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COSMIC CONFLICT

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COSMIC CONFLICT

The last blog I uploaded was an outstanding article by Dr. Gregory Boyd PhD, who has an incredible insight into some aspects of the nature of God and the cosmological conflict that is our world. He calls this the Trinitarian warfare worldview, wherein from a biblical standpoint one can see that the world is not all that it should be. We live in a fallen world, as a result of sin entrance of the world, just as the Bible speaks in Romans chapter 5. Sin entered into the world and destroyed the true perfected beauty God originally intended. Throughout the Bible we see that there is a supernatural and invisible conflict that is taking place between God, with his angels, and the devil and his angels.

From what we can understand the Bible, which is the word of God, that some point in history there was a rebellion, in open rebellion, against God's rule, and God's government. This resulted in one third, from what we understand of the Bible, of the angelic/celestial beings rebelled against God, with their leader, who was Lucifer, whose name means the “shining one”, who from what we can understand in the Bible is that he was the covering cherub. Lucifer was not an angel. He was more like an Archangel, or more specifically he was a cherub, which the description of them can be found in the book of Ezekiel. It says that he was the “cherub that covered”, in that there are at this point surrounding the throne of God in heaven, that place where God dwells in his full manifestation, according to the word of God there are four cherubim underneath the throne of God, they're the four living creatures described in Daniel as well as the book of the Revelation, that surround the throne of God, and there are the Seraphim to hover above the throne of God, where Isaiah declares that he saw them crying out holy, holy, holy!

This cosmological conflict between the forces of good and evil affects our daily lives in ways that it is difficult to understand unless you have a keen sense of understanding of the spiritual round.

The spiritual realm is just as real as the physical realm, in fact it is more real. The spiritual realm that is differentiated from the material realm in that material substances are subjected to the physical laws that state according to the second law of thermodynamics, known as entropy, which I know is about heat loss, but is applicable in the sense that everything in the universe is going from a more complex state of existence to a more simple state of existence. The universe is winding down–not winding out. Everything is decaying, and without an extern all source of energy, as well as the wherewithal to utilize it, the world is falling apart, as well as the universe. Stars are growing–stars are dying.

In fact, we can see that we live in a closed system, however we have an external source of energy, the sun. However the sun, in and of itself, has not beneficial effects on the Earth, without photosynthesis, which is able to utilize the energy given off by the sun and converted to plant growth, etc. But in of itself the energy from the sun causes things to break down, unless there is some mechanism by which that energy can be utilized.

So spiritual realm, however is not subject to the laws of physics, and it is governed by a completely different set of laws. And in this realm there exists a host of various kinds of entities, celestial beings, for lack of a better term. Celestial beings that exist in this material realm and interact with the material realm, but they are just as invisible to the senses and to the natural eye as radio waves, infrared waves, ultraviolet light are to our five senses. The fact that our five senses cannot detect the spiritual realm does not negate the existence of it. We have indirect proof of this realm seen in the nature of the state the world is in. In general, evil triumphs. And evil is an entity, and has its own leader, which is the one who is in complete rebellion against God, his name is now Satan, which means adversary, or opponent to God. Because he opposes God's will, and in the Garden of Eden he was given the dominion of the earth by the first man Adam, when he made a moral choice to disobey God, and he himself became a rebel, and sin entered into the world, and we see the fruit of that disobedience to God in our world today.

In the book of acts chapter 10 verse 38, it states that Jesus Christ came into the world, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth could go about doing good and healing all those who were sick and oppressed of the devil. The devil oppresses people. Sickness, generally, is caused by the devil. Of course I understand her natural causes to illnesses, but that's not how we were originally intended to be.

The formation and errors in our DNA code cause illnesses, which can be genetic, or various illnesses, such as cancers, etc., can be a direct result of environmental factors that can alter the DNA and produce rogue malignant cells, which we call cancer. Interestingly, cancer is cells that are rogue, rebellious, cells that become parasitic, and feed off of one's body. The more they feed, the more they grow can destroy The Natural Way, God intended us to function.

All sickness, I believe, is a result of this cosmological warfare that is happening all around us. All evil in the world is a direct result of this. As Dr. Boyd states, that we are in a battlefield, in this great struggle between God and the devil. The devil, according to the Bible, when he was Lucifer, rebelled against God because he was filled with pride, check out Chapter 18 of the book of Ezekiel, as well as the 28th chapter of the same book. Pride, was the first sin. When Lucifer was lifted up with pride, in his heart, that is where his rebellion towards God began. And it affected all of God's creation. Lucifer was a create

d being. And yet, the description of the devil, who is Lucifer, was one of great beauty, talent, and interestingly, musical ability. Many Bible scholars feel that Lucifer was in charge of the worship in Heaven. So, we can see how, as Satan is now, according to the Bible “the God of this world”, how he uses entertainment, and especially music to indoctrinate and brainwash people against God.

The way I see it, and I think I have a biblical viewpoint, is that Satan hates God, would love to hurt God, but obviously he cannot harm God in a way that could do any damage to him, and Satan knows that God loves people. God created man in his image. Man was the crown of God's creation of the earth. Therefore, Satan knows that God loves people. If Satan is able to, which he was, get mankind to rebel against God, God being just must punish the rebellion against himself, just as he will eventually, as stated in the 20th chapter of the book of Revelation, the devil himself, so the devil wins, in one sense, by having God, in a sense, like a chess game, having to give up valuable pieces, which he doesn't want to lose.

This is all predicated on the fact that we have a free will, just like the Angels before us, to make moral choices. God does not interfere with our ability to make free moral choices. God sends people, and his angels, to help to influence us to make the right choices, just like Satan sends people, and his fallen Angels, and demons, to influence us as well in his way to rebel against God. But neither entity is able to force us against our will. We must make a moral choice. And, the real person who we are, is the sum total of all of the moral choices that we make.

So, God himself, in reality, doesn't put people in hell, but allows people to make the free moral choices that God in his divine justice must punish rebellion, just as any government cannot allow rebellion to fester, neither can God allow rebellion against his moral government. So, we must understand that God is doing all he can in order to bring us into his kingdom, to destroy the works of sin in our lives, take us from being slaves to the power of sin, and he delivers us from the kingdom of darkness, which according to Jesus Christ the whole world is under the power of the evil one, where Jesus had said that he saw Satan fall like lightning, to the kingdom of light, to the kingdom of God's eternal son, who purchase us with the blood of his son, as a propitiation, a peace offering, the righteous and just God had to demand, and yet, in his great love for us, he sacrificed his only son on the cross, as John described, “behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!”, and that's exactly what he did.

Jesus took our punishment. That's why the idea of purgatory is antithetical to the Bible. You cannot pay for your sins. The Bible says the wages of sin is death, then eternal death, is forever, and the place called the lake of fire.

The Bible tells us that it is not God's will that any should perish, but that all should come to salvation. It is not God's will that Adam chose to disobey God, as well as his wife leave, and sin entered into their genetic code, into their DNA, which has produced what we see today in the world. There have been very few years, globally, when there hasn't been conflict. People are basically selfish. People are basically sinful. Because the principle of sin has entered into mankind passed down the generations from Adam to ourselves.

What one needs to ask oneself is, how many sins did it take until God got fed up with Adam and Eve, and asked them to leave paradise? Well, the answer is pretty simple. Just want.

So then you need to ask yourself, well, how many sins have I committed, well, I'm sure it's more than one probably millions! So, it stands to reason, if that one sin, as transpired in the Garden of Eden, can cause God to have to expel Adam and Eve from heaven, therefore one sin can keep you out of heaven.

The only reason people don't go to heaven is because of their own personal choices. They are the sum total of their choices. Their moral choices. When they have made choices to rebel against God, they become rebels. Rebels are not allowed in heaven. The rebellious must be punished by God, therefore he has a special location in existence, that location is called hell, which is a holdover cell, until according to the Bible, every person will stand before God in judgment for the things that they've done. Those, according to the Bible, whose names are not written in the lambs book of life, are cast into the lake of fire. And that is their eternal destiny, not based on some arbitrary decision got made time passed, but solely based on the sum total of the moral choices that they made. And that moral choice was not to hate sin and love God.

Every person in hell will be there because they chose to go there. God knows the thoughts, intentions of the heart. His judgment is just. He is righteous, good kind and merciful, but is also just. And in his justice we cannot allow rebellion against his moral government to stand.

Authentic Christianity is this. You can't do enough good to get into heaven. However, you don't have to do a lot of bad to go to hell.

The only way that we can get into heaven is by absolute 100% righteousness. And of ourselves were incapable of that righteousness. That's why we come to the Lord Jesus Christ, repent, change your minds, and ask God to forgive us for our sins, at the same time we make a moral choice to follow God and his kingdom. We make Jesus Lord of our life. Either Jesus Christ is Lord of all, as some have said, or he is not Lord at all!

Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that comes to dwell in us, gives us the ability to overcome sin in our lives. We do not become sinless. But we sin less. The Bible says that when a person is walking in love there is no occasion for stumbling in him. The key to holiness is to walk in God's kind of love. You can lookup the 13th chapter of the letter of Paul to the Corinthians in order to hear and exquisite description of love.

This description is not something you find in Hollywood! Hollywood's type of love is a parasitic, fickle, emotionally based expressed romanticism that in reality is harmful not helpful. It looks to others to fill its needs. Is not unconditional. As a result of Hollywood's perversion of what love is, the divorce rate is at record highs. By the way, the entertainment business, is run by a cabal, and that cabal is not made up of men, but of demonic powers and entities, that inspire people to create and write things that are meant to maintain Satan's control over those seasons slaved to do his will, almost entirely unwittingly! Satan is ahead of all TV studios. All movie studios. And, he loves music! Remember, as I stated earlier, that used to be his job.

The entire world is under the control of the devil, but the good news is this–the time is short for him to go to rule the world. We see that the culmination of the history of mankind is at its apex. There will come, according to the Bible, a world leader, known as the antichrist, whom the world will love and they will adore him.

The best example of the antichrist, which the apostle John said the spirit of the antichrist was in the world, would be Adolf

Hitler. In hindsight we see Adolf Hitler as an absolutely evil man. The reality, in Germany, he was the savior for the Germans. Remember while the rest of the world was in a severe oppression, Hitler came after years of turmoil in the Weimar Republic of Germany post-World War I, promising prosperity, and a rekindling of Germanic pride. People loved Hitler. He represented order. You represented community. He represented many things to the people of Germany that gave them hope for their future. People did not see him as a crazed megalomaniac mass purveyor of genocide, the picture of him that we see is from the benefit of hindsight of history. He came at the precise moment when chaos reigned in the post World War I Weimer Republic suffering from himself from all hyper inflation, unemployment, and unreasonable war reparations put upon them by the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler fed the pride of the German people. In the end, however the very people that love and worship Adolf Hitler, were destroyed by him.

He led them down a path, which they thought was to prosperity, but was one of deception and destruction.

Jesus said there's two roads. The road that leads to destruction, the road that leads to hell, and eventually the lake of fire. He says this way is broad smooth and many people are going on. But he said that the road that leads to life is very constricted, very narrow, very few there be that find it.

Why is it that so few follow the real Jesus and authentic Christianity? The Bible has said men loved darkness rather than light. They don't want to come to the light. They don't want to have their sins revealed. They don't want to humble themselves. Their favorite song is, “I Did It My Way” And God will allow them the free choice to suffer in eternal agony and torment solely based on the moral choices that they made.

Good works cannot did choose salvation. But if you have no good works are not saved. The Bible says that you're not saved by works of righteousness, but it's according to his mercy that he saved us. But it there are many warnings in the Bible that if we continue in unrighteousness, the Bible says God will not be mocked, you will reap what you sow. If we don't continue in holiness we will be left outside of the kingdom of God. Where Jesus said there is darkness and wailing and gnashing of teeth. In actuality, Jesus spoke much more about hell and heaven.

The Bible warns us over and over again to flee God's wrath. We must run away from sin. We must realize that if we continue to make the wrong moral choices God will judge us for our works.

You cannot work your way into heaven but you can easily work your way in the hell. Even if you're Christian. Sorry, but no such thing as “Once Saved Always Saved”

If you think that all you need to do is go to a church and make a mental decision to be a Christian, in order that you might obtain a “get out of jail free card”, without truly repenting, changing your mind, about sin turning from your sins and turning to God, most like you are not saved. However, even if you are saved, the Bible is filled with warnings, that if you don't repent of your sense, if you continue in a particular sin, you will reap what you sow, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we were saved by faith alone—Sola Fides—the rallying cry of the Protestant Reformation. In actuality, the book of James,, contradicts Luther's battle cry where the Bible says that you are not saved by faith alone, you must have corresponding actions to your faith, there must be works with your faith, otherwise you have a dead faith. Faith without works is dead. It's not faith alone. It's faith with works. That's what the Bible says. I did not make it up.

I personally am not a Protestant, nor my following the Roman Catholic tradition. I have good friends in both camps. I'm a Christian. I based everything I believe what the Bible teaches. Not the traditions of men.

Whether your tradition 1700 years old, as in the case of the Imperial Roman Catholic Church, or 500 years old as in the case of the reformed Catholic church–the Protestant church. Martin Luther wanted to reform, that is,re-form, the Roman Catholic Church to bring it back to the place it was in the day of his theological idol, Augustine. Calvin did the same thing. Both were followers of Augustine of hippo.

While many Christians are followers of Augustine of hippo, I've chosen to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth.

To me it's quite simple. What is the Bible's teach. What did the apostles teach and practice. What did the early Christians teaching practice. And, if that contradicts the new doctrines created after the institution of the Imperial Roman church/state marriage which produced Christendom, or the very end form of Christendom as expressed in the Protestant Reformation, I find that I would rather side with the early Christians, those that were kingdom Christians, those that were authentic Christians, not to say that there are not within both of those camps legitimate, and authentic Christians, I find it much easier and better for us to stick with the early church and what they taught, as they were taught by the disciples, or the disciples of the disciples.

Their practice of Christianity, and the practices that resulted from the marriage of church and state under the Emperor Constantine are entirely different.

And, all of that is part of the spiritual 

warfare that existed. State and spent 300 years persecuting Christians, and he found that, Tertullian the early church historian stated, “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church!” The persecution of the Christians only produce more Christians. Satan had a better idea. Influence Christianity from inside instead of persecuting from outside. His plan worked. Christianity, which became institutionalized, was co-opted by the devil, and formed into a synagogue of Satan, which was reflected in the actions of those leaders whose action was more in keeping with thier father.

The early Roman Imperial Church persecuted other Christians, such as the Donatists, and burned other Christians to the stake. Also they burned some heretics as well. None of this was practiced by the early Christians. Jesus Christ burned no one at the stake! Jesus Christ did not enforce his will on people. The subsequent Crusades that grew out of the institutionalized church was simply an expression of the influence of the devil had. It was his church. They're been true Christians all throughout history, even in the Roman Catholic Church as well as the Protestant churches.

Look up the Anabaptist and Wikipedia to get a look at how a group of people who were first part of the Reformation, now known as the stepchildren of the Reformation, decided to live according to the commandments of Jesus and live the sermon on the Mount. They did not believe that you could be sprinkled with the baby and become a Christian. They believe that you must be born again to enter into the kingdom of heaven. That's very difficult for baby to do. They were pacifists. They took Jesus's words literally. Just like the early Christians. They didn't burn any one of the state who contradicted their believes. Unlike the Protestants who drown them and burn them, as well as the Roman Catholic Church who tried them as heretics, when they found them guilty, tortured and burned them at the stake.

When did Jesus ever say burn heretics at the stake? Which epistle written by Paul, Peter, John the apostle, James, Jude, ever advocated forcing people to believe in Jesus Christ or punishing those who disagreed with them with death?

And yet, this is what many unbelievers think of Christianity. They see the institutionalized church. They see what the institutionalized church has done in the world.

They don't see kingdom Christians. They don't see authentic Christianity. They don't see Christians living as the early Christians did—pacifists, humble, kind, sacrificial, loving, truth speaking, holy living, Bible believing, Christians.

I suppose that is because Jesus so it better than anyone, “the road that leads to life very narrow and very few there be that find it!” Very few are true disciples of Jesus Christ. Are you one?

Or have you chosen the form of godliness that denies the power thereof? Have you chosen a prosperity oriented gospel, that fulfills the American dream for you?

Or, you chosen to follow the narrow way, the way of the cross, the way of Jesus, the way of those saints who've walked the lonely road of being a Kingdom Christian. Being an authentic Christian.

There is a cosmological conflict. And more particularly, that conflict concerns your own soul in your own eternal destination.

Choose your destination wisely! The Lord Jesus Christ, God the father, and the Holy Spirit, will not force you to come to heaven. You must make that choice yourself.

To make that choice you must follow the very words and teachings of Jesus. Not the twisted perversions of those that do not care about your eternal soul.

The prophet Jeremiah said that God was going to send them shepherds after his heart. Shepherds that are not telling people what they want to hear–but what they need to hear!

In our modern society the favorite (profit) prophet of most Christians is the prophet Hananiah. Jeremiah said that they say “peace peace, when there is no peace” are you listening to those that tell you what you want to hear.? Or are you looking for the word of God to sharply discern and you everything that is contrary to God's word, and repenting, and give your life wholeheartedly to?.

Unfortunately, according to Jesus, in the parable of the Sower, three quarters of the seed that falls on the ground does not bear fruit. In essence Jesus is telling us, that of the 100% of those who truly do become Christians, only 25% will bear fruit, and make it into his kingdom. 75% will be lost due to the very factors Jesus delineates in that parable.

God is absolutely merciful. He gives us a chance after chance to repent. Either the book of Revelation Jesus says that he had given Jezebel space to repent, but she wouldn't.

Cry out to God for his infinite mercy, and repent of your sins today, before it's too late. According to the Bible time is short. The culmination of history, and the culmination of this age is about ready to come to an end. The final conflict and battle between God and Satan just around the corner. The Bible speaks of the battle of Armageddon. Jesus Christ is coming back, but is coming back for pure bride, spotless and without wrinkle.

Be blessed in a increased knowledge of the goodness, kindness, and also the severity of God. Bubbles is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of the living God. But there is mercy. Run to the mercy seat while there still is time. Run to Jesus Christ. He awaits you. Humble yourself God will lift you up.

There is no sin that Jesus will not forgive. Confess your sins to Jesus. Repent, have a change of heart and mind. Follow the master.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

SATAN AND THE PROBLEM OF EVIL

Gregory Boyd, Ph.D

Six Theses of the Warfare Worldview

The trinitarian warfare worldview seeks to reconcile our experience of radical evil with the conviction that reality is created and sustained

by an all-loving, all-powerful God. Six principles form the foundation for this view. These principles are based on Scripture’s account of God’s battle with Satan as well as our experience with the war-zone reflected in the world around us.

1. Love Requires Freedom

By definition, love must be freely chosen. We are able to program computers to obey our commands perfectly, but we don’t consider them “loving.” They lack the capacity for love because they have no choice but to do what we say. Humans would be in the same category as computers if God merely “programmed” our actions. In order for creatures to be loving, they must have the freedom to do otherwise.

2. Freedom Implies Risk

The freedom to choose or reject love constitutes a risk for God. Creatures may make choices that oppose his will for their lives and the lives of others. This risk is illustrated throughout Scripture, beginning with the Garden of Eden. Many of us have experienced the painful consequences of misused freedom in our own lives. God considered love to be well worth the risk inherent in giving his creatures freedom.

3. Risk Entails Moral Responsibility

God’s creatures are held responsible for how they use their freedom. We don’t hold computers responsible when they fail because their failure is ultimately the responsibility of their programmers. They could not do other than what they were programmed to do. Because we are free to choose or reject love, we can be held accountable for how our choices affect those around us.

4. Moral Responsibility is Proportionate to the Potential to Influence

The potential a creature has for love is proportionate to the creature’s potential for evil. The greater the creature’s potential for love, the greater risk their freedom entails, for they may choose to use their potential for evil instead. Greater potential also entails greater responsibility for how the potential is used.

5. Power to Influence is Irrevocable

Genuine freedom must be irrevocable. If it can be revoked, creatures cannot be held responsible for their use of it, nor can they fully realize their potential for love. Within the parameters of the freedom God gives creatures, God must tolerate evil. Since God is omnipotent, he is able to accomplish his will within these parameters without compromising his own integrity or limiting the potential of his creatures by revoking their freedom.

6.Power to Influence is Finite

God’s creatures are finite. Although their freedom cannot be revoked, it can be thought of as “probational.” The scope and duration of their freedom is conditioned by many variables and ultimately determined by God’s will. The warfare between God and creatures who choose to use their freedom for evil is not eternal. Christ will vanquish his enemies in the end and creatures will be completely free to participate in the triune love of God at last.

7.What is the Warfare Worldview?

The warfare worldview is based on the conviction that our world is engaged in a cosmic war between a myriad of agents, both human and angelic, that have aligned themselves with either God or Satan. We believe this worldview best reflects the response to evil depicted throughout the Bible. For example, Jesus unequivocally opposed evils such as disease, demonization, and even natural disaster (i.e. Jesus rebuked the storm) as originating in the wills of Satan, fallen angels, and sinful people, rather than of God.

This view is not ontologically dualistic, because while the Bible clearly articulates war between good and evil, it also clearly articulates God’s sovereignty. The battle that is currently raging is not everlasting, and when it ends, we are assured of God’s victory. In fact, the victory has already been won in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ (Col. 2:13–14), but the demise of evil has not yet been fully realized. Christians are called to wage spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:10–17) against evil through prayer, evangelism, and social action.

While most of the apostolic fathers held views that were similar to the warfare worldview, the view which has been prevalent in western church tradition since the 4th century teaches that everything that ever happens, whether good or evil, does so according to God’s will. Thus, the western church has wrestled with the “Problem of Evil” throughout most of its history—and rightly so. The warfare worldview, however, makes sense out of evil, human freedom, the power and urgency of prayer, evangelism, and social action.

Instead of resigning ourselves to our circumstances when we encounter evil, the warfare worldview encourages Christians to revolt against evil as evidence of Satan’s activity, rather than God’s mysterious will. Satan, fallen angels, and sinful people have wills of their own, and they are responsible for everything that happens which is not consistent with the character of God as revealed in Jesus Christ.

Questioning the Blueprint Worldview

The Bible uniformly teaches that God is the Creator of everything and the sovereign Lord of history (e.g. Gen. 1:1; John 1:3; Col. 1:16–17; Deut. 10:14; Dan. 10:34–35; Ps. 135:6ff; Acts 17:24–27; Eph. 1:11). At times he exercises unilateral control over what transpires in history, miraculously intervening to alter the course of nations or of individuals, and even predestining some events long before they come to pass (e.g. Isa. 46:10–11; Acts 2:23, 4:28). Because he is omnipotent, his goal of acquiring a “bride” (the Church) and establishing an eternal kingdom free from all evil will certainly be achieved (e.g. 1 Cor. 15:25–28; Eph. 1:16–23; Col. 1:18–20; Rev. 20:10). Scripture’s majestic portrayal of God is that of a sovereign, omnipotent Creator who is confidently guiding the world toward his desired end.

Many Christians have concluded that in order for God to accomplish his goal for creation, everything that happens in world history must somehow fit into his sovereign plan. This assumption has permeated the Church throughout most of its history. The assumption is often expressed in cliches Christians are sometimes prone to recite when confronting tragedies like cancer, crippling accidents, or natural disasters. Believers sometimes attempt to console themselves and others with statements like, “God has his reasons,” “There’s a purpose for everything,” “Providence writes straight with crooked lines,” and “His ways are not our ways.” (1)

I call this understanding of God’s relationship to the world “the blueprint worldview,” for it assumes that everything somehow fits into meticulous plan and mysterious purposes of God—a divine blueprint. The view takes many different forms, but each version shares the assumption that, whether ordained or allowed, there is a specific divine reason for every occurrence in history. As traditional and popular as the blueprint worldview is, it is not without significant difficulties. For one thing, this view makes it exceedingly difficult to reconcile the evil in our world with the perfect goodness of God, especially when applied to specific instances of suffering and evil...

Introducing the Warfare Worldview

.....Scripture does not support the view that there must be a divine reason behind all events. This brings us to a second and even more fundamental problem with the blueprint worldview: It is, I contend, rooted in an imbalanced reading of the Bible.

While Scripture emphasizes God’s ultimate authority over the world, it also emphasizes that agents, whom God has created, can and do resist his will. Humans and fallen angels are able to grieve his Spirit and to some extent frustrate his purposes (e.g. Gen. 6:6; Isa. 63:10; Luke 7:30; Acts 7:51; Eph. 4:30; Heb. 3:8, 15; 4:7). Scripture refers to this myriad of other angels and humans who refuse to submit to God’s rule as a rebel kingdom (Matt. 12:26; Col. 1:13; Rev. 11:15), and identifies the head of this rebellion as a powerful fallen angel named Satan. It is clear that God shall someday vanquish this rebel kingdom, but it is equally clear that in the meantime, he genuinely wars against it.

This prominent biblical motif expresses what I call the “warfare worldview.” The world is caught up in a spiritual war between God and Satan. Unlike the blueprint worldview, the warfare worldview does not assume that there is a specific divine reason for what Satan and other evil agents do. To the contrary, God fights these opponents precisely because their purposes are working against his purposes.

Suffering takes on a different meaning when it is considered in the context of a cosmic war as opposed to a context in which everything is part of God’s meticulous plan and mysterious higher good. In the warfare worldview we would not wonder about what specific divine reason God might have had in allowing little children to be buried alive in mud or a little girl to be kidnapped. Instead, we would view these individuals as “victims of war” and assign the blame to human or demonic beings who oppose God’s will. Following Scripture, we would of course look to God for comfort in the midst of our suffering, trust that he is working to bring good out of the evil, and find consolation in our confidence that the war will someday come to a glorious end. But we would not look to God’s purposes for the explanation of why any particular evil occurred in the first place. In the warfare worldview, this is understood to be the result of the evil intentions and activity of human and angelic agents.

As is the case with the blueprint worldview, the warfare worldview is not without difficulties. Foremost among these is the question of how this view can be reconciled with the biblical teaching that God is the all-powerful Creator of the world. Since the warfare worldview denies that God always has a specific reason for allowing evil deeds to occur, must it not deny that God is able to prevent events he wishes would not take place? We may state the dilemma this way: It seems we must either believe that God does not prevent certain events because he chooses not to or because he is unable to. The warfare worldview denies that God always chooses not to intervene, for this would require the belief that there is a specific divine purpose behind everything. Hence the warfare worldview must accept that, at least sometimes, God is unable to prevent evil. But how then can we continue to affirm that God is all-powerful?

My conviction is that, unlike the questions that the blueprint worldview raises, this question has a plausible answer. The trinitarian warfare theodicy argues that the answer lies in the nature of love. As Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God’s essence is love (1 John 4:8, 16). God created the world for the purpose of displaying his triune love and inviting others to share in it (cf. John 17:20–25). I argue that it was not logically possible for God to have this objective without risking the possibility of war breaking out in his creation. The possibility of love among contingent creatures such as angels and humans entails the possibility of war. Six theses follow from the nature and risk of love. These theses, if accepted, render intelligible the warfare worldview of Scripture as well as the problem of evil.

End Notes

(1) This assumption extends to our broader culture as well, as evidenced, for example, by the fact that insurance policies customarily refer to natural disasters as “acts of God.”

(2) See e.g. K. Surin, Theology and the Problem of Evil (Oxford: Blackwell, 1986); T. W. Tilley, The Evils of Theodicy (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1990); and M. Scott, “The Morality of Theodicies,” Religious Studies 32, no. 1 (1996), 1–13.

(3) See W. Kaufman, ed., Religion from Tolstoy to Camus (New York and Evanston: Harper and Row, 1961), 137–44.

 8 He who is destitute of love has never had any knowledge of God; because God is love.

Celui qui n’aime pas n’a pas connu Dieu, car Dieu est amour.

El que no ama, no conoce á Dios; porque Dios es amor.

What Is Love?

Saturday, as many of you know, was the birthday of John Lennon, he would've been 70 this year. In what most likely is one of his most famous songs, “all you need is love”. And, in reality, he wasn't far off of the mark.

But the world is not a place filled with love, is it? Most people are selfish. The Bible says that God is love. And that he was walking in love is abiding in God. God's kind of love is unconditional. There are no prerequisites that must be fulfilled in order for God to love you. God loves you just the way you are—and he loves you so much that he won't leave you the way you are, either!

God's love was demonstrated by the ultimate sacrifice of his own son, the Lord Jesus. The Bible says that God so loved the world that he gave his only born son, that whoever would believe in him, would not perish, but live, and have eternal life.

To be an authentic Christian means to walk the same way that Jesus Christ did. Jesus loved everyone. When one reads the New Testament we find Jesus angry at the religious leaders of his day—the Pharisees. Who were the Pharisees?

Wikipedia describes the Pharisees as follows:

An important binary in the New Testament is the opposition between law and love. Accordingly, the New Testament, particularly the Synoptic Gospels, presents the Pharisees as obsessed with man-made rules (especially concerning purity) whereas Jesus is more concerned with God’s love; the Pharisees scorn sinners whereas Jesus seeks them out. (The Gospel of John, which is the only gospel where Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea are mentioned, portrays the sect as more divided and more willing to debate) Because of the New Testament's frequent depictions of Pharisees as self-righteous rule-followers (see also Woes of the Pharisees), the word "pharisee" (and its derivatives: "pharisaical", etc.) has come into semi-common usage in English to describe a hypocritical and arrogant person who places the letter of the law above its spirit.

And yet, Jesus loved the Pharisees. Jesus Christ died on the cross for  the Pharisees. However, he loves the Pharisees so much that he told them the truth—he told them what they needed to hear not what they wanted to hear.

God love is not license nor is it legalism. God will love you, and to let you do whatever you want, he will even let you choose the path to hell, because of his love he will not violate your free will. Love is not license. The Bible says that the parent to disciplines as child loves his child. God, at times disciplines us, because he loves us. And the Bible also says that discipline at the time was not pleasant, but it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

I think that many people have a misconception of what God is like. God, is not a in heaven with a baseball bat just waiting for you to make a mistake, so he can hit you. That's not the God of the Bible. I've read through the entire Bible numerous times. And the more that authentic Christians read through the Bible the more we get to know God's character. God's character is consistent.

Even in God's dealing with the nation of Israel which it called out to be his special people, was done with the utmost of his love, and their best interest at heart. Yet, even through a long history of disobedience by his people, we never see God say that he didn't love them any longer. He pled with them to repent. His heart was always tender towards them.

God's heart is tender towards you. Even if you're living in disobedience, that does not change God's attitude of love towards your heart. God's love for you it is not based on your performance or you're fulfilling of certain criteria by which finally God will love you. God's will is for you to be obedient. His love for you is unconditional. Your obedience or disobedience won't change God's love for you. However, your disobedience to God is a demonstration of your lack of love for him. And the consequences of our disobedience are eternal.

God's love is patient, God's love is kind, God in his great mercy showed us the pathway to be like his son Jesus, by means of picking up our cross, denying ourselves, our ambitions, and following in the footsteps of the Master. The love of Jesus was manifest in his forthright speaking to the Pharisees, his tender love for little children, and his loving acceptance of social outcasts of his day.

Think of how it must have been to be a tax collector, like Matthew, part of a despised segment of first century Jewish culture under Roman occupation. Tax collectors were despised. And yet Jesus made a person like Matthew, a despised tax collector, feel loved so much that he invited them to dinner. We see in another incidence of Jesus's love for the outcast when Zacchaeus was up in the tree, just wanting to get a glimpse of Jesus, Jesus called them down to have dinner with him. This love that Jesus had for such an outcast Zacchaeus caused Zacchaeus to repent of his sins. The love that he felt from Jesus was the trigger point in his conversion.

In our daily lives, to be a true  authentic remnant Christian, one must walk in the love of Jesus. We are tested daily. Many times it's not strangers but with those close to us with that our love is tested. When a person comes to know Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God comes to dwell on that person, and the fruit of the Holy Spirit, not our fruit, his love.

Those that are born of God, those that truly have repented of their sins and been born again, now have the ability to love the unlovable, and to overflow with the lovingkindness and mercy of Jesus Christ to the world that is lost in a thick blanket of darkness when they shine is bright lights.

We must walk in God's love. And the proof of our love for God, the way our love is tested and tried, is in our relationships with our neighbors, especially with those that are closest to us.

Again, in the same letter of first John that describes God as love, he says that perfect love casts out fear, because fear has tormented. The answers to our fears is to be overflowing with the fullness God's love

The apostle John writes in that passage, “let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loves is born of God, he that does not love, does not know God, for God is love!”

God is love

The Harvest Is Past,The Summer Is Ended, And We Are Not Saved

The Harvest Is Past,The Summer Is Ended, And We Are Not  Saved 

In my opinion, the best way for us to achieve authentic Christianity is by constantly reading the word of God and maintaining a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Main thing is to keep the Main thing The Main thing!

I've found over the last four years as I have been using a One year Bible, an excellent way to read through the Bible in one year, it is divided up into four parts: excerpt from the old Testament, new Testament reading, portion of the Psalms, and the portion of The Proverbs,that we should constantly fill ourselves with the word of God in order to discern between authentic Christianity and the counterfeit. This can only be achieved by having a working understanding of God's nature and ways as revealed in his Word. Anything that contradicts that is false. 

It really only takes about 10 to 15 minutes to read your daily Scripture portion. It's great because it gives you in a years time complete overview of the Bible.

In addition to doing this daily Bible reading I encourage people to either purchase or download For free, especially the Alexander Scourby version, the Bible on MP3. If you just Google his name you be able to find for free King James version of the Bible in MP3 format. Just having that on in  the background, as you're doing mundane housework chores, or if you have a job where you're able to listen to something, especially manual type labor, you can be filling yourself up with the word of God,is beneficial

It is important to note that in the early church the letters in the Gospels were read out loud. Majority of people couldn't read, and the only way they came to know the word of God was I hearing the word of God in their house church meetings.

My contention is that we, especially in the West, are influenced by our culture rather than allowing ourselves as Christians to be influenced by the word of God, and that would by its very nature will  change our own personal culture. There's nothing wrong with culture per se, however, when any given culture contradicts the word of God—we must bow to the Bible–not tradition—not even our own cultural strongholds. Generally, we are unaware of her own cultural strongholds, but people from outside of our particular culture can see it quite clearly. That is where stereotypes are made of different people groups.

The early church listened to the preached Word of God, to the word of God being read out loud to them in their house church meetings, and watched the word of God being lived out in the lives of their leaders, and brothers and sisters.

They changed their culture according to where their culture conflicted with the words that they were hearing from the apostles, the disciples of the apostles,as well as their spiritual offspring that developed in the first 300 years of Christianity.

I think it's a mistake if we think that by having meetings in houses versus “church buildings”, or being relational or all of the other things that go along with trying to imitate the noninstitutional and organic nature of the early church primarily by imitating the scaffolding or structure that we see, is authentic Christianity. 

The primacy of the early church was Jesus. The relationship that the church had with the Lord Jesus and their strict adherence to the “faith that was once delivered to the saints” vis-à-vis the preached word and the Bible, that letters of Paul, James, Peter, and John, as well of the Gospels being read out loud and their meetings.

The early church believed literally the words of the Lord Jesus. They literally lived the sermon on the Mount. Can we say that of the church today? Or, as I've heard too many times, “well, Jesus didn't really mean that!” And, “you got to be kidding–I don't believe that” or the all-time favorite of the modern worldly and culturally acceptable Christian, “that's not what the Greek means” or “that was for then–that doesn't apply now”

Jesus said that we will be judged by his word. If we reject the words of the Lord Jesus Christ he will reject us. There's nothing mysterious about the words of Jesus and his teachings. We don't need to go to seminary goer “cemetery” and study the Bible in the original languages and learn theology blah, blah, blah blah blah. I'm not against learning languages. I have studied five languages. That's not the point, what you need in my opinion, you need the Holy Spirit. If you don't have the Holy Spirit teaching you and all of your worldly knowledge of ancient languages is not able to help you to understand and more importantly to perform the words that Jesus commands us to follow. Jesus says that if we love him to keep his commands.

Without a living relationship with Jesus you cannot keep his commands—and if you don't know when his commands are, I'd venture to say, it would be difficult to keep something that you don't know. The Bible says that faith comes by hearing; and hearing the word of God.

The modern Christian likes the idea of being a Christian—but he doesn't like the idea of acting like Christ.

The modern Christian does not want to go to hell, in fact and reality doesn't really believe anybody goes to hell, especially his favorite movie idol or worldly music idol that he listens to as a feast upon that which has been offered the idols.

The modern Western Christian has a favorite preacher—she's a woman! And to top it all off, she is a prophetess! Her name is Jezebel.

The modern cool relevant church, the large mega-churches, preach a one-sided gospel–Jesus loves you. But the Jesus that they're preaching challenges no one to change their lifestyle. If most modern day pastors were to preach to their large, well fed, rich congregations the words literally to be taken, the literal words of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5, 6, 7, and warn people if they didn't heed the words of Jesus Christ they couldn't be a Christian, if they didn't live literally the words of Jesus in these chapters–they would not go to heaven. I venture to say most of the people would walk out of the church–immediately.

30 years ago a Christian could not divorce his spouse and be remarried and remain in fellowship with other Christians. Other Christians would've shunned them. That is because divorce and remarriage was not acceptable in the church 30 years ago. Jesus Christ taught that you couldn't get divorced and remarried. 

The early church taught that you could not get divorced and remarried while your first spouse was alive. But now, since it is culturally acceptable for Christians, especially, who have a higher divorce rate than non-Christians, to divorce their spouses and find a new and better model! 

This contradicts the clear teaching of Jesus Christ. Yet, how many of us know Christians that are on their third fourth spouse!? And they think they're going to heaven? The early church would've excommunicated them. The early church would've been very loving to these people by telling them the truth–that the lake of fire awaits them if they don't repent.

Western church pastors tell people what they want to hear not what they need to hear! Their favorite prophet is Hananiah not Jeremiah.

The early church taught—if you don't believe it look it up yourself—no remarriage while the first spouse is alive. This did not change until the 16th century during the Protestant Reformation when Erasmus came up with the idea that there were some exceptions where one could be divorced and remarried.

If I offend you into heaven—you'll thank me! But if I hold the truth from you, and you end up in the lake of fire, the cursed me!

The prophet Jeremiah said “how can you say, “we are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us”?… from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, “peace, peace,” when there is no peace.

 Were they ashamed when they committed abominations? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall upon the fallen; when I punish them they shall be overthrown, says the Lord when I would have gathered them, declares the Lord, there are no grapes on the vine, no figs on the fig tree; even the leaves are withered, and what I gave them is passed away from them.”

Jeremiah 8: 1 , 10-13.

The early Christians also were pacifists until the Roman Catholic theologian Augustine introduced the idea of “Just War”

The Early Christians Literally Followed the Words of the Lord Jesus Christ, They Did Not Resist Evil, They Loved Their Enemies. Just as Jesus had taught them. They did not sue people. They were absolutely apolitical. They lived quiet and holy lives–they were good citizens of whatever country they lived in–they had no desire to rebel–nor did they seek to involve themselves in politics in order to force Christianity on the masses.

The institutional church was the direct result of the marriage of politics and religion. Christianity and Constantine. Up until then Christians were respected for their holy lifestyles, peaceful lives they lead, and charitable acts of mercy for the poor. They never tried to force their beliefs by any measure on other people. They preach the gospel with simplicity and sincerity, and in the words of St. Francis of Assisi, who said, “preach the Gospel always–sometimes use words!”

The center of the lives of these early believers during the crucial first 300 years of The Church, was the person of Jesus and their love relationship with him, and as Jesus had said that they would be known as his disciple by their love for one another, and their love for their enemies, the persecutors, those that slandered them.

It is my contention that the Christendom that developed out of the institutional church, albeit there were some godly leaders throughout the 1700 years of institutional Christianity that really did know the Lord Jesus and live holy lives, as well as true Christians within the institutional church, was the antithesis of what Jesus preached. Jesus said, “my kingdom is not of this world” and institutionalized Christianity says the opposite.

For further reading of what the early church was like I would encourage you to go to www.scrollpublishing.com which is a website that has an awful lot of great reading material, as well as audio, concerning Kingdom Christianity versus the institutionalized version of Christendom. Which in reality is a different religion, in reality a different faith. It is not the faith that was once delivered to the saints.

One caveat, many people who feel that they're part of the “Remnant” Church have an acrimonious and bitter spirit towards any kind of spiritual authority, any kind of biblical leadership, and even if some of their observations are true their bitter spirit poisons any waters that they offered others to drink. They tend to be isolated from the body of Christ. They tend not to want to go to church, because of all of the hypocrites. Or there lack of understanding of kingdom Christianity. They tend to be rebellious.

I honestly love the body of Christ. I understand that there are many true, loving, believers within the institutional church whether they are Catholic or Protestant. I am neither–I'm a Christian. And I can fellowship with anybody that loves Jesus. That doesn't mean I have to agree with all of their doctrines to fellowship with them. I can disagree without being disagreeable. And I think this is what happens to many, especially young people, is a find out about what authentic Christianity is like, if gets filled with pride, and become extremely critical of any other Christians. This is the antithesis of Kingdom Christian. The true Kingdom Christian should be humble. There go I. but for the grace of God should be our motto. It should never be arrogant or think were better than anyone else.

Throughout 2000 years of Christianity there's always been a remnant people of God in various church structures whether they be Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant.

And, we can actually learn from all these different Christians. Personally, I am mostly influenced by the Anabaptists, our churches more or less a Pentecostal Anabaptist church.

And, saying all that, just because we're trying to follow the literal words of Jesus in our trying to have church more in keeping with the nature of the early church in its organic expression, that doesn't mean that we love Jesus.If we don't love Jesus having correct doctrine means nothing. If we don't love one another having correct doctrine means nothing.  if we are not returning good for evil then are orthodox doctrine means nothing if were not doing the word but just hearing it!

Look, I don't think I'm better than anyone else, and I don't claim to know everything, I'm just a simple follower of Jesus. And I'm able to love the body of Christ at large even those that are trapped within institutionalized Christianity. I am not to judge the motives of their heart. I am commanded by Jesus to inspect fruit. When I see the fruit of doctrines that are, in my opinion, demonic  Am not going to reject them , I will pray for that that person, or persons, or church,  in order to have a greater revelation of the word of God. But I refuse  to be a schismatic debating type of Christian, always with an ax to grind! remember, in the book of Galatians, Paul warns us that people that are are divisive and schismatic, which is a work of the flesh, will not inherit the kingdom of heaven!

And, saying all that, doesn't mean I'm an go out and  Sing Kumbayah with everybody and their brother and not challenge them. I just want to challenge people with a heart full of love and a desire to see people, as  well as myself, be transformed into the image of Christ. And not the culture!

Let's return to apostolic Christianity.