the moon being red and the sun being darkened are a one time event.

Let me list some of the fatal flaws in this terrible attempted deception.

1. The Israel of today is a UN created attempt to mimic the true Israel. Torah Jews refuse to live there.
2. There is no temple. There will be one at the time of the Day of the Lord.
3. We are presently living in the Times of the Gentiles, not a time of the fulfillment of prophecies concerning Israel.
4. Though Jews live all over, this is not a result of an enforced scattering. British and American people also live all over. The future scattering of Israel as described by Jesus in Matt. 24, is of short duration. Their regathering will be accomplished by Messiah, not by a UN mandate.

For your sake I will not go on, but I am angry at this attempt to deceive. Prophecies concerning the church (Rev. 1-3) are being fulfilled presently. Prophesies about Israel are yet future, after we are raptured (Rev. 3:10).

I Have Treasured the Words of His Mouth

I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread. Job 23:12, NIV

One of the joys of being a Christian is to witness the effects of the Bible on your friends and family. I don't know any saintly people who pray until the candle they are holding melts down.

I speak of every day people, living busy lives and very much into the chores imposed by the world. Some of them have little or no background in this direction. Yet with a few seeds planted, they grow and bloom. Rather than helping them, the examples of pious people real and fake, have hindered their development. They need to follow a very simple but rare path of being alone with God and His Word.

In so many of us there is the feeling that we must make others into our image, or, at least, to follow our own path. This sounds so righteous and nagging of me, but I do not mean it that way at all. It is just that there are so many different ways to come to Christ and his Word, that to just stand back and watch their progress is often the best course.

I love to see people grow in their love and understanding of the Bible. Often, late in life. It is as if people have resisted the urging to make them a certain way, and finally, they find it on their own. I love these black sheep and those who choose their own path.

I once exchanged cassettes with a lady who was in her thirties. She had been treated as a child all her life. We listened to one another's cassettes as we answered back. I had just said that she was a very interesting woman, when I heard a long, agonizing scream on her tape. "No one has ever called me a woman before," she said. Everything about her had been managed and "compressed" to try to shape her life. "It's time you have been," I told her.

When I see people come to God and the Bible, unpressured, and on their own, it is like seeing the bird released from its cage.

We'll All Go Up Together

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1 Thess. 4:15-17, KJV

According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 1 Thess. 4:15-17, NIV

Pretty plain isn't it? The one soul at a time idea versus the whole church going up together. Also "soulish state", or saints in their resurrection bodies. "Prevent" or "precede" is not a problem for older people, but might be for the young.

Needed, Rental Agents for Shreber Gardens

Tried to print out lots of info (on lots), but my ink cartridge sent up a white flag. Different countries use various names, of course, but I am most familiar with the German gardens.

I am just learning about how many people follow this wonderful practice, but I believe it could really work here. Some enterprising person could start with a Rollodex, or even a shoebox filled with index cards. They would begin listing "lots for rent" and start to get the names of those who would love to garden there. A little shed for tools, or maybe to sleep in, would get you started.

Sounds ideal for a laptop, but maybe someone who can't afford one, or some savvy people who would like to avoid a big time power or satellite failure, would like to use the low tech approach . Whatever the technique, the job would be to link people up. Would be renters with even a small place not being used could offer up the plots. People who have no room to grow, or who live where gardens are illegal, could go there. I have done it. My (one time) fee was 5 dollars.

The gardening is being done now, among some of the most enlightened people in the world. Just an idea that someone might try, to rescue those whose growing is limited to windowsills and balconies.

See the following.

• Allotment (gardening) from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
• Rent-a-Garden in Germany

An Almost Forgotten Resurrection

Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet. 2 Kings 13:21, NIV

"Such an incredible story,", some might say. "You can't be so credulous as to believe this old tale".

Actually, I am far more "credulous" than this. I believe the whole Word concerning Elisha. And furthermore, I believe in the total significance of resurrection. Maybe why I love the Old Testament so much is that it tells such deep truths in very simple ways.

We could look up Elisha and his powerful miracles in reference works. These might tell us of ancient beliefs and how their origins arose, also the stupid people who believed in them. We should be oh so impressed. These Godless analysts are scholars after all. We have no choice but to believe what they say.

But the ones who I would love to interview are the buryers and the dead man. The buryers could be dismissed, I suppose, as the tellers of tall tales.

But I imagine the resurrected man coming home and opening his door. His wife, cooking or hanging up some clothes, asks, "Who is it?"

"It's me, honey," he says. "You absolutely won't believe what happened to me today!"

After his wife recovers from her shock, she says, "It looks like Elisha is still doing things like he did when he was alive."

And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. 2 Kings 2:9

Believing Thomas

...reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. John 20:27

Thomas did as his Lord said, and he believed. So where did he earn the name "doubting Thomas"? To me, the point is that he did believe. And isn't that what matters?

I have a sympathy for people who do not believe easily, who want more evidence. Maybe because I was once one. Could it be that those who are hard to convince turn out to be the strongest and most steadfast believers? Whether they do or not (I think they do) Jesus does not turn away from them. He gives them the proof they need.

In these latter days, God has given us evidence that cannot be disputed. May I be excused if I think the discovery of Noah's Ark (not a little boat, but a gigantic ship), and Mount Sinai with its attendant artifacts, is irrefutable proof? Hard to believe holdouts, including many pastors, now have no excuse for their dismissal, or even mocking, viewpoints.

Blessed are those who believe without seeing. But those who ask for proof shall also be satisfied.

This is a Job for "Super Weed"

It is spreading from the South towards the Midwest. It resists poisons made to control it. The poisons that go into the soil and into the ground water we later may drink. It stops powerful machinery they had hoped would mow it down.

For this plant is winning the battle waged by a powerful killer nation--a nation which kills people with ease, but can't kill this so called weed. It poses a so called deadly threat to the chemical farming industry. And, think of the hazard to those who want to make us food dependent in order to control us.

The Euthanasia Industry tries to laugh off such a ridiculous idea as free food. Better that people should sit on city sidewalks and beg for money with which to buy Genetically Modified food than to gather the free food that God has provided. They want to kill us, and they are used to getting what they want.

But this is "Super Weed" and its 30 relatives. It waits, silently, to feed us, seemingly passive, yet invincible.

I dream of a modern day Ruth, gleaning with her plastic shopping bag, bringing home free food, far more nutritious than the crops it grows among. She does not need to break the earth, or to use poison chemicals. Her harvesting tools are her own hands. She does not need to plant, fertilize or water.

The seeds she will eat, and with which she will feed her family, drop into her little bag with only a shake. They need no hulling. It is a tool-free crop.

Our modern day Ruth need not worry about cutbacks in Food Stamps. Her drought proof crop is insect free and replants itself. She will not need to beg in the city streets, for she is a gleaner, an honorable way to stay alive provided for by her Creator, in a nation that is trying to kill her.

Why "heaven" is Never Capitalized

In the Bible I mean, or except at the beginning of a sentence or line of poetry. Jerusalem is, little Tekoa is, but not the dwelling place of God.

Who am I to try to figure this one out? Do I know better than the translators of the Bible? Of course not, yet I try.

Certainly, heaven is literal, as C.S, Lewis said, more literal, solid and real than where we dwell now. So that's not it.

Angels may fear to tread there, but here I go. When you think of all that you desire--like love, peace, joy, eternal life, everything good, true, sweet and desirable--they have no capital letters. Can it be that heaven is so great and large that we cannot confine it to mere "city limits"?

God has no such boundaries. Perhaps where He dwells has none either.

Mr. Smarty Pants on Losing a Blog Follower

Dear Smarty Pants,
I see you have just lost a member of your little blog. I'm sure it was over The Attack of the Straw Men, I mean the part about the spirit that goes up and the spirit that goes down. You know what I mean.

Answer: I imagine you are right. Someone was offended and could not even show me where I was wrong. Long ago, I believed that ideas could be presented, proven by scripture, and people would be convinced, or at least debate with you. But since, I have found that there is nothing stronger in many peoples' minds than their feelings. We do not live in a world of truth, but of emotion and lies. We are constantly at war, killing each other and the animals. Where is the truth in this?

God is not going to reform the devil and the world, He is going to destroy them. You learn to expect lies and evasions. What hurts is to find the devil's lies in the church, firmly entrenched and defended by the worst part of our natures. I know that I offend, but who has the guts to show me where I am wrong?

The B Team

The world famous TV program The A Team now has a rival, at least in my mind and heart. Imagine a diverse group of people coming together to grow food in small gardening projects. Not just the familiar corn and tomatoes, but crops like millet, sorghum, and amaranth.

Not a thing wrong with traditional gardening. I grew up with a wonderful garden in my long back yard. At five, it was a place of magic to me and remains in my sweet memories.

But the proposed B Team garden will feature food plants that lead in two qualities--extremely high nutrition, and great drought resistance. They are feeding people in places as diverse as Africa and India and saving lives. They have more food value than wheat, rice, soybeans, or corn. They do not need to be watered.

Can people with severe physical problems, newly released prisoners, poor city people--folks like that--work together to grow these God-given miracle plants? The project is largely in the dream stage. The dreamer is an incompetent person, who does almost nothing well. He can, however, gather information, seeds, and a few useful tools for those who really do things. He can pray for the team.

As the leader of the old TV show used to say, "I love it when a good plan comes together!"

See Millets - The Miracle Grains.

The Attack of the Straw Men

Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? Ecclesiastes 3:21

Concerning the straw men, not to worry, they are actually harmless fellows who are constructed and used by those who would deny or distort the plain meaning of the Bible. They are the agents of attempted distractions and deceit. You can see these poor constructs in churches all the time, and increasingly used to bamboozle the unlearned and unwary.

You know I try to defeat paganism and skepticism whenever I can. The two straw man attacks I would like to address now, are the denial of human mortality, and that the mother of Jesus was a virgin when she bore our Lord.. Big job for a little man, but the scriptures are plain on these points.

When I was in a college class on English literature, the teacher, out of the blue, began to scoff at the idea of the virgin birth. He said that such an idea was based on a doubtful text in Isaiah 7:14. "Behold a virgin shall conceive..." He explained that the word for virgin in this text just meant an unmarried woman, not necessarily a virgin. She could even be a prostitute (those who use this idea usually smile when they say it), as long as she is young and unmarried.

He, of course, did not mention that this birth would be a sign, as if a non-virgin giving birth would be a sign. The surrounding scriptures show the birth to be that of Jesus, prophesied 1,000 years before he was born. But the meaning of the Hebrew word almah can, by itself, be interpreted as the teacher intended.

What is missing in this pretended debate? The plain words of Mary. When told by Gabriel that she was with child, she said, "How shall this be,seeing I know not a man?" (Luke 1:34). This is not controversial to believers, but to young college students, can be upsetting.

Another such misunderstood scripture pertains to the pagan doctrine of immortal souls. This one really is an example of assumed negative proof. Ecclesiastes 3:21 is about the doubt that humans and animals have different fates,or rather their spirits do. Souls are not mentioned, but the spirit of life from God. Plainly the author says "Who knows?" concerning any difference in their deaths.

A number of times I have heard people say, "Doesn't the Bible say people's souls go upward, and animal souls go downward?" That is simple to answer. "No." Since the one who says the quote is "under the sun" his skepticism is deemed wrong. Need we say that those from under the sun are the very ones who strongly believe in an immortal soul? Babylonians, Egyptians, and so forth. Somehow, by saying that people under the sun believe there is no immortal soul, and being, by nature "wrong", this proves that there are!

This portion of scripture has been kicked around more than a football. I challenge those who say that man under the sun is lacking in knowledge, to agree that he always is, or just when he disagrees with their pagan philosophy?

Can't an old man, preparing to die, think of something more important to write about? No, nothing is more important to me than the pure truth of the Bible.

Did Kaley Really Chop Off Her Hair?

And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Matthew 24:39

The statement of Jesus about people ignoring coming disaster until too late, is a reference about His coming to a heedless world. His appearing is not imminent, but the description of preoccupation still applies.

Hence the quote about Kaley's hair. It appeared on my computer's start up page. Just another press agent doing his job. Had he not had this item posted, I would not have heard of Kaley. Now I have, though all I know is that she might have chopped off her hair. But it's a start.

In a magic act this is known as "misdirection". But why dwell upon such a trivial ploy? Because we are in the midst of a magic act, a very evil one. The Father of Lies would take our eyes off of the great issues of our time, and off himself and of Jesus.

An event is coming, so disastrous that it could even surpass the flood. For in the flood, eight humans survived, and many animals. But Jesus has warned that in the tribulation which is to come, no flesh will survive, unless God intervenes.

Kaley's hair is just one of billions of the sidetracks that we are continuously presented with. The faithful are to remain steadfast, not to be distracted, read God's Word and continue in prayer and good works. I failed to follow up on the story about Kaley's hair. I hope she had it neatly cut and I'll bet she looks really nice.

Departure from the Bible Now Loading on Track 29

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 1 Timothy 4:1

What an old crab I have become! I miss the days when I was a young crab.

I have had a zeal for speaking of errors that are a hazard to those of the faithful. I am especially concerned about those who follow teachings of the various Corporate Churches, without checking them out in the Bible.

I don't know about other countries, but I do know that Americans like to sit and watch or listen to the pros. Americans are great at doing, but shun thinking. So, instead of tossing a football with the kids, it is deemed preferable to get lots of goodies and see how the pros get their concussions.

In a similar way, we can take the kids to church and hear what the "Reverend" has to say. The "Reverend" is a pro, too, so follow what he tells you. Shut up and listen to the expert.

In the Bible, the term "reverend" is used only of God, and since His Word has become available, I want to check out what "Reverends" say in contrast to what God says. Of course, it depends on the church and the particular man or woman who speaks in the place of God.

There is an old saying that England and America are two nations divided by a common language. Once I thought that different denominations were divided by their misinterpretations of a common Bible, but I see that this very dividing problem is being solved by just ignoring the Word altogether.

Besides being a crab I may sound hopeless. Not so. I find the truth being put forth boldly on the Internet. The old lies, beginning in Genesis, are revealed there, and so are their answers.

Scofield Versus Replacement Theology

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it. Matthew 11:12, NIV

These words of Jesus should alert us to the nature of the struggle over the kingdom. Need I mention the lies and honest misunderstandings? That something so precious and powerful as a position in the kingdom stirs up a struggle is not to be wondered at. "But surely this was a problem only for Israel," many will say.

As a veteran member of a church which held some skewed ideas on the kingdom of God, I can tell you that the battle is very much alive today. Remember, I told you of a minister of such a church, upon hearing that many of my favorite authors were dispensational, walked away from me. And this at a Christmas party, too. I did not know, at that time, that the church (Presbyterian) had split over an issue of dispensational teaching.

Today, in 2014, there is great virulence towards the Scofield Study Bible. It seems to be increasing. So what's the issue anyway?

Well, Scofield had, as a good friend likes to say, the "pure, unmitigated gall" to show the return of national Israel! And so, following a recent trend, Scofield is accused of Zionism. This sounds to the ears of an unaffiliated Bible student, like a sour note must to a music teacher.

For years I have wondered at this enmity towards the restoration of Israel. When my best friend mentioned "Replacement Theology", it hit me. What we have is the majority of the world's churches teaching that Israel as a nation has been replaced by the church. So if you attend a Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, or Lutheran church, remember that they teach that the nation of Israel is forever over--kaput.

The Bible emphatically says otherwise, and Scofield honors this. Although Israel is in temporary hiatus, her return is well documented in both Old and New Testaments. Zionism is an attempt to create a UN-mandated Israel. Scofield says Messiah will lead Israel to the Holy Land from worldwide dispersion after the church is complete. I learned, sadly, that for many, this is not a Biblical issue at all. It is a grab for power.

And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. Rev. 21:12