Don't you find it curious that so many people and/or religious groups feel the necessity to predict the return of Jesus Christ or for my Jewish friends, the coming of the Messiah? Every year we get someone who thinks he has figured it all out, because of biblical clues throughout the OT and the NT...You would think that after centuries of prediction, some might just give up and be content to wait.
I have watched documentaries that have been produced by the most significant scholars of our time and time past. Some think God has left cryptic messages in biblical text with alpha numeric, clandestine codes for those of us with a high enough IQ to decipher. Some swear that the "twin tower" incident was predicted thousands of years ago, along with words like, "hitler," "al-qaeda," "world war 1 & 2," etc. I suppose if you look hard enough at anything written, you can come away with some hidden meaning. The problem is that God never works in code, like a spy or in the dark, like evil. So why would He take His Word and make it more difficult for his creation to comprehend? For sure He is infinitely complex and beyond our finite mind's comprehensive capabilities, but when it comes to His children, He is like a kindergarten teacher, simple and methodical. Only when mankind gets involved does the truth seem suddenly obscure, hiding behind codes, interpretations and the wizardry of current technology.
We serve a complex, immortal being, and when He deals with this creation at all levels, He deals in divine simplicity. Take a hard look as these simple concepts, for a simple world:
- How SIMPLE is Salvation? "Believe on the Lord, Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." No code, no cost, no dues, no legality, and no boundaries. Anyone, anywhere, at any time can be saved. We the people, make it complex by mixing in all of our preconceived notions and religious beliefs that have absolutely nothing to do with SIMPLE SALVATION.
- How SIMPLE is Communication? "Ask, and it shall be given unto you." We the people, call it prayer. Hands folded, on your knees at home or in your local church. Mankind has made it a ritual. Rituals by their very nature are suspect to me. I have a close-knit family. Some weeks are closer than others, but all of us communicate multiple times during each day. When my kids call, I am all ears! Usually I am thrilled to hear from them, and the older I get the more important their communication is to me. You think God, the Father is any different? He loves to hear from us, and it does not have to be a formal communication in any church or on bended knee. Talk to God for seconds or minutes, but communicate with him frequently, so much so, that it feels like you are talking to your best friend, not the Creator, himself. Communication with Him was meant to be SIMPLE and frequent.
- How SIMPLE is Forgiveness? "For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more." We the people, try to make this mysterious and complicated as well. Some think you have to confess to your Priest for forgiveness. Some think you have to do some good works or donate money to get forgiveness, but none of these have ever worked throughout time. You see, Salvation is a one-time event, but forgiveness simply has to happen regularly. Without it, you have a barrier between God and your soul. Once a week or once a month is just not right. In order to walk with the Lord, you must be forgiven every day. Can you still live your life? Obviously you can do so, but not with a clear, unfettered link to God Almighty. He cannot and does not tolerate sin in our lives, even though we commit them everyday. He always sees your soul, even if you ignore Him and His Commandments for the moment. Start every communication with God by admitting your sin and asking for forgiveness, and see what an amazing difference it makes. Forgiveness was meant to be SIMPLE and frequent.
Peel back the layers of religious experience, born from centuries of twisted personal logic and religious intellectualism and find your spiritual compass, your living soul. Herein lies the magic of divine simplicity sans religious divination. In mankind's effort to be cerebral, we made God's intentions a mess of worldly religiosity.
Did you ever hear of Ockam's Razor? It is:
"a principle that generally recommends that, from among competing hypotheses, selecting the one that makes the fewest new assumptions usually provides the correct one, and that the simplest explanation will be the most plausible until evidence is presented to prove it false."
Photo # 1 is religious chaos.
Photo # 2 is God's Simplicity.
Since about 30 AD, when the scholars believe that the Christian movement began, we have had almost 2,000 years of religious complication and confusion. Like religious amoeba, whether Catholic or Protestant, we have permanently fragmented God's original intentions. Continual splitting and sub-dividing over opinionated dogma, like territorial gangs in our inner cities, has left us weak and vulnerable. Everyone has their own colors, their own qualifications and their own belief system. Whatever your religious flavor, I believe that God did not intend for us to divide over any man's interpretation of his Holy Word. We did that to ourselves, when we formed our religious "gangs."
Fortunately, God does not have a "gang" mentality. He is not looking to divide and conquer. He is looking for someone to speak up and point out that all those years of fighting and killing, over something meant to merge us and strengthen our resolve, was never meant to fracture and weaken us into hundreds of pedantic, petty pieces. There is one true God. He was the same 6000 years ago, as he his today. So over that period of time who moved, who changed, and who splintered into thousands of pieces? It was not God. Think about all the sects and sub-divisions of every religion. Everyone who has a new interpretation, creates a new group, all in the name of progress.
God does not want "new and improved."He wants us to simply love him with "all our heart and all our soul." While we keep changing the name of religion over millennia, he has stood solidly in place, never compromising or changing his SIMPLE requirements. Look beyond the robes, look beyond the incense, look beyond free will, look beyond predestination, and look beyond ridiculous dogma that allows the tail to wag the dog...
Communicate with God, as the Father of Creation. Communicate with Jesus, as the the ultimate blood sacrifice for your sin, and communicate with the Holy Spirit, as the one closer to you than your own skin...Let your soul commune multiple times daily in simplicity and sincerity, because that is where true Godliness and Loving-kindness abide.
The Digital Disciple
Did you ever hear of Ockam's Razor? It is:
"a principle that generally recommends that, from among competing hypotheses, selecting the one that makes the fewest new assumptions usually provides the correct one, and that the simplest explanation will be the most plausible until evidence is presented to prove it false."
Photo # 2 is God's Simplicity.
Since about 30 AD, when the scholars believe that the Christian movement began, we have had almost 2,000 years of religious complication and confusion. Like religious amoeba, whether Catholic or Protestant, we have permanently fragmented God's original intentions. Continual splitting and sub-dividing over opinionated dogma, like territorial gangs in our inner cities, has left us weak and vulnerable. Everyone has their own colors, their own qualifications and their own belief system. Whatever your religious flavor, I believe that God did not intend for us to divide over any man's interpretation of his Holy Word. We did that to ourselves, when we formed our religious "gangs."
Fortunately, God does not have a "gang" mentality. He is not looking to divide and conquer. He is looking for someone to speak up and point out that all those years of fighting and killing, over something meant to merge us and strengthen our resolve, was never meant to fracture and weaken us into hundreds of pedantic, petty pieces. There is one true God. He was the same 6000 years ago, as he his today. So over that period of time who moved, who changed, and who splintered into thousands of pieces? It was not God. Think about all the sects and sub-divisions of every religion. Everyone who has a new interpretation, creates a new group, all in the name of progress.
God does not want "new and improved."He wants us to simply love him with "all our heart and all our soul." While we keep changing the name of religion over millennia, he has stood solidly in place, never compromising or changing his SIMPLE requirements. Look beyond the robes, look beyond the incense, look beyond free will, look beyond predestination, and look beyond ridiculous dogma that allows the tail to wag the dog...
Communicate with God, as the Father of Creation. Communicate with Jesus, as the the ultimate blood sacrifice for your sin, and communicate with the Holy Spirit, as the one closer to you than your own skin...Let your soul commune multiple times daily in simplicity and sincerity, because that is where true Godliness and Loving-kindness abide.
The Digital Disciple
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Hearing from you is certainly not a requirement. Consideration of what is researched and written is all I ask of anyone who stumbles upon my writings. I believe that my God will take it from there. With His help I try to separate fact from fiction, sense from nonsense, and ultimately clarity from chaos.