A Few Things (Miscellaneous)

I have a few thoughts / rants / etc that I wrote, but don't really have anything to do with them, so I figured I'll post them here.

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10 Nov 2016
I suppose one of my main aspirations in all this is to at least reach a point where I am not overwhelmed by the concept of perfection. For Moses said to the Israelites, "This is not too much for you to handle", and it may not have been for them, though they sinned willingly anyway, yet every time my mind even begins to understand a perfect following of our calling, my mind is disoriented by the magnitude of what I realize. A perfect willingness to stand in complete and unwavering defiance of the world while simultaneously showing it due love. To reject all heresy and not permit it to influence our thoughts. To put away fear that any earthly force causes us. To analyze every slight thing we do to ensure it is in line with a divine calling. But from the beginning, God's will has been mercy. From the beginning, repentance took precedence over perfection. From the beginning, God wanted to guide us back to truth, and knew our shortcomings, and spoke to us on our level. Perfect is our calling, not our requirement. Truly we have a merciful God.

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15 Nov 2016
I think a difference between Christians and demons, is that demons may lose, but they don't give up. We Christians don't lose (see Revelation), but we often give up. Are we stronger than demons?

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26 Dec 2016
(Written during a rough/confusing point in my life, thought it might help those who are depressed)
And so I'm here again. Walking through solitude, seeking solutions. It's rare that I feel my life has any worth. Disease cuts through my heart and breaks me physically and mentally and spiritually. Let me stand here. In this isolation. I want to go back. But I also want to just stay here. And ride out the storm. Yet I wonder, even here, if it will pass. I'm listening, God, and for once I almost feel alright. But how long? How long will it last this time? I can't do this again. I don't have it in me. I'm nearly broken already. Don't let me. Don't make me. Please heal me. And guide me. Just don't let me give into myself. You didn't die for this. Surely You bothered with me and rescued me for some kind of purpose?

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27 Dec 2016
It's been nearly three years since I walked here, and I still remember the sentiment that led me to it. Of all the influences that negatively impacted me, I think the one that did the most damage was paganism. Some borderline nihilistic view of the natural cycle mixed with a skewed idealization of it. An exaggeration of the mundane and a refusal to connect it to the power of the HIGHEST DIVINITY, mixed with an imagined element of fantasy, some form of "magick" that becomes self-destructive to those attempting to wield it. And how can it not, in the context of praising a perception of ferocity that is seen as utterly indifferent to the human condition? What other way could this so-called "magick" interact with its user? In reality, what they call magick is nothing more than demonic influence cloaked by a disguise of brightly-colored wonder and escapism. Twisting the concept of seeking the primordial, by not only moving the goalposts, but painting them entirely different colors. Thus, a skewed and damaging view of the world. We often assume that the beginning was the origin of truth and uprightness - a bold assumption for those who don't know the very truths they seek, but a correct assumption nonetheless. However, with an already fatally flawed interpretation of nature, the damage becomes two-fold: first, making nature the measuring stick for truth instead of true divinity, and second, misrepresenting the already incorrect measuring stick that it does provide. Frustration. Confusion. Spiritual illiteracy falsely justified by the fatal "logic" of the sin nature inside of us.

Do We Need to Follow Mosaic Law to Obtain Salvation?

No, as the Bible clearly explains in Acts 15. Click [HERE] to read the full chapter.

Important excerpt:

. . . For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.

Was Paul a False Apostle?

No, the Bible clearly demonstrates that he wasn't.

Acts 16:16-18
As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

Matthew 12:22-28
Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to [Jesus], and He healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” Knowing their thoughts, [Jesus] said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 

Fearfully and Wonderfully

Just remember this - you are not an object. You don't have to portray yourself as one, or allow other people to portray you as one. You're capable of so much more. God made you "fearfully and wonderfully". Your soul is unique to you. There are a lot of people in the world who only see you as something that can be used for their own benefit, but they're wrong. That's not what, or who, you are.