Less “Reform”, More Revival

Posted on by Alex

In the aftermath of last weekend’s Las Vegas massacre, Democrats came out almost immediately and called for new gun control regulations. Republicans came out and defended the Second Amendment, and back and forth we went.

When a maniac in a Dodge Charger drove into a crowd in Charlottesville, we began fighting over what statues were now deemed too racist to stand. The media blamed Trump for bringing racism back to America, and the GOP reflexively started defending the First Amendment.

These types of reactions and counter-reactions make up the political dance we’ve become accustomed to. Allegations and arguments are becoming so tired and shallow that it takes only a new voice, rather than new idea, to seemingly supercharge political partisan hacks.

Rather than rally for gun control, healthcare reform, or ending racism, why are there no calls for revival?

We live in a nation that, as of last year, claims to be 77% Christian, though only about 20% seem to take it seriously enough to go to church once a week. Yet when a sadistic mass murderer spends $50,000 on weapons and ammo so that he could spray bullets into a crowd of innocent concert goers, not one talking head called for people to get saved. Some on CNN and Fox News called for A savior, but no one called for THE Savior.

Did the evangelical political hero, President Donald J. Trump, mention one word about turning to God? Where was Osteen? He tweeted out a general platitude, like most Christians, saying to trust in the Lord. Other politicians sent “thoughts and prayers” to the victims and their families. This is a lovely gesture, and as a resident Las Vegan, I appreciate prayers. Prayers work. However, prayer is not salvation. While everyone has been concerned with the physical health and safety of all in Las Vegas, it seems like few, if any, have been concerned with our souls.

In a “Christian” nation, millions of people should have been out in the streets witnessing for Christ and sending out invitations to church. Instead, we hit Twitter and started arguing about gun rights with complete strangers.

Jimmy Kimmel, a devout practicing Catholic, used his powerful platform to demonize the NRA and legal firearm owners rather than conduct an altar call and preach the gospel. Many others followed this pattern.

There is no more relevant time to witness to the unsaved than after a national tragedy. It’s never “too soon”, but it is often too late to do so.

You never know when an armed gunman will strike where you are.

You never know when a bomb will destroy the building you’re in.

You never know if you’re on a plane with someone who wants to crash it.

You never know when a drunk driver will come from out of nowhere and take your life.

Last Sunday night’s events were a reminder of our fleeting mortality. Life can end when you least expect it. Are you confident in your beliefs on the afterlife? Are you sure you are just going to become worm food? Are you positive that you will be reincarnated until you reach Nirvana?

I am 100% positive that I will be in Heaven with God and Jesus Christ when I die. I will not waver from that belief.

If you are questioning, at all, what happens when you die, talk to me. Yes, I am being an opportunist. I am taking advantage of fear and tragedy. That’s because I want you all to be as sure as I am that your eternity is secure.

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Notes on Deuteronomy 30-34

Posted on by Alex

God wants us to hear, learn, and fear the LORD (Deut. 31:12-13). This order is repeated twice. We are to hear and learn the Word of God, then we are to fear Him. I believe this is because the more we learn of God, the more we cannot help but fear him. Unfortunately, our modern churches don’t actually teach the Word of God, and Christians do not fear the LORD.

Why should we fear God? Just look at the threats made to Israel (and the threats have become real since) in Deut. 31:17. God’s anger is kindled, he forsook them, hid his face from them, and devoured them. This sounds like a God you should fear.

God is described as the Rock (Deut. 32:4), which is not the same as Simon Peter (the rock) on whom the Catholic Church has been built (according to them). Our Rock is Jesus Christ, not Peter. The Christian church is built on Christ. Psalm 62:6-7 says “He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.”

Again, this is not talking about Peter, but God and Christ.

Deut. 32:8 once again shows the “negativity” of The Bible. It says that the most High (God) “divided,” “separated,” and set “bounds.” These are not inclusive, uniting words. They are divisive. Christians “are not of the world” (John 17:16), and should be divided, separated, and have bounds that we should not cross.

Modern Christians cross those bounds as often as we can, don’t we?

God also warns us of sacrificing “unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not” (Deut. 32:17).

I think this idea of new gods is pertinent to the entire world. When we think of gods, we think of the ancient Roman and Greeks; of Zeus, Jupiter, Apollo, Thor, Odin, Shiva, Buddha, etc. We scoff at the very idea that we would ever worship a god.

However, we worship NEW gods. We pray at the altar of celebrity, sports, and television. We build shrines to Tom Cruise or Jennifer Lawrence. We pray to “the football gods” when our team takes the field. We attend the church that Babe Ruth built.

The statistics on church attendance during football season are staggering. About 40% of men and 18% of women watch more than six hours of football a week, while less than 20% attend church for even one hour, and 22% of churchgoers would skip church for football.

We worship new gods alright.

What America has become is “a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them” (Deut. 32:28). We are walking the same path that the Israelites were on over 3,000 years ago. The very path that led to their scattering, suffering, and destruction is the one that we are gleefully running down.

Why? Because we have forgotten to fear the LORD.

Deut. 32:31 says “their rock is not as our Rock.” Peter, the Pope, Mohammad, Buddha, Odin, Zeus; these are the rocks that other religions are built on. Jesus Christ, the LORD is the Rock that should be our foundation. The Jewish religions missed that mark as well, as they deny that Christ is Messiah. Their only refuge is that they are God’s chosen people whom He promised to restore. Christians, that promise is not given to America. When God destroys our nation, there will be no coming back.

These are the warnings the God gave us through Moses; the only prophet “whom the LORD knew face to face” (Deut. 34:10). No matter the claims from the Vatican or Mecca, none are as great a prophet as Moses who died before entering the Promised Land.

Notes on Deuteronomy 14-20

Posted on by Alex

The Israelites are a “peculiar people” (Deut. 14:2), which is why it is silly for Christians and Americans today to think that all the laws of the Old Testament apply to us. It is why anti-Christians always want to point to the Pentateuch in order to lecture us on our hypocrisy. They are fools to believe that because modern American Christians do not follow laws meant for ancient Israelites, we are hypocrites.

Some of what is found in these books, however, does apply to us. The notion that one witness is not enough to put a man on death row (Deut. 17:6) is the same policy that our own justice system has today. Anyone who has studied memory and cognition knows that eye witness testimony is easily dismissed. The only time that a court takes it seriously is when there are two or more witnesses. God knew the fallibility of an eye witness a couple thousand years before our courts recognized it.

Chapter 17:14-20 gives a great picture of a great leader as well. A king (in our case, Congressman or President) should not use his office to multiply his wealth or sexual proclivities. A good leader reads the law every day and fears the LORD. He keeps this law (the Bible) in his heart and applies them to his life.

The problem with our leaders today is the same as those back in the Old Testament, they all abandon the teachings of God and use their power for personal gain. They are selfish; therefore, they are not good leaders. Not even Solomon and David met the standards put forth by this passage. In fact, Solomon became the poster child for doing the exact opposite of this, as he amassed the greatest fortune ever known and had 1000 wives and concubines. Yet, even Solomon came to realize that “all is vanity” (Eccl. 1:1).

Chapter 18 lists nine abominations: child sacrifice (to Molech aka Nimrod), divination, “observer of times” (astrology), enchanter, witch, charmer, consulters with familiar spirits (familiar spirits may appear as animal guides, historical figures, or family members — but they are none of these things), wizard, and necromancy. These are “spiritual gifts” in a manner of speaking, though they are not the same gifts as those given by God in the New Testament. These are dark gifts brought about by worshiping false gods, and consulting with demons and evil spirits. This is an explicit warning against messing around with psychics, Ouija boards, witchcraft, and opening yourself to the supernatural.

Deut. 18:15-18 predicts Jesus Christ, who is a Prophet who is like God (v. 15) AND like man (v. 18) who will speak the words of God and save people from the fire (v. 16). Those who pretend to be a prophet of God, but do not speak his words are doomed to die.

This is a warning against Mohammad, Antichrist, and all of the “Christian” ministers who wear the right label, but fail to preach the right words. We must be vigilant in our understanding of the Word of God, so that we may rightly divide the word of Truth (II Tim 3:15). We do not want to follow these wolves in sheep’s clothing into destruction.

Notes on Deuteronomy 8-13

Posted on by Alex

The words of God are of the utmost importance. I was once told that Bible translations are a “secondary doctrine.” In other words, it’s a preference, like hymns vs. contemporary music or chairs vs. pews.

My Bible says “man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live” (Deut. 8:3). God’s word is our food; our nourishment. We are (spiritually) dead without it.

Does that sound like a “secondary doctrine” to you?

God also warns us not to take too much pride in our possessions and forget who gave us such blessing. When our wealth multiplies, we are not supposed to “say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth” (Deut. 8:17), because “it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish: because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God” (Deut. 8:19-20).

This is a strong condemnation of the state of the United States of America as we know it today. From the rampant greed of capitalists to the perversion of “Christian” churches who preach “prosperity doctrine” from the pulpit, America has forgotten that our wealth and prosperity comes from God. His warning is the destruction of nations who forget him.

I think we have lost the idea of God. Our churches focus on Christ, which is the centerpiece of the Christian religion. However, we have gotten away from the part of Christ that was the dominant force in the Old Testament.

We know that Jesus is God, but we do not understand God.

Deuteronomy 10:17 says, “For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward.” Verse 20 says “Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.”

God is a being who can wipe out the entire population of the earth with a word. He did it with a flood, and he will do it again at Armageddon.

God is a being who was willing to wipe out every single member of the children of Israel who escaped slavery in Egypt and start again with Moses and Aaron.

God is a being who can create an entire universe or end it with a whisper.

God is a being who killed those Israelites who complained about him with fiery serpents, swallowing them with the earth, and plagues.

We are supposed to FEAR God, as well as love him.

We barely whimper when God’s Ten Commandments are removed from schools and government buildings.

We are silent when television programs openly mock Christians.

We don’t hold our own politicians responsible for continually trying to “help” Israel by stopping them from building settlements and expanding their borders into territories promised to them by God.

God, whose name is Jealous, must watch as we stare at food pictures on our cell phones and play video games rather than spend time in prayer or reading our Bibles.

We forget the power of God, because he has become a sort of genie for us. We want him to grant us wishes, not judge us according to our sins.

We don’t want his judgment coming upon us, but we take his mercy for granted. He could easily swallow us up into the ground at any given moment, but we’re worried about losing a job or feeling uncomfortable without electricity.

Be honest. We do not FEAR God’s power, but someday very soon all creation will.

Notes on Deuteronomy 3-7

Posted on by Alex

The children of Israel continue to move from place to place destroying every man, woman, and child (Deut. 3:6) who lived within the great walled cities (Deut. 3:5). Unfortunately, these are the passages that Mohammad usurped when he created Islam. He put himself in the place of Moses as an attempt to steal the blessings of Isaac’s offspring and give them to Ishmael’s.

Allah is essentially Yahweh (the LORD) if only the most violent, genocidal verses were applied. However, Allah is NOT Yahweh. The LORD commanded the Israelites to wipe out only the nations who occupied the Promised Land. Allah wants his people to wipe out all nations around the earth who do not bow to Islam.

These are not the same beings. Like all Antichrists, Mohammad wanted to mimic the real thing. Islam is like a distorted version of Judaism. Mohammad perverted the Scripture for his own gain. Now there are almost 2 billion warlike people who live on this earth who support the teachings of jihad and the wrath of Allah who are entirely focused on killing those of us who will not submit to Islam, especially Israel.

Chapter 4, verse 2, is a warning that once again fits with the fight over Bible translation that still rages today. It says “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it. . .” I believe the King James is perfect. Therefore, any “Bible” that adds or takes away from the words of the King James is violating the numerous verses of Scripture that warn against messing with the WORDS of God.

Moses and the LORD spend a large portion of this passage reminding the Israelites of what they have done and just how blessed (Deut. 7:14) they are to have been chosen (Deut. 7:6) by God as his people. They are “wise and understanding” (Deut. 4:6), great (Deut. 4:7), holy, special, and “above all people that are upon the face of the earth” (Deut. 7:6).

Sorry, Christian. We are the children of God and will be wedded to Jesus Christ for all eternity, but the Israelites are STILL the preferred group.

This is also interesting because of all the races, ethnicities, and nations throughout human history, none have been so hated by the world for so long as the Jews. This is because God and the world are completely at odds. They are enemies, because the world is sinful. God promises to “repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them. . .” (Deut. 7:10).

The Israelites have been slaves to ancient Egypt and Babylon, they were the ones targeted by Hitler’s Holocaust, and are still under constant threat of destruction by ISIS, Hamas, Al Qaeda, Taliban, PLO, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the entire Middle-East, and the entire United Nations.

No other people can say that. However, through all their strife on this Earth, they will be eternally blessed on the New Earth when their city of New Jerusalem comes down from the heavens and lasts forever.

Notes on Deuteronomy 1-2

Posted on by Alex

Deuteronomy is the last of the five books of the Jewish Pentateuch, also known as the Law of Moses. The first two chapters are a quick rundown of some of the events that occurred in the book of Numbers. It takes place near the end of the 40 year wandering in the wilderness, and the time of entry into the Promised Land draws near.

Moses reviews the report of the 12 spies who brought back fruit from the Promised Land in Numbers 13.

He remembered the fear of the giant Anakims that led to a murmuring from the Israelites in Numbers 14 that brought out the curse of wandering that they were nearing the end of. Many of that generation were dead, but none would enter the Promised Land.

Deut. 1:39 says “your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither. . .” This verse is often used in the argument that a child who dies before the “age of accountability” that is, when they can understand good, evil, and salvation, will be taken to Heaven.

Further evidence comes from Romans 5:13, “For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law” and Romans 4:8 “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”

In other words, if a person doesn’t know or understand the law, then he is blessed. This includes children and those who have not heard the laws of God. This is a controversial stance, but I believe that a person in the most remote locations that has never heard of Jesus Christ can still go to heaven. They cannot reject a gift if they never knew it was offered.

Chapter 2 begins with the time when the Edomites refused to let the children of Israel pass through their lands (Num. 20), then Moses discusses the various names for the races of giants.

We have the Anakims, Emims, Zamzummims, Avims, and Caphtorims.

Goliath was not one of these. He was a Hamitic Philistine (Gen. 10:6, 13-14) from Gath, one of the last refuges for the Anakims according to Joshua 11:22.

The idea that there were whole races of ten foot giants is incredible. We know from Genesis 6 that giants were created when the fallen angels mated with human females. Many people refer to this race as Nephilim. We can safely assume that most, if not all, were destroyed in the flood. However, Nimrod, the mighty hunter and father of the Babylonian mystery cults who was worshiped as a god on almost every continent may have had some supernatural fallen angel DNA in his blood.

There must be some explanation for why Nimrod was so revered that extends well beyond his leadership as a king. Perhaps Ham’s wife was part Nephilim, or maybe Cush or Nimrod were not biologically full Hamite. This is a mystery that I have yet to solve.

What we do know, is that giants roamed the earth before the flood, and giants were still around when the Israelites moved toward the Promised Land.

Notes on Numbers 33-36

Posted on by Alex

Numbers 33 is a step by step guide of each location the children of Israel stayed in during their exodus from Egypt to the borders of Canaan; the Promised Land. God gave specific instructions in verses 52-56. They were to “drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places” (v. 52).

If they did not remove the inhabitants completely, “those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them” (v. 55-56).

This is an incredible verse. We will find out later that the Israelites did, in fact, allow some of the Palestinians and Canaanites to remain. Fast forward 3500 years and those who are NOT supposed to be in Israel are not only still there, but are absolutely thorns in the sides of the Jews.

The destruction of the pictures, molten images, and high places is a reference to the gods of the Canaanites. The LORD “executed judgments” (Num. 33:4) against the gods in Egypt (see my Notes on Exodus 7-12). Now, he wants any remnant of false gods eradicated.

Numbers 34 contains the geographic information for God’s intended borders for what would become Israel. It is much larger than the state that exists today. Those who are in the lands named in this chapter are trespassing, but the Israelites are the ones who allowed them to stay. They have been paying the price for centuries.

Chapters 35-36 are more rules concerning the punishment for murder and manslaughter, as well as the rights of inheritance for the tribes. There is an interesting “type” of Christ in Num. 35:25.

When a person commits murder, their punishment is for the victim’s revenger to come kill them. When a person commits manslaughter, however, they are given the chance to flee into a different city. If they leave, they are on their own and the revenger can kill them. If they stay, they must remain until the death of the high priest.

Before Christ’s death, those who died were sent to “Abraham’s Bosom,” not Heaven. The “Old Testament Saints” were given refuge from torment in Hades or Hell. It was not until Jesus Christ, the High Priest died, that they were free to enter heaven when Christ ascended after his resurrection (Eph. 4:8).

Salvation for us is not the same as it was for the Old Testament Israelites. Theirs was a system of grace AND works. Ours is grace only. We only need to repent of our sins, believe that Christ died for our sins, and accept his free and easy gift of grace to be saved. Just ask Christ to come into your heart and declare him your savior and you shall be saved.

It is so easy to do, though living like a Christian should is incredibly difficult. Our standard is sinless perfection; and we can never attain it. The world sees us as unintelligent rubes who are suckers for a good trick, or that we are lunatics for believing in a magical sky God with supernatural powers. We pay the price every day as we are mocked or murdered.

In the end, our side wins. My God defeated death when he rose from the dead. My God will defeat Satan and his armies at Armageddon, and we will join Peter, Paul, Moses, Abraham, Jacob, David, and Jesus Christ himself in paradise for all eternity.

Faith is not an easy choice, but we find ourselves taking leaps of faith every day. We have faith that we will wake up tomorrow. We have faith that our friends will be there when we need them. We have faith that science is a proper tool for acquiring knowledge of our world. All those faiths will let us down, but we still hold onto them.

Faith in Christ will never let you down. Seek and you will find. Believe and you will be blessed.