How much proof?

Revelations 13:11-15
11. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
12.And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13.And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14.And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15.And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

How much proof would it take to convince a modern, enlightened individual to believe that God does indeed exist? Such a person would be quick to declare that if only God would give a sign, if only He would show Himself, there would be ample proof to call Him Lord. The thing is, even if He were to provide us with this again now, the scornful would still scorn, the proud would not be humbled, and the distention and strife would continue on still. How can I know this? People do not change. We are still committing the same old sins of murder, theft, and lying which we have been doing for the past six thousand years or so. So when God, manifested in the flesh, came two thousand years ago to reveal Himself and was mocked, beaten, and crucified, you can be sure of a similar outcome today.

Jesus gave us many signs while He was on earth. So many signs and miracles that:

...if they should be written every one, I suppose the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.
-John 21:25

That is a lot of signs. Jesus healed the sick, made the blind to see, raised the dead, walked through walls, fed 5,000 with only five loaves of bread and two fish, cured the lame, turned water into wine, and many, many other miraculous acts. Even the trees and the sea obeyed His commands. He read the pharisees minds and rebuked them, cast out demons, and walked on water. But he didn't come to do just that. He came to explain the law, to fulfill the prophesies, and ultimately, to pay the price for our sins. The people followed Him everywhere He went, just to listen to His teachings, and yet the pharisees hated Him! They – better than all the others – knew the scriptures and the prophesies they contained. They saw with their own eyes Jesus fulfilling those prophesies. They saw the signs and wonders Jesus did. Even with all this proof right before their very eyes, they refused to believe. They sought to have Jesus killed on several occasions, and finally, they succeeded. Not just the Pharisees though, even the common folk demanded his life. When given the choice between freeing Jesus and freeing the murderer Barabbas, the chose to free Barabbas! They demanded – and received – the blood of the Christ to be shed.

If those people, despite the proof, denied Jesus, why would it be any different today? Jesus also took precious time to warn us that seeking a sign is not a proper course of action on our part:

2. He answered and said unto them, “When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red
3. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?
4. A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto them but the sign of the prophet Jo'-nas.” And he left them, and departed.
-Mathew 16:2-4


A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, does this sound familiar? So, for those demanding a sign, you are setting yourself up to be deceived. In fact, Jesus went one step further with His warning. If you are to see a sign you should scrutinize it very carefully.

For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
-Mark 13: 6

The dragon and the beast will deceive many in the end days with their signs and miracles, they will go and deceive the whole world. The next big sign that comes from Jesus will be when He returns to earth the second time to rule with His saints. If you aren't right with God by then, you will be in big trouble! That day will be unspeakably wonderful for those who have believed and repented, but it will be unspeakably horrible for those who have not.

This beast which Revelations speaks of fits the idea of a god which most people seem to have. He rains fire onto the earth, and does seemingly great and powerful works, and flaunts his apparent god-like powers as he demands worship. Jesus was meek and humble, which does not seem to fit with the worlds view of how a god should act. His ways are unfathomable, and they do not make sense to us. This could explain why so many will be deceived into thinking they must worship the beast. Regardless, God has shown His proof, and now it's up to us to believe and repent.

Preaching in the Courthouse Square

   11. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
   12. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
   13. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
   14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
   15. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
-Revelations 20:11-15

I went to a preaching thing Saturday where two preachers were preaching (surprise!). They have the right idea, take the gospel message to every creature, as commanded in Mark 16:15. After a brief prayer, we walked over to the little patch of grass in front of the old courthouse and sang a couple hymns. I like singing hymns and such, but of course, preachers being preachers, they like to sing two and three verses deep into the songs. I can keep up with the first verse just fine, but on the second one I just have to stand there and listen until they get to the chorus. I'll have to start listening to hymns more to learn the words (sticky note on the desk!).

After a few hymns, the first preacher stepped forward to present his message. This week there was a family who actually stayed and listened the whole time. That's always cool. There were several other people who came and went (it's a shopping and eating area you see), but the bottom line is there were a decent number of people who had the opportunity to hear the gospel.

The second paster (who was holding signs with me) saw some people watching, so he went over to pass out tracts. They were polite from what I saw and accepted the tracts, and continued watching. After he returned, another group walked right by us. Of course, being the good Christian sign holders we were, we offered them tracts as they passed by. Every single one of them (four or five if I remember correctly) refused to take the tracts. They were polite of course, which is always appreciated, but after they were gone I starting thinking about that day of judgment, the day when the books are opened and every man is judged according to his works. Should those people die without repenting and asking for God's mercy, they will one day stand with the books open in front of them. There could be an entry like this:

February 16, 2008, 4:30(ish) PM – Presented with the good news of Jesus, offered literature and opportunity to repent. Rejected the Christ.

They will not be very happy right then, I imagine. First Corinthians 1:18 says:

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

The preaching of the cross does seem foolish to those that perish. They may say, I didn't ask Jesus to die for me. Why would someone do that anyway? How can a man being killed two thousand years ago have any effect on me? Why would God send anyone to hell! I'm a good person, I'll make it into heaven.

It is for this reason I like to help out the preachers with their ministry in front of the courthouse. This way, those who are perishing have an opportunity to hear the cross explained through the spoken words of the speaker, the support shown by the lowly sign holder in back, hymns sung praising Jesus, literature distributed, and an opportunity to ask questions if they so desire. That is five separate modes of gospel communication brought straight to the sinners doorstep. On that terrible day of judgment, the condemned will have no excuse for having rejecting Jesus.

Anyway, that's just the thoughts I was going over after that group left. Shortly after the first preacher finished his sermon, and we sang more hymns, then the second preacher stepped forward and presented his message. A young boy was making noises and climbing a light pole during this, but he wasn't too distracting, and he probably brought some attention to the preacher, so it all worked out good. After the preachers had finished talking, we formed up and made our way back to the cars. I saw several people watching us go, none of them were looking malevolent, so hopefully seeing people get out and talk like that will get them thinking good and hard about the state of their souls. I look forward to doing this again next week!

I wish more Christians would start thinking beyond themselves. The realization that people you see all around you are perishing is mighty sobering. They are all part of the ultimate statistic: ten out of ten people die. If they die while lost, they are bound for a place which is far from pleasant. For eternity.

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
-Hebrews 9:27

All Christians have an obligation to present the gospel to every creature. It is our responsibility to provide the lost with all the information the need to 1.) realize their need for salvation, 2.) realize the significance of Jesus' death, and 3.) repent. I want to take the opportunity to thank the preachers who go to the courthouse lawn every week and tell the good news. God bless you!

Proper grammar

I'm not positive, but in English grammar I think the first letter of someone's name is supposed to be capitalized. My name is Josh. It would be improper to write my name as "josh" - the name is supposed to be written "Josh".

God's name is God. So, the "G" is supposed to be capitalized. "god" is not how His name is written, it's "God". This is a small point, but scorners seem to enjoy expressing their contempt for their creator by spelling His name improperly. Please... at least show respect for the English grammar system, if not your maker.

I'm serenading the cat

Slick Bible corruption

Well, I figure I should put in here an issue that has been creeping up. This issue is actually pretty wild when you think about it, and whoever is responsible for this is going to be in big trouble when he (she? they?) face the judgment. Why is that? There is a curse in the book of Revelation. Revelation 22:18 - 19 says that who ever adds to the words of the book will have the plagues which are in Revelation added to him, and whoever takes away words from the book will have his name taken out of the book of life. Despite the warning, this has happened not only in the book of Revelation, but has happened in other books of the Bible as well.



How so? Take a look at Matthew 5:44 in the King James version of the Bible:

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Now, take a look at the same passage in the New International Version (NIV):

But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Can you see what happened here? The idea behind modern translations is to bring the scriptures to us in an easier to understand, more up to date language than the Kings English. Somehow, though, we have now two Bibles which say different things. Look at Matthew 9:13 in the KJV:


...for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Now look at it in the NIV translation:

...for I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.

Now, take a look at the KJV of Matthew 23:14


Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

The NIV completely omits this verse. In fact, the follow 16 verses are completely removed in the NIV translation:


Matthew 17:21, 18:11, 23:14, Mark 7:16, 9:44, 9:46, 11:26, 15:28, Luke 17:36, 23:17, John 5:4 Acts 8:37, 15:34, 24:7, 28:29, Romans 16:24.

One final example here, look at John 6:47 in the KJV:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.


The NIV version says:

I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.

As seen in these few examples of scriptures, clearly one of the two is NOT the true, infallible Word of God. This should be a concern of any Christian reading this. Mark 13:31 says:

Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away"

The words of the Christ are still faithfully preserved, we know this because the previous passage. We have, however, two documents claiming to be those words. How to tell which is the truth and to be embraced, and which is a lie and needs to be discarded?

It would take a lot more time and a really, really big blog to fully explain it, so I encourage you to get out there and do your own research. I'll just put out the highlights, to give you a place to start your search for truth.

First off, take a look at what documents were used to preform the translation for the KJV and the NIV Bibles. The KJV uses a relatively younger piece of paper than the NIV Bible uses. However, I believe the KJV documents are the accurate record of God's Word. The NIV uses manuscripts from Alexandria, the capitol of the Gnostics. Ever heard of the Gnostics? They were a group of people who rejected the deity of Jesus, and attempted to alter the scriptures to fit into their world view. I'm not talking about interpretation of the Bible, but actually taking pen in hand and altering the scriptures. We see the subtle result in the NIV Bible to this day! Changing things such as the phrase "on me" from John 6:47 weakens the Christians understanding of Jesus' meaning.

An interesting side note for those linguist out there (linguist, is that even a word?). Many languages have a gender (masculine or feminine) and plural version of most of their words. English tends to disregard some of these grammatical (I made another new word!) rules other languages have. You and thee, your and thou, these are the English version of plurals. If thee or thou is used, the person is speaking to only one person. If you or your is used, the speaker is talking to many people. Think of our current slang: "Yall" is pretty common now, though it used to be a southern redneck (me!) thing. Yall indicates the speaker is addressing a group of people. "Yall going to the monster truck rally?". New Jersey and New York simply stick an "s" at the end of you to indicate if they are addressing multiple people. "Yous guys catch that baseball game?" The King James Version provides us with a more accurate translation of what the scriptures say by this alone! Many people don't like to read the KJV because of all the archaic words used. When you take the time to learn what these words mean (peradventure = perhaps) the Bible becomes even deeper!

This is my personal beliefs. Be aware, though, that there are always two sides to an issue (sometimes more lolz) and some may feel differently than I. You should be aware of this issue, since when two versions of the Bible say different things, and both claim to be true, one of them must be wrong. Good luck and God bless you!

Atheist

I probably spelled atheist wrong, but I'm a horrible speller anyway I was pointed to Ray Comforts blog (how do you put links in this thing?) and noticed something I found interesting.

Mr. Comfort would write his thoughts on a subject (interesting stuff by the way, if you ever want a good read), and people would write comments on it. All of Mr. Comforts stuff is Christian based and is meant to share his view on different subjects. Now, for the interesting insight of Josh!

The comments would include people from two sides of a fence, atheist and Christians (am I supposed to capitalize the "A" for atheist?). The Christians tended to say "Good job Ray! I'm praying for you!", or express their agreement or disagreement with what Mr. Comfort had written.

The Atheist (I capitalized the "A" just in case I'm supposed to) of course disagreed with everything Mr. Comfort said, but that's not the interesting thing. They pick and tear at everything said, and challenge the Christian commenters on their faith. While this is certainly a good thing for both Christians and Atheist, why do the Atheist feel the need to comment at all? For that matter, why do the Atheist feel the need to even read Mr. Comforts blog? This is the interesting thing that just popped into my head. The Atheist attempt to use science and reason to reject God, but luckily the Christian commenters tended to be equally knowledgeable (very tough word to write, I hate spelling) on these issues and can quickly provide answers defending the faith. I noticed in one spot where an atheist seemed to refuse to answer a question regarding ultimate morality, insisting the Christians first answer his question.

I saw a trend in the comments as well. Most everyone who posted a comment was able to conduct themselves in a mature manner, even when posting on very, very touchy issues such as abortion, and the inerrency of the Bible (inerrency? My poor spelling!). When most people would degenerate into a name-calling, ignorant, prideful catfight in such conditions, the posters (on both sides of the issue) managed to conduct themselves in a commendable manner.

Anyway, I find it interesting that the Atheist who respond to Mr. Comforts blog are feeling threatened enough to respond. After all, according the the Atheist belief there is no God, and there is nothing after we die.
There is only life, then death. While that is a pretty bleak world view to hold, what would cause an Atheist to attempt to convince a Christian that everything they believe is a lie? Why wouldn't an Atheist instead smile, nod, and move along with his life, and allow the foolish Christians to hold their quaint(is that how you spell quaint?) beliefs?

Is it possible that when an Atheist hears these things spoken (or written, in this case) he feels the prick of truth? After all, it is written in the scriptures that the law of God is written on everyone's hearts. "For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another; In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." -Romans 2:14-16
There is also a time in Revelation where every knee bow's and acknowledges Jesus as the Son of God. People know the truth, but some will grab at anything they believe will keep them from having to face the judgment of God. It is possible to tell a lie so many times that the one who is lying will himself believe the lie.
The Atheist may truly have convinced themselves that there is no God, but why do they insist to continue failing attempts to disprove His very existence! Let me warn you, it will never be possible to prove that God does not exist.

Um, anyway, that's it I guess. It just struck me as interesting, all that stuff. The main idea of this was I find it strange that an Atheist would feel threatened by a Christian's belief. I am assuming on my limited knowledge of psychology that the Atheist is threatened because he does not wish to admit to himself the existence of God, the fact that Jesus is not dead, and that he will face the terrible judgment of a very wrathful God very soon. How'd you like my first real blog?!