How to not get anything done

It has been a little while since I have written anything. My apologies for that.

What I want to talk about today is actually something that I have had in my mind for a long time. As Christians, we have it really good. We have a big huge God that can, and does, do big huge things.

Our God is the biggest, baddest, coolest, most creative, God out there. Ok, actually he is the only God out there. But you get my point, right?

As Christians, we have access to everything that God has to offer. We should be running the best and most successful businesses. We should be the most creative people around. We should be coming up with the best ideas. The unsaved should be coming to us for wisdom and advice.

But this does not seem to be happening. In the non-Christian world, people get things done. If you have a good idea, and you are not afraid, you just get out there and do it. It takes hard work and persistence, but they stick with it, and dont give up, they get things done.

I think that we as Christians need to take a lesson from the non-Christians. They get things done. We dont. Why is this?

One of the biggest excuses I hear for this is; "Im praying about it", or "Im waiting on God". Or the double whammy, which is just combining the two. I am praying about it and waiting on God.

It reminds me of the Double Dog dare in reverse. You remember the Double Dog Dare right? Its from the movie; "The Christmas Story". The one with that great old line; "You'll shoot your eye out!

When I hear this double whammy, I can just about put money on it that they will never go anything about their idea.

I hear this all the time. Christians that have good ideas for ministries, and businesses. I ask them about their ideas and they tell me that they are waiting on God. 10 years goes by and I see that person still has not done anything. So I ask them again and again they give me the same answer. "Oh, Im still waiting on God and praying about it.

What they really mean is; "its just too hard and Im afraid to try. So Im going to sit right here on my brains and pin the excuse on God."

But why is it that we do this? Why do we use God as a crutch and excuse to fail? You remember that old saying right? You can only fail when you dont try.

Im not saying that we should not wait on God. Im not even saying that we should not pray about things. What I am saying is that we seem to not want to try. Be it because of the fear of failure, or laziness or whatever. Then when the idea that we had does not pan out because we never even bothered to try, we can use God as a Scape Goat.

Its God's fault because he never gave me the green light to create the business. Its God's fault because he never answered my prayer. I love those commercials on TV where you see a man and a woman that just met for a blind date. They both say something to the other person that is all polite. But then you see a caption balloon above their head that tells us what they really meant.

What those people really mean to say is; "God never parted the clouds, like on Monty Python, and told me in a

loud booming voice that I was to go and start that business." "I got tired of waiting. Im angry now that God never answered. So Im going to just do nothing out of spite. That will show God who is boss round here. And the best part is that I can put all the blame on him by using the excuse that Im praying about it and Waiting on God."

In my next blog entry I will cover some ideas on why we do this, why its not God, and how to fix it.

Im praying about this next blog and waiting on God !

:)

Rocking to Jesus - Are we sure that only Christians know the tune?

I am a studyer of people. Its just a hobby of mine. I like to study people's habits, their lifestyles, what makes us do the things that we do.

There is so much that you can learn about a person by what they wear, how they carry themselves, how they walk, how they talk etc..

It sort of flies in the face of that old saying that you can't judge a book by its cover.

You can even tell a lot about a person by the color of their hair. I know it sounds like stereotyping people, but there is really something to it.

Today, and for a while now, what is interesting to me is this rocking motion that I see a lot of Christians do when they are praying. People that make this rocking motion seem to be somehow caught up in Jesus. Some sort of mystical connection.

They just seem to lose themselves in the moment and rock out to Jesus. Maybe you have seen it. I see people doing this in Church sometimes. I see it elsewhere from time to time as well But mostly, its in Church.

They rock their bodies forward and then back upright. Usually they seem to do it to a tempo. Its like they are hearing a unheard beat of some sort. Usually, people that do this do it over and over and over again for a time.

There seems to be no pattern to it other than the people that I have seen do it usually do it at a pretty fast tempo.

This behavior has always fascinated me. Personally, I have never had to urge or feeling that I needed to rock. I find it odd. But I have seen so many do it that Im sure there must be a reason behind it.

And this b behavior is not just a Christian thing either. The main place I have seen this before is among Jews at the wailing wall in Israel.

You Tube Video of Jews rocking out at the wailing wall.

They make this rocking motion as they pray and read their bibles. I do not know why they do it.

What I do know is this behavior is not exclusive to Christians. Its also not exclusive to Jews. There are many religions that make this rocking motion when they are praying or in tune with God.

I think this is one of the best examples that Christians don't have exclusive rights on God. This rocking motion would seem to prove that their are way more people than we thought that are tuning in God. Perhaps they just know him by a different name?

Amerigroup Mortgage - They are well trained in how to use the Dark Side

This is a very different sort of article. But Keeping it Real is not just about things that are considered to be "Religious". After all, we Christians live in this world too. Jesus said that we must be as wise as serpent, but as gentle as doves.

Just because I am a Christian, this does not mean that I have to let anyone, Christians or non, walk all over me. Non-Christians know that us Christians tend to be easy marks, So Christians are often taken advantage of.

At the same time, Christians are not to demand their rights. What is required is wisdom to know when we should fold em, when to hold em, when to walk away, and when to run.

This was an occasion when I needed to run away from this mortgage company, but also stand up for myself and my family.

This is a real story about my dealings with a mortgage company that I had contacted about possibly refinancing my home.

I got a solicitation in the mail from this company. The mailing said:

• No income verification
• Money back,
• Lower your monthly payment
• Skip a payment. 

They hit all the places that they needed to in order to get people to respond. Who would not want these things? The old saying is that if it seems to good to be true, it usually is. 

But I decided to go ahead and give it the benefit of the doubt and call em. I called and they set an appt for a loan officer to come to my house in a couple days.

I thought this was a bit pushy, that my home was going to be invaded by a stranger in a couple days, but I still tried to keep an open mind. 

The day of the appt arrived. It was a very busy day. So when the loan officer called to verify the appt, I was going to tell him that this was not a good day and we would need to reschedule. After all, calling to verify an appt is the courteous and professional thing to do. 

The loan officer never called.

He showed up at my door step a half hour late. I went ahead and let him in. I told him right off that If he had called to verify the appt, I would have told him that this was not a good day. He seemed to not understand the value of calling to verify appts. So I explained to him what the value was in calling to verify an appt. He did not seem to get it at all. Or maybe he was playing dumb. I am not sure what his problem was.

The courteous and professional thing to do is to call to verify appts. Especially when one is running late. Not doing this was an instant red flag in my mind. He continued to argue with me about this. He said; " Didn't you call and make the appt with us?"

(After thinking about this, I came to the conclusion that its probably their company policy to not call to verify appts. If their loan officers called to verify appts, this would give the customer the opportunity to say no. This is rule #1 in high pressure sales. Never give the customer the opportunity to say No.)

Being late and not calling to verify the appt.
Strike One!

I told him that I was not prepared for there appt because I was going to tell him, if he had called, that today was not a good day for me. He kept insisting that I should find the paperwork for the home loan. 

I was also alone at the table with him. He asked if my wife would be joining me? I told him that she was busy, but she would try. He gave me a bull story that it was federal law that both parties had to be present for this.

(Even if this is a law, he could well do it with just me.) I dont think the mortgage police would break in and see that my wife was not here and arrest us. I think the more likely reason of why they insist that the wife be present is that they hope that since women tend to be more emotional, they will see all the money they could save. The woman will then put even more pressure on the man to make a rash decision and sign on their bottom line.)

Arguing with me.
Strike Two!

I told him that I would try to find my mortgage paperwork, but I could not guarantee him that I would be able to find this on short notice. Plus I also told him that because he was late, we didn't have much time. I had company and we had to go pick up my daughter from a play date at 4pm. It was now 3:30 and I was being forced to go find paperwork on my loan.

By the time I found my paperwork, it was 3:45. We had 15 minutes before we needed to be out the door. He started going through his flip chart. He had gone through a couple when I had to cut him off. I told him that I did not want to be rude, but we didn't have time for this. All I wanted to see was the numbers.

He seemed very put out at this. 

He went through the numbers and was about to get to the bottom line. He pressured me to make a decision right then and there. I told him 3 or 4 times that I would have to work out the numbers myself, think on this and pray about it.

He did not like this at all.

Whenever a place tries to pressure you into making a quick decision, its because they are trying to hide something. They know that if they let you think on it, or work out the numbers yourself, you are going to find a problem and change your mind.

He said that he had to call his corporate office. (This was probably to intimidate me) He called and after a short time, handed the phone to me. This person identified himself as someone from corporate and started asking me questions like "What did I like about the loan." These sorts of questions are meant to get me thinking that this is a good thing and I needed to do it now. Another form of pressure.

It was now 4:00 and I needed to leave. I tried to tell the person on the phone this, but he would not divert from his script. So I had to tell him bluntly.

"I don't mean to be rude, but I don't have time for 20 questions". At this he stopped and told me to give the phone back to the loan officer. 

The loan officer promptly gathered up all his stuff, along with the sheet he had wrote his numbers on and began to leave.

(It was like watching a 5 year old that was pouting because he did not get his way and so he took all his stuff and ran home to his mom.)

I guided him toward the door.

His last comment was: "If at some time you have an hour to  1 1/2 hours to spend on this, give us a call". Im sure that I must have made them mad that I didn't not let them go through their entire Routine. 

Im convinced that this company is hiding something. For one thing, they are using a variable interest rate loan.

This is very dangerous.

Thousands of people had to file bankruptcy due to variable rate loans. Im convinced that this company is preying of Vets to peddle their bad loans. 

These people are very slick and well trained to use the dark side. Meaning that they are know how to deal with objections, and get you to do what they want you to do.

My advice. Just look away and say no to this company.

Why cant my life be like a Bed of Roses?

I have to start this out with some explanation. There are people that read my blog that are not in the US. So they have no clue what these references to "Bed a Roses" mean. So for their benefit, I will explain. Roses are sweet smelling. A flower bed full of roses is one of the nicest things you will ever find in life. So here in America, we equate a bed of roses with a sweet and easy experience. For example, if I had a very easy and wonderful experience with someone, I might say that dealing with them was like a bed of roses. In America, we often wish that our lives would be easy and sweet, just like being in a rose garden full of roses.

Let me start by telling you a little story from my own life. A few years ago, I got married to the woman of my dreams. But it has not been the easy marriage that I had hoped it would be. It has been the hardest thing that I have ever done.

The old saying is that anything that is really worth it is going to be hard. The exception to this is asking Jesus into your heart. Thankfully, God made salvation very easy.

In fact, my wife and I have been on the doorstep of getting a divorce so many times, that its just plain crazy. Now we are doing a lot better. But it took years to get here.

• We have been in debt up to our eyeballs.
• We have had a business that failed and had to file bankruptcy.
• We lost our home and 2 cars in the bankruptcy.
• We had to rent for 3 years while we waited for credit to clear up so we could buy again

In some of our discussions, we end up saying things like;

If we only had enough money to get out of debt, we would not fight anymore and be happy.
And
If only we had better jobs, we would not fight anymore and be happy.

They always seem to start with the same thing. “If Only.”

• If Only we had better jobs
• If Only we made more money
• If Only we had a better marriage
• If Only we had more friends
• If Only we had more children
• If Only we had a bigger house
• If Only we had a boat, or better cars
• If only.......

The list never ends.

I even found myself praying these things. I prayed a similar thing about our jobs, which neither of us are really happy in. I prayed that God would deliver us from our debt, so that then we would be happy and no longer fight.

After I prayed these things though, I began to feel a little uneasy.

Was I really praying about the right thing?

Have you ever wanted something so badly that you just could not stand it? Maybe it was a boat, that new car, a DVD player, a computer, etc... Then you finally got it. You were so very excited and thrilled that you finally got what you always wanted. Now life would be wonderful.

Life would now be "All that and a bag of chips".

But then after the new wore off, that thing that you wanted so much just wound up sitting in the back of the garage collecting dust. Or at best, you continued to use it, but it just didnt live up to your expectations.

So you moved on to the next biggest and better thing that would finally be IT!

I recently changed jobs. I am happy with the one that I have now. But now there are new things to fight about and be unhappy with. Things just never go smooth in our lives. At least my version of smooth.

After going through this same pattern over and over and over throughout the course of my life, I began to think. Surely this is not right?

Definition of Insanity according to Albert Einstein
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

After much thought and prayer, I finally decided that my whole view point on this issue was wrong.

So, what is the proper way of looking at these problems?

Well, before we get to that, let’s examine the problem a little more and see if we can identify the real issue. Now satan, as dumb as he is, is really pretty good at some things. Let’s face it. He’s had a long long time to develop his strategies to deceive us.

• What if he could always get us looking for something better?
• What if he could cause us to always be unhappy with our current situation?

It’s like Luke when he first came to Yoda with aspirations of becoming a Jedi Knight. Yoda objected to him becoming a Jedi because Luke never had his mind on where he was at and what he was doing. He was always looking to the future and to what he thought would be a better life and a better situation.

Yoda was saying that Luke would be of no value as a Jedi because he was never happy with where he was at and who he was.

Even Yoda knew if Luke was not happy and content with where he was now, he would not be happy and content with where he wanted to go, which was being a Jedi. He would always be thinking things like;

• If Only I had more power
• if Only the council would send me on more assignments
• If Only I knew how to use the Dark Side
• And on and on

He would always be looking to the future and wondering what life could be like on the other side of the fence. It’s like a carrot that is dangled in front of our face. We strive and strive to grasp the Carrot. What we can’t see though is that this carrot is attached to a stick and a string that is dangled just out of reach in front of us.

It doesn’t mater how hard we try to get the carrot. We will never be able to grasp it!

Let’s look at some more examples that might be closer to home.
Shortly after we got married, my wife mentioned how difficult marriage was. Never in her wildest imagination did she think it would be so difficult.

She said that she always had this idea in her head that marriage would be all fun and games and that we would never fight. She said that she was amazed at how much work it actually was. I asked her about this. She said that she, at least in part, got this idea of marriage from the movies. Fairy tales like Cinderella, Snow White and many others.

We grow up on these fairy tales and their fantasy of what marriage is. At the end of every one of those movies, the couples run off into the sunset and live happily ever after.

What they don’t tell you is what happened after Cinderella and her Prince Charming ran off in the sunset to get married. What they don’t tell you is how Cinderella and Prince Charming argued and fought over how much money they could spend on drinks down at their local pub.

And the knock down drag out fight that resulted.
Id like to see that included in those fairy tales!

We are spoon fed from birth that marriage should be a big bed of roses. The reality of course is that marriage is all about commitment. We have to make a commitment that we will stay with our mate, for better or worse, till death do we part.

Marriage requires a lot of work!

You are taking two individuals with unique and complex personalities and melding them together. For instance, in my marriage, I am an introvert. My wife though is an Extrovert. I love science Fiction. My wife hates it and prefers romantic comedies.

At times it seems like trying to mix oil and water, which we know does not mix at all. But all things are possible with God. God can take that oil and water, which normally does not mix, and blend them together so that in the end, you can’t tell one from the other.

A side not to this is that scientifically, Oil and Water can be mixed. It requires a lot of effort, but it can be done.

So, the reality of this process is that fights are going to happen! Arguments are going to happen!

Marriage is not a bed of Roses and definitely not a fairy tale.

In order to have a good healthy marriage, you will have to work at it. You must be happy and content with where you are at in life. If you are single, be happy in that. If you seek marriage thinking that it will make you all better and that finally you will be happy, you are being deceived.

Many of us can attest to the fact that that special person did not come along until we stopped looking. It was not until we stopped looking for that mate and made the decision that we could be happy and content with our current condition, that God decided that it was time to grant us our request.

The next lie that we are told is that if we only get more money, we will not fight anymore and be happy. Satan is always trying to get us to look for something better.

If only we had more money.
How many times have we all said that one?
How many times have we all heard that one?

Let’s take a look at this more closely. I will use my life as an example again. When I was making $5 an hour, and I was barely making ends meet. I thought to myself; if only I made more, I could get out of debt and I would be happy.

Then I got another job where I was making $8 an hour and I thought; wow! This is great, now I’ve finally arrived. But before too long, that was not enough. And then I got a job at $10 an hour, but that was still not enough. Now I’m making several dollars more than this, but that is still not enough.

See a pattern?

Satan wants to keep us always caught up in looking for that elusive Bed of Roses. If only we could get more money, we would be ok. But the kicker is that we never can reach that point when it’s enough. If you ask folks that are making $150,000 a year, if it’s enough, they will tell you; No. There is always more to get.

• A bigger house
• A better car
• A better cell phone
• Being able to give more to charity
• Etc…

Satan will always find something to tempt us with so that we will not be satisfied with what we currently have or who we currently are.

That’s why God has so much to say about the evils of money. God is not saying that money is evil, he is saying that we need to be very careful. The evil lies in the pursuit of money. The trick then is to learn to be happy and content with what you have and where you are in life.

Now how about the lie of becoming a Christian?

No, im not advocating that folks should not become Christians. The lie, or perhaps I should call it a miscommunication, is how we are being told that after you become a Christian, you will no longer have any problems. A lot of Preachers are teaching this. Most don’t do it intentionally. But that does not make it any less wrong. It’s called a sin of omission.

They are teaching and preaching that if we just come to God and get saved, that all our problems and cares will melt away.

Like being in a soaking tub filled with Calgon the rest of your life!

It’s a cute thought, but it’s just not realistic. So why are so many churches preaching this easy Christianity? There is no case in the bible where someone became a Christian and then magically all their troubles and trials went away. There is no “And they lived happily ever after” in the Scriptures.

The fact is that the bible is full of stories that are just the opposite. Folks became Christians and then the real battle started. They had to face trials, tribulations, and even death.

So why are we trying to sugar coat Christianity?

Why are we giving people false expectations? Perhaps it’s because we want them to accept Jesus so badly. But are we doing more harm than good? Sure, Folks are coming to God and getting saved. But how many are walking away at some point because they become disillusioned. Sure people that are having a hard time in life will flock to God if we tell them that life will suddenly become a Bed of Roses.

But that’s just not the truth!

It’s the same; the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Of course, we Christians know that it is better on this side of the fence. But that doesn’t mean that there are no troubles over here.

Conclusion:

If you are in debt up to your eyeballs, living from pay check to pay check and cant even see the financial light of day.

• Go to church
• Wave you hands up in the air
• Jump up and down
• And proclaim to yourself and everyone else that “You have a wonderful life, You have a wonderful God, and you have been blessed beyond measure.”

If you have lost your home and your car to repossession, and your cat ran away.

• Go to church
• Wave you hands up in the air
• Jump up and down
• And proclaim to yourself and everyone else that “You have a wonderful life, You have a wonderful God, and you have been blessed beyond measure.”

If you are single and life seems dull and depressing. You are bored to tears and want to be married with everything in you.

• Go to church
• Wave you hands up in the air
• Jump up and down
• And proclaim to yourself and everyone else that “You have a wonderful life, You have a wonderful God, and you have been blessed beyond measure.”

When you become a Christian

• Go to church
• Wave you hands up in the air
• Jump up and down
• And proclaim to yourself and everyone else that “You have a wonderful life, You have a wonderful God, and you have been blessed beyond measure.”

Get the point?

No matter your circumstance

• Go to church
• Wave you hands up in the air
• Jump up and down
• And proclaim to yourself and everyone else that “You have a wonderful life, You have a wonderful God, and you have been blessed beyond measure.”

Be content with who you are and where you are at in life. Don’t go seeking that Bed of Roses. You will never find it !

When you give up looking for it and finally become happy and content with where you are,

That’s when it will find you!

How to not get help from God

I decided to take a break from the intense study of the end times for a bit and write something different.

There was once a man named Bob, who lived in his home in a valley. One day a terrible flood came. The flood waters rose to the eaves of his home. So Bob climbed out his window and up to his roof.

As Bob sat on his roof shivering in the rain, he prayed;
“God please help me. Please rescue me.”
The very next instant he heard a man shouting from below. The shout below came from a man in a rowboat. When the man saw Bob, he yelled up to him to come down and he would take him to safety.
But Bob yelled down to the man in the boat.
“I am waiting on God to help me.”
So, reluctantly, the man rowed away.
Again Bob prayed.
“God please help me. Please rescue me.”

The very next instant he heard a man shouting from above. The shout came from a man in a helicopter. When the man saw Bob, he yelled down to him that he would send him down a ladder and he would take him to safety. But Bob yelled up to the man in the helicopter.
“I am waiting on God to help me.”
So, reluctantly, the man flew away.
Again Bob prayed.
“God please help me. Please rescue me.”
The flood waters were getting higher and higher and were now almost to the top of the roof, lapping Bob’s feet. So once again Bob cried out to God.
“God please help me. Please rescue me. If you don’t come soon, I will surely die”

The very next instant he heard a man shouting from below. The shout came from a man in a speed boat. The man in the boat shouted up to Bob and told him to jump down and he would take him to safety. But Bob yelled down to the man in the boat.
“I am waiting on God to help me.”
So, reluctantly, the man sped away.
A few minutes later, the waters rose up over Bob’s head and he drowned. When he arrived in heaven he demanded an audience with God. When he talked to God face to face, he was very angry and said;
“See here God, I was always taught that you answer prayer and I prayed and you did not answer me.”

God replied;
“Yes I did answer you my son. I sent two boats and a helicopter. What more did you want?”

The moral of the story is that God works through people. In other words, He works through us. You and me. Everyone has problems and issues that they want God to resolve for them. We go to God for money, food, clothes, a job etc…

We pray to God and ask, but we expect God to part the clouds and drop the answer from heaven in a cute little parachute with a note on it that reads “(insert your name here), this is your answer from God.”
Or just like Bob in our story above, we pray expectantly, but we don’t recognize His answer when it comes.

In the story above, Bob prayed, but Bob expected God to come down physically from heaven and personally save him.

God could do this if He wanted to, but more often than not, He doesn’t work that way. The reason is pretty simple. Its because our sole reason to be on this earth is for relationship. First relationship with God. Second, relationship with each other. Lets compare this to your wife or significant other or even a friend. In order to develop a good solid relationship with that other person, communication or working at the relationship needs to be a 2 way street. If one person does all the talking or all the work, then it’s not a relationship. In other words, both have to participate.

It’s the same with your relationship with God. If God does all the work, the relationship will not work. It takes participation on the part of both you and God in order to develop an intimate relationship. So, when you make a request of God, you have done your part. Next, its Gods turn. If the answer is Yes, God finds someone through whom He can work to fulfill that request.

Next, it’s that persons turn to do what God told them and meet your need. Be it giving you food, money, clothes, a job, a word from God etc…

In this way, God meets our prayer requests, but he does it through relationships.

So the next time you ask God for something, expect the answer to come, but look for it to come through someone. Just keeping it real! Phillip

Best of times, Worst of times, End of times - Part 2

Here is a list of the topics that I will be covering. (Hopefully if am able to get to them all) Like I said in Part 1, this subject is really one that needs to be done in a class setting. But I will do my best to cover it all here.

More topics might be added as I go through the study.

• What are the major end times theories? (Covered in Part 2)
• What is the most popular end time theory? (Covered in Part 2)
• What is a study of the End Times? (Covered in Part 2)
• How to approach a study of the end times properly. (Covered in Part 2)
• Will there be signs that Jesus is about to return?
• Who is the Anti-Christ?
• Who is the man of Lawlessness?
• Overview of Bible History
• In Depth study on the book of Daniel as to the End Times.
• In Depth study on the book of Ezekial as to the End Times.
• In Depth study on the book of Zechariah as to the End Times.
• In Depth study on the Gospels as to the End Times.
• When will Jesus Return?
• Who goes 1st in the rapture? Christians or Non-Believers?
• In Depth study of the book of Revelation
• The battle of Armageddon

What are the major end time theories?
There are 4 major End Times theories that are popular today.

Dispensational Premillennialism(Less than 500 years old)
This is what you might call a 100 dollar word. (Used to be a $20 word, but its inflation ya know) These are words that some people like to throw around to make themselves feel like they are better than the rest of us. They are words that very very few people know the meaning of, much less can pronounce. Im not going to bore you with the exact meaning. If you really want to know what Dispensational Premillennialism means, Id suggest a dictionary or better yet Googling it. This is the theory that you hear about in many Christian schools, in popular paperback books, many denominations, and by most TV and radio preachers.

You will recognize this theory by;

• Emphasis on a national Israel
• Signs of the times
• Rapture of the Church
• 7 year tribulation
• Single Anti-Christ figure
• Battle of Armageddon
• Jesus return to earth followed by a 1000 year earthly Jewish kingdom

This theory gained its popularity in the 1970's by Hal Lidseys ' Late Great Planet Earth and then again in the 1990's by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jinkins' Left Behind series of books. Its probably the theory that many of you out there reading this blog have adopted.

Historic Premillennialism
This is an old view dating from the later 1st or early 2nd century. In this theory, Jesus will return to rule for 1000 years over a Christian Kingdom. (Note the difference here. In this theory, its a Christian kingdom, whereas Dispensational Premillennialism says that Jesus will rule over a Jewish kingdom. More on this later.

Amillennialism - Post-Millennial
This theory is also a view that was held by part of the early church of the 1st and 2nd century. This view holds that;

• Jesus will return After the 1000 years of Revelation 20:4-6.
• Rejection of the theory that Jesus Christ will have a thousand-year long, physical reign on the earth.
• The thousand years mentioned in Revelation 20 is a symbolic number, not a literal description.
• The millennium has already begun, is identical with the current church age and is the final age of the earth .

Preterism - Post-Millennial
This theory is that all prophecy, including the 2nd coming, was fulfilled in 70 AD, which was when Rome destroyed the city of Jerusalem. There is also an offshoot of this theory called Realized Eschatology, which in some circles holds that some prophecy has already been fulfilled while others have not. Realized Eschatology does not hold with the belief in 2nd coming as an apocalyptic event because it just does not seem to be in line with the rest of Jesus' teachings.

These are the major theories that have to do with the end times. There are all kinds of variations of these theories. I think that the fact that there are so many theories, attest to the fact that its just not possible for us to know. But its human nature to want to figure things out. We want to know how its all going to end. (When when you stop and think about that statement, its rather a dumb statement. After all, as Christians, we are eternal creatures. We will not have an end. We simply have transitions into different states of being. (Hope that does not sound too new-agey))

The only real conclusion that we can come to with all these theories is that everyone cannot be right. Nor do I think that everyone is wrong.

We think we know because God gave us glimpses, but when it finally comes, we will all find out that we only thought we knew the ending.

When I get a book, Im tempted to look at the last page and find out how it all ended. In fact, there is even a growing trend in TV and movies to show us the end 1st. Then they go back in time and show us the events that lead up to the end. Of course, they always hold back that little something so that even though we thought we knew the end, when the end comes around again, we find out that the ending is actually different.

Like the TV show I watched just last night. The show is called Castle. The opening scene was actually the end. They showed Beckett hanging off the side of a building. She loses her grip and falls. Then they go back in time and show the events that lead up to the ending. Once we replay the past and it catches up to the future or ending, we find out that what we thought we knew was going to happen (Beckett falling and dying) didnt happen at all. We realize that we never actually saw Beckett hit the pavement below. Our mind just filled in the gaps in what we saw. When we see the real ending, we see that just as Beckett was falling, a hand came out of nowhere and caught her. So the ending we thought we knew was not the ending that actually happened.

What is the most popular end time theory?
Dispensational Premillennialism is the most popular view of the end times today.

What is a study of the End Times?

A study of the end times is called Eschatology. Eschatology is a compound word that comes from 2 Greek words. The 1st word means Last. The 2nd word means Word or Saying. So Eschatology is the study of Last things, last words or last sayings.

Here are some terms that you will run into during your studies.
AntiChrist: The Beast. The man of Lawlessness/Sin Death & the Second Death - Hell, Hades, Intermediate state of the dead, Resurrection, Paradise, Taurarus, Judgement, Heaven, The new heaven and earth Last Days, Parousia, 2nd coming, Rapture, Tribulation, Great Tribulation, The kingdom of God/Heaven/Christ Millennialism, Dispenssatioanlism, Preterism, Historicism, Futurism, Spiritualism, Idealism Time of Jacobs trouble, Signs of the times and others

Some of these terms are biblical, but many of them are not. Many are concepts created by men, but have been used so much, that they we have just come to think of them as Biblical.

How to approach a study of the end times properly.
Most of us Christians tend to be lazy. We dont want to bother trying to study these things for ourselves and come up with our own theology. We would rather let someone else do our thinking for us. Its understandable because a study of the end times is difficult. Information on the End times is scattered throughout the Bible. So most people adopt what they believe about the end times from popular paperback books, their Church/Preacher/Denomination, or popular End Times preachers on TV or radio.

When most people study the Bible, and specifically something like the end times, they already have in their mind and heart what they think is the answer. This is what is called a presupposition. A presupposition means that they assume that they already know the answer. So any evidence they find is tainted with this information that they had from before they even started their research. So what happens is they have an answer in mind and they make any evidence they find fit their answer.

The proper way to study the Bible is to have no conclusion in mind. Go into a study with a completely open mind and let the evidence guide you to the correct answer.

Another TV show that I like is called CSI. I dont watch it much anymore because I find that its just too violent. But I love the way that the investigators research crimes. When the they go to investigate a crime that has been committed, they go in with an open mind. They do not form any conclusions. They gather the evidence and let the evidence take them to an answer. This is completely opposite of the method that most people use, which is to have a conclusion in mind and then make the evidence support their answer.

Throughout history, this has been proven over and over that this is not the right way to go about things. A small (Well perhaps not so small) case in point was when the earth was thought to be flat. This was common knowledge. Anyone that studied the world went into their study with this forgone conclusion. So any evidence that was found was made to fit this conclusion. Then one day, someone came up with the idea that the word was in fact round. The only way they could have arrived at that conclusion was to put aside any believed conclusion and let the evidence take them to the answer.

A little known character named Author Connon Doyle (AKA Sherlock Homes) said that "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."

This method of research takes practice. The norm for us humans is to just accept what we are told as truth. The danger in this is that if false information is established as fact, and no one comes along to challenge this information, these false beliefs are handed down from generation to generation to generation and become unmovable.

A good example of this is the Theory of Evolution. Even Darwin himself never thought that this was really a credible theory. But it was accepted as fact. It became such a popular theory, that it actually became fact. This theory is so well established in our society, with its tentacles so tightly woven into the very fabric of our existence, that it has become practically impossible to disprove. Not because the theory cannot be disproved. (The theory is so full of holes, that you could drive a Mac Truck through it.)

The fact that it can be disproved does not make any difference. People want to believe this theory so badly, and have been so well indoctrinated that it is actually a fact, that they will defend it to the death. They will warp and bend any evidence that they get to prove that the Theory of Evolution is real. No amount of persuasion will do. Only the power of God can sway them. This is a prime example of the danger of not doing pure research. That is research without a preconceived conclusion.

As we discussed earlier, the most popular theory for the end times today is called Dispensational Premillennialism. This theory became popular due to several things.

• 1970 The late Great Planet Earth
• 1990 The Left Behind series of books
• Christian book stores are usually owned by those holding a particular view. They almost always only carry books that support their own viewpoints and theories.
• Denominations that have adopted certain views. So every Church that you attend within the same denomination will have the very same views and theories.
• The most popular theory of the day is the one that most TV Preachers/Evangelist and Radio Preachers/Evangelists promote.

So is it any wonder that this theory is the one that has taken hold and is well-established today? But just like the example of the Flat Earth Theory and the Theory of Evolution, just because the vast majority of people believe something is true, this does not mean that its correct.

In this blog series, we will dive into the subject of the end times without any preconceived ideas. Lets forget about the existing theories, research the evidence and let the evidence speak to us and direct us to a conclusion.

End of Part 2

It was the best of times, It was the worst of times, it was the end of times - Part 1

Introduction

The End Times is easily one of the most controversial and misunderstood subjects in the entire Bible. I have to admit that it intimidated me as well for a long time. The main book that speaks of the end times is the book of Revelations. But other references can be found in Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and the gospels. All these books uses weird language that boggles the mind. The rest of the Bible is pretty straight forward and relatively simple to understand. But the parts that seem to deal with the end times is just one of the places that does not seem to make any since at all.

Which brings me to the 1st issue. When it comes to our Bible, we Christians are pretty lazy. We dont study it to make sure that we know what we believe. This is especially true when it comes to the end times. The end times just seems like its too complicated. Why not just let other, smarter people, do our thinking for us?

Well, while I do understand this, its dangerous to just sit back and accept blindly other peoples theology. This is how people get sucked into cults and find themselves way out in left field. Even with the study that I will present here, its my hope and prayer that you wont just take what I deal out without question. Take what I say with a grain of salt. Go study the Bible yourself and make up your own mind.

Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.
2 Corinthians 13:5

One of my favorite movies is "The Matrix." Its a very interesting movie about people that are stuck in this carefully constructed computer program designed to keep people in a simulated realty. Neo goes to see this person called The Oracle that may be able to help him. Neo asks the oracle why he should trust her to help. She tells Neo that he just has to make up his own mind as to weather she is trying to help him or not. The oracle knew that it would not do any good to just tell him that she was trying to help. She needed Neo to make up his own mind based on evidences and her character. Once he made up his own mind about her, he would be in a much more trusting place.

What you believe in regards of the Bible needs to be the same way. Dont just let others tell you what to believe. Do some research, and make up your own mind. Develop your own theology. Any good Pastor worth his salt will tell you the same thing. Study your Bible and figure these things out for yourself. Listen to what your Pastor says, but test it against the scriptures. If your Pastor does not follow this, but instead believes that he is completely right and you should accept everything he preaches without researching it yourself, run...dont walk..to another Church.

Disclaimers

Before I go much further, I want to give you some disclaimers.
I will do my best to cover the end times. But this is pretty difficult in a blog. I dont know how long this will end up being. So I decided to divide this blog into several smaller blogs called part 1 through how ever many parts it takes.

Below I listed out the topics that I intend to hit on. Each of these topics could easily be a lengthy blog entry in itself. I will try to keep this blog somewhat short, but at the same time, giving the topics their due diligence. If anyone that is reading this has questions, or wants to go more in depth, I would suggest that you contact me and we can talk about it. I dont pretend to be an expert on the end times, if there is even such a thing. But I have done research on it and I believe that I have arrived at some conclusions.

I do not want you to just accept my conclusions. I want you to do some research and arrive at your own theory as to the end times. As much as possible, I will try to present the facts and let you come to your own conclusions.

The end times is a very controversial subject. There are only a few real concretes in the Bible.

• Jesus is the son of God
  
• He is the only way to God
  
• He died and rose again after 3 days.
  
• And a few others

Most everything else in the Bible is open for interpretation. Thats why we have so many denominations, so many translations of the Bible, and so many preachers and evangelists all saying different things.

These interpretations only bring division.

• They divide Churches
  
• They divide denominations
  
• They divide friends
  
• They even divide families.

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn A man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law —a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household."
Matthew 10:34

Jesus prayed for Unity in the Church. He did not, and does not, want division and arguing. The end times seems to be one of those subjects that is more dangerous than most others in the Bible. Its fun to talk about and reason over, but its just not worth the bickering. If this blog causes this, or you think it will, then dont go any further.

My purpose for writing this blog is not to bring division. I want to cause you to think about what you think you believe. My hope is that this blog will encourage you to study your Bible on the end times and other subjects for yourself. Test those things that you are hearing in Church, reading in books, learning in school and hearing from friends and relatives against the truth of God's word.

But dont use the truth that you learn to put others down that have not found that truth yet. Dont be a stumbling block and a source of problems in your Church, your family, and your friends. You can certainly challenge them as to why they believe what they believe, but dont just tell them that you are right, and they are wrong. No one likes being told they are wrong. In love, gently tell them that they should know why they believe what they do. If the source of their belief is not the Bible, then they should study it and come to their own conclusions.

"So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live--for I don't want to cause another believer to stumble."
1 Corinthians 8:13

"It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble."
Romans 14:21

End of part 1
------------------

coming attractions !!

Hollywood does this for movies that are about to come out. So I figured, why not blog about the blogs that I am in the process or writing and post those as......you guessed it, COMING ATTRACTIONS!!!

I have several blogs that I am in the process of writing. God gives me ideas all the time. The main place that I get inspiration is in Church. While the Pastor is preaching, or other things are going on in Church, Im getting inspiration from God for things that I need to write. Sometimes, this inspiration comes faster that I can write em down.

For me, watching a movie is also a great place for inspiration. I know Im probably supposed to, but reading the Bible leaves me uninspired as far as writing. Does that make me a bad Christian?

Oh well, if it does, it does. Here are my Coming Attractions

It was the best of time, it was the worst of times, it was the end of times

This is a study of the end times. Cute title huh? The end times is a very controversial subject. I will try to cover these topics.

• Most Christians are looking for the signs that will foretell his 2nd coming. Did Jesus really give us any to look for?
• There have been many many people, some even well known Christians, that have tried to predict when he will return. Can anyone predict this or are these people full of something other than God.
• What will the end times look like?
• When will the Church be taken up to meet Jesus in the sky?
• Will evil really be destroyed permanently?
• Who is the antiChrist?

Im Defective, your Defective, wouldn't you like to be Defective to?

This is to be sung to the toon of the Dr Pepper commercial. This is a song about being defective and what a joy it is to be defective. I know that Im defective. Are you?

Does intelligent life exist on any planet? Here I will look into intelligent life on other planets. Did God have anything at all to say about this? And if he didnt, why didnt he? There are some interesting theories floating around out there about where some alien life could have come from.

Do you know what you think you know? This is a blog about logic and the thought process in how we know things. Do we really know the things that we think that we know? How do we know that we know them? Is it really possible to know anything for sure? And is the Bible the end-all-be-all of logic and knowing?

Jesus came to take away our sins, not our brains. In this blog, I want to explore the strange phenomena of the lack of thought in Christianity. Is this what God wanted when he saved us? Does it make it easier to be a Christian when we dont think? Does God want us to have original thoughts and be creative, or does he wants mindless Robots?

Will the real you please stand up? This will be a study on Genetics. There have been some huge advances in the field of Genetics in the last few years. Are they good things or bad things? Are we about to trod all over God's territory? If so, why does he stop it?

These are the blogs that I am currently working on. I cant say when they will be complete. I work on them as God gives me insight into the subjects. Sometimes I am able to complete them in a day, sometimes several days, sometimes weeks, in some cases months. There have even been some that have turned out just to be too pizza the night before and will never be completed.

Once Saved Always Saved vs Twice Saved maybe Saved??

I think I am blessed that I have been such a Church Hopper in my life.

(I dont recommend Church Hopping. Its difficult and destructive to your Christian life. Not having roots and good Christian friends is a bad thing. But its what I did and I dont regret it. Kids, dont try this at home)

Often Church Hopping is a seen as a negative and it usually is. I think in the end, it comes down to how you choose (there is that word choice, dont you hate that sometimes?) to see the world. Do you choose to see that glass as half full or half empty? (I have always wondered why I had this glass representing my life in the 1st place. If it were up to me, I would have chosen a large bucket. Then used that old saying of carrying your lunch to school in a bucket in 3 feet of snow, uphill both ways.)

Ok, back on track.... sort of. The point is that how you choose to see the world, people and situations, is up to you. You can choose to see things in a positive light (Glass half full),

or you can choose to see the world, people and situations as all bad and negative (Glass half empty). I choose to see my old Church Hopping days as a very positive thing. Why you might ask? Well, it gave me a pretty good perspective on what different facets of the Church believes and does.

For example, I was raised Southern Baptist. The Baptists believe in Once Saved Always Saved (OSAS for short).

Baptists dont believe that most of the gifts of the Spirit, like speaking in tongues, are for today.

There are a few others, but for the most part, no other denomination believes in OSAS. Non-Denominational Churches and Charismatic type Churches believe that the Gifts of the Spirit are for today. Most of these hone in on Speaking in Tongues. Some of these Churches, that believe in Speaking in Tongues, believe that this is a sign that you have been Baptized in the Holy Spirit.

(There are many Church's that I have not been too yet. I would really like to visit them sometime. On my list to visit is, Islam, Catholic, Mormon, Jehovah's Witnesses, Lutheran, Methodists, Jewish, Masons. Some will think it odd that I want to visit some of these Denominations and cults, but I look at it as an opportunity to expand my knowledge of their actual practices and beliefs, which often differ from what is taught in text books.)

The main thing I wish to look at it OSAS. But before I do this, we need to look briefly (Maybe, If I can keep it short) on why there is such division in the Church. Why do we all believe so differently? The main reason why there are so many denominations and Churches that have such a wide variance in beliefs lies in how they interpret the Bible.

I wrote another blog that covers some of this subject called "What was God thinking when he wrote the Bible?"

For those that dont want to read that entire blog, or want the cliff notes, I will summarize it here.

• The Bible was not written in English. It was written in Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek. This meant that it had to the translated. And it has been translated, a lot!
• Many words that were used by the original authors of the Bible dont translate well into English.
• Many other words dont have a direct translation into English at all.
• The Bible is open to interpretation. Different denominations, and even Church's within those denominations, interpret the Bible differently.

This is a pretty short list and summary. But I think these are the main reasons why so many dont agree. People that dont agree, separate. The ones that believed along the same lines, came together and formed denominations. (A similar story to the Tower of Babel. In the Tower of Babel, people separated because they spoke different languages. People that spoke the same language, congregated together to form people groups.)

ok, I can finally move onto my main subject, which is OSAS. Baptists, and others that hold to OSAS, take a lot of flack for their beliefs. They see this as persecution though, so it does not really bother most of them. On the opposite end of the spectrum, are those that do not hold to OSAS. These people and denominations believe that you can lose your salvation. They believe that your salvation must be worked out on a daily basis. The funny thing is that they also take flack from those that believe in OSAS and they also see it as persecution.

Both sides get very very defensive and angry when challenged.

In fact, I find that this anger permeates almost every single disagreement among the denominations. Everyone thinks that what they believe is right and the others are wrong. Some even go as far as to believe that they are the only ones that will make it into heaven and the rest of us are doomed (Being doomed is a phrase that I borrowed from a very good friend of mine that lives in India).

I find this all very interesting, sad, and amusing all at the same time. The only thing that Jesus prayed exclusively for the Church was that we would be united. I think that if Jesus knew what was going on with all these denominations, arguing and bickering, he would turn over in his grave. Wait... he is not in a grave. So I guess that would be" Jesus would turn over in his life". And of course Jesus did, and does, know what is going on.

To be fair though to our modern day denominations, division in the Church is nothing new. The Christian Church has been divided since the very beginning. There have always been arguments and disagreements among believers. If you research the history of what it took to come up with our modern day Bible, you will be in for quite a ride. Some books were approved (Canonized), and others were left out as forbidden. Other books just didnt fit in well with the story and flow of the Bible so they were omitted) By I digress yet again, so I will leave that one as it is for now.

The problem is that we think like humans and not like God. God wrote the Bible using both perspectives.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:9

He wrote certain things from his view and certain things from ours. All we tend to think about is ourselves and how we see things from our puny little point of view. If we are to really understand what God was trying to tell us, we need to broaden our minds and hearts.

The OSAS crowd has several scriptures that they point too that they say is solid proof that once we are saved, no matter what we do, we will always be saved and can never lose this salvation. There are a lot of them, but the main one that I want to use is this one.

John 10:28.

"I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me"

A curious thing (That I think proves my point) is that both the OSAS crowd and those that dont believe in OSAS, use many of the same scriptures. They just interpret them differently. ( I am getting tired of typing that out. So I will call those that dont believe in OSAS, "YVYCLYS". Which stands for "Yes Virginia, you can lose your salvation")

The main reason why the YVYCLYS folks say that the OSAS crowd are bonkers is that their reasoning does not make any sense at all. Logically, if you are saved no matter what, you are free to go out and kill, rape, and do anything else that you want. No matter what you say, do, or think, you will go to heaven. Usually when approached with this argument, they will use this scripture.

1 Corinthians 3:15.

"But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames."

Like so many other things, the problem is not with God and His Word (The Bible). The problem lies with us. We need to re-read these versus from a different perspective. From God's view, we cannot lose our salvation. No one, or nothing, can snatch us out of His hand. Period !!!

Once God saves us, that's it. From God's point of view, its all over. We are saved and sanctified. Our next stop is heaven. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.

God will never leave us, but we can choose (There is that word choice again!) to leave him. He will never let go of our hand, but God is a gentlemen. We are free to make the choice to let go of his hand!!

So there you have it. From God's perspective OSAS is true. Once God saves you, you are saved forever.

But from our perspective, we can choose to leave God, go out and kill, murder, rape etc..., and therefore lose our salvation.

Post Script Notes This idea of Perspective is not new. I borrowed it from Star Wars. In this particular Star Wars episode, Luke has just found out that Darth Vader was his father. Yoda and ObiWan had always told Luke that his father was dead. Luke confronted them and asked them why they lied. Their response was that what they said was true..... from a certain point of view. Their point of view was that the emperor seduced Luke's father to going to the dark side. So the good man that was Luke's father died and became Darth Vader. ObiWan went on to say that Luke would find that many of the truths that they held to, depended greatly on their own point of view.

Another part of Star Wars

that made me think was when Yoda and the other Jedi Knights were discussing the prophecy. The prophecy said that one would come that would bring balance to the force. The Jedi took this to mean that the chosen one would crush the Dark Side and the Jedi would reign supreme. Yoda spoke up and suggested that the prophecy could have been misread (Miss-interpreted).

Now ultimately, it was true that the Jedi would prevail, but not for several episodes. In the now, it meant that the chosen one would fall to the dark side. The dark side would grow so that the Jedi (Good) and Dark Side (bad) would be more equal in power (Balanced).

All of this made me wonder if what we thought we knew about the Bible was all correct. An old Bible professor of mine once told me that, at any given time, what we think we know is about half wrong. The other puzzling thing to me was all the different view points and interpretations of the Bible. All of them convinced that their interpretation and view is the correct one.

All of these people cant be all wrong, nor can all these people be all right. The truth had to lie somewhere in between the extremes.

I am a child of the movies. I love movies. They are like modern day prophets. Everything that has come to pass as always shown up in movies 1st. Space flight, Landing on the moon, Lasers, Unmanned drones, Organ replacement, and on and on. It all showed up in the movies 1st. So if you want to see whats coming, go out and watch a movie.

All this brought me to a conclusion. God gave us the Bible. As he gave it to the authors, it is the inspired word that is without error. So the only logical conclusion is that the problem is with us, how we translated it and interpreted it.

All of the controversies that we are so adamant on fighting about can be resolved if we look at them from a different perspective. God wrote the Bible to dummies. Dummy is another word for sheep. God wrote the Bible using mostly simple language that we can understand. But at the same time, he wrote it so that truths would be hidden from those that dont need to know.

1 Corinthians 2:7

"No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God--his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began."

and

Matthew 11:25

At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: "O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike."

Understanding the Bible is simple.

Do you really think God would have made understanding him and his word sooooo incredibly difficult that it would take super intelligent Bible scholars to figure out? Thats not the Jesus I read in the Bible. Jesus was against the established religious order that thought they knew it all. His words were aimed at the simple, the unlearned, the poor and the downcast. It defies logical thought and reason that he would write a Bible that was so far beyond anything that anyone could understand, that it would take those very religious leaders that he hated to interpret it correctly.

To understand the Bible, you just need to understand a few simple things.

• The NT part of the Bible Bible was not written to us. He had us in mind of course, and it does relate to today and us as well, but it was written for an audience of mainly Jews in the Middle East some 2000 years ago.
• God wrote the Bible to a people that did not have a great understanding or intellect.
• The Bible is written mostly in the language of K.I.S.S. Keep it Simple Stupid
  

• God wrote some things in the Bible using our perspective
• God wrote other things in the Bible using his perspective
• God wrote other things in the Bible from both perspectives.
• God lives outside of time. Therefore to him, the past, present, and future are all the now.

Well, I think thats about it. I went on longer than I intended or probably should have anyway.