And Such Were You

Another turn in our discussion.
I am sure there are many out there who are reading this blog series and are fascinated  by the many turns and subjects this whole blog has traveled since the start.
Bible study methods- church beliefs both true and false religions, church offices, general subjects. Popes, Roman Catholicism, and so on.
Seems the Bible study methods were the best read. I would conclude that there are a few out there who are interested in that topic. Great. Keep it up.
Here is the new avenue we will travel down for a while.
True conversion.. The requirement that Jesus gave to Nicodemus as recorded in John the third chapter. And yes, I will be using scripture in the Jewish/Christian Bible.
So let me start:
I have been a Christian now for-- let's see, 1968 to 2020, 52 years. I think that is enough time to have somehow accumulated some knowledge.
No. If you have read my  postings of many years ago you knw what I am talking about.
I also posted a post on can God be known. Click and go to that one.
Back in 1968 I was at Taft College, journalism major. I got a phone call from home which was down the coast at Brentwood, California. My brother, Todd, had been killed in the Viet Nam war. He was a medic. The date was around March 13 when I received this call. I went home and went through the funeral. I found myself asking just where Todd, in death, was, heaven or the other place. Ie remember thinking of that passage in Job, "The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away." Okay. New Testament says that for a person to see heaven he must believe in Jesus. What does that mean? The Bible says that we are all sinners. "There is none righteous, no not one."
I had been brought up in the Roman Catholic system, so I was somewhat used to the Bible. Never read it up to this point. The priest read it. the nuns taught it in school. Mostly Matthew and the first pope being Peter passage and the authority given to Peter to retain and forgive sins  ( don't bother looking, there is none. That is one of the proof texts the Catholic system points to to try to prove something the Bible does not teach)
Anyway. Jesus claimed to be the way to God and God was in heaven. If I was to be in heaven and with God when I died I had to come through Jesus. "I am the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me." He said. It is recorded in the Bible (And the Bible is Bod's communication to man) Also the Bible tells me that all who come to the Father must believe (receive) Jesus. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved."
Enough for one posting. There will be more in the future.

New Year Coming

Long May It Wave

A new year is coming. 2020 is around the corner. God has been good to America. We don't deserve it.  Not after the way we are treating Him. We were founded, true, not as a Christian Bible based experiment but most of our original documents, which have been parsed and parsed so many times to be practically meaningless, were based on the idea that we had a blessing of a supreme being over us. We based our documents on there being standards that are God given and as such can't be taken away by government. Such standards as right and wrong. Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, not given by the state. For if the state gave us these rights they can be taken back by the state. No. God gave us these three rights and only God can take them back.
So 2020 is before us. Don't allow the state or even the government in Washington DC to take away your rights. A chance to prove what you can do is fine. But there is no right to sponge off the cities and nation you live in. Work ethics is good. Pan handling is not a right.
Helping others get back on their feet and become productive is right. The state taking money from your pocket to do programs for the ones who won't work,  that is questionable at best, and down right stealing at the worst.
I have more to say but I will allow this to seep into your mind first before I venture to share them.

The Lamb of God

No longer was man in the garden. It was no longer easy for him to approach God. God did give them a way. Through sacrifice. Through a lamb. God even decided to work through a nation.
 In the garden he was working through Adam and Eve. They sinned. They were  the start of God's working in the world. But He had a bigger plan in mind.
 So he chose Abraham and made from him a nation. The journey now lead through many centuries and many lands. But Abraham was promised some day a land, a people and a redeemer.
 Remember--Abraham was near 100 when he had a son. From this son would come the Jews, a nation of God's choosing, A nation that was to bring about a redeemer.
  I realize I am making this simple. I want you to grasp what I am saying. Since these postings are covering the subject of doctrine, I wish to make it so the little child can grasp it.
  The people called Hebrews were charged to bring  God to the heathens around them. They were also to stay pure. Not marry other nation's women or do what the nations around them were doing. No idol worship. No making of idols, no false tales. No lying-- Bearing false witness.  They were given the ten commandments as guidelines. They broke them all.
   God provided priests and prophets to guide them. Few listened.
    God sent them into captivity so they would perhaps learn to listen to Him.
    Finally, as per the discussion They (The Godhead) had in eternity past, God Himself entered into humanity. He became a baby. He felt every thing as a man. He bleed when cut. He cried. He felt pain. He felt sorrow. He felt disgust  He was fully human. While at the same time He remained God. This is a mystery. It was just done.
  This does not mean we humans are little gods. We aren't. We have within our bodies a broken sinful nature. God, who was given the human name, Jesus, did not have sin. By not having the seed of an earthly father, a male who carried the sin seed, He alone was born sinless. His human mother, Mary, had the seed of sin in her. But sin was not transferred to Jesus.
    He lived thirty years here on the human plan fully man, fully God-- as I said above. Then He was killed on a cross. Buried in a tomb. On the third day after he was put in the tomb, He came out.
     In a body He rose back to heaven. He will come back again some day soon.
     Man can now approach God because of what God has done not what man does.
     I know this is a lot to take in. Read it a few times. If  you have any question, post them in the comment section. I will be happy to help you.

God's Supreme Creation

In The Book It Is Written

  Adam and Eve have now been thrown out of the garden because of disobedience. This disobedience we know theologically as sin. They lost the daily communication with God. Now they had to work the soil more intently before the ground would give produce. The animals over which they had control now would turn against them. People, other people, would distrust them. Maybe even war against them. Murder entered the world. Lying. cheating, adultery. Homosexuality. Transgenderism. Selfishness. And so much more.
  But God had a plan. He was going to redeem man. Not because man was lovable. Not because man was good under the skin. No, the Bible says that there is none righteous, all righteousness that man is capable of doing is as rags that a woman uses to stop the flow during a period.. Would you like someone to offer you rags like that?
   No, God wanted to redeem man because man still had the image of God and God loves that image.
   So God gave Adam the command to do a sacrifice-- to kill an innocent lamb and offer that lamb as a sacrifice to Him in order to be allowed back on worship ground with Him. But this had to be done every time man sinned. Over and over. God even choose priests to do this for the people as a representative.
        But God did not want a human sacrifice as seen in the other nation's attempt to approach their idea of god. God set apart a nation for Himself. The people known as the Jewish race. But they also walked away from God.
   God even gave standards they could use to show them their need of righteousness. God gave them to Moses who gave them to the people. No one was able to keep them. I'll let you in on a secret. God didn't expect them to be able to do so. He just want to show that there was none righteous, no not one.  God's plan from before time began, when God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit

decided together that God Himself was to become a man and die on the cross and rise again three days later and carry the blood of the sacrifice into heaven to present to God a completed act. 

I better say so long for now and I'll post more later.

All Is Not Lost

  

   Now the great rescue is put in place. Man has sinned. that is, sin is disobedience to God's command. Adam and Eve had been told not to eat of that tree. And they had.
   And the outcome was death or separation from God. No longer could they have fellowship with Him. God is too holy and pure. Man lost his innocence. He was not to have learned evil that way.
   That did not mean he lost the image. That got bent and distorted. From now on when ever he was to try to conceive of God he would sense something greater and wish to make contact, but he would be unable to. So he would make images of what he conceived this god in his image to be.
    God wanted to restore to man what he had in the garden. In fact God--, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,  had the solution already prepared, They had discussed this among themselves long before creation.
     It would take the death of an innocent, sinless, creature. In the long run, God Himself would die on the cross for the sins of mankind. But at this point , since man was not able to fellowship with Him, God had to slowly work within history to woo mankind back to Him.
    It was through blood that man could even attempt to approach God now. God  Himself killed an innocent creature to clothe Adam and Eve before He drove them out of the garden. He instructed Adam and Eve that a sacrifice was needed to  approach Him. Each and every time.
     You see, God had given man something called free will. That meant he  could choose to obey or not  That is what the thing in the garden was all about. Man used his free will to not obey God. And men today do the same thing.
     So, how are you doing? The story continues. Since this is a doctrine blog now  for, I don't know how long,hang in there. More cool doctrines to come. And you can still comment to me and I will attempt to clarify for you .

The Show Begins

  Before there was anything, there was God. The first verse in Genesis states, in the beginning God created. He didn't need a big bang. All He needed was the spoken word. All came into being because He spoke it out.
   All the stars we see through a telescope-- all the things we see trough a microscope-- God made them by a word.
   The land we walk on--the air we breathe. All spoken into existence by God.
   The animals we see even us.. spoken into existence by God. 
    And humans are special. The Bible says God created Adam and Eve and blew into them life. This was a way of saying, God shared some of Himself with us. What is called the image. It is not physical. Since God is spirit, it was something to do with spirit.
    We read Adam and Eve had daily fellowship with God. They walked together, is the way the scriptures put it.
     Why we don't walk with God today will be covered in the next post.

You Are Important

  Okay. There has been no response to my earlier posts. There has been no feedback so I don't know just what it is you people out there want.
   Let me say that I need feedback. Since I feel this blog is worth pursuing., I will pick up my computer and start again.
   You--every one of you-- are of worth. I believe that or else I wouldn't have started this blog. But you are puzzling. I need to get some feedback so I can better meet your needs.
   I have other blogs for marketing purposes. My blog for vitamins is for the purpose of getting some money to be able to blog subjects such as this.
   You are of worth. You were created by God with worth. Even now you have worth. God loves you and has been seeking you. I have explained this in my earlier posts. He sent Jesus, God in the flesh, to die for your sins since the payment for sin is separation from God. God does not wish for anyone to be separated from Him but to have fellowship with Him. This is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
   Please give me feedback. I will read and respond.

Timing Of Studies

If you have been reading the last two posts and the earlier postings on Bible Study Method, you may be wondering just when are you going to find the time  to do all this. After all, you still have to go to work and earn a living. You still have to shop. And so on.
   None of these methods are meant to be a 24/7 program. They all take a scheduled period of time.
   I would suggest you have a period of time set up when you can be alone with your Bible and pad and pen or pencil. You need to open with prayer.."Open my eyes that I may see what you have in this passage for me.". or something like that. Remember, it is a period of time you are setting aside to hear what God is saying to you.
    Application is the goal here. What does it say? What is going on? How can I apply it?
    Don't worry if it doesn't grab you. The idea is that you are dedicating this period of time to this discipline. It is your faithfulness God is looking for.
     Have a set portion to read. You may only be able to dedicate this time once a week. Or maybe twice a week.   If that is all you are able to do, that is all that is required. As time goes on you will find you need to spend more time on it and when that time comes you will adjust..

Further In And Higher Up-

 The title of this post is a phrase used by C.S. Lewis in his Chronicles of Narnia series. It meant to get to know a deeper truth better.
  For us when we study the Bible we are going further in and higher up.
   God wants to communicate and He has done that through the Bible. Those 66 books are a unit and are God allowing us to see Him.
    We, like gold hunters, must dig and pan out what is there.
     We do that through the right study techniques. I have discussed this earlier in this blog and you will have to do a bit of hunting through the table on contents.
     What ever you do and how ever you do it, you will need a good Bible translation. That you can find at  the book store I recommend. Just click on the colored words in the last sentence and you will be taken there.
       With this translation ( We don't have the orogianl manuscripts, but these translations found at the store are fine to use) you will also need a notepad to jot down insights to the reading you are doing.
   As you read you will be asking, what is this passage saying? To whom is it addressed? (Hint, we are not the primary people being addressed.)  Who is speaking?  Why is it here?  Are there other places this incident is spoken of?
    Of course you will be using Bible aids as you explore. You will need a Bible history book, a concordance, a writing instrument to write with.
   Much prayer is called for. Wait for the answer. You might not get the exact meaning. You may need to ask your pastor or gifted teacher in the fellowship to help you.. 
    Once again let me say you are digging. A good study will take time.
   Don't be afraid to mark your Bible. There may be passages you want to memorize. Please do so.. This will make it easier for God to speak to you. He only speaks what the Bible speaks since it is what He has revealed to us about Himself. He does not and has never spoken outside what is already written in the Bible. He is not revealing new truth. Be careful of people who tell you otherwise.

Seeking For Meaning

   On Sunday I heard that the other person I was thinking to add to this blog as an author has decided to start off with another organization. He is no longer available to blog with me. So it is just a one person blog.
  I wasn't always a Christian. Before I was I belonged to the Roman Catholic Church. A Roman Catholic has all the facts but the final step, that of asking Jesus alone to save them from the penalty of sin and give them assurance of going to heaven when they die.. that part is missing.
   If belonging to the right group (There is none) and believing my security was in man and good works which I have done to get me to heaven, than I would have been okay. There would have been no reason for the resurrection.
   Yes. It was the resurrection that sealed the truth. Not the death alone. A dead person has never been able to save another.
    I was born a Roman Catholic. It wasn't something that I chose. I was educated in a Catholic environment through grade school.. And still my paternal grandmother said "if only you had stayed you would have understood." when it came to, what?
   Salvation is not in a church group.
    When I was twenty one and away at school , this was when I got hold of a Bible and read it for myself. I wanted to know what it said, not what a priest said it said.   About this time the Vietnam war was still going on. My brother was killed in that war. He was so young.
   I realized that young people died not just the elderly. And If I were to die, where would I spend eternity? And how could I be sure?
   I sought answers. I was seeking for meaning.
   Now, being a Roman Catholic is not all bad. The facts were all there. The application was not. Not the way that will draw you to seek answers outside the church.  Nor would my saying a Roman Catholic have made the truth apparent to me as my paternal grandmother was no doubt trying to say.
    A personal encounter with Jesus Christ and the resurrected Savior who took the penalty for my sins.. which was eternal separation from God, was needed.