Last night Rachelle (my wife) and I watched a documentary on televangelists Jim and Tammy Baker. I commented, “I don’t fault the Bakers for the scam they ran. I fault the Christians who donated to PTL without thinking for themselves.”
Critical thinking has disappeared. It’s gone in religion, politics, and society. I ask that you put on the cap of critical thinking as you read this post.
Don’t believe what I write without verifying it for yourself. Don’t trust what I say just because you know me, or trust me, or think I’m a smart guy. THINK FOR YOURSELF.
PREMISE: The end of this earth through climate change, an asteroid, a nuclear apocalypse, or utter destruction from the Creator will never occur.
The Scriptures:
- “You have solidly fixed the earth, that it may keep standing.”—Psalm 119:90.
- Jesus said, “Happy are the meek since they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5), a quotation from Psalm 37:29. One can’t inherit anything that’s gone.
- “For only the upright will reside in the earth, and the blameless will remain in it. As for the wicked, they will be cut off from the earth, and the treacherous will be torn away from it.” (Proverbs 2:21-22).
- “They Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth … (Matthew 6:10).
- Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth… my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.” (Isaiah 51:5-6)
N.T. Wright, the pre-eminent New Testament scholar of our day, writes: “God gave his son so that everyone who believes in him should not be lost but should share in the life of God’s new age. This new age is not a Platonic, timeless eternity…it is a time when God will utterly transform this world – that will be the age to come (heaven).
Heaven is Earth with the Curse Reversed
The harmony of Scripture is brilliant. The LORD created in Genesis 1 the earth and “man in His image” to take dominion. Man, however, rebels against the Creator, and from Genesis 2 through Revelation 19, we read the narrative of man’s rebellion. However, in Revelation 20 (the end of the Bible), God restores ON EARTH what was lost through man’s rebellion.
Heaven is the Kingdom of God taking full reign over the earth, with the “righteous” inheriting the Kingdom (i.e. eternal life on earth) and the unrighteous banished from the earth.
So… I would ask that as you think through the future (e.g. eschatology), be very careful that you don’t align yourselves with the pagans and the statists who speak of the earth being destroyed by climate change, nuclear war, or mankind.
God preserves the earth as the inheritance of those who trust Him.
You may ask, “But what about all those passages that seem to speak of ‘the end’ with ‘the moon turning dark, and the sun and the stars falling from heaven?”
Answer: Throughout mankind’s rebellion against the Creator (e.g. the history of the nations of the world), the LORD brings “an end” too proud, rebellious nations and people. He does it through the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse – 1. War, 2. Famine, 3. Plagues, and 4. Death.
Nations rise and fall.
Economies come and go.
Proud people are born and die.
But the Kingdom of God is unshakeable and everlasting.
Trust the Creator and live – forever – on the earth. Trust Him, and you’ll not experience the second death, a death that occurs at the general judgment when your name is not found in the Book of Life because you’ve trusted yourself, mankind, or science rather than the King of kings, the LORD.
Think…for…yourself. Read the Scriptures. Trust the LORD and your membership in His Kingdom.
Well, it’s hard to know where to begin. I dislike only part of Scripture being referred to that makes the person’s point but leaves off the part that doesn’t back up his point.
You quote part of the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth…”
By leaving off “as it is in heaven” you get by with there is no heaven.
What do you mean “Heaven is Earth with the Curse Reversed.” First, let’s agree that Earth and the World mean the same thing. Who cursed the World?
It sure wasn’t God: “For God loved the World so much, he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 NLT)
You state, “…when your name is not found in the Book of Life…” WHAT, there is no book of life.
Paul said it best in 2 Corinthians 5:8
“We are not afraid, but are quite content to die, for then we will be at home with the Lord.” (Living Bible)
“We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” (King James)
“Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.” (NLT)
In Mathew, Jesus refers to heaven 14 times, and he told a thief on a cross, “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.”
from ‘eastern Christianity’, this:
St. Chrysostom
“Have we then hereafter any right to marvel, if aught befall us of the things which are unexpected and painful? whereas we ought to marvel when no such thing befalls us. For the former is in the natural order of things, but the latter were beyond all reason and expectation. For surely it is beyond reason, that they who are become enemies of God, and are provoking Him to anger, should enjoy sunshine and showers, and all the rest; who being men surpass the barbarity of wild beasts, setting themselves one against another, and by the biting of their neighbors staining their own tongues with blood: after the spiritual table, and His so great benefits, and His innumerable injunctions.
Therefore, considering these things, let us cast up that venom; let us put an end to our enmities, and let us make the prayers that become such as we are. Instead of the brutality of devils, let us take upon us the mildness of angels; and in whatsoever things we may have been injured, let us, considering our own case, and the reward appointed us for this commandment, soften our anger; let us assuage the billows, that we may both pass through the present life calmly, and when we have departed thither, may find our Lord such as we have been towards our fellow-servants. And if this be a heavy and fearful thing, let us make it light and desirable; and let us open the glorious gates of confidence towards Him; and what we had not strength to effect by abstaining from sin, that let us accomplish by becoming gentle to them who have sinned against us (for this surely is not grievous, nor burdensome); and let us by doing kindnesses to our enemies, lay up beforehand much mercy for ourselves.
For so both during this present life all will love us, and above all others, God will both befriend and crown us, and will count us worthy of all the good things to come; unto which may we all attain, by the grace and love towards man of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might for ever and ever. Amen.”
and from St. Silouan, this
“”The Holy Spirit teaches us to love our enemies in such a way that we pity their souls as if they were our own children”.
what are the depths of God’s great mercy towards His creatures? ? ?
who are we to ‘judge’ ?
when the most powerful force in the universe is ‘love’ and it involves compassion for those who are wounded and suffering?
from ‘eastern Christianity’, this:
St. Chrysostom
“Have we then hereafter any right to marvel, if aught befall us of the things which are unexpected and painful? whereas we ought to marvel when no such thing befalls us. For the former is in the natural order of things, but the latter were beyond all reason and expectation. For surely it is beyond reason, that they who are become enemies of God, and are provoking Him to anger, should enjoy sunshine and showers, and all the rest; who being men surpass the barbarity of wild beasts, setting themselves one against another, and by the biting of their neighbors staining their own tongues with blood: after the spiritual table, and His so great benefits, and His innumerable injunctions.
Therefore, considering these things, let us cast up that venom; let us put an end to our enmities, and let us make the prayers that become such as we are. Instead of the brutality of devils, let us take upon us the mildness of angels; and in whatsoever things we may have been injured, let us, considering our own case, and the reward appointed us for this commandment, soften our anger; let us assuage the billows, that we may both pass through the present life calmly, and when we have departed thither, may find our Lord such as we have been towards our fellow-servants. And if this be a heavy and fearful thing, let us make it light and desirable; and let us open the glorious gates of confidence towards Him; and what we had not strength to effect by abstaining from sin, that let us accomplish by becoming gentle to them who have sinned against us (for this surely is not grievous, nor burdensome); and let us by doing kindnesses to our enemies, lay up beforehand much mercy for ourselves.
For so both during this present life all will love us, and above all others, God will both befriend and crown us, and will count us worthy of all the good things to come; unto which may we all attain, by the grace and love towards man of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might for ever and ever. Amen.”
and from St. Silouan, this
“”The Holy Spirit teaches us to love our enemies in such a way that we pity their souls as if they were our own children”.
what are the depths of God’s great mercy towards His creatures? ? ?
who are we to ‘judge’ ?
when the most powerful force in the universe is ‘love’ and it involves compassion for those who are wounded and suffering?
from ‘eastern Christianity’, this:
St. Chrysostom
“Have we then hereafter any right to marvel, if aught befall us of the things which are unexpected and painful? whereas we ought to marvel when no such thing befalls us. For the former is in the natural order of things, but the latter were beyond all reason and expectation. For surely it is beyond reason, that they who are become enemies of God, and are provoking Him to anger, should enjoy sunshine and showers, and all the rest; who being men surpass the barbarity of wild beasts, setting themselves one against another, and by the biting of their neighbors staining their own tongues with blood: after the spiritual table, and His so great benefits, and His innumerable injunctions.
Therefore, considering these things, let us cast up that venom; let us put an end to our enmities, and let us make the prayers that become such as we are. Instead of the brutality of devils, let us take upon us the mildness of angels; and in whatsoever things we may have been injured, let us, considering our own case, and the reward appointed us for this commandment, soften our anger; let us assuage the billows, that we may both pass through the present life calmly, and when we have departed thither, may find our Lord such as we have been towards our fellow-servants. And if this be a heavy and fearful thing, let us make it light and desirable; and let us open the glorious gates of confidence towards Him; and what we had not strength to effect by abstaining from sin, that let us accomplish by becoming gentle to them who have sinned against us (for this surely is not grievous, nor burdensome); and let us by doing kindnesses to our enemies, lay up beforehand much mercy for ourselves.
For so both during this present life all will love us, and above all others, God will both befriend and crown us, and will count us worthy of all the good things to come; unto which may we all attain, by the grace and love towards man of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might for ever and ever. Amen.”
and from St. Silouan, this
“”The Holy Spirit teaches us to love our enemies in such a way that we pity their souls as if they were our own children”.
what are the depths of God’s great mercy towards His creatures? ? ?
who are we to ‘judge’ ?
when the most powerful force in the universe is ‘love’ and it involves compassion for those who are wounded and suffering?
Google states: “This year, out of the current 124 players that are on the roster for Oklahoma football, 55 are from Texas. For you people who are a bit slow on the math, that’s 44.3 percent. Almost HALF of a state school’s roster is from another state.”
Wade, if those 55 from Texas played the rest of the Oklahoma team, wonder who would win?
Sometimes, I think we need more of the theologies that address that for which there are no words . . . . that we can, as the sacred Scriptures tell us, ‘learn’ from the creatures of the Earth and the Earth itself . . . .
“7But ask the animals, and they will instruct you; ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you. 8Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; let the fish of the sea inform you. 9Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?” (Job, chapter 12)
The ‘old ways’ of a people often carry in them ‘legends’, myths, ‘signs’, and we modern types smile, but still, sometimes the older folks ‘teach us’ from nature and how they perceive its connection to its Creator,
as when my father of blessed memory picked up a Daddy Long-legs spider inside our house and carried it outside and let it go very gently, and when we asked why he didn’t ‘kill it’, he said, “it still had some work left to do in this world”. . . . . so we children learned to respect and preserve instead of to fear and destroy.
I’m not one who thinks we should take ‘the Earth’ for ‘granted’, no. But truly those who KNOW what they are doing for profit will poison the water and the soil and cause irreparable harm to children are offending their Creator in the worst ways. . . . for them, I fear for their souls . . . . and those people exist, yes, like the motor company that poured wastes down a mining shaft in Ringwood NJ, the poisons leached into the water of the nearby reservoir and into the soils of the town and people sickened.
And the state government that tried to ‘save money’ and set Flint, Michigan up for lead poisoning in the water . . . . countless children are and will be affected for life. . . .
But for those who honor the Creator, there will be no ‘cutting corners’ to make a buck when it comes to the safety of the people and that much hated phrase among some folks ‘the common good’ will be understood to mean that we do not harm our neighbors in the ways of our living.
Well, old friend, I hope I’m eliminated from making comments.
CHRISTIANE,
I hope your father believes the only good snake is a dead snake. After seeing a chiropractor for back pain, he told me to take a hot bath. I laid our newspaper from the yard next to the bathtub. It took a long time getting in the tub. After getting the bathwater really hot, I picked up the newspaper and started reading. Felt something wiggling on my chest. I raised the paper and a grass-snake with its forked tongue going back and forth stopped two inches from my nose. I exited bathtub faster than the church song; “Up from the grave, he arose”.
Opps, that’s NOT eliminated.
CHRISTIANE,
I hope your father believes the only good snake is a dead snake. After seeing a chiropractor for back pain, he told me to take a hot bath. I laid our newspaper from the yard next to the bathtub. It took a long time getting in the tub. After getting the bathwater really hot, I picked up the newspaper and started reading. Felt something wiggling on my chest. I raised the paper and a grass-snake with its forked tongue going back and forth stopped two inches from my nose. I exited bathtub faster than the church song; “Up from the grave, he arose”.
CHRISTIANE,
I hope your father believes the only good snake is a dead snake. After seeing a chiropractor for back pain, he told me to take a hot bath. I laid our newspaper from the yard next to the bathtub. It took a long time getting in the tub. After getting the bathwater really hot, I picked up the newspaper and started reading. Felt something wiggling on my chest. I raised the paper and a grass-snake with its forked tongue going back and forth stopped two inches from my nose. I exited bathtub faster than the church song; “Up from the grave, he arose”.
CHRISTIANE,
After seeing a chiropractor for back pain, he told me to take a hot bath. I laid our newspaper from the yard next to the bathtub. After getting the bathwater really hot, I picked up the newspaper and started reading. Felt something wiggling on my chest. I raised the paper and a grass-snake with its forked tongue going back and forth stopped two inches from my nose. I exited bathtub faster than the church song; “Up from the grave, he arose”.
Something won’t let me tell a story.
CHRISTIANE,
After seeing a chiropractor for back pain, he told me to take a hot bath. I laid our newspaper from the yard next to the bathtub. After getting the bathwater really hot, I picked up the newspaper and started reading.
Felt something wiggling on my chest. I raised the paper and a grass-snake with its forked tongue going back and forth stopped two inches from my nose. I exited bathtub faster than the church song; “Up from the grave, he arose”
Felt something wiggling on my chest. I raised the paper and a grass-snake with its forked tongue going back and forth stopped two inches from my nose.
Felt something wiggling on my chest. I raised the paper and a grass-snake with its forked tongue going back and forth stopped two inches from my nose.
Felt something wiggling on my chest.
I raised the paper and a grass snake with its forked tongue going back and forth stopped two inches from my nose.
I raised the paper and a grass-snake with its forked tongue going back and forth stopped two inches from my nose.
I raised the paper and a grass-snake with its forked tongue
I raised the paper and a grass-snake with its forked tongue
I raised the paper and a grass-snake
REX RAY,
sometimes my comments get ‘eaten by the machine’ and don’t show up
maybe there is a word or phrase you are using that is causing the comment to be not printed (?)
well, keep trying
your stories are always worth reading, so keep trying 🙂
CHRISTIANE,
Wish we knew the rules of the ‘machine’, then we could follow them. This is the rest of the story:
I raised the paper and a grass-snake with its forked tongue going back and forth stopped two inches from my nose. I exited bathtub faster than the church song; “Up from the grave, he arose”.
CHRISTIANE,
Wish we knew the rules of the ‘machine’, then we could follow them.
I raised the paper and a grass-snake with its forked tongue going back and forth stopped two inches from my nose. I exited bathtub faster than the church song; “Up from the grave, he arose”.
CHRISTIANE,
I tried, but no luck.
I raised the paper and a grass-snake with its forked tongue going back and forth stopped two inches from my nose. I exited bathtub faster than the church song; “Up from the grave, he arose”.