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
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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.