Fairness

But the house of Israel says, 'The Lord's way isn't fair.' Is it My ways that are unfair, house of Israel? Instead, isn't it your ways that are unfair?" - Ezekiel 18:29

People can't decide how God should judge.

Some people think that God just shouldn't judge at all - everybody should be allowed into Heaven no matter what they believe or do in their lives. Al-Qaeda? Heaven. ISIS? Heaven. Greedy corporate executives? Heaven. Corrupt politicians? Heaven. Serial rapists? Heaven. No forgiveness or repentance necessary; they think God should just ignore everything people do anyway.

Some people think that God should judge in a way that's similar to how the legal system judges - that God's judgment should depend on their actions. If people commit "small" sins like lying or something without turning away / repentance (things that generally aren't punishable by human law), they still shouldn't be punished at all for them. They're going against God's clearly-defined and clearly-explained rules, but if they're just "small" things, then God shouldn't judge them at all for it. If people "try", then they should go to Heaven, no matter what. That if they openly reject God, and continually sin, as long as they don't do anything that's really really bad (according to their local culture/values) and still give a few dollars to people outside of stores, etc, then God should still let them into Heaven. But if somebody commits a "really bad" sin like murdering an innocent person, etc (things that generally are punishable by human law), then God should send them to Hell by default. It doesn't matter if they genuinely repent, seek forgiveness, do good things later on in their lives ... They maintain that those people should still go to Hell forever.

There are other things as well, but it all boils down to the idea that the way God judges according to the Bible is unfair.

However, the way God judges us is fair. God explains to us what He wants of us in the Bible. Although our society is in a pretty rough spot right now and people disagree on a lot of things, the basic principles remain the same. We need to believe - in God, and in Jesus. We need to accept Jesus as the atoning sacrifice in our lives, our Lord and Savior. And it's not some impossible thing God wants of us here - God has written the law on our hearts, God has created a world that in itself, is evidence of Him, God regularly sends people out into the world to share His word with others. Look - you're reading this post right now. You somehow ended up on an entire blog about Christianity. An entire blog about theology, spirituality, apologetics ... inspired by God. There is tons of proof of His word that can be found with a simple Google search. People who refuse to listen after everything God does, have no excuse. God does punish sin, but in His fairness, understands when a wicked person truly repents, when they truly turn away from what they did. God looks at the situation objectively. God knows what's in their hearts; a human government, or a human legal system, can't look at things as clearly as God does, and so people are just coldly given a prison sentence they have to serve, whether they truly deserve it or not. With God, our sins are forgiven through Jesus. Thus, God does judge fairly. If God sends someone to Hell, He has a very good reason to do so; He doesn't want anybody to die. God is merciful. And on the other hand, God reproves/"punishes"/corrects those He loves - because that's how we, stubborn people that we are, learn. God reproves/corrects us so that we can become better people, learning the ways of righteousness and turning away from sin.

God is fair.

May God bless and guide you all, according to His perfect will. In Jesus name! Amen.

More Lyrics

Here are some more lyrics I wrote. Like the other ones, I hope to use them in songs someday, but if not, here they are:

Picture them standing a short distance away from you. 
Picture them coming closer. 
Picture them with weapons. 
Picture them with swords and clubs. 
Picture them baring their teeth at you. 
Picture them staring into your soul. 

Now picture God standing next to you. 
Now picture God putting His foot directly in front of you. 
Picture all of their weapons suddenly vanishing. 
Picture them backing up in fear. 
Picture them running away. 
Picture the safety you feel in that moment. 

Now picture this: God's not gonna walk away when they leave.
God's gonna stay with you.

I wrote this for those who get caught up in worldly stress - such as myself:

You cling so strongly
To the stress that keeps you alive
You're afraid to die
Arms clung to Earth, eyes look up high

Send a prayer, let go
Surrender to the grace of Christ
Earth's games seem so small
Given back the rest of your life 

I can't remember if I shared the rest of these here already or not.

1)
So many people will end up in Hell.
So many who would rather live wicked
Than even attempt to change, to improve.
And for what?
Hate than love
Murder than cure
Steal than give
Covet than rejoice
Die than live
So many people will end up in Hell. 

_______________________________

2)
The resurrection of Jesus
Was not borrowed from mythology
It is a historical fact
Known from the time it happened

The historicity of the resurrection
Shows its reliability
The Jews of the time are evidence
Of the truth it holds

There was no empty tomb
In the story of Osiris
Yet for the Jews there was one
That they could see themselves

The word was preached to all
Who saw it all firsthand
While others outside Israel
Mocked the resurrection! [1]

A Pharisee converted
Though so much he learned
Would he not have known
If the parallels were so obvious?

A tomb the women saw
Martyrs dying for this truth
It makes no sense to suggest
This was based on mythology

If it were all false
The Israelites would have known
The Gospel would not have survived
In the city where it all took place

The resurrection is founded
Upon historical events and facts
Jesus Christ was resurrected
To pay for our sins! [2]

Even the Jewish authorities
Who sought to bring Christ down
Passed it off as sorcery
But told of the truth of His miracles! [3]

^ I have various notes sprinkled through these lyrics, here they are:
[1] " 'For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.' When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, 'We want to hear you again on this subject.' " - Acts 17:31-32

[2]
http://www.hypotyposeis.org/synoptic-problem/2006/09/external-evidence-ephraem-syrus.html
http://www.hypotyposeis.org/synoptic-problem/2004/11/external-evidence-irenaeus.html

[3] "On the eve of Passover they hanged Yeshu (of Nazareth) and the herald went before him for forty days saying (Yeshu of Nazareth) is going forth to be stoned in that he hath practiced sorcery and beguiled and led astray Israel. Let everyone knowing aught in his defense come and plead for him. But they found naught in his defense and hanged him on the eve of Passover" (Babylonia Sanhedrin 43a). - "Eve of Passover."

___________________________________

3)
Reject false doctrine
The Bible is the only source of spiritual wisdom
Build up your treasure in Heaven
And tear down all false teachings
They would mislead us
Through paths that would confuse with nonsense
Nonsense that is contrary to reality
Confusing the mind by distorting its inherent perception
The law is written on our hearts
The world itself is evidence of God's truth
The very fabric of the universe is written by God
Mankind has no excuse left
Measure your experiences by God's standards
And see the tricks demons plan

Where can you find the answers
For the questions they put in your head?
In Holy Scripture!
And it never seems obvious
When you ask for so long
And it never seems so correct
Until you take that first step

God's truth is a pathway
Stepping on it shows you what you had not previously seen
Following God's truth means ignoring the other path
Jesus Christ is God's truth
Thus Jesus Christ is the only way, truth, and life
Thus no one can go to the Father except through Jesus
Reject the lies all other forces will feed you
No being deserves your prayers but God
None of them are worthy but God
Tear down their lies
Let none of their sick mind games infect you

Reject false doctrine
The Bible is the only source of spiritual wisdom
And it never seems obvious
When you ask for so long
And it never seems so correct
Until you take that first step

4)

Where is my joy, my peace?
Why am I worrying so much?
And why do I still fear
Though I have God's holy touch?
I know who tries to take it
I know which wolf attacks
You can prowl for awhile
And your sins will be paid back

You tried to take my peace
You held it back
Now you're held back
You tried to take my peace
You held it back
Now you're held back

I tried to find a working cure
But falsities abound
How many more will suffer
With all the lies around?
Even if my choice was right
And with those two succeed
How many more will suffer
How many will you mislead?

You tried to hide the cure
You held it back
Now you're held back
You tried to hide the cure
You held it back
Now you're held back

You can try to mislead us
But Revelations shows
How with a few you may succeed
But will fail when you're thrown
Into the eternal fire
And no longer can attack
How many will look down on you
And nevermore look back?

You tried to take salvation
You held it back
Now you're held back
You tried to take salvation
You held it back
Now you're held back

5) I wrote this... September-October 2014. I used to be... just full of hatred, and my worldview was obviously very distorted by the things I used to believe and practice. I wrote this one day, some time after I left behind all the occult stuff, when I went for a walk and ... really saw the world clearly for the first time... in years, if not the first time ever. Very personal.

I still felt a bit choked up when I read this again. Two years later.

Today after so many years
I looked at the world, and I saw it clear...
Today, I looked at the woods
The darkness once felt may be gone for good...

Today, the veil over my eyes
Was lifted as I looked toward the skies...
Today, the darkness of shade
Isn't so dark anymore when God's presence pervades...

I'm saved, I'm saved, I'm saved, I'm saved
Jesus is Lord and I saw it today...
I'm saved, I'm saved, I'm saved, I'm saved
The darkness, the hidden, will all fall away...

Today people were walking again
All around me and I didn't hate them...
Today it didn't feel wrong
The hostility at the humans was gone...

Today the realms of the mind
Were finally something I could leave behind...
Today I felt what they described
I felt compassion for the people nearby...

I'm saved, I'm saved, I'm saved, I'm saved
Jesus is Lord and I saw it today...
I'm saved, I'm saved, I'm saved, I'm saved
The darkness, the hidden, will all fall away...
I'm saved, I'm saved, I'm saved, I'm saved
God and the Holy Spirit lighting my way...
I'm saved, I'm saved, I'm saved, I'm saved
Jesus is Lord and I saw it today...

Today I saw what I missed then
God's hand can make the evil break and bend...
Today it all fled behind...
The world is much clearer than what's in your mind...

If you believe, please spread the word
The blessings you've known and you've seen
If for no other reason than what you saw
Evangelize for those who were like me... 

Alt Right / Left

I want to briefly talk about a concern I've been having lately. I'm sure if you use the internet often enough to find out that this blog even exists, you already know about the impact the SJW movement is having on society / internet culture.

While I, like many people, respect many SJWs' claimed motives, but disagree with many of the things they've actually done and said over the years, my concern here isn't actually with them very much.

My concern is what I've seen in internet comment sections.

When a group comes along and panders to people, or tries to appeal to a very sensitive, and easily-hurt group of people by censoring something, the far-right will come along and make comments that, in comparison, make a lot of sense. Their comments often (though not always, of course) come from a more calm and logic-based perspective.

However, my concern is that with people seeming to take note of this, it seems like more people are starting to lean more toward the far-right, or the "alt-right" as some have started calling them. Personally I don't really care for the term, but we'll use it just so the message is clear. What's crucial to note in all this, is that just because the "alt-right" isn't full of censorship or extremely sensitive people, doesn't mean that they're right. Many people can speak in a reasonable manner; any person can make a few correct observations about life - it doesn't automatically mean that we should accept their stance on everything else. Many core principles of those claiming to be "alt-right" directly contradict the Bible, in the same way that what they oppose also often contradicts the Bible. Now, can one be "alt-right" and be a Christian at the same time? Technically, yes, since the "alt-right" doesn't have any official doctrine of its own yet. In theory, one could be an "SJW" and be Christian as well. But the racists / supremacists in the alt-right movement? Those individuals' ideas contradict Biblical teaching; refer to the parable of the good Samaritan; and to Leviticus 19:33-34; 1 John 3:15; Galatians 3:28; etc.

The alt-right is not a solution to the problems in our society. The movement may reverse the censorship brought on by the SJWs, but at the quite severe cost of bringing its own problems into the picture. It isn't a "solution". Neither one is. The solution is to look at issues Biblically - to not look to our own understanding, or our own movements to solve problems, but to look to God Himself for advice, and for help. Acknowledge that liberalism has flaws. Acknowledge that conservatism has flaws. God does not. Only in looking to Biblical teachings can we truly "progress" as a society. All else will fail, and is already failing all around us.

Copyrights

While I'm here, I wanted to point out something else. It annoys me to no end that people will actually copyright their translations of the Bible. Or... maybe it's the publishers' doing, I don't know. But a lot of these Bibles will include notices about how you can't share too many verses from them; for anything more than (a certain portion of the text), you need to ask the publisher for permission. How could you possibly do that in good conscience? The Bible should be shared with as many people as possible. People should be able to share the entire thing without question.

It also annoys me that people will apparently charge money for others to use their hymns / sheet music in church services. That's just disgusting to me, putting a price on worship. I can understand it a bit more (a bit more) with bands who release their music on CDs or something, because those are original recordings. You can still cover the songs as long as you don't claim the songs to be yours (which would be dishonest/sinful anyway) - the copyright is on the recordings themselves. I still don't 100% agree with that, but at least it makes more sense. It'd even make more sense if these were just generic secular love songs that were insincerely written by professional songwriters, just getting popular recording artists to record their songs to get extra money, etc, but hymns are supposed to have a deeper, sincere meaning to them - my church should not have to pay a writer of hymns, songs worshiping God, to use their songs. If they don't want their songs used in church services, I can respect that. I'm an artist and while I honestly think a lot of "artists" get a little carried away with it, I can understand being picky about things you make and how they're used. But in that case, just flat-out ask people not to use them. Don't hold your emotions, your feelings, at ransom.

This stuff just bothers me.

God bless you all and guide you, according to His perfect will. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Various Church Thoughts

"So it seems we all have different skills - 
 *stands up*
 Did you see how quickly I got up there?! Pretty good!"
  - guest reverend, 18 September, 2016

Hey guys, so today in church, we read even more verses that aren't necessarily "pleasant". Come to think of it, I'm not sure how many people actually make the claim that churches "avoid the less pleasant verses in the Bible", but I've seen the claim a few times and it continues to bother me. So since we read some this week, I wanted to share them. From Psalm 79:

O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance; they have defiled Your temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins. They have given the bodies of Your servants - the flesh of Your faithful - to the wild animals. They have poured out their blood like water, and there was no one to bury them. How long, O Lord! Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealous wrath burn like fire? Pour out Your anger on the nations that do not know You or call on Your name. For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation. Do not remember against us the sins of our ancestors; let Your compassion come speedily to us. Help us, O God of our salvation; deliver us and forgive our sins.

Also in church today, I saw an elderly woman I kind of know. She's getting older and a bit forgetful, but when she was younger, she apparently knew most of, if not the entire Bible. I've heard the claim several times that "reading the Bible will make you an atheist", so I find it interesting that this woman is still a Christian, and still attends church after reading the Bible and knowing it well enough to surprise our pastor. Come to think of it, what exactly do the "reading the Bible will make you an atheist" people think pastors/reverends do, anyway? What do they think any theologian does in a given day? ... They tend to read the Bible! What gives? The answer is simple, reading it doesn't diminish one's faith, it teaches and instructs. My faith is deeper as a result of reading the Bible. What diminishes one's faith is oneself - refusing to listen to those teachings, and specifically looking for reasons not to follow them. It's why people claim, for instance, that God "hates" homosexuals, despite the multitude of verses stating that God does not want anyone (ANYONE) to perish. This actually leads nicely into the last thing I wanted to mention in this post. Usually when I mention "the multitude of verses stating that God does not want anyone (ANYONE) to perish", I mention Ezekiel 18, either verse 23 or 32. There's also 2 Peter 3:9, I'm sure there are others that I can't think of off the top of my head. But today in church, I learned another one! Technically it's two; it's a single sentence that, for some reason, is split into two verses.

1 Timothy 2:3-4
This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.


God bless you all and guide you according to His perfect will! In Jesus' name. Amen.

Untitled

Society annoys me so much. People put each other through so much needless suffering in this world. There was a musician I liked. Out of respect for him and people who knew him, I don't want to give names. Anyway, he went to college/university. Of course, the way society is set up, many people are put in a position where they feel they need college/university to "get ahead" in life. The work gets stressful after awhile, but of course, people "need" to do it. There's no reason students need as much work as they get, it's ridiculous. The stress of that (among other things, I imagine, since life is overall pretty stressful!!) caused this person to go driving one night, very tired, and they ended up getting in a crash and dying.

Do people realize how easily avoidable this was? Now, yes, I know half of the world (at least, half of the people who read this blog?) is going to point fingers at the musician I liked, going, "He shouldn't have gone driving! He should have gotten some rest!" Contrary to popular opinion, responsibility for things like this doesn't always lie 100% with the individual in question. People don't always think logically 100% of the time, and I can guarantee this applies to anyone reading this. Driving, I happen to know, was something this musician did to relax, to get away from the stress in his life. But that still wasn't enough, and it didn't need to be this way. Society doesn't need to be so stressful that a sleep-deprived individual feels the need to go driving late at night just to feel okay. This could have been avoided.

Just today, I read a post from someone who is concerned about their health. They've been having chest pains and high blood pressure. A family member of theirs died from a heart attack. This person, however, can't "afford" to take time off work. Why? Because society has this completely ridiculous, nonsensical, pointless, resource-wasting, convoluted system called "currency". It's absolutely ridiculous that someone can't get basic medical attention because they need to continue working so they can "afford" to live. Living should not come at a price. Necessary medical treatment shouldn't have a "price". It's a pointless system anyway. Think about this: you need a poster made. You pay a company to print the poster for you. The company pays ink companies for the ink. The ink companies pay other companies for the machines. Those companies pay other companies for the parts. While all this is going on, all of these people are paying for food and water, provided by people who have to pay the machine-making companies for things like farm equipment, and it all just keeps going on and on. Toward what?

NOTHING!

Because it's a constant cycle of complete nonsense that doesn't end. The money just keeps going around and around, and never reaches a destination. People themselves never achieve the happiness that this currency is allegedly meant to provide, because there's never enough. One might be tempted to point out the extremely wealthy CEOs as exceptions to this, but even these people can't just purchase literally anything they want. Even they have things that they want, and cannot have. Should they have things that cost that much? Probably not, but see, that's not the point. The point is that money is a needless burden on all of us. People work so hard, not for survival, but for currency, which can be used to survive. Working hard doesn't guarantee survival, because survival isn't the reward for work in our world. The reward is some meaningless quantity of "currency". And make no mistake, I'm not just saying that physical money is the problem. I'm aware of the mark of the beast. The problem is the idea in general that we need to spend our time working toward something that we may not get anyway.

Life doesn't need a system of currency to keep going. It's something people use, and become accustomed to. But it's everywhere, so it's very hard to get away from. And it shouldn't be.

These are not things that God has told us to do, or implement into our world. God does tell us to "work", yes, but God does not tell us that we need to work in order to receive payment through an imaginary system of perceived "worth". Life does not need to be as stressful and painful as it is. God does not tell us to live in a system where we work to the point of insanity and end up killing ourselves in car crashes. SOCIETY DOES THIS. Society imposes these things on us. And by resisting them, I'm not saying at all that we need to all run off and live in the forest and eat bugs. That's part of the problem too, that people are so quick to switch between one extreme and the other. It's possible to still live in a civilized society without imposing insanity-inducing stress on us, or putting our health in constant danger.

But we need people to be willing to change it. How is that going to work? I honestly have no idea right now. I'm just extremely annoyed right now that I have to sit here, knowing I can (currently) do nothing to help all of the people being affected by the nonsense of this world, and needed to finally rant about this. And don't get me wrong - there's much more that's wrong with society than just money and putting "work" above other, more important things, but these are just two examples that stick out at me. I genuinely hope and pray that this post becomes the beginning of some kind of solution. I may not have one at this very moment, but this should not be mistaken at all for "just whining about something that will never change". IT CAN CHANGE. It's all completely needless. It all can change, the way society is isn't just some "fact of life". It can change.

As always, may God bless and guide you all, according to His perfect will. In Jesus' name. Amen.

" . . . do not oppress the alien . . . "

When I read this from Jeremiah 7 today:

For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you dwell in this place . . .

... I thought of how all those people from Honduras (mostly, if not entirely children) tried to flee to the United States, and the US government actually sent them back. Those people were fleeing places like San Pedro Sula with huge murder rates and poverty, yet because they didn't go through some man-made process of legally immigrating to another country, they were specifically sent back into those dangerous conditions. It just disgusts me that the so-called "legal" system works that way.

I know Jeremiah 7 is directed at ancient Israel, not the United States, but the principle still applies.