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A FORGETFUL GOD 6Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? (Luke 12:)
My mother developed what we suppose was Alzheimer before she died. She forgot who I was. We had to watch her because she would forget that a microwave was not an oven and she would put her metal cooking utensils in it. Our neighbors would tell us she was wandering the sidewalk of the neighborhood. My mother had an excuse for being forgetful, she was old. My father became senile in his older years. He would imagine that he was traveling down the highway in a bus or a truck, and this while he lay in a nursing home bed. My father was blind, but he was certain he saw cats in his room that we 'seeing' people were blind to. My father had an excuse for his forgetfulness. He was old. I heard of a lady who in her elderly years had forgotten how to chew. She had to be reminded to chew the food that was in her mouth or else she would die of starvation having forgotten that we must eat to live. This lady had an excuse being forgetful. She was old. When a person grows old and forgetful they must have someone around to remind them of what they have forgotten. I haven't reached that stage - yet. But those described above had reached that stage. And fortunately, they had someone around to watch over them and to correct their forgetfulness.
We can forgive the forgetfulness of our elderly. They just cannot remember to remember the important things. And we must forgive God for His forgetfulness as well. But aren't we fortunate that, like our old folks, we have someone willing to remind God, and us, of what He has forgotten? People who stand ready to remind our elderly of what they've forgotten are called "Caretakers." Some caretakers are hired by the state or the family of the elderly person to take care of that person. People who watch over God and His Word to correct the mistakes that God makes are called "Theologians." Theologians are highly trained people skilled in the knowledge of finding and explaining things that have been lost, misplaced, hidden, forgotten, or in some other way not made clear to us in the Bible. These people watch over the forgetfulness of God. And I'm sure God must be very thankful for these theologians, caretakers of the Word. Without them, the theologians, you and I would have been forever in darkness as to what God is trying to do, and what He wants to tell us.
Hell, as we have been told since the beginning of writing, is in the center of the earth. When this theory was first imagined the earth, it appears, was a flat thing, or a square, or in some other way it would allow for a few thousand people with coal shovels to live and work. Dante gave us a vivid picture of this very thing, which we still have with us today as an example of hell, having no other example to go by. Like Heaven, God forgot to give us a very clear picture of where most of His creation will spend eternity. An oversight I'm sure. It's hard to remember every little thing. But it seems to me that Adam might have given more serious thought before biting into that apple if he had been told he would spend eternity shoveling coal, rather than what God told him, that being that he would return to dust. Aren't we glad we have the theologians to set us straight on that matter? Now, when we sin and ignore the call of God, we can understand the hell we're to experience because of our decision. We don't fool ourselves into thinking death means death like God told Adam it meant. Oh, how blessed we are to have the theologian, especially when we have such a forgetful God.
Satan was a naughty angel. And having a naughty heart, he thought he could tell God what to do, and even be like God and take God's place. There was a mighty war in Heaven as Lucifer and his legion of misfits brought out their big guns and battled it out with Michael, Gabriel, and I suppose Jesus as well since He must have been there too. Satan lost the war, and God cast him and his fallen angels down to earth. Isn't that an amazing story? Just amazing. Have you read the story about Lucifer and his fall? You haven't? Haven't you read the Bible? The story is right there. All you have to do is know which jot to push aside and which tittle to discard, and there it is, plain as day. And besides, what else do you think was going on all those billions of years before Adam and Eve? You don't think God was up there on His throne twittering His thumbs wondering what to do with Himself do you?
I suspect that God, being so very old as He is, thinks in the terms of a long, long time when He says forever. I look in the first five books of the Bible and I see the words "forever" many, many times. The word usually follows another word used very often by God, and that is the word "Statutes." Just what is a statute? According to the Hebrew a statute is: "an enactment, law or a decree." Since I don't speak Hebrew, I decided to look up the word in my dictionary. It says a statute is: "a law or a rule." In my mind this is saying the same thing. God said over and over that His laws, His statutes, were to be upheld "Forever." Does that mean until He changes His mind, or until we decides to alter His meaning? I don't think it does. But there are many among us who apparently think this is what God means when He says "forever." But we must remember, God is very old, and He tends to forget things, especially the little things that strongly effect our eternal soul.
Fortunately we have the theologian to set us straight on this matter. If they hadn't, we would still be trying hard to do what is right in order to avoid spending eternity in a place where they shovel coal day and night. And what kind of world would this be if we were all trying to do the right thing, just because it's the right thing to do?
How blessed we are to have theologians who spend their day and nights in their humble palatial mansion studying up ways whereby we can sidestep the misgotten things of God and still experience the blessings of the Christian life. What would we do without them?
Ridding ourselves of the Book of Revelation might ease our mind a tad or two, but unfortunately we also have the Book of Ezekiel, and Isaiah, and the other prophets who spoke of that coming day. We can't tear all those books out of our Bible can we? And even if we could, we still have the Words of Jesus describing the event in the other Gospels. No, we're stuck with the Tribulation. Theologians to the rescue. How can we avoid looking at the Tribulation? Well, the theologians have come up with several different approaches whereby we may pretend like we won't have to experience the Wrath of God. We would like to assume that God merely forgot that He is a loving God and is no longer angry at the world for our sins, and for killing His only begotten Son in such a hideous fashion. But even our theologians have given up hope following this way of thinking. But they are not stumped. No indeed. They are up to par and they've come up with several alternatives. One way we might avoid the inevitable is to see it as something that will never happen, or that will occur many centuries in the future. Some have taken that course of thought, but it is far from the prevailing view. Mostly it's those belonging to no Christian faith, or to an offshoot Christian church who might take such a view. Another more commonly accepted view is that the Tribulation, and all prophesy, is in the past. There is nothing but good things that lie ahead. That's a difficult stance to take when the world is getting worse and worse, but it still has its adherents. A third perspective one might take is to see themselves gone during the Tribulation. This is the prevailing view on most fronts. And it's the view cinema makers can appreciate because it lends itself so well to the science fiction and fantasy genre which so many of us love to watch and read. In this pictograph we have the Church of wonderful believers, which, don't you know, all Christians who believe the right things, who are going to the right church, and were baptized in the right way, belong to - being whisked away into the sky to who knows where, thus escaping the horrible things that's happening to this sinful earth. To substantiate this theory, the theologian once more had to step in and correct the forgetfulness of God. It appears that God forgot to tell us about a secret appearing of Jesus whereupon He will personally come, riding on a cloud, and rapture His Church, His bride, to never-never land. At one time in recent history there was another very small group of about 40 people who believed much the same way. They thought Jesus was coming, not on a cloud, but in a rocket ship behind a comet. And to prepare for His secret coming, they did some strange things to themselves, then they laid down peacefully and allowed themselves to be suffocated. A bazaar way of thinking you say? Yes, it's one of the bazaar ways of thinking, this I must admit. Beyond the secret rapture theory there are other variations that do not involve an escape from the Tribulation, but rather a protection from the Holocaust. This usually involves some form of preparedness such as making one just as suitable for the presence of God as is possible. And this frequently involves the following of the Holy Spirit, Who's purpose it is to lead the faithful into such a readiness. This view is not very popular because it involves the Christian doing something about their own salvation, a concept shunned by the modern theologian.
Some commentators and theologians do not take the extreme view of God being totally blind, they just say that once the initial confession, that of having been a dreadful sinner, is accomplished, then no more is needed. In fact, any more than the initial confession puts one in the place of those confessors mentioned previously. Confession is a no-no. Repentance on the other hand seems to be a bit more vague. What is repentance? Some theologians say repentance is letting God make you into what He wants you to be. That's an interesting take I must say. I take it that if I fail, once I've been saved, that it's God's fault if I don't live up to His standards. Hmmm.
The word "overcomer" is not in the Bible, not in exactly that form it isn't. The Bible says "He who overcomes." And this is a concept most generally found in the Book of Revelation, the book theologians like to avoid as much as possible because it's too confusing and it conflicts with the other doctrines they've discovered. In fact, there are some famous and well known theologians throughout history that say the Book of Revelation shouldn't be in the Bible at all. And I've seen where at least one of these theologians claimed the Book of Revelation is nothing but an account of a madman's dream. Hmmm. I find it interesting that the modern theologians and pastors avoid the Book of Revelation, except when they want to add some spice to their sermons and stories recounting how exciting the Tribulation will be. Oh, but I must remember to mention, they're sure to tell their listeners that they will miss this event, except as spectators viewing the excitement from a hoovering cloud. Do you know what an Overcomer is? If you try to learn for yourself what an overcomer is it will scare you to death. Thankfully the theologians have taken the bite out of the word by saying an overcomer is a person who has been baptized. Do yourself a favor, curl up on your sofa with a tall one and accept what the theologians tell you. Don't listen to what God tells you. Remember, He tends to forget things like the fact that you, the Christian is saved and wonderful just the way you are.
Why do we have the Old Testament in our Bible? The Old Testament is much larger than our New Testament. Is there a reason why almost every Bible comes with both books? Paul said: 6Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. 10Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 11Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. (1Cor 10:) Much of what we know about Jesus and of God the Father comes from the Old Testament. The Old Testament is the foundation upon which the New Testament is built. Without the Old Testament the New Testament wouldn't make much sense. In fact, we find, if we look out in the open and not behind hidden jots and tittles, that much, if not almost everything Jesus and the Apostles said was directly from the Old Testament, and this often in quotes. So why do we try and disregard what the Old Testament is showing and telling us? I believe it's for the same reason we don't like the Book of Revelation: It's not telling us what we want to hear.
Theologians are not a truth unto themselves. I suspect each of us are expected to be a theologian (be learned in the Word) by our Creator. David takes pride in the fact that he was a theologian. Paul tells us that we are to study the Word in effort to rightly divide the Word of Truth. And we're told to search the Scriptures in order to know and believe that Jesus is in fact the awaited Messiah. This sounds to me like we're supposed to be the very thing I make fun of. My point is not if the theologian is right or if he is wrong. There are theologians in every religion, in every denomination, and in every what is called a cult. And I suspect, or at least I hope that each and every one of those theologians are sincere in their search. But we must keep in mind, that although a theologian is sincere, that does not make them right, which is evidenced by the fact that there are thousands of views and thousands of denominations. What's important is that each of us search the Scriptures ourself, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, and decide what is true or what is not true. We will have to stand or fall according to what we believe, and for how well we follow that which we believe. We won't be able to point our finger at a theologian or a preacher and say we only did what we were told to do. God said we're to answer to Him, and to listen to His voice, not someone who says they're the voice of God, or that supposedly understands the will of God.
Theologians are a way of life, especially in the Christian Church. What we believe, and what we hope will save us is highly dependant upon one theologian's view or another. Considering this, it might do us well to understand just what a theologian is. Of course we know a theologian is someone who is well versed in the Word, as well as in all religions of the world. But we should also keep in mind that being well versed does not mean a person accepts or believes what they are well versed in. There are theologians who have studied the Word for no other reason than to discount what they find. One such group of theologians is highly visible in the media, and their undermining doctrines are very popular and well presented as far as cinematography is concerned. Have you ever wondered just what a theologian looks for when he or she studies the Bible? What is the mindset of such a one? How much influence does the Holy Spirit, that is, does God have upon their studies? Of the many aspects of theology there are two I think you should be aware of in particular. One of these aspects is that of logic. A theologian is expected to use his intellect, his rational mind to uncover the truths of the Bible. He is to find a way to explain to the uninitiated, the unskilled in the ways of God, what God is saying and what God is doing. Does this sound to you more like science than it does Spirituality? Yes, that is precisely what the study of theology is: Science. And if you consider that it's science that has given us the concepts of evolution, the Big Bang, and the many other concepts that have confused and misguided the world and the Church, you might be better able to understand why there are so many schisms and divisions in the Church. Theology, as it is seen today, is trying hard to compromise, that is intertwine, the beliefs of the world with those of the Bible. To the churches, and to the theologian, the primary purpose of the Church is to bring people to agreement with the Church, and to have everyone baptized. In this way they feel they are saving the souls of the lost. This may very well sound like a noble cause, and if their fundamental understanding of the Bible was correct, then I would have to agree. However, when we read the Word of God through the eyes of the Apostles rather than the eyes of the theologian, then we see that the purpose of the Church is to prepare the Christian for the presence of God. This was the purpose of the wilderness journey the Israelites had to take. This is the training ground the Apostles had to follow. And this is the testing ground Jesus said all who follow Him must accept and take. This has all but been forgotten in the modern churches. And for this, we have the compromising efforts of the theologian to thank. The second effort of the theologian is that of a defense of the Gospel. By this it is meant a defense of Christianity and its beliefs. In times past, when Christians were under heavy persecution, it was necessary to prove the validity and the reality of the Christian faith. Then when Christianity became popular, it was no longer necessary to defend the Bible and its views, but instead to defend and prove one's denominational views. This is what we have today. The Bible is not what is being presented to the world or to the churches, but in its place the doctrinal beliefs of each of the denominations is being set forth. One step lower on the Christian scale, below that of the denominations, is the Universalist view of Christianity. We can see the inroad tracks of this Universalist view as it works it's way into the Mainline and Traditional churches. Threads of this effort are Unconditional salvation, Abortion, Sexual orientation, Women in the ministry, Universal acceptance of everyone and everything, Refraining from preaching about sin in general, Jesus being but one appearance of God in human form, Lack of respect demonstrated toward the sanctuary, Emphasis on entertainment over praise, Catering to the young rather than concentrating on maturity of the believer, and other such doctrines that Jesus and the Apostles warned us would befall the Church in these latter days. While the world is trying, with much success, to distort, compromise, and infiltrate the Church, the denominations are reinforcing their denominational walls with Articles of Faith, Core Beliefs that separate them from other groups of believers. Jesus said that a house divided must fall. We, the Church, are not only divided, but we take great pride in our divisiveness and our battles with other believers not part of our camp. Walls, however, do not only keep others out, those we consider the "Enemy," but they give a false sense of security to those within the walls. Because of this false sense of security, the enemy already within the walls has a greater freedom to undermine and contaminate those within the walls. The Bible tells us that when leprosy is found in a person, that person must be put out of the camp. Paul gives us a vivid picture of this very thing in Corinthians, using leaven and an active sin as our example of a form of leprosy. We also see that a building that is contaminated with leprosy must be torn down and taken outside the camp. God presented us with an unmistakable example of this when He had the Temple destroyed, and the people who were contaminated driven from the land He calls His own. Yet we of the Church do not learn from history, instead we believe as did the Jews: "It's different with us, we're God's special people." We no longer try to isolate the sinner and convince him or her of the need to change their ways. Instead we justify their sin, and we invite the sinner to preach from the pulpit. We are one step away from Ecumenicalism. Ecumenicalism is, as is denominationalism, a dividing process. It is a mathematical equation that takes its number to its lowest denominator. The Church is already at it's lowest division in many churches, and it's traveling down a rapid slope in many of the others. How very little it will take for the World View to become the Church View, at which time we will have Ecumenicalism in full swing. Paul tells us: God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1Cor 2:) 1And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 4For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? (1Cor 3:) 5For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Rom 8:) Yet we find the theologian feels, as does the scientist, and the humanist, that they must use their carnal mind to figure out the things of God. And what they learn, we are taught. And what we are taught, we are expected to believe. And it's our belief, our faith, that will save us.
1When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without. 2And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face. (Hosea 7:) 16Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. 17And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 18Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. (Mal 3:) 32Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. 33And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. (Ex 32:) 11And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Rev 20:)
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