Ecclesiastes 12:  ¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one Shepherd. ¹² Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.

God/Jesus is not a racist.

The forefather of the Israel nation is Abram, whom God later renamed him Abraham. God saved Abraham before Israel is even a nation (Genesis 12). Abraham was saved by God and known to be righteous simply because he believed in God. Abraham’s son is Issac. One of Issac’s son is Jacob. Jacob has struggled with God and had overcome, hence God renamed him “Israel”. Israel means struggling with God.

God granted the free gift of salvation to Abraham as he believe in God. Then Abraham’s descendants increase in number and has become a nation: Israel. When Jesus came, he comfirmed that salvation is from Jews (John 4) and it does not end there. Jesus has asked us to make disciples of ALL nations (Matthew 28:19) as whoever believe in God would be saved (Acts 15).

ACTS 15

⁸God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. ⁹He made no distinction between us (Israelites) and them (non-Israelites or gentiles), for he purified their hearts by faith. ¹⁰Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? ¹¹No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.

Friends, God is not a racist and anyone who truly believes in God/Jesus can be saved.

John 15: ¹⁸“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. ²²If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. ²³He who hates me hates my Father as well. ²⁴If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’

Bible is a collection of books, written by man. To Christians, these writings are inspired by God. They are God’s words.

The oldest part of the bible is >3000 year old, and yet no fault was found. At least a quarter of the bible passages are prophesy, part of it has come true. Such as the family origin of Jesus, His birth place, His life, His death, the fell and rose of Israel.

When I look at my science books and medical books, new editions come every 1-2 years, or sooner. New concepts to prove the old ones incorrect, new info to decline our old practice, are common among these science / medical books. All are written by the so called most knowledgeable, reputable, and well educated on Earth. When we look at the Bible again, it remains unchanged for thousands of years.

In the end I raised this question, as many says that what many Christians and I proclaimed are wrong and imagery: If someone can give me convincing proof that certain part of the bible is incorrect, I will not believe in Christ? So far no convincing evidence, and I doubt there will ever be.

Jesus mentioned that sometimes diseases/illnesses are for punishment of sins, sometimes to glorify God.

John 9: Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind ¹As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  ³“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

I cannot tell you why God let diseases (cancer) happen. And No one so far can conquer death except Jesus. There are one thing I am certain. If you believe the bible, the cancer casualties or all the dead will be raised for judgment. God is just and fair. He will repay each of us according to what we have done. God has promised those who surpass the judgment a place that is without illness or tear. Only happiness and peace.

I also noticed there is some differences when facing death among Christians and non Christians. I observed this when I worked in the palliative/cardiology/emergency departments. Unbelievers tend to feel nervous, angry, in denial, or agitated when facing imminent death. Christians seem to be prepared for their own “death”, they appear more relax and gentle when facing it. Even their relatives are the same. This is because Christians know there is afterlife and they will meet their love ones again. The usual expression of grief do exist undoubtedly for the love ones’ departure.

Some people may ask us to prove God exists, or they will say: “Let me see Jesus now and I will believe.” Why does God/Jesus give us free will to believe? It is a good test on whether we truly believe in Him or not. Jesus say to one of his apostles: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.” Just look at it as a story if you like, This apostle called Thomas, who has been following Jesus for 3+ years day by day. Supposed Jesus did performed the miracles (the limp walks, deaf hears, blind sees, dead becomes alive again,…), supposed they did happened, Thomas saw them all, and in the end he disbelieved in Jesus’ resurrection. Many Jews did the same too when they saw Jesus/ miracles, and murdered Him in the end out of jealously. So from history, or the story if you like, seeing does not = believing. Even if I can give you concrete evidence, if you harden your heart, you still won’t believe in Jesus.

Also, Jesus/God do not want to force us to believe in him. If He simply reappears with his divine power, people are forced to say, “Yes I believe.”, unless you want to commit suicide. Will you be happy to be forced to do something? Do you believe spirits exist in the world, as some American studies has suggested? If there are ghosts, there should be God too. Where would your spirit go after you pass away? God loves us and want to give our souls a chance. God gives us a choice so that we can live.

If you are not interested in the religious side of the bible, there are so many good teachings to guide your children to be a good person. Some bible passages, for examples:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (1Cor 13)”,

“Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself. (Matt 19:19)”

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:1-4)

Read from the book of Proverbs too. They are all good teachings for your children.

May God Bless You All.

There is no other way to explain the following events except for divine intervention. The following are items that the 85% rule had no control over. A non Christian might be able to explain some of them away, but there were too many too fast that happened. I will try to highlight a number of events, but there are so many that I have lost track, even after tallying them on a list. Some were left out. I keep a list in my wallet as a gentle reminder of Gods power and love. Awesome! Prayers for me had been flying around this country and to Gods ears, from so many people, that I was amazed and taken back by their efforts. They came from Family, Friends, and churches. Many that I knew, and many I did not. I still hadn’t softened up my stance on churches at this point, but they were covering my back.

a) A trip to Michigan to see family and a church client who I had done some work for. THIS WAS THE INITIAL CATALYST For Change In Me. It was on~ Sept 16th. about 1 month after my Prostate ‘C’ surgery. I met with the Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Napoleon Michigan, and a few of their elders and construction parishioners. I could see a genuine concern in their eyes and hearts for my well being, as they asked how I was doing. It was touching, and we went on to work through my drawings for them. My brother Howard had had the whole church pray for good results in my surgery, and they complied. They have my thanks and prayers back. Next on this trip, I visited my family. All were glad to see me and told me of their prayer efforts. It was a daunting experience. We prayed at meals, and I realize a change in my mindset. I am not in control. God controls! I just do the best I possibly can and let him guide.

MY OWN EYE OPENING HAS BEGUN, AND IT WAS TIME TO START GIVING GOD CREDIT AND PRAISE. 85%/15% rule broken, and rewritten.

b) Prayer starts in length and with meaning.

c) Prayers were being answered in numbers. I carry a list with me of 11 prayers that I have been asking for resolution or action to. It is a short list and highlights the major prayers and the answers to them. Of the 11, 8 of them have come true, and of those 8, 7 items were totally out of my control. There are other lesser events that have been answers to prayer as well, but the list was astronomical in showing me the power of our Lord. The remaining 3 items I am seeing progress towards completion but not fulfilled yet.
to name a few.

1) Finding a nutritionist that my insurance would cover. It looked bleak, and I ended up with one better. A Holistic, Life Extension specialist, doctor. Not at all what I expected.

2) Containment of the cancer after its removal. It was done.

3) Fix a marriage. Done and better than it has been for decades, And Fast!!

4) Find a church. Done, and right down the line I was looking for. After 30+ years of absence, I hit on one right out of the gate, and the first church I visited.

5) PSA blood level to be zero. It is now less than .1(the labs lowest reading), or essentially zero. One test came in at .03 (a more sensitive lab) In other words Cured! Now get this . The Holistic doctor, and the Church Ministers names are both “Reilly” Anyone from Calvary Assembly of God will appreciate this.

Some of the above events look as if human control played a part, but let me reassure you, the human control was so minimal, and answers came so fast, it could have been nothing less than God.

IN CONCLUSION ! Probably glad I’m ending this, eh?

I have to look back and ask myself “What was I thinking??” If I had to give advice I would be reluctant, since I have made some poor choices for myself. One thing I can say with certainty, is to not be deluded to think some of the actions that are questionable in your life are ok, because it just escalates from there and progressively gets worse. Also, stay in constant contact with the Lord and stop the thought that you are in control of anything. Your life is not yours. Your finances are not yours. Who owns those things? I would think I wouldn’t have to tell you. When it comes to making any decisions, there is someone ready and willing to help in those choices. Listen to that voice. Follow those prayers given directions. It’s the Spirit. The communicator, the force that allows us to converse with our Lord Jesus/God. The Spirit is the comforter , the source for miracles and answers to prayers. Also realize for all of the selfish prideful individuals who think they are in control. Don’t delude yourself. Yes you are the one who runs your affairs, but don’t get high minded and think you are better at it than our Lord. He has the knowledge of your past, present and future. He knows before you, which directions are appropriate in your life. You can’t possibly know this, but only make weak judgment calls. Why would you trust your judgment over that of the Creator ? The All knowing ! Get real folks…You can’t match that knowledge base. In my own life I came across a crossroad. Clean my act up or God would allow me to go down hard. In other words, I take myself out of my Godless lifestyle, or God would allow me to take myself out…..Permanently.

God Blesses, if you allow him to work in your lives.

If not? Re read!!!

AFTERWARD

An Early History (Oct 17, 08 revised Mar 6, 09)
A Change of mindset in ‘2008′

A QUICK LOOK AT 1966-67 AND BEYOND TO 2008.
(Early conversion and results)

A) EARLY SALVATION AND HOW?

At age 12, I was already in a funk and suicidal, yet not to the point of overall seriousness about it. That said I was in a desperate mindset and walking down the suburbs of Detroit, when another person my age started talking to me. Something was different in him, and I wasn’t sure what. In time, we became close friends and he invited me to his church (Wick Rd. Baptist) and in time I accepted the Lord in 1967. I remained at that church through my teen years and friends with Kieth Mungar for longer than that. Oddly enough, my whole family of 7 soon turned to Christ after that and are to this day active in their love for the Lord.

B) THE VIGOR IN THE EARLY YEARS.

I was on fire for the Lord. Learning everything I could. Sharing anytime it made sense. God was good, and even showed me to a beautiful girl which I am still married to.

C) MARRIAGE AND THE EARLY YEARS.

In Jan. 1975 I joined the Air Force. In N.J. I met up with a non denominational group of Christians and a small church was formed. They were sort of like a hippy Christian sect. Faithful and serious, but very different from my past. It was an eye opener to see the Spirit work in people’s lives. This was a first for me, even though I had visited Pentecostal churches in the past. I had seen tongues, healings and prophetic words in the past, but not up close and personal. In Sep. 1976, my now wife and I were married after 5 years of long distance dating (she was reluctant), and we were living in Ind. for the next 3 years.

D) FOUR SQUARES AND MY DECENT

Seems funny that outside influences are able to taint even strong Christians, but Satan had his way with me. I was going to a strong church. A good and faithful group and still I were falling for the things of the world. Partying and drinking started off slow. I was seeing some hypocritical actions in the church, and had never noticed it in years past. Maybe it wasn’t important in the past because I was looking at the greater good that fellowship was doing for me. Nonetheless, the slip away was starting. Hypocritical Christians were a catalyst, and I had good ammo. This is in all churches, however.

E) MY RETURN TO DETROIT metro AND MY COLLEGE DAYS

The military stint was over and I had no desire to re-enlist. Take the bennies and go to college. I went back to Detroit (Taylor Mi.) and worked for 1 year, and then enrolled in college for Architecture. No church was satisfactory, especially the fore mentioned Baptist church. I was dialed into looking for the hypocrisy, and it was prevalent everywhere. I avoided the church, and felt it was better to live without it, rather than get drug down with the problem. This was a severe mistake. This triggered a slipping of my morals. Drinking and smoking drugs was now normal, and a rapid deterioration in my overall mindset occurred. I felt it justified. This started A 30+ YEAR removal from the church world, and a distain for anything church oriented.

NOTE: To this day I find that non Christians can be more honest with you than Christians. Non Christians don’t have a God to justify to, but they also don’t have a God to ask for forgiveness when they mess up. My finding is that the Christians can mess up and go to God and ask forgiveness. That leaves an out for Christians to mess up and go on, in good conscience, and they take advantage of the fact that God will forgive (but not forget). Non Christians, to this day are more honest to me than Christians. A Sad State of Affairs. Christians need to take this thought and understand their error. I will elaborate later.

F) MOVE TO CHI-TOWN

Before I had completed college, my wife relocated to Island Lake, IL. and I shortly after finishing, followed her out here. After another year of job search, I landed my first Architectural job with ACBI, who was a church design/build firm. The Christian hypocrisy continued and they only paid $7.oo an hour. I was let go after 8 months claiming my work was inadequate. After the fact I found they were ‘Heavily’ in debt, and couldn’t afford to keep me, yet were trying to hang on to 2 of their aircrafts that they owned. My work was actually quite good. Lies! Angered I went solo. To further add to my frustration with Christians, my own mother was having similar issues with a Christian nursing home she was employed at. Poor pay and more lies. She finally quit. My belief that Christian organizations were scum was solidified. Despite all of this I went on, and hung mostly with non Christians. The friends I meet are few but close and loyal.

My Distain For Christians and their Organizations was Solid, but my Love For the Lord, wavered but was still there!!

Still there was no Christian support anymore, and that was a fault. I however still believed in honesty, integrity, helping others in need, and was always trying to be a responsible person with a good work ethic.

G) THE PAST 20 YEARS

This I will rattle through kind of fast, since the precedence of my life has already been stated.

a) The birth of my son was in 1990.

b) It wasn’t long before I was kept from my son’s upbringing

c) Issues with my wife were escalating.

d) Business choices were made throughout my life that weren’t the wisest.

e) Partying and fun were synonymous with my lifestyle.

f) Christianity was not frowned on, but Christian organizations were.

The past 20 years were fast, fun and furious. A lot of good, but too much bad came from it. In essence it was somewhat Godless and without emotion. I ran on logic and my own wits. Much good came from it, yet in retrospect too much bad. I drank at times heavily, had a bout of prescription drug use, and was basically hard on myself, and others who got in my way. My marriage was heading down a bad path, and at the end looked doomed. There were two to blame for this, and it looked at the end irreconcilable. My finances are to this day upside down as well.

My connection with God was not severed, but quite sparse. Prayer was short and direct and sparse. I hated bothering God with my issues, considering he had enough on his plate to take care of. I had a rule. 85% of things are controllable and the 15% you can’t do much about. I might bother God with the 15%, but felt responsible for the 85% that my God given wits and abilities should be responsible for. Boy Was I Wrong!!! Let me explain the 85%/15% rule.

‘2008’, WHAT WENT WRONG! (and a good spot to explain the fallacy of the 85% / 15% rule)

a) Business has slowed in the past 2 years and nearly stopped. (15% ?) Although I saw the economic indicators and was in a change mode, I moved too slow and have had the worst two years financially ever.

b) Financial issues are a disaster. (15% ?) A rental home which has been costing me out of pocket to maintain, financial overload in many respects, including credit issues.

c) A son dating on the internet. (15% ?) I found little benefit in this and it eventually was a major strain in the household.

d) Wife supporting the above action (15% ?) Whereas this in the end, turned out to be a possible positive, it was a strain in our marriage.

e) Husband left out of the picture and devious things done behind my back (15% ?) As a parent, being thought of as a non entity in a marriage is tragic. Also being left out of raising of your own child, was a disaster waiting to happen. Again the fault rests on both parties.

THE FOLLOWING EVENTS SHOOK ME TO THE BONE.

f) Al Krass, a long time friend dies at age 55, from alcoholism.

g) Tim Krauth, a very long time friend dies at age 52, from asthma (never a smoker)

h) Doug Kennedy, my best friend EVER dies at age 60, from skin cancer and other related maladies . We were like brothers, biker bro’s and were working together in a business venture for the past year. It all died with him. These 3 people died in a 3 month span from Feb - Apr “08″ . (15% ?)

i) I contracted prostate cancer in early July. Surgery was scheduled for Aug 12^th and was done successfully (praise God). (15% ?)

j) Son moves out on my birthday, the end of July to Connecticut to live with internet girlfriend. (15% ?) Mind you, he is a good Christian son, and is now married, but the stress of this was felt, none the less.

k)My marriage was done. I felt no chance of reconciling , and I was ready to walk. Nothing would change my mind except for a change in my wife’s mindset and actions. There seemed no possibility for this. (15% ?)

I HAD ENOUGH 15%s IN LESS THAN 4 MONTHS TO LAST 20 YEARS!!!

You see. God is the author of your life, and controls things, we are just Gods tools. Finally the prayers started on my part. Slowly, but seriously. Severe and quick prayers were taking place when I was lying on the ct-scan table to diagnose whether the cancer had spread. It had not.(that in itself is a story) Further prayers were already in place for turning my marriage around, but I felt there was no hope.

Too be continued…

The answer is NO.

Again, the answer is in the Bible. Bible is inspired by God. It is God’s word for us. If you believe God exists, and would like to know more about God, you need to read the bible. The bible has been around for thousands of years and any fault is yet to be found. About a quarter of the Bible is prophesy, part of the prophesy has come true.

The God described in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam seem to be similar. One true God and there are a set of rules from God for us to follow. Jesus is the key here. Jesus makes their differences. Jesus is mentioned in all 3 of these popular religions. Jesus is the key person here. Those who believe Jesus is the son of God and is the only savior for us would make themselves “Christians”. For example, Mormons would put the word “Jesus” in the name of their organization but do not know who Jesus is, still calling themselves Christians, are not true Christians. Israelites (born, secular, or convert) who do not believe Jesus is the son of God and messiah mentioned in their Hebrew bible make them Jews. Muslims suspect Jesus could be a messenger for God, or a prophet, but not the son of God, nor a savior for us. Buddhism and Hinduism are more like life philosophy.

Catholicism, as mentioned in previous blog posts, is an modified Christianity. Catholics are unsure about their salvation, although they claimed to believe in Jesus. They do not know whether they should believe more in Jesus and the bible, or to believe the Pope. They are generally working on their salvation, attending yearly masses to make themselves clean, despite being taught that salvation is by grace in the Catholic society! Some of them still would worship virgin Mary who was merely a human. I am saying this to point out their misconception in Christ and salvation. Christ is our only savior, via only Jesus were we saved. I believe some Catholics would be saved as long as they understand and practice Jesus’ teachings (have to be careful about the Catholic bible too, as its original has been modified before, as well as the addition of the apocrypha). I am not that against them as Jesus said in mark 9:40 “for whoever is not against us is for us”. Unlike Mormons, Catholics believe Jesus is God and is the son of God.

These are the basic and major doctrinal differences among these religions. Do you think any of these mentioned religions would compromise on their BASIC DOCTRINES? No, or you would make new religions, and be false teachers and prophets mentioned in the New Testament. Only the antichrist would succeed in the unification of religions and the world. And he will mark the end of age.

Luke 12:16-21

¹⁶And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. ¹⁷He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

¹⁸“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ‘

²⁰“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

²¹“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”