​​​​As much as I love obscure references, and favor subtlety over most
things – a quote from Pontius Pilate, though thought provoking, just
didn’t cut it anymore.

 Quote:

“What is Truth”?

As little as I put the gloves on, and prefer the gloves off, I figured I may as well skip pretenses.

I write from a Christian perspective. I write from the perspective of a
child of God. Not a perfect one – “For there is none righteous, no, not
one” – but one who DOES strive to become more and more like Him. I
write to point out error, to contradict untruths, to defend my faith,
and my Lord.

Does that make me untolerant? You betcha. Call me intolerant – cause
I’ll agree. I cannot tolerate what God cannot tolerate.

 Quote:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Now, I’ll qualify the preceding statement – “toleration” is limited to actions,
not people. If you say you cannot “tolerate’ someONE, you’re actually
wrong. You either tolerate, or do not tolerate, their actions. The
person is necessarily excluded, because the person is something
entirely different.

 Quote:

tol·er·ate
1. To allow without prohibiting or opposing; permit.
2. To recognize and respect (the rights, beliefs, or practices of others).

I cannot, and will not allow ideals, practices, or actions contrary to
those in the Bible to pass without opposition anywhere I frequent.
Obviously, I can’t tell people “don’t curse” in a sandbox-type arena,
and I can’t tell people not to do something that is “allowed” somewhere
– but I can oppose it by either advancing the opposite ideal, or
advancing an alternative course that does not involve something
directly contrary to the beliefs I’m required to defend and be a
proponent of. I can also make it my personal mission to make it
absolutely obvious that I’m a Christian, and that my actions will
reflect it, regardless of the arena. That’s our role, as Christians, is
to be salt (re: my recent entry)
and light, in a world becoming darker and darker. We’re the ones who
put a light upon practices, actions, and ideas that should be
illuminated for the darkness they are.

“Here I stand, I can do no other”, said Martin Luther – well, I agree
with him. A Christian without Christian principles, without the
willingness to stand up and say “that’s wrong” is no Christian at all,
but merely an imitation of an imitation.

A Christian willing to compromise the precepts laid out in the Bible to
keep from “making waves”, or to be “tolerant”, or to avoid persecution
is worse than useless. He’s the salt that lost it’s saltiness, and was
used to pave roads with – to be walked over.

A Christian who compromises his OWN moral code, and does what he knows
is wrong is a full-armed slap in God’s face. I’ve been there, and so
has every single Christian, at one point, or another. The question is,
then:

 Quote:

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?

I’ll answer the same as Paul did, to his own question:

 Quote:

May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

We all screw up, we all slip, we all fall, and we all come up battered and bruised, afterwards. But, do we falter in our Pilgrim’s Progress, or do we dust ourselves off, tend to our wounds (which almost always are self-inflicted), and continue on?

There’s only one choice. We are here for one purpose, and one purpose
alone – to give glory to God. We can only do that if we “press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
We can’t do that by “letting things lie” – we’re called to be set
apart, or, holy . This means that in all things, with every person we
come in contact with, our difference should be plainly, and absolutely
evident. “We are His workmanship, created for good works in Christ”.
Now, that doesn’t mean all of us are called to “shout it from the
housetops” – but some of us are. I’m relatively sure I happen to be one
of them.

So don’t get upset if I seem a bit overt with other people, fellow
believers. Instead, rejoice that His word is going out. If you think
I’m going about things the wrong way – take me aside, privately, and
show me, according to God’s word, that I’m wrong. I don’t mind being
told i’m wrong. But, keep in mind the following, before you do.

 Quote:

Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. – 2 Ii. 4:2

Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.
Titus. 2:15

Dearly loved friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about
the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about
something else, urging you to defend the truth of the Good News. God
gave this unchanging truth once for all time to his holy people. I say
this because some godless people have wormed their way in among you,
saying that God’s forgiveness allows us to live immoral lives. The fate
of such people was determined long ago, for they have turned against
our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. – Jude 1:3-4

Now, don’t get me wrong – it’s not our place to trash people, or put
them down, or tell them how terrible they are. it’s our place to
simultaneously condemn sin as what it is, and to both be proponents of our Lord, and defenders of His precepts.

Some have the gift for this, some do not. It’s the
responsibility of all, but some do it by service, some by witness
(living a godly life), some by teaching, some by encouragement, and
others by preaching and apologetics (root word apologia – make a defense).

But anyway, that’s just my “mission statement’ for you.

Yeah, this is a different “me” than some of you have seen before. Well,
that’s something I’m upset about. And something I intend to change,
with Gods help.

If you’re a Christian, I’m your brother, and hopefully I’m an
encouragement, or a goad toward a closer relationship with Him, at very
least.

If you’re not a Christian – I hope what I say gets under your skin, and
I hope the recognition that absolute TRUTH exists, is more than an
existential concept, brings you closer to the knowledge of the God I
serve.

Joshua is my namesake. So I’ll leave you with this.

 Quote:

“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for
yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your
fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites
in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” – Joshua 24:15

Those “gods” could be self, pleasure, money, a literal “other god”,
paganism, mysticism, atheism (you DO know that’s a religion too,
right?), humanism, or a host of others. I’ll stand against them all,
and be the “voice crying in the wilderness”.

Some of you still have no idea what I’m talking about

Hence, the “motto” change. Some of you will never have a clue in the
world where I’m coming from, until the day you die. I’ll just be
another “right wing nutjob jesus freak”.

I hope there’s not many, because I’ll tell you, that’s not a good place
to end up. It’s hot – and I’m from Arizona – I can tell you about hot.

Some of you will be angry at me – and frequently. Some people do NOT like to hear truth. When it’s absolute truth.

That’s fine. I can take the heat. Just remember – it’s not about YOU – it’s about what you DO.br>

From “A Ship of Fools”, by Richard Paul Russo (Phillip K. Dick Award Winner)

 Quote:

“There was no one thing that raised doubts within me, no one tragedy or
horror. It was an accumulation of small,personal tragedies and miseries
that I saw around me, directly, and indirectly, in all parts of the
ship, in stories people told me, in the Church’s historical records as
well as my own observations of daily life. There were so many people,
good people with deep and abiding faith, who nonetheless suffered
terribly in their lives – physically, emotionally, or both. People
whose prayers never seemed to be answered.
“The most distressing,
and troubling, were the children. Young, innocent children, who could
not have sinned, could not even know what sin was, and yet who lived
protracted, agony filled lives, or died horrible, painful deaths. There
weren’t many, but I couldn’t understand it for even one. Why did these things happen?” She slowly shook her head. ” I had no answers. None.
“I could not reconcile these things with my earlier conception of a
benevolent, all-powerful God who listened to our prayers and who
interceded in our lives. The priests would tell me that the suffering
was a test, or a lesson for us to learn from. Or, alternatively, that
God’s ways were just too mysterious for us to ever understand, that
applying any kind of logic or looking for rational reasons for why
things happened was useless”

She turned, and looked directly at me. “I could not accept any of these
answers. I still can’t. So I began to seriously doubt God’s existence.
Or, I told myself, if God did exist, if he was omniscient and omnipotent, could intercede in our lives and ease or end our suffering, but chose not to, or in fact chose to make us suffer… then I wanted nothing to do with such a God.”
“Father Bernard recognized my growing doubts, even though I had not
overtly expressed to him. Actually, they were more than just doubts. I
was ready to quit my studies and abandon my plans. He encouraged me to
take some time for myself – away from the Church, away from my studies,
away from my family and friends. He encouraged me to meditate on my
doubts, upon my faith. Like Jesus, I went into the desert.”
“I spent ten days there, ten days in the desert. I packed food and
water for two weeks, a sleeping pad, and nothing else. Not even a
Bible. After ten days, I had what I can only describe as a revelation.
An unconventional revelation, some might even call it heretical, for it
differs from the standard Church doctrines. Some people might put it
off to a fevered mind addled by heat and thirst and semistarvation,
hallucinations caused by days of isolation. But it was all so crystal
clear to me, everything finally falling into place, and it all made
sense to me at last. It felt right, it felt true.
Most importantly, the understanding, the feeling of rightness, stayed
with me long after I’d left the wasteland and returned to my quarters.
It remains with me to this day.”

I had to fight the urge to question her, to encourage her to speak.
“Free will,” she eventually said. “That’s what I finally understood. True free will. When God created human beings, he bestowed on them the greatest gift besides His love. Out of His love. Two gifts, really, but so interconnected, they’re like one. First, the capacity to do anything, good or evil, wise or unwise, loving or hateful. Second, true free will to act upon that capacity.”
“Those are God-like qualities. Not in power, but in choice. If he had
created us in such a way that we could only do good, if we were
incapable of acting badly, selfishly, causing pain or harm, then the
notion of free will would be meaningless, would it not? Not only that,
true free will precludes God’s intervention in our lives. (Note: I disagree with this, to an extent, but I’ll say more about that later.)

There is no free will if God intercedes to protect us or save us from
the consequences of our own, or other people’s actions and choices. We
have to face those consequences ourselves. That is the price we pay for
free will.”

Great passage. There’s a bit more, and I disagree very slightly with
one point he makes, but man, that was powerful to read. There’s another
bit I’ll post soon, but I need to go, or I’ll be late for Church if I
don’t go.

Great stuff at the Bible study tonight.

The topic we’ve moved to is “Wisdom”, and Solomon’s application of it – or lack thereof.

Tonight: “The Foundation of Wisdom”

Job 28:12-28

 Quote:

12 “But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?

Where are we to look for wisdom, says Job. If you know who Job is,
you’re halfway there. Job was perhaps the first book of the Bible
written. It chronicles the story of the most righteous man of his time.
A man who God bragged about to Satan.
Now, knowing God’s standards of Holiness, and perfection… he was
likely very close to the mark, by faith and deeds. Satan told God he
could break him. He failed. Job lost everything he had, but He kept his
faith in God. God rewarded him richly for it, once the story ends, and
Satan is defeated. Job, his friends, and everyone to follow learned a
lot of lessons from his experience. The following is part of it. What
is history for, other than to learn from?

 Quote:

13 ” Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the
living. 14 “The deep says, ‘It is not in me’; And the sea says, ‘It is
not with me.’ 15 ” Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it, Nor
can silver be weighed as its price. 16 “It cannot be valued in the gold
of Ophir, In precious onyx, or sapphire. 17 ” Gold or glass cannot
equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold. 18 “Coral
and crystal are not to be mentioned; And the acquisition of wisdom is
above {that of} pearls. 19 “The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor
can it be valued in pure gold.

Here’s everywhere it is not. Here is everything that it cannot be
exchanged for. It’s not valuable in the sense that most people
interpret as “valuable”. Wisdom is valuable in another way.

 Quote:

20 ” Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of
understanding? 21 “Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living And
concealed from the birds of the sky. 22 ” Abaddon and Death say, ‘With
our ears we have heard a report of it.’

It’s nowhere we’d go of our own accord, he’s saying. It’s hidden, and
cannot be found. Frustrating, you might say. But read on.

 Quote:

23 ” God understands its way, And He knows its place. 24 “For He looks
to the ends of the earth And sees everything under the heavens. 25
“When He imparted weight to the wind And meted out the waters by
measure, 26 When He set a limit for the rain And a course for the
thunderbolt, 27 Then He saw it and declared it; He established it and
also searched it out.

So, wisdom is from, and is held by, God Himself. So what do we need to do to be wise?

 Quote:

28 “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.’ “

Pretty straightforward. Sort of. Fear is not meant as “abject terror”.
Your father loves you, right? Think bad to your childhood. What did he
do when you screwed up? He punished you. Were you literally afraid of
your father, simply because he could punish you if you did something
wrong? Or did you have a considerable, healthy respect for him? Did you
still love him, even though you “feared” him? Would you respect him if
he let you get away with anything you wanted, and never punished you
for doing wrong? If you would… you shouldn’t. God punishes those who
belong to Him, because He loves us. He wants to let us know that we
can’t run roughshod over His Holiness. He has rules, boundaries, and obviously, being all-knowing, He knows what’s best for us.

Wisdom is practical application of knowledge – not theoretical concepts.

Wisdom is common sense – to an uncommon degree.

Wisom is doing the right thing – even in a situation you’ve never
encountered before. You know what is right, and what is wrong. You do
what is right.

A God as awesome as ours, and as Holy, should be feared. He’s not the “god” of the flower children – only
peace, joy, love and happiness… He is a Holy God, a powerful God, a
Just God, and a God who cannot stand sin. Period. In His mercy, He
witholds instant judgement of our sin – He allows us a chance to take
the way out He provided. Thopse of us who have taken that way out – we
aren’t exempt from fear. In fact, we frequently have altogether too
cavalier a view of God. God is Awesome. Our God is the same God who
created us, the universe(s?), parted the Red Sea, appeared as a pillar
of fire, and caused Israel to ask Moses to beseech Him not to appear to
them anymore – they were afraid they’d die if they saw Him again. He
was that awesome.

That’s the God we say “I don’t need you” to? All I can say is… God is holy, as well as merciful. If you don’t request His grace and live by His principles with His help,
and not on your own steam, you’ll face that holiness, justice, and
wrath, one day. f you’ve ever lied, you’re a liar. So am I. If you’ve
ever held anything at all as more important than God – you’re an
idolater. So am I. If you’ve ever considered anything but the God of
the Bible (or been mistaken as to the attributes of the god you’ve
considered “God”)as your “god”. or “deity” (including yourself) –
you’ve had a god before Him. Guilty myself. If you’ve used God’s name
for anything but addressing God? You’re a blasphemer. Me too. Set apart
every seventh day to God, and dedicated it to Him, and Him alone? No?
You broke the Sabbath. Me too. Honored your father and mother, every
single time? Even as a teenager? No? Another one down. Guilty myself.
Murdered anyone? No? Jesus had an interesting thought about that. Ever
hated anyone? Thought about killing someone? Told someone you hated
them, in anger? Murderer. I’m guilty then, too. Ever stolen anything? A
pen? A paper clip? Thief. I’m guilty. Ever lied? You’re a liar. So am
I. Ever wished you had something someone else had? Been discontent with
your current situation enough to wish what he had was yours? You’re
covetous. I have been too.

So, that all being said… we’re all lawbreakers. That law is what we’d
have to keep, our entire lives, without a single, solitary, slip, for
our whole lifespan – to measure up to God’s standards, and be
considered “good enough” to be in His presence. When you die, there are
only two places you can end up. Heaven (with God, and everyone else who
“measured up”), or Hell (apart from God, and subjected to punishment,
forever). Pretty stark? Yeah, it is. The Old Testament had a way out of
man’s predicament, though. Sacrifice. Slaughter an animal, put it on a
big altar, and burn it up. That animal’s life is symbolically given for
yours, and your sins were considered forgiven. Until God came up with a
“more excellent way”. He came down Himself, lived a perfect life as a
man, died, in our place, taking all of the sins – past, present, and
future, in Himself, and thus paid the panalty for everyone who believes, in a leap of faith that it’s true, and follows Him, sacrificing worship of self for eternal life.

That’s the message. As condensed as I can get it.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If you know what right
and wrong is – and I’ve just listed what “right” is – and don’t do it – that’s sin.

Once you know what sin is, here’s the question: Is there a penalty for
sinning? Yes. Death. So… how do you escape that death penalty? Not
just physical death – dying, forever. A long, long, time. How do you
escape that? You do one thing.

You say “Thank you”.

To the one who created you, loved you, and wants you to be saved from His judgement, by His mercy.

Believe that Jesus exists. Believe that He did what He said – “gave His
life as a ransom for many”. Believe that you cannot ever, ever be good
enough to meet God’s standards. BUT – you accept the gift He gives.
Life! Jesus was real. He was on earth for one purpose. To save us from
ourselves.

He told us this: “I am the way, the truth, and the life – noone come to the Father but through me.”

Will you? I don’t want to see you face God’s Justice, without His mercy
to counterbalance it. The mercy will not be in evidence, should you
reject God’s gift to us. All you’ll meet is his Justice. He already
gave us the rules. And a way to “qualify”, though through nothing we do
ourselves.

Here’s that tagline you were waiting for. Yeah, I’m done typing.

The only things separating God from Man are the sins of man and the
Justice of God. Mercy can only be given by God if man’s free will is
exercised to accept it, and choose God over self.

I hope you’ve chosen God over self. If not, life is very short. Is that
short time of self-gratification worth an eternity of paying for it? I
don’t think so.

An oldie – but a goodie.
——————————-
I heard a great, great message today, on the way to church. It was from a man by the name of Ravi Zacharias. I really love how thought provoking his teaching is.

Here’s what he mentioned.

 Quote:

“Every baby starts life as a little savage. He is completely selfish
and self-centered. He wants what he wants when he wants it–his bottle,
his mother’s attention, his playmate’s toy, his uncle’s watch. Deny
these things and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness, which would
be murderous were he not so helpless . . . He has no morals, no
knowledge, no skills. This means that all children, not just certain
children, are born delinquent. If permitted to continue in the
self-centered world of his infancy, given free reign to his impulsive
actions, to satisfy his wants, every child would grow up a criminal, a
thief, a killer, a rapist.” (Minnesota Crime Commission, cited in You
And Your Child, Charles Swindoll [Nelson Publishers, 1977], pp. 33,34)

“We’ve somehow come to believe, that if only we educate them,
somehow they will be all right. Send them to college, they will be all
right. I think D.L. Moody said it well. ‘If you come across a boy who’s
stealing nuts and bolts from a railway track, and you want to change
him, and send him to college, at the end of his education he’ll steal
the WHOLE railway track. All we do is make ourselves more sophisticated in our duplicity.”

“If we present man with a concept of man which is not true, we may well
corrupt him. When we present him as an automaton of reflexes, as a mind
machine, as a bundle of instincts, as a pawn of drive and reactions, as
a mere product of heredity and environment, we feed the nihilism to
which modern man is, in any case, prone. I became acquainted with the
last stage of corruption in my second concentration camp, Auschwitz.
The gas chambers of Auschwitz were the ultimate consequence of the
theory that man is nothing but the product of heredity and environment
– or, as the Nazis liked to say, “of blood and soil.” I
am absolutely convinced that the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinka,
and Maidanek were ultimately prepared not in some ministry or other in
Berlin, but rather at the desks and in lecture halls of nihilistic
scientists and philosophers.”

– Viktor Frankl

If our educational system needs to read anything today, as they take
out the Ten Commandments – if they put up what Viktor Frankl wrote, as
they walk into those halls, they’d have the answer to the dilemna that
is arising in our time.

Just read Hitler’s Mein Kampf – he’ll tell you where he
got it from. Hitler clearly stated in Mein Kampf – The evolutionary
fury that generated in his mind why the strongest needed to survive and
obliterate the weaker. In the name of darwinistic evolution, he
obliterated millions of people.

What it tells me, is this – if the heart is corrupt when it is born,
and if knowledge alone does not change us, what then, is needed? It is
a very simple statement, by Solomon of old – My son, cries wisdom, give
me your heart.

Isn’t that just hilarious? Right after Hitler was
mentioned on the Jossh forums, earlier, (I wonder if that was a
reference to me… I’m guessing it was. I may just be paranoid though.
If so, he really needs to learn his history. Hitler’s concentration
camps were filled with almost exclusively ethnic groups he disliked,
and the members of any religion he disliked.) I get this quote handed
to me. God is so good, isn’t He?

If you don’t know what Hitler’s concentration camps were really about,
or if you’ve never taken the time to study up on it, I suggest two
references. Schindler’s List, the amazing movie of Steven Spielberg, and a little book by a wonderful woman of God, named Corrie Ten Boom. “My Hiding Place“

But that was just on the way to church! I promised myself I’d share that, cause it was just such a powerful message.

So, on to tonight’s sermon.

Text
Pastor Bill, like I said earlier, is working through a series
concentrating on the life of Joseph. We’re at the point where Joseph
lets his brothers know who he is, and he issues them an invitation.

He basically pointed out that God issues an invitation, just like
Joseph did, to the brothers that sold him into slavery, and were now at
his mercy, the second most powerful man in the world.

1. Come closer.

Joseph was dressed as an Egyptian – to believe him, they had to see for themselves.

When Nathaniel asked Phillip “can anything good from Nazareth” – Phillip replied “Come and See”.

When the women who came to annoint Jesus’ body came to the tomb, the
angel told them “Come and see where they laid Him – he is not there”

2. Savor

Everything that tastes good has a specific flavor, a specific,
particular group of things that you instantly associate with it.

Taste and see, that the Lord is good, says the psalms.

3. Mercy vs Justice

God equally balances being loving and merciful, with being just and holy.

The Holiness of God requires that he be given what belongs to Him – the
worship, and the glory due Him as our creator, and as our savior. His
justice requires that a penalty be paid for the wrong we do in our
lives.

His Love requires that He take an active interest in the lives of His
creation. His mercy requires that His glory is shown by His opportunity
to escape His judgement by sacrificing Himself for us – our response to
such an act of mercy should be worship, and the desire and attempt to
be holy, which is what he requires, as a Just God. His Justice is
satisfied, His Holiness is acknowledged and emulated, His Love is
displayed to all, and His Mercy is shown to be faithful.

God is a balanced whole.

That’s what I learned tonight.

Had a good talk with my dad about the inherent nature of humanity,
earlier today. He said that the very quickest way to get people to show
what they believe is to bring up the topic of sin.

If you say sin exists, people immediately recognize what I’d consider
sin in their lives, which almost immediately divides people into the
camps. Those who recognize no form of morality save that an individual
person defines as their own, as “correct”, and only for them – Or those
who believe that morality can only come from an absolute definition.
From that point, the “religious” viewpoints differ, but those are the
two major camps.

It’s an interesting study in human behavior, he said, after we talked
about it a bit. It just goes to show that what defines us are our
beliefs. Our beliefs are not solidified, at least to others, until they
are publicly shared. Otherwise, we’re “just like them”. Once we show
ourselves to be different, we’re more recognizable, and the refinement
process begins. The compatible world views, from non-compatible world
views. The sorting process is almost subconscious to some people, I
think. We make “value judgements” almost instantly – once we begin to
mature, and our ideals are cemented, we begin to sort out everyone by
that filter.

If someone’s world view becomes sufficiently different from your own,
that person cannot be considered a friend. When they become close to
incompatible, that person becomes an enemy. If someone solidifes their
opposition to your world view, that hardens your resolve to defeat the
enemy, and the debate, at the initial levels, and open war, at the
extreme, begins.

That’s the admittedly broad-stroke brush I’m painting with, but it
applies well enough. When a Christian identifies openly with his faith,
those who are “conformed to this world” instantly recognize a potential
opponent, I believe.

I’m still just floored how quickly the 180 occurred. I’ve never seen
anything like it. I’m amazed by the accuracy of description the Bible
has for life’s issues more and more every day.

I’m glad I took this chance. It’s taught me a lot about life, and my
faith. I appreciate your (somewhat unknowing) assistance in
demonstrating an object lesson to me. God just used you to teach a
Christian about his faith.

Oh, just something you may want to think about. Joseph said this, later on in Genesis, and it just hit me.

Gen 50:20a
“As for you, you meant evil against me, {but} God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result”

and the New Testament verse based on it.

Rom. 8:28
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to
those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

IXOYE