How old is the earth...

There are different Christian Interpretations of the age of the earth.  Some say the earth is 7- 10,000 years old.  Some say the earth is billions of years old.  If I am going to make a logical assumption, I'd guess the earth is in the billions.  If I am going strictly by faith, then it's a bit tougher, but still not impossible to come up with a number in the billions.  If you notice, the first verse of Genesis says this:

Gen 1:1 ¶  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

That whole 'in the beginning' thing is open to interpretation.  There is no morning and evening assigned to this particular creative act.  Therefore, I am not certain how long the earth existed before God created the 'light'.

Scheduling an appointment...

Ever wish you could make an appointment with the Lord God and have a nice sit down, face to face, two-way conversation?  I don't know about you, but I find myself needing guidance on a daily basis.  I so desire to make the 'right' choice, to do the 'right' thing, to say the 'right' thing, and I know, at times, that the only possible way I can be sure I am doing what is best, is if I could speak with God and have him direct me.  Yes, I pray.  Yes, I listen.  Yes, I read the Word.  Sometimes, though, I need more.  I need to be able to sit down and say "hey dad, I've got a dilemma.  What would you do in this situation?"  Then I need to hear His clear and precise response. 

Forgiveness...

I just finished watching the movie 'Into The Wild'.  It left an impression.  One thing really caught my ear.  To paraphrase, if you don't forgive, you can't love.  I thought how true.  They kind of cancel each other out, don't they?  You can't really love someone that you are holding something against.  In not forgiving, you reap the results.  Jesus said that if you didn't forgive men their trespasses, God would not forgive yours.  Now I think I get it.  After all, God is love, and he who lives in love lives in God and God in him.  If you aren't living in love, you might say that you are reaping the whole God not forgiving you in a way, because you are not able to walk in His presence in that state.  This comment by Jesus could well have been about the present, not necessarily judgement day.  There may be something huge here.  The keys to the kingdom.  What you bind on earth you bind in heaven.  What you loose on earth, will be loosed in heaven.

Everything that happens, happens for a reason...

When I first heard this comment, I thought of it in a positive light. In other words, everything that happens, happens according to God’s wisdom, will, and purposes. But then I thought of all the bad things that happen, and I know that statement can’t be a truism. What possible good reason could there be for rape, incest, murder, child abuse, etc? No, everything that happens does not happen for an underlying good reason or cause. Everything that happens does happen for a reason, it’s just not necessarily for a ‘good’ reason.  My Christian Interpretation would be that much of what happens, happens because of sin.

I do believe, though, that good can be a result of an evil or painful encounter in life (for those who believe), but evil cannot come from good. God is not the author of sin.

The wisdom of God...

Just a couple of examples of the wisdom and love of God. God says that we should not seek revenge. He says to leave that to Him (Romans 12:19…Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord). Someone might think that God loves to take revenge. My Christian interpretation would be that I don’t think so. God knows what revenge and vindictiveness feels like and what it does to a person and He wants to protect us from it. He knows that it is poison and asks you to hand it over to him…to rid yourselves of it...to cast your burdens on Him. In like manner, in the Old Testament God forbid the Israelites to eat fat (Leviticus 7:23…Say to the Israelites: ‘Do not eat any of the fat of cattle, sheep or goats’). The fat belonged to God. Why? Was it because God coveted the fat for Himself? Did God so love the fat of animals that He didn’t want to share it with us? Today we know that the fat of animals is not healthy. Once again, God was trying to protect us. This is the theme throughout the Word of God. Is not every commandment of God really an attempt by God to help us, to protect us, to bless us?

Trials and Tribulations...

Life is not discriminatory. If you live it, at some point, you will be challenged by it. God doesn’t play favorites. It would appear that part of the reason for living is the challenges. Most likely, a huge part of the reason for living is the challenges. It’s as if God is asking if we will remain faithful in all and any circumstances.  For some, when life is going along without a hitch, that is a challenge.  A challenge to their faithfulness.  Will they stay focused on God when things are going so well, or will they find their focus is on other things.  For others, it's when life is difficult that they may find themselves at odds with God and turning away from Him.  It doesn't always work that way, though.  As the bible teaches, God would actually draw the Israelites to Himself through hardship. They would turn back to God when things got tough.  

Capitalism 101...

It seems to me that at the very core of capitalism is greed, selfishness, and vanity (1 Tim 6:10). If you can build a better mousetrap, you can make more money. If you can make more money, you can buy more things, potentially live more comfortably, and attain a perceived higher status. If you make enough money, you can go back to being lazy (early retirement), or have someone else run the company while you play.

On the plus side, capitalism creates incentive, incentive breeds competition, and competition breeds innovation. Capitalism motivated by a base nature of greed, selfishness, and vanity, is the counter weight to another base nature component of selfishness...laziness.

So here is the crux of the matter. Capitalism is inherently shortsighted. It’s about making as much money as you can as fast as you can. It’s about you, it’s about now. That makes for lousy planning for the future and future generations.

Have you ever witnessed an incandescent light bulb glass break while it was turned on? The now exposed element burns very bright for a couple of seconds before burning up and going out. That is my analogy of capitalism. Societies built on capitalism can indeed burn brightly for a moment in time, but then they will fall.

It's an interesting thing...

It’s an interesting thing…this thing called vanity. We can see the one that dresses up, albeit, with long hair or a beard or a mustache or a tattoo or body piercings or green hair or name brand clothing or expensive shoes or belt buckles or ball caps or jewelry, etc. Their costumes say ‘look at me’…I’m special…I’m cool…I don’t give a damn…I do give a damn….I’m a rebel…I’m successful, etc. This outer adornment may seem prideful on the surface, but sometimes this adornment of the outer is but a cry for self worth and approval. This one that dresses up may well be lacking in pride.

And then there is the one that may misjudge those that are decorated as being prideful. And though they that judge may not be dressing up, they too are caught in vanities snare.

No room for pride...

Joh 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Joh 6:44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day."

1 Cor 3:6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

2 Tim 2:25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

Ex 33:19 And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

Gal 3:2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing— if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?

1 Cor 1:17 ¶ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel— not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things— and the things that are not— to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God— that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

Lu 18:17 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Personally, I find real wisdom in the way God has chosen to do things. He has effectively removed all room for pride, which surely is our greatest stumbling block. That is why it so often seems to require a complete breakdown, a humbling to the core, before we are able to receive Him. I wonder if the greater the pride, the greater the trauma that’s required to break it? When I look at the scripture about being ‘born again’ I can’t help but see that I, personally, had to suffer a form of death before that miracle born again experience occurred. In a way, you could say that I had to be ‘broken’, completely humbled, and then I had to cry out for Jesus before Jesus came in and laid that new foundation. I was born again at that moment, I was a new creature, old things had passed away, all things had become new (John 3:3, 2 Cor 5:17).

There are a few obvious issues that some people take exception with. First off, as a few of the scriptures above testifies to, God chooses. God has to choose you, has to draw you to Christ, has to ‘give the increase’ regarding believing faith. That can tick some people off. There is no room for them to glory in themselves. They aren’t in control. They see that as unfair. They aren’t willing to give God the credit for their salvation, but they are ready to blame God for not necessarily choosing everyone. They aren’t willing to accept that maybe…just maybe…God knows what He is doing and they don’t. That’s pride. I like God’s response to Job (38:1). Another issue people have is the defining of sin. God makes no bones about what is right and what is wrong. He defines morality. That can be confining, and/or convicting and uncomfortable, and people generally don't like that. Their general theme is 'I want to do what I want to do, and don't tell me I can't or that it's wrong'.

There are literally millions of people who can personally testify to the miracle of Jesus. Could they all be deceived? When they believed the report, when they accepted the gospel…truly accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior, a miracle occurred. That miracle validates the scriptures. Not just the words of Jesus, but the words of all the NT writers, and many of the old.

Reincarnation and Christianity...

Can the concept of reincarnation be reconciled with Christianity? That may seem like a silly question, but there are many new-agers and other sects that think so.

The concept of reincarnation (as I understand it) is that through a virtual unlimited number of incarnations (or as many as necessary) a person would be able to work their way into a place of perfection. But the bible says:

Ep 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith— and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

Heb 9:27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

It seems to me that the basic principal of Christianity is that you are born into sin, that the base nature of man is sinful, and that the only way a person can be redeemed is through the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ. Hence, saved by grace…in the form of a gift.

Ge 8:21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.”

Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

Some people claim that John the Baptist was Elijah reincarnated. But what does John himself say about that?

John 1:21 They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No." Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’"

John was indeed similar to Elijah, though, in that God worked through him to cause many to turn back to Him. You might say that John was a ‘type’ of Elijah.

1Ki 18:37 “Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

Some people even claim that Jesus was the result of reincarnation…that he had achieved perfection in that way. But what does the Bible say about Jesus?

Hebrews 1:1 ¶ In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.

Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

John 1:1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

It would appear impossible to be perfected via multiple incarnations before the universe was created.

Therefore, my Christian interpretation is that reincarnation is NOT compatible with Christianity. You must choose between the two, but choose carefully, because only one is true.

Was Jesus GOD?

  Here is what scripture says:   1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord...