WRONG SEX

(written in 2010)

Wrong sex* is like poking a hole through a dam to get a drink of water. While you’re drinking, you don’t care how big the hole gets because you’re thirsty and the gushing water feels so good as it gets stronger. When your thirst is quenched and you see the damage and try to plug the hole, you can’t do it—it’s impossible. You can only watch the rest of the dam wash away. Then you have to rebuild the whole thing. However, you will always know where the weak spot is in the dam in case you want to do this whole thing over again.

*as defined in the Bible—any sex not exclusively with your lifelong marriage partner

TRUTH IS NOT . . .

+ Truth is not diverse—no different versions, but Truth !

++ Truth is not equitable with anything but Truth !

+++ Truth is not inclusive with anything but Truth !

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+ Truth is not diverse—no different versions, but Truth !
Diversity is not truth—Jesus is !
“I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

++ Truth is not equitable with anything but Truth !
Jesus is clear—all paths to God are not equal !
“Strait (restricted access) is the gate, and narrow is the Way that leads to life (in heaven), and few will find it.”

+++ Truth is not inclusive with anything but Truth !
The highway to hell is inclusive for lots of different people, who don’t know Jesus !
“Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction (in hell), and many go there.”

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Fallout from Christians messing with DEI—playing with fire.

Give the devil a little finger, and he’ll take the whole hand.

Christian—giving a little room for diverse, false ideas without immediately refuting them, gives them a foothold of credence, and doubt of the Bible, the Truth.

Like evolution—are you a little open to ‘old earth’ ?—only reason to invent lots of years is to make room to speculate something happening a long time ago before we have any record, with zero evidence of it happening in the 6000 years of actual history, and with no accountability to God the Creator.

Like sexual fuzziness—give a little finger, takes the whole body—read the article WRONG SEX (use search bar).

Like erasing/rewriting American history—ashamed of our Christian founding—tear down our monuments—re-name so we forget—Ft. Hood ‘bad’, to Ft. Cavazos ‘good’ ? (real Americans, real soldiers hate that, for good reason).

Like the City of Temple, Texas, playing with DEI and not opposing LGBT takeover.
Then they have to ban people like me from speaking at city council meetings, after I gave clear warnings half a dozen times.

Like forgetting the history of Concordia in Austin (was my college, now a university)—embrace, endorse DEI—spend money on it—paid positions—defy church jurisdiction—lose Biblical testimony.

Why such majority acceptance (or partial acceptance) of evolution, by Christians ?
Why Christians did not rise up and stop the universal introduction of evolution in schools ?
Why Christians, even today, are wishy-washy about young earth/old earth ‘debate’ ?
Answer—it’s always about believing the Bible, or not believing the Bible.
Did God really say, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” ?
Did God really say, “In six days God made the heavens and the earth.” ?
Did God really say, “Male and female, He created them.” ?
Did God really say, “Don’t eat the fruit from that tree.” ?
Did God really say, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” ?

There’s more—more Truth in the whole Bible.

There’s also more—more untruth, more unanswered questions, more destruction, more tickets to hell—without the Bible—even worse, despising the Bible and trashing it.
WHY ?
Because it came from God !

Everyone knows that—that’s why the fight is so fierce against the Bible, against God, against His people.

FOLLOWING JESUS – – – HARD ? or COSTLY ?

In what country does it cost the most to follow Jesus ?
Nigeria is one at the top of the list.
If you say you follow Jesus, others will hate you, try to kill you.

In what country is it hardest to follow Jesus ?
America – – – for a much different reason.
It is still easy to say you follow Jesus, but just don’t say too much that might offend someone.

In Nigeria Jesus followers know exactly what it means to follow Jesus, and immediately pay the cost—no room for compromise there.

Most Americans don’t know anything about the cost of following Jesus, and try to avoid criticism, by comfortable compatibility with the culture.

Jesus called his followers to a narrow path, through a narrow gate to enter.
He promised the world would hate us—as proof of following Him.
“If anyone chooses to follow Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, to come after Me.”
“Whoever is a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
“He who kills you will think he is doing God service.”

It is hard to be a Christian in America, not because of the cost, but because there is no cost—it is too easy.

THIS IS MY BODY

“This is my body, . . . This is my blood. *

This is my body – – – This is my choice.

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How blasphemous ! ! !

Abortion is indeed the sacrament of the left, of evil, of the devil.

Your baby is not your body !

YOUR BABY IS NOT YOUR BODY ! ! !

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* “This is My body, given for you.
This is My blood, shed for you.”
—–Jesus, to every follower in His Truth

“The thief (devil) comes to kill, steal, and destroy;
I came that you may have life, and have it more abundantly.”
—–Jesus, to every child inside their mother

Jesus came to give life, not take life.
He gives us life, every single one of us.
He gave His life, for our sin.
He gives meaning to all of our lives, in all circumstances—and, in all locations.

Note that Jesus said He came that we may (might) have life—we can accept His offer of life for ourselves, or reject it.
We can extend His offer of life to protect the unborn, or reject it—and join the thief, the devil, in the most despicable “killing and stealing and destroying” the lives of precious babies.

GOD LOVES BARBECUE ! ! !

God loves barbecue.

Think about it—after all, we’re made in His Image, so . . . !
Surely, enjoying barbecue is a blessing from God !

Doesn’t say if God ever ate any, but He sure delighted in the smell of barbecued beef (and others), particularly sacrificed from the heart of one right with God.
‘Incidentally’, vegetarian sacrifices were included, but never sufficient for dealing with sin—God required shedding blood from the beginning, and it pleased Him.

Lots of Bible verses on this, making God happy (look up “sweet smelling sacrifice”).

“The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma (of Noah’s sacrifice after the flood) and said, ‘Never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.’ ” *

Since Jesus told the following story to give the New Testament completion of getting right with God, I find it hard to believe He would have refused good barbecue while He was here.

Prodigal Son—
One of my favorites, for lots of personal reasons, including this:
Jesus made up the story, and intentionally included the extravagant feast with barbecued beef from the calf that was fattened especially for this (long anticipated by the father).
So, our return to Our Father creates joy in heaven that warrants barbecue of a fattened calf.
I LOVE IT ! ! !

(also, THE PIGPEN, on this site)
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In the book, DADDY SAID, I relate a personal experience growing up and enjoying the fatted calf ! ! !

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* On a different note than this article, the next verse after the one above, puts to rest any fear of catastrophic climate change:
“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.”
God and His Word had the first word “In the beginning”—and always will.

OMNIPRESENT

There was a time, in times past, when that word referred only to God—rightly so—still true today.

But when we look to things man has invented, created, developed, and built, our perception of omnipresent is changing.

We enjoy many things we have made, and we expect no limits to what more we can do.

We also fear things we have made, and what else we might make, and we wonder if we are better off.

We can create for good because we we are created “in the image of God”.

We can create for evil because we have a fallen nature, sin.

Over the millennia of history, man has created for good, to improve this life—and man has created for evil, to cause suffering and destroy this life.*

Our history is indeed omnipresent.

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NOW, new on the scene—TECHNOLOGY.
+ Computers
+ Cell Phones
+ Internet

And NOW, new on the scene of technology—ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
+ Where did AI come from ?
+ How is AI coming so fast ?
+ What are the limits of AI ?
+ Should we fear AI ?
+ We do fear AI !

Artificial Intelligence ?
+ Omnipresent—yes, so it seems.
+ Omnipotent—no, never.
+ “But God . . .”

If you are worried about AI,
If you fear AI,
Then use a bit of technology to find all the Bible verses that say, “But God . . .”
You will find all over again that “God is our refuge and strength; a very present help in trouble.”

A few lines from old hymns that renew our faith, like the lines from ‘old’ Bible verses that never get old:

“Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.”
—–from Day By Day, And With Each Passing Moment (read all the verses)

“Truth forever on the scaffold,
Wrong forever on the throne,      
Yet that scaffold sways the future,
And, behind the dim unknown,  
Standeth God within the shadow,
Keeping watch above his own.”
—–from The Present Crisis, by James Russell Lowell, ardent abolitionist of the 18th century (read the entire poem)

*”And do not fear those who kill the body [this life], but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
—–Jesus
“The thief (satan) comes to kill, steal, and destroy—I came that you may have life, and have it more abundantly.”
—–Jesus

END-TIMES TEACHING ? – – – ONE MORE TIME

I’m observing emphasis on avoiding trouble of the end times competing with evangelism to save people from hell.
So, I repeat warnings about some things I see.

Honestly, I’m getting weary, even angry, over the super-learned teachers with every detail answer to every question, claiming it’s all so simple, with a verse for every detail—“just like this”.
So, where does that leave the rest of us who don’t get that ‘degree’ of ‘education’ ?

Verses quoted—where do they come from ?, context ?—teachers don’t have time (or don’t want to waste time) to explain how each verse’s context fits the(ir) big picture.

How could I start from scratch—with my Bible only, explaining itself—to arrive at the same conclusions, same specifics, same detailed time-line, same answers for everything ?
How much study on my own would it take (overwhelming, insurmountable) ?

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Is everyone like me to be left with limited options about teaching on end-times ?
People are going to take one of these:

— Pick a leader/teacher (from the assortment out there that have each of their end-times time-lines nailed down) that sounds good, sounds like he might be right, sounds like he knows more than I can ever learn from my own Bible study, that gives me a clear picture to hold on to—because ‘Lord Knows’ how scary and complicated things are getting.

OR,

— (less likely) Diligently, fervently read my Bible (disengaging what I’ve heard from high education, from logic combined with Scripture, from frequent “I think” included, from “It’s simple, this way”), until I’m satisfied.
Satisfied that I have answers from my own study.
Satisfied that it’s okay to have remaining questions unanswered ?

OR,

— (more likely) ‘Check out’, get off the frenzied bandwagon of saturated talk that everybody’s supposed to be on because the end is near.
The excitement is wearing off, wearing down, losing my attention.

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The ‘answer for every question’ scholars sure sound like it’s not okay, or not necessary, to still have questions—just ask them, and they’ll tell you.
Example: Descriptions of our roles on earth, with unimaginable detail—after it’s all over from the bad stuff.

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+ Logic
I hear basic premises about rapture, etc., using logic to determine the way it has to be.
Just listening, I’m not so sure, with just the Bible.

+ Rationale
Reasoning seems pervasive, using verses to say it must mean this, and then building on that assumption to figure out everything else.
Building on . . ., building on . . ., rushing on to boatloads of exciting details, without taking time on the foundation—time to let the Bible itself carry its own weight.
Seems to me the interpretations outweigh the Bible—
Is that not true for most listeners ?
Following the teacher seems more important than “searching the Scriptures daily to see if those things were so, that were taught them.”
Seems it’s not kosher, polite, respectful, acceptable, . . ., to question the teacher who ‘obviously’ knows much more than the rest of us.
What if the teacher is not as right as he appears or claims ?

+ I think
Almost unnoticed in much end-time teaching is the frequent use of “I think” in answering questions.
At least they’re being a little honest, but the typical listener caught up in the scholarly answers does not pause to reflect and question, because he might miss something if he stops to think.
Most teaching proceeds with such a rapid pace, that listeners can’t stop to ask questions (by design perhaps, for that reason ?).
What a far cry from Billy Graham sounding out, “The Bible Says” over and over and over.
THAT GAVE HIS MESSAGE POWER ! ! !
Graham never said, “I think” in his messages—that weakens and dilutes what anyone has to say.

+ Consensus of theologians
If you have the clear authority of the Word of God behind you, you don’t have to refer to what most theologians say.
When does opinion of man, even a majority, ever validate a message from the Bible ?

ESSENTIAL MINUTIA

This is an assortment of the minor details of life, some with explanation, some without.

ESSENTIAL MINUTIA – ‘Minor Detail’—we’ve often heard or used that phrase to highlight how a particular matter is anything but minor.

ESSENTIAL MINUTIA – Billy Graham emphasized three things essential to success in his ministry—Prayer, Prayer, Prayer.

ESSENTIAL MINUTIA – James Dobson emphasized three things essential to success in his ministry—Detail, Detail, Detail.

ESSENTIAL MINUTIA – The Bible verse that tells the creation of the big lights, ends with a simple mention of “and He made the stars also.”
— In all 6000 years of history, who ever knew how big that little phrase at the end of making the big lights (sun, moon) that order our days “. . . the stars also”—how big that would be.
— We always knew there were too many stars to count.
— Who ever knew how big each one of them is ?
— Who ever knew how many there are, until now ?
— And now, with advanced science exploring ‘out there’ and counting, we have a better idea how many stars there are.
— So, how many stars are there, really ?
— We have no idea, there are so many, and so many more ! ! !

ESSENTIAL MINUTIA – If God took care in creating all the extravagant detail of the universe, the monumental and the minutia—and then topped it all by creating us—most surely He cares about taking care of us, in every detail.

ESSENTIAL MINUTIA – This includes daily routines in our personal lives, our families, our children, our health, our fitness, and challenging changes in details for seniors.

ESSENTIAL MINUTIA – Consider the VERY FIRST thought, word, action of your day.
— God, spouse, bathroom.
— Pattern, to habit, to auto-routine.
— Must not be automatic, not just a routine.

ESSENTIAL MINUTIA – Is each morning, each new day a routine ?
— Not on your life.
— Your life, you’re given another day—why ?—what for ?—from God.
— What will you do with this non-guaranteed gift ?
— THANK THE GIVER, for starters.
— Find what He has for you, why He gave you another day.
— Commit to giving it back to Him.
— Faithfulness, service, sacrifice, PRAISE.

ESSENTIAL MINUTIA – Covid mandates.
— Essentials open, others closed.
— Says who ?
— ESSENTIAL CHURCH, watch the movie.

ESSENTIAL MINUTIA – Jesus fed over 5000 people, with plenty of free food, and then He told them to gather the leftovers, the crumbs, so nothing is wasted.

ESSENTIAL MINUTIA – “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.”

ESSENTIAL MINUTIA – Jesus often got up a great while before day and departed to a solitary place and prayed, and sometimes he prayed all night.

ESSENTIAL MINUTIA – Details for seniors.
— Little things that were/should be automatic routine, now take most of your time, and all of your concentration.
— ‘Important Things’ become MOST IMPORTANT.

ESSENTIAL MINUTIA – Does God have everything covered when we don’t, when we start losing it ?

ESSENTIAL MINUTIA – Time alone with Jesus, every day, often.
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Read SENIOR YEAR(S) on this site (type in search bar).

D.O.S.E

(Just to think about, until I tackle another area of serious inefficiency, waste, fraud, theft that robs humanity of the truth and the life and freedom we could have.)

Department
Of
Spiritual
Efficiency

See also D.O.M.E.

D.O.T.E.

(Just to think about, until I tackle another area of serious inefficiency, waste, fraud, theft that robs humanity of the truth and the life and freedom we could have.)

DEPARTMENT
OF
THEOLOGICAL
EFFICIENCY

See also D.O.M.E.