MY DREAM

     Several years ago, not long after I became a Christian. Even though it was years ago, I can still remember it like it was last night. I had a dream that me and a large group of people were in a dark desert-like place. Who the people were, I do not know for sure, but I do know that we seemed to be lost, like we were trying to find our way somewhere. Then from far off, I saw a circular area that was bright, and in it was a fire to the left and in the middle was a brown wooden table, like a picnic table. All of a sudden I was now in the circle and the wooden table was levitating in front of me, with the flat part facing me. There were words carved into the table that read, "THE LOVE OF GOD IS WITH YOU" and below that read something about about letting God lead your path or something similar to that. Then the next thing I know, I am cutting raw meat, like steak, on what I believe to be the same wooden table...Then I woke up!

Presidential Election and Professing Christians

     Several hours from the presidential election and many are running to cast their votes in, but why?. I find it amazing how many people, even within the Church, are worshiping creatures rather than the Creator. Many are voting because of the benefits and opportunities that will be available to them based on which person is in the presidential office, but is that all we should consider when voting? What about the character of a person? What about the morals of a person and what they value most? Do not these things need to be considered when voting also? I'm afraid that in the society we live in today, one that has forgotten God, many only care about what's best for them.
     As a Christian myself, I am surprised and upset to see other professing Christians putting God aside and lowering their view of sin when it comes to the presidential election. It seems as if those professing Christians who once viewed sin as dishonoring to God and had a hatred for it are now thinking of it as something not even worth mentioning compared to the benefits and opportunities they will receive if a specific person is elected for president, even if they are for the same thing that God viewed with a disgust and hatred.
     It seems that Satan is certainly using this election to draw people away from God. If you do not think so, I would advise you to just look around you. Many people are being looked down upon either because they are not voting either for Obama or for Romney. There are some churches where Romney and Obama's name is mentioned and talked about more than Jesus Christ. There are professing Christian's who would not show no sign of offense if someone curses Jesus, but they will be highly offended and disgusted if someone disagrees with Obama or Romney.
     These type of actions is exactly what Satan wants and is getting. I know many, especially professing Christians will not like what I said, but it's the truth. Instead of becoming angry, we should self-examine ourselves and re-evaluate our views and motives. Let me make it clear that I am not against the act of voting in and of itself or against the establishment of governments, but I am against putting people and things over God and His word.
   

Homosexuality and the Bible

     I've heard many people say that "Homosexuality is a gift from God" or "God made me homosexual". I know that this might offend some people but I would be wrong to not tell you the truth. Those two statements are not of God and therefore are lies from Satan. Homosexuality is not a gift from God nor did He make you like that. Homosexuality is a sin and God hates all sin. "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable."- Leviticus 18:22. This verse clearly shows that God disapproves of homosexuality. "Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error."- Romans 1:24-27. This proves that God did not make us like this, but simply let us do what we wanted to (free will) as a result of our sinful nature. We as humans wanted to please our sinful desires rather than serve God so God let us choose.

      I have met people who have said they were a Christian, but yet accepted their homosexuality. As Christians, we should try our best to put ALL sin to death, including homosexuality. Most people have accepted homosexuality as part of who they are because of what people have told them, saying that it's nothing wrong with being that way. “Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them”- Romans 1:32 . If you are going to accept one sin then you might as well accept all your sins. To say that you’re a Christian and you believe that sin is bad but yet accept this particular sin as part of who you are is hypocritical. It is just like a straight person saying that they hate sin and love God, but their sex addiction is apart of whom they are. We would look at him like he was sadly mistaken, if not crazy. But some people might say "Who are you to judge?" but the question is what type of brother would I be to you if I didn't show you your wrong and left you lost? That would be like a Christian not telling an unsaved person about Jesus because he sees that he is happy in his sinful ways. This is not to down cast you but to rebuke and uplift you to do the will of God and not the will of Satan.

     Even though homosexuality is wrong, it doesn't give anyone the right to look down on those who are homosexual, especially Christians. The reason why I say especially Christians is because we should know of God's love and we should know how it feels to be lost and confused since we were all at one time enemies and separated from God. Many homosexuals have abandoned the faith and/or thought and talked badly about Christians as well as Christianity because they have encountered a "Christian" who spoke wrongly of them because of there sexuality. A person who is a homosexual is someone who is living in sin, just as you and I lived in sin before and sin still. So if I know that I myself am sinful, how can I possibly look down and condemn someone who is also in sin? Instead we should not only help them and tell them about the love of God but also show it as well. 

Fastest Growing "God"

I have noticed that this god has been increasing everywhere even in young Christians today. I guess your wondering what god I am talking about. The god that I'm talking about, that many worship, is SCHOOL, yes I said it...SCHOOL. 

      Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not against going to school, not one bit. In fact, I am currently in school also, but when school becomes more important than God and His word then it becomes an idol and you’re serving a different god. Many people make school the center of their lives instead of the one who should be, which is God. It breaks my heart to see people more broken over a "C" then their own sin. People work their whole lives to earn a piece of paper to prove to others how smart they are when they should desire to be considered wise by the Creator of the world, instead of by worldly standards. "Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?"- 1 Corinthians 1:20. I see many Christians who try to justify their idolatry by saying it is from God. People, God's will is never for you to serve any other God, as it is said in Exodus 20:3, "You shall have no other gods before me.” 

      People will make excuses saying "Well God blessed me with this opportunity, so I should make the most of it, not letting it go to waste." That's true; God did give you that opportunity, but to glorify Him, not replace Him. Exchanging prayer and reading God’s word for after school activities and homework is just like putting God on a shelf. Some people might even say “School is vital to do God’s will”. The God that we serve is able to accomplish His will through us whether we go to school or not. By saying that school is vital in doing God’s will, we are limiting God in His abilities when He is unlimited. Despite what others may tell you, it is possible to do God's will without going to school.

     First century Christians did it, has anything changed? Has God changed? "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever"- Hebrews 13:8. For example, if God said to you that you will become the President of the United States within the next two years without school, would you take His word for it? "So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."- Isaiah 55:11.

     "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other"- Matthew 6:24a. It upsets me to see people, especially my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, idolize this god that can benefit them nothing instead of the true one. If this applies to you, I ask that you carefully reorganize your priorities. If this is not you, I ask that you examine your life and your priorities more so that it would not become you.

Was Jesus Morally Perfect?

I have come across many people who question if Jesus Christ was indeed morally perfect, even people who are Christians, trying to use the scriptures, referring to Jesus actions, to prove that Jesus wasn't morally perfect, so I felt the need to write on the topic, even though if I explain it or not, it doesn't change the fact that Jesus was indeed perfect in every way. 

      So let me start off with a scripture from 2 Corinthians 5:21, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." This is referring to Jesus Christ becoming sin for the world, paying the penalty for our sin which is death so that we can be reconnected to God and having the opportunity to dwell in His presence for all eternity. Some people may be wondering what is sin? Sin is anything against God, it's anything morally bad or wrong, its murder, hate, stealing, lying, cheating and the list goes on. So now that we know what sin is and that Jesus was without that, therefore Jesus was morally perfect.

      We can also look at God and what He stands for. God is everything that is good and sin is everything that is evil. God and sin are total opposites; therefore God can not be connected to sin. As a matter of fact, God hates sin with a passion. He hates sin so much that when His own son bore sin He disconnected Himself from him. He has done this also with us when sin came into the world by our disobedience towards Him. So when Jesus bore sin on the cross, he was disconnected from God during that time. In order to be disconnected from God, Jesus would have been connected to God before. Therefore Jesus was indeed morally perfect when he was without sin.

      If you didn't know already, Jesus has many names such as: the Son of Man, Son of David, Messiah, Christ, The Lamb of God and the Perfect Sacrifice. Perfect Sacrifice? Why did they call him that you may ask your self? They called him the perfect sacrifice because he was God's guilt offering to the world. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life"-John 3:16.

     In the Old Testament, when a person sinned, he would sacrifice an animal, which had to be without defect, to present to God so their sins would be forgiven. Jesus was that animal for the world; the perfect sacrifice and the last for all mankind. He was without defect (sin), therefore Jesus was the ONLY one qualified to pay the penalty for the sins of the world because he was perfect. "Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me"- (John 14:6).

      There are numerous scriptures in the bible that proves that Jesus was perfect, but these are just a few. I won't bother listing all of them because it would be a waste of time. Explaining how Jesus was perfect should not be the only reason that you come to believe. The fact that God loves us so much, despite our hatred, imperfections and disobedience towards Him should be the basis of your belief in His son. He gave up what He loved dearly, Jesus, so that we can have everlasting life with Him. That's all the proof you need.

My Life Before Christ

     I was born and raised in Chicago IL. My dad moved away when I was about 5 years old, but visited from time to time, while my mom and grandma raised me. I grew up in a Baptist household where I went to church many times as a child. As I grew older, my attendance at the church decreased to the point where I would just go only on holidays. Even though I was raised in a Baptist home, I knew very little about Jesus. All I knew was to tell people I was Christian, even though I wasn't, and to say that Jesus Christ was my Savior, but I didn't know what that meant. I didn't really care what it meant for that matter. God was not an important factor in my life. The only thing I knew about the Bible was what my mother and grandmother told me, which was incorrect. 

     All my life I was known as the "good child". I never got in trouble at school. I was getting descent grades and I wanted to become a criminal defense attorney and one day own my own law firm. My mind was set on money and women, but that was alright to those around me. Around my junior year of High School, I began to think more about God. For some reason I knew I was not at a right standing with God. I would even go as far as to say that there was a sense of urgency and danger I felt as well. 

     I was in this group in High School called "Brother Brother" and within it I had a "mentor" who told us to write down what our short term goals were and I wrote down that I wanted to read more of the Bible. My mentor happened to be a Christian and saw what I wrote and addressed me about it. One night we were on the phone and he asked me to repeat a prayer after him. After I did it, he told me I was saved. When I looked back on it, I thought it was strange then and now I know why. What he did, was a common error among the evangelical community today. I don't want to get into now but let's just say that I was night saved. Even so, my desire to read the Bible and attend church grew until I decided to take action about it.

     I started to attend church more and started to read the Bible alone in my room. I wanted to read the Bible so much that I received a kid's study bible from my mom's friend who didn't need it anymore. As I read the Bible, I began to see how much of a sinner I really was in God's eyes, even though to the world I was what they dreamed of in a child. It fascinated me that the things that I was reading in the Bible, I never heard about before, even when I was going to church. The more I read, the more I began to cry out to God. There were times when I was doubtful about the Bible and didn't understand the things in it, but when that would happen, I would continue to pray for wisdom and understanding. God, giving wisdom generously to those who ask, eventually gave it to me. As time passed, many started to see changes in me before I could see them in myself. I began to have a great desire to tell others about the things of God and ever since then I have been serving my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

     

The Father and Son Are One

Many people, even Christians have trouble understanding the trinity as far as how can Jesus be the Son of God and also....God. Well, let me ask you this question, is your mother human? If she is and hope she is, then that would make you human as well, because you came from the very essence of the humanity of your mother. Jesus came from God, the very essence of who God is, Jesus came from it, therefore Jesus shares in God's deity. Jesus shares in God's deity as much as you share in your mother's humanity...get it? God is not a single person, but three distinct individuals who share the same title, deity and essence of what makes God..God. For example, when people say Man landed on the moon, you know that you yourself didn't actually walk on the moon, but Man is meaning the human race, humanity, everyone in the world shares. Another example is looking at a pond, lake and river. They are all made up of H2O, they all are made up of that same essence but they are in three distinct bodies. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all distinct individuals with different roles but they are all God. I hoped I gave you a better understanding of Jesus being God and also of the trinity itself.