The
early years I spent in church with my children should count as precious stones
however the later years that I failed them in their Christian upbringing would
certainly count as stubble. Not only did I fail them, I failed myself and my
early commitment to God. I’m now working to correct this mainly through non-confrontational
postings on my Facebook wall which I pray they will read, who would have
thought…social media…
I shared another Christian’s Facebook posting about 2 Timothy 4:3-4 and “Sugar
coated preaching.”2
Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers,
having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and
shall be turned unto fables.” From my reply, “Sugar coated preaching is
certainly prevalent today in this apostasy church age. I’m currently writing a
post for Koinonia Institute (KI) titled, “What elements in your life have been
built on the foundation of ‘wood, hay and stubble’? What elements have you
built upon the foundation of ‘gold, silver and precious stones’? As I reflect
on this question I see more stubble than precious stones in my life. We are in
the end days and it is time to turn from false teachings and to the pure Word.
Time to work on those things pleasing to God!
I
raised my two children as a single mother from their ages of two and three. I
managed to graduate from college and held down good jobs. Both of my children
have very successful careers, however… My daughter has lived in the SF area for
years and supports same-sex marriage. I thank God and her hormones that she
married a man. However, no precious stones for me there. My son was a
commercial pilot and now is in management. For years now I’ve tried to interest
him in Christianity without much success. Again, stubble.
Today
I witness to the readers of my blog and on Facebook and wonder if this is considered
by God to be building on a good foundation. Three decades ago I took advantage
of the opportunity to describe the Bear Valley, CA area as God’s Cathedral on
the Today Show during an interview. This witness went out to perhaps millions
of people and although I wasn’t looking for precious stores, perhaps a little
one.
As I
go through life in my later years I try to be an ambassador for God.
God
hates pride and Jesus certainly had a lots to say about hypocrites; Matthew
23:2,7 "“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like
whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full
of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness." Bible
versions matter; only four references to the word “Meek” in the INV and 29 in
the KJV according to the Biblegate website and 16 to 3 with the BlueletterBible
website; Strong's H6035, "poor, humble, afflicted, meek" There
are referencesto meek/ meekness in the Old
Testament: Numbers
12:3, “(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the
face of the earth.)”
Psalm
22:26, “The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that
seek him: your heart shall live for ever.”
Psalm
25:9”The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.”
Psalm
37:11 “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in
the abundance of peace.”
Zephaniah
3:12, “I will leave within you the meek and humble. The remnant of Israel will
trust in the name of the Lord.”
As
in the Old Testament, so in the New Testament:
Matthew
5:5, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew
5:6, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they
shall be filled.”
Matthew
5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”
To
me being meek before God is similar to having the innocent mind of a young
child: Luke
18:17, “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God
as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.”
Mark
10:15, “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God
as a little child, he shall not enter therein”
Hebrews
12:5, “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto
children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when
thou art rebuked of him:”
And
full circle to Jesus and hypocrites:
Luke
18:14, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the
other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that
humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
Luke
13:34, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them
that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together,
as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!”
Romans
1:22, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,”
Pride,
perhaps my greatest failing, I remind myself daily that what I’ve accomplished
in my life was made possible through God.
More about meekest:
(The man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
Numbers 12:2-4 (in Context) Numbers 12 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
2.Psalm 22:26, “The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.”
Psalm 22:25-27 (in Context) Psalm 22 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
3.Psalm 25:9
The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.
Psalm 25:8-10 (in Context) Psalm 25 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
4.Psalm 37:11
But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
Psalm 37:10-12 (in Context) Psalm 37 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
In reading Romans Chapter 1:18-forward,
we are without excuse if we reject the eternal power of our Omniscient,
Omnipotent, Omnipresent awesome God. God does his utmost to get our attention
and to turn us from our inmate fallen and sinful nature. Romans 1:20-21 “For
the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and
Godhead; so that they are without excuse: “Because that, when they knew God,
they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
I'm currently studying the book of
Ezekiel. God used Ezekiel to warn the Jews that their captivity in Babylon was
not a temporary issue; that they would be in captivity for decades. Ezekiel’s
task was to confront Israel with her sin and warn her of impending destruction.
Ezekiel employed several means to focus on the people’s need for judgment
including signs, sermons and visions. Ezekiel acted what would happen to
Jerusalem, interesting actions by this “Watchman on the Wall.” His warning were
mostly ignored and Jerusalem was destroyed
In Ephesians Chapter 2:11-22 Paul
speaks of “Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ.” Ephesians 2:19 Now
therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints, and of the household of God;” Fellow citizens, same responsibility to
God.
During this month of May extreme weather continues
a week after the horrific tornado that leveled much of Moore, OK. When the “experts”
blame the wild weather on global warming and/or climate change on humans I have
to agree with them, however, it's not because of our carbon footprint. Rather
it is our insistence on pursuing our sinful nature. Given our country's
acceptance of same-sex marriage, unfettered abortion and throwing Israel under
the bus, God has been dropping his hedge of protection from our country. God has
used many disasters to get our attention.
In his book “The Harbinger” Messianic
Rabbi Jonathan Cahn warned that the reaction of the United States to 9/11 was
to shake our fist in God’s face as in the case of the Northern Kingdom. "The
bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are
cut down, but we will change them into cedars." Isaiah 9:10. Since 911
there have been many more attempts by God to call us to repent. Rather them repenting
we coined the word “Strong.” After the Boston Marathon bombing we heard “Boston
Strong.” After the horrific tornado in Moore, OK we are “Moore Strong.” So God
continues with the wild and deadly weather.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the
truth in unrighteousness;
19 Because that which may be known of
God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things
that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without
excuse:
21 Because that, when they knew God,
they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible
God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted
beasts, and creeping things
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to
uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own
bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a
lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is
blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up
unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that
which is against nature:
Another year has passed me by and it's
my birthday, always a time for reflection. Today I turned 72, an age sometimes
marginalized by younger generations or, as others would say,”70 is the new 40.”
All though I’ve lived pass the younger Biblical age of three score and ten
[KJV], every day brings more opportunities and challenges. Given the current and rapid descent into
immorality, I’m sometimes tempted to once again drop off the power grid. However,
I’m convicted that I’m still expected to bring unbelievers into the kingdom.
So “where
do I go from here? The Issachar Tract provides a through grounding in written
endeavors. In addition to all the opportunities KI offers to publish, my goal is
to combine concise writing skills with the ability to deliver them in a public
forum. In my opinion developing oral skills and using these via public speaking
would be a complement to what I’m learning here.
The
Issachar Tract reminded of my years as a member of Toastmasters. I dropped out
of Toastmasters more than 15 years ago but now I really see value in getting
involved once again. Many of the Christians that I know tend to reinforce each
other rather than going out and spreading the word. That's not to take away
from the churches who support the mission field, however, what of more direct
individual involvement?
So I
surfed the Internet looking for a Toastmasters club reasonably close to my
Quartzsite, Arizona home. The nearest clubs are held at a correction facility
and are closed clubs. A few telephone conversations resulted in my acquiring
information for starting a Toastmasters group right here and Quartzsite,
Arizona.
There
are many unknowns respecting starting a charter Toastmasters club; finding
enough year-round residents interested in joining to start a club, raising the
thousand dollars required to get started and then to find a meeting location.
One real advantage here in this little town is that we have seven evangelical
churches. Also we have a rather active Chamber of Commerce as well as a Rotary
Club. I have no assurance of any interest in a Toastmaster club much less
success. As one who likes a challenge, I’m in the process of developing a plan
of action to form a club starting with discussing it with the pastor the local
AOG Church.
A
little back-ground on Toastmasters: "The
purpose of Toastmasters is to help members overcome apprehensions about
speaking in public and to improve communication skills. This goal is
accomplished by providing a self-paced, focused speaking program and a
supportive, experienced group of people to assist you." (Toastmasters)
A
typical Toastmaster meeting is divided into four segments: a business portion,
Table Topics, prepared speeches and evaluations. 4. Evaluations by club members
provide feedback to both prepared speakers and meeting leaders. The evaluator
usually is a more experienced club member who gives an oral evaluation and
provides written comments to each speaker.
As
with QARP I found being a Toastmaster evaluator to be most challenging. The
part of the meeting I most enjoyed was Table Topics which involved giving a two
minute extemporaneous talk. A helpful skill for an aspiring Christian
Apologist,
Works
Cited
[KJV] Psalm
90:10, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of
strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for
it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”
Toastmasters
International Publications and District websites. Sandra
Amelino, DTM,New Club Extension Chair
2007
Assumptions are
generalizations and/ or beliefs that often are deeply embedded in a person’s
mind or can be a part of a group think. At the individual level these are
things/ facts that are taken for granted with the result that the person
assumes that he or she does not have to defend them. As an aspiring “Watchman
on the Wall” I answer to a higher authority so I’d better be correct. The
election of 2012 in the United States was group think on steroids with the
resultthatassumptions
became fact in the minds of many of the electorates. The GOP was accused of
conducting a war on women due to the party’s pro-life stand. This spin of a war
on women took on a life of its own and became an unjustified assumption which resulted
in an invalid inference that cost the GOP many votes and possibly the election.
A valid inference is a conclusion that something is true
based on something else being true.
The
Law of Rational Inference:
All
A is inside B
All
B is inside C
Therefore
all A is in C
In
high school I learned this as “If A = B and B = C, then A = C.
Unfortunately
unjustified assumptions led to invalid inferences. In the case of the “War on
women”, availability of free birth control was the mantra, the opposing view.
Birth control costs very little and this unjustified assumption led to invalid
inference.
Words
like “seem” or “appear” are weak words that
imply rather that outright stating something. Using expressions like “It seems
that” or “It appears that” imply agreement or a fact. More of group-speak
resulting from group-think.
With
a Straw Man, “a person misrepresents his
opponent’s position and then proceeds to refute that misrepresentation rather
than what the opponent actually believes.” In addition to the fabled war on
women the strawman (scarecrow) was alive and still looking for a brain during the
run-up to the presidential election of 2012.The hidden “47 percent” video was used to beat up on then candidate Mitt
Romney. Add to that Bain Capital and the war on the “rich” was on. This war has
festered into “The One Percenters” and a war on capitalism. Group think is so
much easier than thinking for oneself and we are reaping the whirlwind!
How
it Works
•You
read or listen to what someone states explicitly, but then you make an
unjustified invalid inference (something that they did not state explicitly)
from the statement that they made. •Then
you take the unjustified, invalid inference you made and use a valid logical
argument to refute that inference. •That
is a Strawman Fallacy. Using
the Strawman Fallacy can affect and possibly even destroy the reputation of the
author that it is being used against. The
One Percent: Obama’s Dog Bo Gets a Private Helicopter & Security to
Martha’s Vineyard: The Obama’s dog has arrived for the family’s annual vacation
in style, jetting in on a state-of-the-art aircraft with his own contingent of
security agents.
Read
more at
http://clashdaily.com/2013/08/the-one-percent-obamas-dog-bo-gets-a-private-helicopter-security-to-marthas-vineyard/#UFMRWQqB0FY9MdBQ.99
“Romney
answered without hesitation: There are 47 percent of the people who will vote
for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with
him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who
believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that
they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it— that
that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will
vote for this president no matter what.” (CornLocations
277-281)
“Another
Gospel” By Grant Phillips Published 07 July 2013 on Rapture Ready Website The
author shares that he has been warning for some time about false teachings by
false teachers who are spreading another gospel. These teachings are throwing
people into confusion as well as perverting the gospel of Christ. Add to that the
authentic gospel of God is being twisted into “The Faith Movement” a message
“straight from the lying tongue of Satan.” The
author starts by quoting Galatians 1:6-7, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed
from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is
not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel
of Christ.” The author recommends that every Christian should be like the
Bereans and quotes Acts 17:11.
As
for discernment Mr. Phillips uses the example of examining hundred dollar
bills. He would expect his wife who has worked in the banking industry to spot
a counterfeit bill when he might not be able to. As Christians we are to be
more discerning than the unbeliever, however, millions are being swayed by
“Another Gospel,” we are without excuse.
Those
in the Faith Movement deny the fear and respect due to the Almighty God who
created us and instead want their ears tickled. Humanism is the god of today and
leading many from the real gospel to another gospel that appeals to pride, the
same pride from the same source as in Genesis 3:4-5.
So
what is the answer? Mr. Phillips says, “Get into the Bible; The Bible is the
only place you will find the Truth.” My. Phillips also recommended a book
titled “Christianity in Crisis: The 21st Century” by Hank Hanegraaff. The book
goes into the specifics of these false teachings.
Added later:
Thank
you Matthew and I agree with your comment, “A great metaphor for the Christian
- constant, intimate exposure to the real until the fake is obvious.” Now that
I’m no longer writing a “Standard Summary” I’d like to add my comments.
Last
week I wrote about my time circling the New Age drain. From New Age I moved on
to “New Thought” which is pretty much New Age without the crystals, cards and
such. Based on Grant Phillips’ recommendation bought the book “Christianity in
Crisis: The 21st Century” by Hank Hanegraaff. His book added cold facts and
documentation to the discernment that I learned from my time in the New Age/
Thought. Now when I reflect on those years I Think that I could have lost all
hope of salvation had I not fallen in love with Jesus as a child; He never gave
up on me.
So
much of New Age and New Thought are alive and well in what is called the Faith
movement “Christian churches” today. There are the “Name it and claim it”
prosperity churches. Jesus healed people as did his disciples and the gift of
healing is actually given to some believers. That said, there are many
charlatans in the faith movement. Benny Hinn comes to mind as I tried watching
him a few times. I suspect the people who jump out of their wheelchairs and run
around the stage are plants. At the age of six I had paralytic polio which left
me with a deformed but still somewhat usable hand. The day Benny Hinn can
replicate with my left hand what Jesus did with the man with a withered arm I will
I will modify my stand.
Fake
healings and “show me the money” churches are only the tip of the iceberg.. The
whole concept of the authority of God is being undermined by the Faith
movement. It has the effect of expected God to be our personal goffer. Not a
good idea! That is was finished when Jesus said “It is finished” is disputed by
some in the faith movement.
Given
some of the faith movement nonsense that passes for Christianity little surprise
many turn away from salvation.It has
been said by some of the reason they're not Christians is because of
Christians. Sadly, there is validity to the statement.
A Bibliography is so “Yesterday.” In lower tech days
a bibliography dealt with hardcopy books and other printed information including
but not limited to magazine articles, newspaper articles, and journal articles.
Works Cited is
more universal as today there are many other sources available to the researcher.
The Internet abounds with websites such as Wikipedia, websites that appeal to
special interest groups including Christianity blogs and more. Information is
also available via CDs and DVDs.
Add
to the above, there are eBook type tablets. Amazon introduced their Kindle Book
several years ago and both Amazon and Barns and Noble have eBook software that
will work on computers, tablets and cell phones. Years ago I bought the early
Kindle Book and have since graduated to a Kindle Fire tablet. My
Kindle Fire Cloud area contains hundreds of books of which I’ve download the
majority to my Kindle. This gives me the ability to carry hundreds of books on
my tablet.
The
Kindle provides the researcher with a unique opportunity with respect to a
Works Cited listing. The problem comes when citing the location of the material
to wish I'm referencing. Some of the books downloaded include both the page
number and the location of Kindle. However, many of them include the location
number only. So when I cite a reference found on Kindle with location number
only it will not be very helpful to someone picking up the actual hardcopy the
print format. As an example:
Fasano,
Thomas (2011-05-27). A Concise Guide to MLA Style and Documentation (Kindle Locations 54-57). Coyote Canyon Press. Kindle
Edition.
What are the main purposes for the Works Cited listing?
A
Works Cited listing should prevent any possibility of the researcher being
accused of plagiarism. Anyone reading the researcher paper and wishing to find
out more about the subject can readily find source material.
When should you begin compiling a Works Cited listing?
I should begin to compile a Works Cited
listing as soon as I have a topic. When answering DQ#2 I noted two of the
examples that may be relevant to research dealing with the New Age/ New Thought
so these I added to my list.
Backos,
Marcia. “Should Christians Practice Reiki?” Reiki
for Christians. n.p. 20 Apr 2004. Web. n.d.
<http://www.christianreiki.org>
Smith,
Warren. Deceived on Purpose: The New Age
Implications of the Purpose-Driven Church. 2nd Ed. Magalia: Mountain Stream
Press, 2004. Print.
Added later:
Back
in my sister’s early days of doing genealogical research she had to rely on old
books and microfiche and would record ancestors’ names, birth and death plus all
sources on hardcopy charts. By the time I continued her family research
software was available. A large amount of family information online was either
entered by researchers doing questionable research or not complete enough
information to be very helpful. At one time there were 148 references to one of
my ancestors that have since been cleared up.
An area of interest that I would like
to be more expert in is countering the influence of the New Age today. 20 plus years
ago I was part of a charter group of friends and coworkers who met every Friday
night to discuss/ learn something in the area of the New Age. For a few years
our classes were led by a published author who has written books both on
crystals and dream interpretation. All this may sound a little bit far out for
one belonging to a Christian Think Tank, however, our group was rather well
grounded. What belonging to this group did for me was to provide me with discernment
concerning how attractive and persuasive the New Age can be and to spot its
influence today. A few years ago I was attending a
“dinner and a movie” get together where we would share a meal and watch a DVD
having to do with Christianity. One night a member I just met announced that
she was a prophet and showed a DVD, “The Finger of God.” I watched as balls of
energy were being thrown and people falling down and the claim was made of
golden teeth appearing as well as a glowing white angelic being (Lucifer is an
angel of light). My New Age discernment went into overdrive. I was taken back more
than 20 years to when I was dating to a man who was a Sai Baba devotee. My
impression of the “Finger of God” was that it was a re-play of Sai Baba and his
manifestation of gold dust and golden teeth in people’s mouth. Sai Baba has a website with the stated
goal, “This site is presented and offered to Lotus Feet of Sri Sai Baba, may it
serve its purpose, be informative and helpful to mankind. O Sai Baba, may your
blessings be with all of us. O Sai Baba, our Guru, we surrender to you and seek
your guidance in all walks of life. O Sai Baba, may you and we be one. Several years ago a few friends were
watching the “revival” at Lakewood Florida night after night. In my opinion, just
more recycled New Age. My concern is that today
many Christians are being pulled into what are, in my opinion, false beliefs by
the siren of the New Age. I sometimes attend a local Pentecostal church with
friends. The Finger of God DVD was brought up by the pastor so the subject is
alive and well. Add to that a cousin is getting very much into eastern
religion. I have good friends who often attend seminars presented by Patricia King. Ms. King was shown in a
YouTube video as the Holy Spirit supposedly descended upon her. All I saw was
her squirming around a lot in her chair and acting rather strange. New Agers are very taken with ET and evolving to the next and
higher dimension. Back in the day I realized that based on the limits of
classical physics these being were bleed through from another dimension. Now I
believe that I was very close to the truth with the exception that these are
demonic beings, not ET. So this leads me to another favorite subject, transhumanism,
a discussion for another day. While I have the discernment to spot New Age enticements I need to
be more able to ascertain that I am correct in my discernment and also that I
have a gentle way of discussing this with friends and family. I have already
nearly lost friends over criticizing Ms. King. Interestingly enough one of my
New Age friends from 20 years ago and I are friends on Facebook and she often
“likes” my postings so you just never know. “Finger of God or More Word-Faith Deception?” Postedby Mike Spaulding in Signs of the Times15MondayFeb 2010
Our little group started to
disintegrate when one woman came in and announced that she was a white witch.
The final demise of the class was when another woman from a 12 Step program
started to monopolize the meeting
Theism
is the World View that believes there is an infinite God
that is outside of the universe and yet within it. This God created and
sustains the universe and can act within it in supernatural ways; miracles are
possible and do occur.
The
belief in the deity of Jesus Christ is the key to deciding between the three
major Theistic religions. Judaism denies the divinity of Jesus Christ and drops
out of consideration. The holy book of Islam, the Quran, is a redacted
plagiarizing of the holy Bible which has Jesus being subservient to both Allah
and Mohammed. The Jesus of the Quran is far closer to the person referred to by
the Book of Revelation as the false prophet.
We
are left with Christianity and the question, “Did a historic Jesus exist?” Was
this statement by Jesus the truth? John 8:58, “Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”
The
historian Josephus referred to Jesus in his book "Antiquities of the
Jews" which he finished near the end of the first century AD. During the
time of Pilate Josephus tells us:
1.There
was a wise man who was called Jesus
2.His
conduct was good and he was known to be virtuous
3.Many
people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples Josephus
goes on to report that Pilate condemned Jesus to be crucified and to die. I
don't think that Josephus mentioned the fact that the disciples deserted him
after his arrest; however he states that "those who had become his
disciples did not abandon his discipleship.’ Add to that the disciples “They
reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion, and
that he was alive."
Josephus
also revealed how the new high priest of the Jews, Ananus the younger, took
advantage of a gap in Roman rule to kill James, the brother of Jesus. This is
the same James who deny the truth of his brother Jesus’ birth and divinity until
after the resurrection. Psalm 69 alludes to the rejection of Jesus by his
family. James went on to be very proactive in the church of Jerusalem and
actually wrote a book of the Bible.
What
of the empty tomb? The inscription from Tiberius with severe punishment for
removing bodies from a tomb may well have been a reaction to Jesus not being in
the tomb. What of the 500 witnesses who saw the resurrected Jesus?
God
stepped out of eternity to become a man and suffer and die in our place.
Ref: Holy
Bible (KJV)
“Worlds
Apart A Handbook on World Views” Second Edisonby Norman L. Geisler and William D. Watkins
“I
Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist” by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek “Christian
Apologetics” by Norman L. Geisler
Added later:
Was
this statement by Jesus the truth? John 8:58, “Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”
Psalm
22, could have been dictated from the cross. Zechariah 11:12-13, “And I said
unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they
weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that
I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them
to the potter in the house of the Lord.” So long before Judas betrayed Jesus
the amount he received plus the use to which the blood money would be used were
prophesied long in advance. Isaiah 52:13-14, "See, my servant will
prosper; he will be highly exalted. Many were amazed when they saw him - beaten
and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know he was a person."
Isaiah 53 is simply astounding as is Daniel 9:25.
Well,
that was very interesting. I was working on answering this discussion question
when there was a knock at the door. Two of the sweetest most clean-cut young
men were on my doorstep and of course holding a book of Mormon. Actually, I'm
looking to be a Christian apologist and I sure had my opportunity. The young
men seemed to be somewhat aware of the warning in the Book of Revelation 22:18-19
concerning adding or taking away from the Word of God. We had a rather
interesting discussion about the Prophet Joseph and I gently compared the
authority of the Book of Mormon to that of the Quran. After some discussion we
were at an impasse but prayed for each other. Perhaps I went too far in
mentioning that the Prophet Joseph Smith was a Mason and that as with the
Masons so with the Mormons; there is a huge group of low level workers and just
a few of the elevated elect. Well, now back to the business of KI.
According
to MacArthur, “A worldview is, first of all, an explanation and interpretation
of the world and second, an application of this view to life." and Geisler
and Watkins have it as "A world view is a way of viewing or interpreting
all of reality. It is an interpretive framework through which or by which one
makes sense out of the data of life and the world."
As
for a comparison of Theism and Deism, the
first requirement is a belief in a God. The worldviews of Theism and Deism
affirm that there is an infinite God who is uncaused, immutable, and eternal
and is the creator/ originator of the Universe. God created the world out of
nothing and is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient.
The
term theism derives from the Greek theos meaning "god". The God of
Theism is a personal being who interacts with His creation who He sustained. God
is tripersonal; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God created a perfect world for
His creation man who is made in His image and is immortal. Not only is there a
moral law; morals are absolute. God did not want a world populated by robots so
He gave mankind free-will. We know how well that worked out in the garden and
only the gift of the Son on the cross could offer man the possibility of
redemption. It is man's destiny to be rewarded or punished.
The
Deist believes that an infinite god created the world and left it on its own
rather than the Theist God who intervenes in history. Another major difference
between Theism and Deism is that miracles are possible and occur in the former
but may be possible but do not occur with the later. To the Deist God is
infinite and one in nature rather than a trinity. Other points of departure
include the defeat of evil, morals and an immaterial afterlife in the case of
the Deist. Ref:
Holy
Bible (KJV) “Worlds
Apart A Handbook on World Views” Second Edisonby Norman L. Geisler and William D. Watkins
“I
Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist” by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek “Christian
Apologetics” by Norman L. Geisler
Added later: As
an aside, we in the United States are repeatedly told by our pastors, by our
church teachers and church leaders that America was founded as a Christian
nation. And until the current administration, politicians also made the same
claim. This contention would be true if limited to the arrival of the Puritans
at Plymouth and the early history of the new world. However, a number of our
founding fathers were Deist as well as being of the order of Masons. The Masons
have so rather occult leaning but that could a subject for another KI course. However,not be so bad if it were confined to the. If
that were the case, it would be an accurate statement, in this writer’s opinion.
The problem arises when one marks the foundation of our country at the American
Revolution and the establishment of the United States. It is at this point
where all Bible-believing Christians should be very wary, since the working of
occult societies during this era was at an unprecedented height. Some
historians even argue that you simply cannot understand the history of the
world for the past few hundred years if you do not take these societies into
account. Their members have been the planners, leaders, and engineers of a
global agenda, one that they do not readily share with the rest of the world.
More importantly, they often use “religion” as an instrument to manipulate the
masses, their belief being that the end justifies the means.
“Apollyon
Rising 2012: The Lost Symbol Found and the Final Mystery of the Great Seal
Revealed” by Thomas Horn
"Zenith
2016, Did Something Began in 2012?" by Thomas Horn Series so to be
released in book form
