THE SPINNING TOP

Life seems to be going by at an incredibly fast pace these days...Ask anyone over 60 years of age, and you will no doubt get the same answer. When I was a "wee bairn" I used to play with a spinning top and loved it, but when I reminisce I remember that it was wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. You would push down on a wooden knob to make it go faster and faster. So here's the thing...No matter how hard I pushed down or how often, it eventually slowed down and fell on its side. 

As all mankind ages each of their respective spinning tops slow and stop at an average of 75 years, give or take. So here is the irony...When you are young, you want to go faster and faster, while nothing gets done fast enough for you. Over time, your pace slows allowing the most cynical of us to really see life for the first time. Youth can't go fast enough from point A to point B. Middle-Agers step back from the torrid pace of youth, but finally old age kicks in allowing you to suck the marrow out of everything you see, feel or touch, while you wonder how you could have missed all of this in your youth. Some call this process, "earning your stripes," some call it, "maturation," and I like to call the aging process the path to wisdom. "Too soon old and too late smart," is how one dear friend put it, and we often hear the phrase, "If I only knew then, what I know now." 

The balance of Romans 2 is centered around what we are on the outside versus the inside. Consider these options:

• Internal vs. external
• Inside vs. Outside
• Interior vs. Exterior
• Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic

God says clearly through the Apostle Paul that it does not matter what you do in this world, except what you do for Him, and it must genuinely come from within. The Almighty contrasts Jews and the Mosaic Law with Gentiles and no law. Here is our "Lord's Logic," (my term), sent through Paul, the Apostle:

• The Jewish nation has a rich history, including the writing of the their code of conduct, commonly referred to as Mosaic Law.
• The Gentiles, who are most of us reading this, were thought to be barbarians at the best, criminals at the worst. We worshipped the sun, the moon and the stars, plus a host of other idols over centuries.
• Externally the Jews knew the Law and, they knew of the one true God. They knew what to eat, how to live and those things that God favored, as well as those that were forbidden. In a manner of speaking, they had it all set up for them, including how to receive forgiveness of sin.
• Externally the Gentiles made life up over the years, based on who was in power. They made their own rules and regulations, because even they needed some order amidst the chaos.

Reading the Law, hearing the Law, and recognizing that God exists is not enough for the Jews or the Gentiles. God says that even though the Gentiles did not have His formal law, they made law of their own, "by their nature." In other words, they already knew to some degree the difference between right and wrong.

Then Paul goes to great lengths to let those in Rome know that it only matters, "if the requirements of either legalistic system was written on their hearts," seared forever on the inside, specifically your heart and soul. Even if you are a light to the blind, an instructor to the foolish, and a teacher of little children, you must walk the walk everyday in your life, using what you have been taught by God as your personal compass.

And finally, if you are circumcised and/or baptized, you have no claim on eternal life. These are extrinsic examples of the intrinsic
change in your life to follow our Lord. Being circumcised is very important according to Mosaic Law, just as being baptized is in the New Testament; however, there is no external justification for salvation. It is only the internal, permanent change in your heart that makes either Jew or Gentile acceptable to El Shaddai, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. 

The Digital Disciple

COURTROOMS, RACISM & GOD

Since the world has been spellbound with the trial of George Zimmerman, I thought I would take a moment to use this trial or any public trial for that matter, as an analogy for Romans Chap 2, so that we can have a current example of what's coming in our future. Usually I write about what was done or said in the past and try to make it pertinent for the 21st century. So Post #50 (L), is looking towards what will happen, instead of what happened. 

Courtroom drama has been a big draw for all forms of media in our lifespan. Every channel now has at least an hour of daily courtroom antics, that get watched by multi-millions of people. High visibility cases, like OJ Simpson, Michael Jackson, and now, George Zimmerman involve tens of million viewers from all parts of the globe. Some are left-wing, right-wing, centrists, libertarians, black, white, Hispanic and on ad nauseum. Just as importantly any country with TV, radio, the Internet, or a local newspaper gets bombarded with good old US of A news, especially something of such importance as our criminal justice system.

In the future there will be one, final courtroom drama! It's kind of like the Supreme Court on steroids...God himself will be the JUDGE of all mankind. The Bible is clear that he will sit on his throne (judgement seat), and review the facts of each, individual life from the beginning of mankind until the Day of Judgement. Today witnesses, proof and prior acts get tossed out of court all the time, weakening the judicial process and making the criminal into a victim all too often. Over time incredibly smart attorney's have virtually turned the courtroom into a circus by dismissing evidence and the best one ever devised is calling for an insanity plea. Undeniable proof has been denigrated to the point of switching the roles of criminal and victim. Certainly this is a sad state of affairs, but it's what we have evolved into during this century. Judicial law has been loop holed to death, giving a pass to the rich, and ridiculous sentences to the poor, all in the name of the DOJ.

It's always been a question of mine, and simply put, "How does God remember billions of lives from our planet, when He dispenses individual judgement." I stumbled upon what I believe is the answer to that question from my own personal experience. I have spent literally years of my life in pain. One time during the pain relief process of drugs and rehab, I had hallucinations that were as real to me as could be imagined, from seeing people, places and things, to being visited by Satan himself. Post hallucinogenic experience, I was told by my psychiatrist what happened. Hidden in your gray matter and mine is an electronic/digital  memory system that functions behind a thin vale recording every day of your life. It's kind of like the "Wizard of 
Oz,"when the man behind the curtain is revealed to the dismay of Dorothy, the Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow. Finally the Wizard tells them that they always had exactly what they needed already inside them.

It is much the same with our life history. It has been organized and kept in a small section of your brain. When hallucinating, I am told, the thin vale that hides all of your data history gets pierced, and once in a while, something goes through, from the subconscious to your conscious mind. Point being that God does not have to remember your past, you have it on the inside already. So everything that you have ever thought or done in this life has been recorded and is available to Him whenever or wherever. 

The Apostle Paul says in Romans 2 that if you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you have most likely done the same thing in secret. "God's judgement will be based on truth." When we sin "in the dark," God says we are in "contempt," of His kindness, forbearance and patience. Ever seen an attorney get charged with contempt of court? Not a pretty sight and usually the attorney spends the night in jail, so that the judge can make his point. We live in contempt of the Most High Court of God Almighty every day we breathe His air, drink His water and feel the warmth of His sun. 

We will all die in a short period of time, some shorter than others, and some much longer than they seem to deserve. Only two men did not die in the history of the Bible, Enoch and Elijah. Enoch was faithful and obedient to the bone, and Elijah was an amazing prophet, who stood with God in good times and bad. Imagine a life so pure, so dedicated, so loyal, and so devoted to our God. Now look at your life, and all those things you have done in supposed darkness, where no one will see or know. God says you and I are in CONTEMPT! There will be no attorney's, there will be no loop holes, their will be no sin that you can wiggle out of before Him...There is only one, singular path to make it through the Day of Judgement, and that is to have Jesus Christ take your place. He has and will step in for you. He will "bear your stripes!" He will provide mercy from this courtroom and your sentencing. 

If these facts from Roman 2 don't make you delight in your God, please check your pulse. You may be alive, but you are dead to God.

THE DIGITAL DISCIPLE

DIVINE "SHOCK AND AWE"

Most times I just sit down and write soon after I believe that God has given me something to say. Most times it flows like a river, and when it is finished, I begin the search for pictorial images that represent various parts of the message being discussed. The process has worked flawlessly for me during the 18 months I have been writing, but now we are going to study what God has to say, through the Apostle Paul about the SINS of ancient Rome. 

To be sure, I could have skipped the second half of Roman Chapter 1; and in fact, last night I passed it by like it did not exist...But alas, the sins of ancient Rome are exactly the same as the sins our world in 2013. This list is poignant and will hit you right between the eyes, so if you don't have the stomach for it I suggest you stop reading right now.

Here are the ground rules:

• The Word of God is incontrovertible.
• Paul was used by God to communicate and his words are the truth of God.
• His letter directly applies to the Jewish nation and the Gentiles of ALL nations, nationalities, colors, creeds, and religions including Agnostics and Atheists.

From Roman 1:18 to the end of the chapter Paul, under the auspices of "the wrath of God," details the SIN that has engulfed the Roman Empire. It's kind of like "shock and awe"biblically speaking. These verbal bombs can't help but grab your attention, and if you have a conscience, it will cause pain.

Enough with my introduction...Let's look at what was said:

• We suppress God's truth by our own wickedness.
• God's existence has been made plain to the entire human race, so they are without excuse.
• Despite God's attempts to make himself known, he remains virtually ignored. He is not worshipped despite the fact that we know he exists. 
• We exchanged the glory of God for idol worship of things that mankind has made.
• God turned his back on mankind, letting them give in to their sinful desires, all the while degrading themselves.
• We exchanged the Truth of God for a lie, worshipping created things instead of him.
• Women exchanged natural relations for unnatural.
• Men abandoned natural relations, and were fueled with a lust for one another.
• Since we did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind.

Now, if the preceding is not enough, Paul goes on to describe God's creation in graphic detail:

• We are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.
• We are gossips, slanderers, God haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful.
• They invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.

There is more, but you get the picture. Before 100 AD, mankind, whether Jewish or Gentile was the same as mankind in 2013. We are closing in on 2,000 years since this was written, and if you did not know this came from Scripture, each of these could have been written today. HEREIN LIES THE MIRACLE OF THE WORD OF GOD! Scripture is timeless to mankind, because we think in terms of seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years, decades, and centuries. Not only is it timeless within our understanding, it is also eternal in the vernacular of our Lord. 

Try to find one entry from Paul's listing that does not apply to you, me, your family, your friends, your country and the world. Next to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I know of no more important miracle, and yet we continue to commit those sins in all walks of life. We have been and continue to be tattooed in sin. The ink used, stains our soul more and more every day, so much so that it is barely recognizable by God. Try to take a tattoo off of your body. It is a bold undertaking, that requires patience and pain. The

vestige of that design usually remains forever, no matter what you do...

Your soul is being tattooed everyday of your life. Every time you substitute something for God, your get an ugly, black tattoo.

Every time you commit those sins above, your soul turns blacker and blacker to where it is barely recognizable by the Almighty. Only the blood of Christ removes each blot on your soul, leaving it not only with no hint of the sin, it is restored to the original pure white soul again that was given to you at birth. Amen.

Finally, I want to tackle the white elephant in the room, homosexuality. I have researched those passages in Roman 1:26 more than ever before. You know I look at multiple Bibles, and every book I could find on the internet to help me understand this volatile subject. I had the etymology of every important word or phase, so I could, for myself, see if the translations were faulty. They are not...So let's start with what I know from scripture:

• Homosexual acts are and have always been a sin; however no different from adultery, murder, slander, envy, etc. Sin is Sin. They are all probably not equal, but that's up to God. What we know is a homosexual sin can and will be forgiven and purged from your soul, just like all sin.
• God allowed homosexuality back to the beginning of our recorded time. It was a sin in the OT, just like it is in the NT.
• God says, as you can see above, that heterosexuality is "NATURAL" and that homosexuality is "UNNATURAL." This is the truth of God's word, despite what is being said online and in church's being taught today. 
• Furthermore, any misrepresentation, interpretation, or exposition of the Word to the contrary is false and just plain old fashioned heresy.

Despite what is the truth above, we must treat all of God's creation as children of God. If you know someone is gay or lesbian, understand that they moved their sin from the darkness into the light for all to see. That's a far cry better than the adultery and fornication that goes on all day, everywhere in supposed seclusion. Straight people are hiding their sin everyday, deluding themselves that their sin is any different from a homosexual. Sexual sin is and always will be sexual sin, no matter how many ways you try to justify it to yourself, your friends and your God. Sex is the single biggest and easiest way to block the blessings of God. 

If you are seething at these, my words, please remember that the Apostle Paul and God himself were abundantly clear. At the same time their is no room for the judgement or condemnation of a homosexual than any adulterer or fornicator. Your personal sin may not be in the area of sexuality, but you have sin in your life, every day. Christians and believers all over the world are sinful every day. We constantly need cleansing from our Lord and Saviour. Every sin in the OT from God's anointed Kings had to be expunged by God according to the law. Depraved minds have been around for a long time, and they will continue, so long as we ignore the plain, straight up teaching of the word of God. 

Join me in breaking the cycle of your individual sin(s). I know I have several that need expunged immediately.

Thanks for reading and may God add his blessing...

THE DIGITAL DISCIPLE