Legend: This is to help those who want to understand my color coding of Scripture, it is a separate Key apart from what I post below merely to help give understanding of why I highlight things the way I do, namely so as to bring out greater clarity from the Word of God.  Here’s the Key:

• Any shade of BLUE = Judgment of God on or over sin.
  
• Any shade of GREEN = grace, forgiveness, salvation, redemption.
• Any shade of RED =  sin, lawlessness, transgression, evil
• Any shade of ORANGE = the Character or Nature of God — Who God is.
• Any shade of PURPLE = commands to obey, passages that speak with authority on how a Christian or the men of this world should live.
• White on Black is merely there for emphasis.  Kind of zeroing in on the key part of a passage.

Please likewise note, this only applies to Scripture passages.  What I write of my own is merely off-colored to give greater emphasis to certain thoughts.  Sometimes this highlighting does follow my themes…. just as often it doesn’t.

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What follows is the text of a comment I made elsewhere at Xanga.  As I said in my last post, most of my “theology” is reactionary, being explained as I respond to things I see or read.  This is a clear example. 

@akarui_mitsukai - Let me take one comment from your comment and talk about that for a second.  (This is a total aside to what you said in your blog and please take it as such.)

You said: I believe it is our job to love rather than to judge. We get so worried with pointing out the sin in others that we forget we are to love, more importantly.

Let me ask you a question — can a person be saved WITHOUT understanding their sin against God?  Can a person be saved if they don’t see their sin as “sin”?  The plain fact is, you can’t save someone if you don’t first explain what it is they need to be saved “from”. 

(This statement is a footnote, please read it as such.) As for the use of the word “Judge” in your comment — it is not “judging” another if I am telling them the truth, if I am speaking exactly to them as God, Himself, one day shall.  People don’t like to hear this and will cry foul BECAUSE THEY LOVE THEIR SIN.  (John 3:19-20) 

Think of it this way… light shows us our way because by it we can see — if I find someone who’s lost, in the dark, and in perilous danger, even though the light of my flashlight might blind them momentarily, it is not unjust to point that light upon them to show them where they can safely move…. once their eyes have adjusted.  The gospel is rightly called “Light”…. because men are blind and need to see.  And it is not “Judging them” to show them their sin as the danger which will ultimately condemn them.  (end footnote)

Jesus death on the cross — the focal point of all Christianity — served the purpose not of joining hands man to God… like we’re some long lost cosmic buddies.  The point of his death was to make atonement for sin.  Every major sermon in the book of Acts deals with sin at some point.   I love Acts 17:30 —

God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him.

That is the crux of our preaching, the very heart of what we say to men — (1)you have sinned against God, and until this point, He’s been very gracious to you… (2)but you will face a day of Judgment and (4)God calls you to repent of your sins and turn to Him (3)through Christ.

The order of this is likewise very important.  First we call men’s attention to the Fact of God’s grace.  The fact that God has not paid them back for all the things they’ve stolen, all the times they’ve lied, all the times they’ve looked at pornography, all the times they’ve lusted, and yes… all the times they’ve fantasized about being something they’re not, or about Homosexuality, or greed or gluttony… Sins can be deliberate or they can be unintentional, but either way, they are sins.  God’s Grace has indeed spared them THIS FAR…

But (secondly) God has stated plainly that “Your sins will face Judgment” and nowhere is this clearer than (thirdly) on the Cross of Christ.   Jesus death was an exact representation of what our sins deserve — scourging, beating, mocking, scorning, hammered-to-a-hunk-of-wood-and-left-to-die-horribly …. Jesus took it all upon himself to show us GRAPHICALLY just how serious God takes the matter of sin.

But that’s only one side of the Cross.  While it violently depicts the judgment of God on sin, it also (fourthly) equally displays the loving-kindness of God in that He made Jesus the scapegoat for our sins — placing our sins upon Christ and leaving them there.  This is why we’re called to trust and believe in Christ as a payment for our sins.

(1) God’s Grace
(2) Our Sin
(3) Christ’s Cross
(4) God’s commands for us to believe and repent.

But if we don’t cover sin in part (2) — they will never comprehend the repent of part (4).

If we seek to bring men to God APART FROM REPENTANCE… we lead men down a broad road that takes them to damnation, not forgiveness.  Proverbs 28:13 spells this out pretty plainly: He who hides his sin shall not prosper, but whoever CONFESSES AND FORSAKES their sin shall obtain mercy.

So…. wrapping it all up in a short statement  (well…. kinda short… most people stop at John 3:16 and don’t carry through to the end of the thought… let’s carry it through to John 3:21 for clarity):

For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.

Men are enemies of God, even though they think otherwise (Romans 5:8,10; Colossians 1:21; Ephesians 4:18-19) and until they comprehend that their sins have made them so…. there will never be a true conversion of the heart, only a continuance of playing games with sin, only now in the name of Jesus.

It is our responsibility as Christians to speak clearly about Truth — not as we see it, but as God presented it — because failing to do so will ultimately leave men lost and condemned for having not heard the full saving Gospel… which does include salvation from their sins.

Remember — before Paul preaches Grace in Romans… he first goes through 3 chapters of “Sin”.  Even in Scripture… this manner of showing men their sins before extending to them “Grace” seems predominant.

Ok, so I now have all my blog posts over at WordPress…. so why am I still posting on Xanga?  Old habits die hard, and I guess I really do like the format here better.

Anyway, been reflecting on the last 4 years of Xanga postings and something that @Ehrinn_I said to me during the first year of that time regarding how radically different my posts came to be.  Whereas I used to be super personal, though still reflective of Christian thoughts and attitudes, I became less personal and more directly theological: that is to say more tied to presenting Scripture and God in very direct terms.  Straightforward, in your face, “the Bible does have the answers” blogger.

And most of my readership dwindled…. esp. from ReveLife’s editors.   (That was an inside joke and a direct poke.)  The more I read over (and commented or responded to things) at that convoluted “c“hristian website, the more angry I would become because of the BAD (as in HORRIBLY BAD) stuff being passed around “in Jesus name”.  As though people no longer cared what the Bible had to say, opinion trumps God, or worse, puts thoughts into the mouth of God.  Any opinion seemingly has more value over there at ReveLife, so long as it doesn’t reflect any sort of ABSOLUTE or authoritative air.  (such as “Homosexuality IS a sin” or “God WILL NOT tolerate false teachers.”) 

I never minded the dwindling readership — God brings in those He will, and I am fine with that.  I stopped looking at footprints about 6 years ago.  I wrote what I wrote because it was true, because it reflected solid truth and because I felt compelled to respond to the insanity that has grown up around modern Christianity.  I have roughly 20% of the New Testament and 5% of the Old Testament memorized, and I can pretty much tell you what the chapter and verse would be for just about anything you could quote me.  This came from a challenge from a pastor 25+ years ago. 

But I am side-tracking myself….

When I first started on Facebook 4-5 years ago, I was completely unprepared for what it would show me.  I befriended anyone I knew, and many Christian Music Artists I’d grown up around. 

Back in the early 80′s

• I was working stage crew and security for a Christian concert promoter in Chicago, 
• I was a volunteer worker for Cornerstone 84, 85, 87 & 89,
• I also did artist interviews at all of those C-Stone festivals,
• I worked as a Radio DJ (twice),
• I wrote for several Christian music themed magazines….
• and I even held a position (albeit volunteer… still, I was behind the counter) at the coolest Christian Music store on the planet — True Tunes, Etc.  (I was in charge of the Auctions Catalog from 88-90)
• I ran my own Christian Music company called “Shuman’s ODD SOCKS”.   
• All of this before I was “JulieMillerFan” on Ebay.

In short I had a long history in Christian music, met many of the singers, and felt comfortable enough to ask many of them to become Facebook friends.

And that’s where it all started.   As Facebook started to show me more clearly the thought lives of these individuals, and how far many of them actually were from Evangelical Christianity…..  And add to this mix many Xanga friends who became Facebook friends who also would say / do / post / reflect non-Christian attitudes and beliefs towards things….. as Facebook started showing me all this stuff…. I reacted.

• I reacted by challenging folks to see the Truth of the Bible.
• I reacted by challenging them to understand that what we “think” about something is irrelevant if God has already given us an answer to the topic.
• I reacted by writing lengthy comments and conversations which would later work themselves into posts.
• I reacted by honing my theology (study, knowledge, understanding of God) in opposition to all these Liberal-minded so-called Christians who think that it doesn’t matter if the Bible says something — obviously the bible must be wrong.

I reacted by learning, growing and producing 4 years worth of blogs which have become some of the finest things I have written — in a long history of writing and being published.  (My first published article was back in 1985, believe it or not.)  I reacted by learning how to apply my knowledge of Scripture and so many other things — and present the truth apologetically.   That means “In defense of the faith”.

I don’t know if I have ever “saved” anyone.  I don’t know if my writings have ever lead anyone to know Christ.  That has never once mattered to me.  I also don’t know if I ever changed anyone’s opinion by what I said — though I do know many folks who have expressed inspiration from things I’ve written.  I never cared about changing opinions, I cared about speaking forth what God had already said. 

To me, all that mattered was this: 

If I claim to speak for the mind of God — am I getting it right?

•  Because if I am not, then I am an idolator like Israel of old, creating a false God and putting my own thoughts into his mouth.
•  Because if I am not, then I will be judged MORE HARSHLY for having presumed to teach in the name of God.
•  Because if I am not…. I am leading people to Hell…. not God’s Kingdom…. even if I say God’s name a lot and talk about Heaven. 

and that matters more than anything else.

Am I getting it right?

4 years now I have posted blogs in reaction to things I have read on Facebook, ReveLife, and even from real life situations — and felt compelled to set things straight.  Because Truth matters — and getting it right matters — because if we pass on lies, opinions or personal feelings, we’re no better than pagans.  4 years now I have passed along not what I think — but tried as best as I have been able to reflect the mind of God…. because in the end, that’s really all that will endure into eternity.

Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Timothy 4:16)

Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith.  (1 Timothy 6:20-21)

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. (John 8:32)

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)

In the end I have learned the honest meaning of 1 Peter 3:15 — simply by trusting that God did have all the answers.

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

This is a reprint of what I just posted as my Facebook status.  Just some food for thought that came out of a response to someone calling men to “make a choice while they still can make a choice”.  This form of evangelism assumes men can choose God freely…  and will do so unreservedly.   Here’s my thoughts.

Men commonly point to “Free Will” as though they think they have the choice to do whatever they will or wish.  Free will is not really “free” will, it is actually enslaved by sin, making it not so “Free”. We can “choose”, but consistantly we will choose AGAINST God, His law or His way.

Think about this —-

Read Romans 2:4 for a moment… God L-E-A-D-S you to repentance. Or Acts 11:18 …. God G-R-A-N-T-S men repentance unto life.

Salvation comes by an act of God, not the choice of man.

Even Jesus points to this when He says in John 6:37 “All that the Father G-I-V-E-S to me will come to me….”

Better to say “Enslaved Will” (bound to sin and death) than to call it “Free will”…. for the latter is honestly misleading.

Twice now Xanga has set a deadline and twice now that deadline has passed.  We’re still here, still posting, still existing, still thinking…. but in increasingly smaller numbers because of “deadlines”.

I don’t know if Xanga-Team has thought this through thoroughly, but …. the more the shift the date, the harder it will become to match their goals because the fewer of us there will be around…. having already believed the end has come.

I know things change, I know The Big Guy was able to talk host servers into an extension  (if all this is about outside servers… then why not simply create and host from your own servers?  I’m just saying…) and that this new extension allows us ample room to breath safely (at least for another 31 days)…. but at this point is anyone listening any more?

A simple look at Xanga’s front page shows us that people are moving on, saying their goodbyes and expecting closure.   If that attitude is what’s now plastered across the minds of folk… do you really think another 31 days is going to make much of a difference?   I pledged $200.  It’s all I could do.  31 days is not going to allow me to offer more… and my guess is that it’s gonna be the same all around.  I am betting —- HEAVILY —- that if the honest numbers of “supporters” was reviewed…. it wouldn’t be the 800+ that shows, but more like 400+/- repeat pledges. 

This begs the question:  Where is the ReveLife push for support?  Where is the Xanga Hong Kong (yes, it does exist, I see it daily when I sign in…) push for support?  Why only Xanga proper?  Guys… I’m here to say that your pledge drive needs an overhaul and you need to make it universal, not merely a sideline blurb on your main page.

31 days.  Life after death.   But in the end, death is inevitable.  My real question here is… will there be anyone left around when it happens …. will there be anyone here to turn off the lights?  Or will we all have migrated because of shifting deadlines?

Things that make you go Hmmmm.

I have been pondering this only for a short time, but there seems to be three chief reasons why Evolution appeals to man, and they all stem from one to the other.  When I generalize this down to three reasons, I do so with the understanding that I am doing so… this is a broad generalization.  But when you factor these three together, it’s not hard to understand the logic behind why Evolution has become the dominant “religion” of our planet.

#1  Evolution eliminates the need of God.

This may sound over-abused…. but it is a truism, something that is absolutely true.  The first starting point for evolutionary theory is that there is no outside factors playing “God” with any form of personal agenda.  Creation stands and falls on it’s own… we all got here by chance, and thus there is no creator above us.

If there is no creator, and we are but variations of the animals beneath us, then there is nothing for which we can or will be judged for… this flows into point #2

#2 Evolution eliminates moral restrictions.

If there is no God over us, then we create the rules.  Morality is as we see it, and can change to our whims or societies desires.  Morality is flexible, and not fixed…. because there is no God to sit over us in judgment.

If any one issue hits this point home today with the force of a jack-hammer on cement…. it would be the issue of whether or not homosexuality is a sin… or merely a evolutionary fluke that paired up two people in such a way so as they could not replicate their dispositions.  (A man and a man does not produce anything to further the evolutionary process….  it would seem that it is the dead end of the progress, not a furtherance of it.)   If there is a God, and if He declares what is or isn’t moral (by His own holy standard) — then mankind is not free to do as he pleases….. without the threat of judgment hanging over our heads.   Evolution gives us the freedom to pronounce ourselves the master’s of morality.

#3 Evolution gives man (false) hope for the future.

With the elimination of God, and the elimination of judgment for moral sins, we find that the future is bleak.  If there is no God, then this life is all we have.  There is no “Heaven” to look forward to.  All the death we succumb to makes our lives pointless — all our strivings amount to nothing, because in the end they don’t gain us one more minute of life.  Nothing stops the decay of time.

Evolution introduces the idea of genetic progress — things will get better, despite the fact that they seemingly are getting worse. (and in defiance of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics which states that everything tends towards entropy, not progress.)   Evolution promises us that our children are not bad, they are on climb that will allow them to evolve past our mistakes, and that they have the potential to become far more than we dare hope.  It gives us a (false) hope for a future…. if only for our children’s sake.

Look at modern Television and you’ll see this play out.  Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek (by it and Gene’s own admission) attempted to show us a future wherein Evolution had moved men past the need for money, past the restrictions of class (Wealthy or poor) and past the need of religion (not understanding that Evolution is, itself, a religion requiring faith to believe it’s premise).   More contemporary, the TV show Heroes shows us the same thing… wherein mankind has hope for the future because Evolution is moving us forward in possible directions we can’t fathom and giving us abilities to overcome our circumstances.

Three premises that Evolution gives men to grab ahold of as they deny the existence of God and look for something to replace him with.   No God, No morals, No judgment for sins, and no bad future for having denied all that.

Is it any wonder why Evolution is so popular? 

This is a list of questions I have asked (repeatedly in some cases) which the XangaTeam has not responded to.  Others have responded that my questions are good ones and they want answers too…. so here’s a compiled list of them, from the various XangaTeam pages they’ve appeared at.

(A) I have a few Xanga Accounts that I started for various other reasons (poetry, hidden thoughts, that sort of thing.)   I’ve long since lost passwords and even what Email address they were attached to.   What’s the likelihood of me getting the password now so I can archive those sites before the switch over? 

(B) My user name “JulieMillerFan” is already in use at WordPress.  (It’s my account)   When you shift over from here to there…. how will that now present itself?  Will I be XangaJulieMillerFan?  JulieMillerFan2?   JulieMillerFan@#$^#$@#? What’s the plan on this?

(C) when you transfer from Xanga to WordPress…. will our Xanga Email / Password be the same?  Just how is that going to work, esp. on secondary accounts wherein I no longer have the password / email addy available to me any more?

(D) Are PRIVATE or PROTECTED posts here on Xanga still going to be PRIVATE…. on WordPress?

(E) I already did the WordPress.xml transfer from my Xanga archive here to WordPress…. is that going to mess things up for my PAID account pledges to Xanga’s support?  Just how is that going to work for those of us who had pre-existing WordPress accounts?  Will the account pledges apply to our EXISTING WordPress accounts?

(F) What about the subject or title headers?  Will they import over to WordPress as well?  And what of the original date of publication?  Is it going to show that I posted 1,000 posts in a single day or is it going to follow the original flow of time? 

NOTE: I did the XML transfer myself, all dates and subject titles transferred over, as well as all comments originally mad.  That said… I’m still curious what’s gonna happen when XangaTeam does the transfer… and I am sure that everyone is is probably curious as well.

(G) Internal links….. I have long tried to help my readers grasp a concept by linking to a previous post dealing with the topic.  Now that Xanga is shuffling over to WordPress…. what happens to all those unusable links?

(H) Pictures — do they follow over with the original post / account?  So pictures I posted up years ago… will they now carry over into my new blog, or will the picture links be “broken”….

(I) Audio links… same as above.

(J) As someone pointed out, your archive of my posts links me back to YOUR archive… of my posts…. which means that in less than a month this archive will no longer function because you’ll no longer be here?!?!?!?  Yes or no.  Please give a straight answer.  Do we need to cut and paste EACH AND EVERY BLOG WE’VE WRITTEN to a secondary word processing program and save them ourselves? Or will you somehow keep the Xanga Archives open even after you’ve shut the doors on Xanga?

Really, guys…. it’s been nearly 3 weeks now since your last posted update… can we get some information please?

This isn’t really a post, it’s really a comment I made over at ReveLife that I felt worth sharing / saving because it pertains to a general misunderstanding of a statement of Jesus.  (This also marks the first time I have written a post at WordPress and copied it over to Xanga.)

The original topic was regarding pornography.  As with any “Religious” blog-site, atheists & agnostics love to heckle…. one “Lovegrove” made the following semi-sarcastic comment which led to my response that follows after.

If your right hand offend you, cut it off.

As I had dealt with Him before, I knew his sarcasm and tone…. I responded thus.

I greatly think that we misinterpret that verse now-a-days.  Honestly face the question —- Does your RIGHT HAND cause you to sin?  Jesus said plainly — “From out of THE HEART proceeds all manner of evil.” (paraphrasing the verses found in Matthew 15:19-20) and even a casual review of scripture will show you that God’s not talking about your emotions here… but rather, your mind.  (one of the clearest evidences of that is the very passage I just quoted — for out of the heart proceed evil THOUGHTS…. since when do we think with our emotions?)

If your right hand causes you to sin… but it’s not our hands that cause us to sin… so where’s the chopping to be done?

Romans 12:1-2….. Philippians 4:8….. Psalm 119:9,11….  Psalm 1:1-6….

Once we face the fact that the very thoughts and imaginations of all that we do are evil (Genesis 6:11-12; Jeremiah 17:9-10), through and through, only then can we seek the only cure that God provides or offers —-

Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me.  (Psalm 51:10-12)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, behold the old things have passed away and the new has come.  (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)

and most beautifully —-

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.  It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope  (Titus 2:11-13)

If your right hand offends thee —- seek the grace of God that teaches us to say “No”… renewing our minds… creating a new spirit within us…. that we might ultimately please Him who calls us onward.

amen.

This post has been on my mind to write for nearly 2 years.  It is the product of many hours of reflection, and a lot of prayer.  It speaks with finality — by that I mean, this is something you can count on, it is a certainty, it is sure to happen… indeed, it will happen.  And never has there been a time more rife with warning signs as our day and age.

About 2 months ago I began the final stages to the posting of this serial conclusion.  I posted up two posts, back to back, regarding what the Bible calls “Evil.”  I followed those two posts with a re-posting of the original 4 chapters of this topic.  

Regarding the posts on what the Bible calls “Evil”, I chose English as my language, not the original Hebrew or Greek — I just wanted to keep it simple.   I chose the NIV as my biblical standard simply because it is the most common version of our day and it is the version I am most familiar with.  I chose to avoid pulling in extraneous words like “Wicked” or “Vile” or “Despised” — and I looked to define every single passage that used (in English) the term “Evil” in some manner…. by the simplest of hermeneutics, namely: What is the simple context of the passage.  No historical setting, no review of the totality of Scripture, no grammatical setting…. none of the myriads of manners by which a proper interpretation could be rendered.

Thus it was just me, a bible, and nothing more.  All comments that were posted were simply pulled from surrounding context of the passage.   No commentaries, not scholarly reviews… just my simple comments.

The Old Testament was dealt with in this post: Link here.  And the New Testament was dealt with in this post: Link here.  Judgement comes Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 , Part 3.5 and Part 4 respectively linked.

I did all that on purpose.  I wanted to know what the Bible said was “E-V-I-L” and I wanted to understand it on the most basic level.  The same way any child or adult could conclude under a similar basic reading.

I did all this on purpose because —- today, the only thing we view as “Evil” are serial killers and people like Adolf Hitler.

SIDE NOTE:  As part of the research for this post, I subjected myself to nearly 30 hours of documentaries on Serial Killers, looking to understand just how the world views “Evil”.   Ironically, though nearly every serial killer I reviewed was at some point called “Evil” by someone — many were simply seen as misguided or misdirected or some other psychological term which would thus excuse them of their actions.  “My parents made me do it.”  Really… they told you to plunge the knife into someone?

“The parents eat bitter grapes and sets the children’s teeth on edge” (Jeremiah 31:29) was a proverb in Israel that God specifically despised…. Each man shall be judged for HIS OWN ACTIONS, was God’s reply then (Jeremiah 31:30)…. just what do you think God would say today when we similarly say “My parents were to blame“?

Anyway, the world views only people like Adolf Hitler and Jeffrey Dahlmer as “Evil”…. and only these sort of people…. and nothing could be farther from the truth.

Let me give you two statements from Jesus…. and draw a simple conclusion.

If you, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more so will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask of him?  (Matthew 7:11 NIV)

This is the verdict: Light came into the world but men preferred the darkness because their deeds are evil.  (John 3:19 NIV)

Simple conclusion: Jesus viewed mankind as evil.   Is that so large a leap?

And yet when I first started to run with this post 2 years ago, a “Christian” argued with me here on Xanga that obviously either I was wrong in my conclusion, or Jesus statement was wrong in it’s interpretation…. cause men are basically good.   (Comments section of this post from October 2011) 

(As an aside regarding this topic, one could likewise turn to Romans 3:10-18, Jeremiah 17:9-10, Psalms 51:5 and a whole host of other bible verses to draw the same conclusion — to a Calvinist, this is simply the Total Depravity of man, in a nutshell.)

All of what I just said is merely the introduction on what led into my review of “what does the bible call evil” before I could write this post.

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Look around you.

I mean it…. Look at the TV shows you watch, the Hollywood movies you watch, the books you read, the music you listen to (not Christian music, but secular),  the conversations you overhear at work, or with friends, or with others…. look around you and ask yourself if you’ve ever once heard the following things called “evil.”

Greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, adultery, murder, theft, sexual immorality, prostitution, sorcery, witchcraft, boasting, slander, civil disobedience, disobeying your parents, foul or coarse language…… just to list a few….

On TV, in music and in modern fiction novels, almost every one of these things are used as the normal state of human existence.   You’ll find people having sexual relations with just about anyone.  You’ll find adultery, greed, arrogance, envy, witchcraft, and a fair number of other things on that list — showing up in almost every aspect of media (Print, audio or visual) as something normal, something OK, something banal.   George Carlin can make humor of foul language — and people laugh… because what once was considered foul, now is commonplace, mundane, in regular use. 

I am not singling out the Western Hemisphere on this one… sadly, this is now a global matter.   But  it is precisely this aspect of things which God pronounces his harshest judgments — indeed, He has torn apart kingdoms, leveled nations, displaced rulers and authorities, burned entire cities to the ground and even once exacted universal condemnation on the entire world…… because men have reversed what is evil with what is good and pursued evil with wholehearted abandon.  (Genesis 6:11-12)

Woe to those who call evil good
    and good evil,
who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter.

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
    and clever in their own sight.

Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine
    and champions at mixing drinks,
who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
    but deny justice to the innocent.

Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw
    and as dry grass sinks down in the flames,
so their roots will decay
    and their flowers blow away like dust;
for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty
    and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.  (Isaiah 5:20-24)

Isaiah was writing about Judah and Israel, he might as well have been looking down the corridors of time at our age.  You can compare this to Paul writing to Timothy —

You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times.  For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred.  They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good.  They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God.  They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!  (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

and see that Paul also seemed to think that a time would come when men would love evil more than they would pursue things good.   Men would reverse the natural for the unnatural and reject entirely all things that pertain to God and godliness.

Within Christian circles it is often cited that the Homosexual revolution is a direct condemnation from God on people bent on doing evil things.  It is said that this is God abandoning these men over to their debased / deprived natures and giving them over to their sins.  Romans 1 is the favored passage in making this reference clear.   Yet…..

One of the points that is regularly missed, though, when Christians plot out or read through Romans 1, esp. that part which deals with condemnation (1:21-32), is that this is humanity as a collective whole that Paul is talking about.  This is not individuals on a person to person level, this is the course of a whole nation turning it’s back collectively on God.   Thus…. when homosexuality, lesbianism, or general debauchery becomes the normative standard within a society or nation…. when men no longer call these things evil, but rather pursue them with whole-hearted abandon… THAT is when judgment falls upon that nation or government. 

It’s precisely when men choose evil over good — collectively — that God abandons men over to their passions and gives them up to depraved minds.   God may yet do this to individuals who spite him, but the bent of this passage is to show the downward spiral of a society that has uniformly turned it’s back on God and started calling “evil” things “good”.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Greek Term: anthrōpōn from which we get “Anthropology.  Used here and again in Verse 23.  Collective term, used regarding all of Humanity.  Every pronoun that thus follows collectively refers to all of mankind, as well as individual men, in all times and all eras), who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 

Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.  Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:21-32)

Look around you today.  Look at the bent of our nation — indeed of every nation in the world today… Even Taiwan was “gay pride” parades and tolerance laws… and you’ll find that we’ve dangerously crossed that line wherein things God calls “Evil” men now call “Good”. 

When a nation confuses Good and Evil… not when individuals do so, but when an entire nation does so… it’s a sure indication that God’s judgment is dangerously close.

Look around you today…..

What do you see?

All these things which God labels “Evil” are affronts to God’s holiness.   This is why Proverbs often calls them “Abominations”.  We thumb our noses to God’s standard of holiness and instead revel in foul pollution pretending we’re the emperor in his new clothes.   All of today’s era can be summed up thus:  “God’s law be damned… he made me this way and I’m gonna live however I want.“  (Judges 21:25)

Remember back to the opening two verses where Jesus calls mankind’s natural bent “Evil.”  Ask yourself this — do you see YOURSELF as “evil”?  Do you understand what Jesus is talking about when he makes that proclamation?  Do you see that every act that you put your hand to is defiled by your corrupted human nature?  Even your worship?  Even your “good deeds”? Do you view yourself as Jesus viewed you, indeed viewed all of humanity.   Or do you see yourself as basically good…. just occasionally doing “bad” things.

When was the last time you heard anyone around you label themselves as “evil”… and not as the butt end of a joke? 

The Holy Spirit transforms us, indeed, but even one as mighty as Paul counted all those things he once viewed as “Valuable”, as things worth putting confidence in, instead as worthless “Dung” before God.  (Philippians 3:3-9)   His self-view wasn’t “I’m OK, you’re OK.” — Paul saw that “In me dwells not one good thing.” (Romans 7:8)  and rightly understood that “apart from (Christ) (I) can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

Mankind is evil.  We just don’t believe it.  And today Christianity has bought into the lie that basically we’re all “good people”, thus denying the truth that God and Christ spell out plainly to us.  We’re not buying it… because we think we’re pretty decent…. 

When men call that which is evil, good….

It’s not merely the actions we do or the sins we participate in…. it comes right down to a proper view of humanity as a whole and our selves in particular.  It comes down to agreeing with God or disagreeing with God… and when the bent of the entire world is to spit in the face of a holy God…

When men call that which is evil, good…. even down to their very selves…

Judgment is right around the corner… because a “good man” has nothing to repent of.

I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else.  (Luke 18:11 — prayer of the Pharisee)

Judgment…. comes.

A friend comes to you, he hasn’t eaten in several days, he looks disheveled, and he asks you for help.  Naturally, since he’s a friend, you buy him a meal, maybe take the time to talk to him and find out what’s happened… and if you’re REALLY a good friend…. you extend some form of help beyond just your time and food.   Maybe you give him a place to stay.  Maybe you give him some hope to carry on.  Maybe, just maybe, you give him some money to carry through this dark time in his life.

It is no secret that I have lived homeless twice in my life.   Once for 4 months and once for an incredible 9 months.   Both times it was because of my Bi-polar ex-wife (not laying blame or pointing fingers, just stating facts) and both times I learned who my real friends were.   When I was homeless for 9 months, I was actually working at Best Buy.  I was only 1 year into my 13 year run with them… my ex-wife had done the traditional “Change the locks, close the bank accounts and file a restraining order” manner of telling me she wanted a divorce… and here I was, penniless and without a place to stay.  (NOTE: For the record, the restraining order was thrown out of court as baseless.  Didn’t matter, the damage was done… my Ex got me out of the house and claimed all property as her own.  Never let it be said that people can’t manipulate the system to their benefits.)

And my friends stepped up. (Humorously…. some of “Her” friends stepped up to… )

I never lacked for a meal.  Never lacked for a couch (or even a floor) to sleep on.  Never missed a court date or Lawyer meeting — all because I had the support of my REAL friends.   Let me tell you this —- those friends are with me even today, 20 years later.   I may now live in Taiwan, but through Facebook and Xanga we stay in touch.

Xanga is looking disheveled.  Xanga has been your friend for many years (Some of you) and has been there even when noone else was.  Your poured out your heart here when you thought no one else would listen.  You cried.  You laughed.  You ate in the thoughts of your other Xanga-friends and through it all…. you depended on Xanga.

Xanga is looking for help.  It doesn’t have to be much…. if 25 people give $1 each, well… that’s $25 towards the goal.   But here’s my point — Are you a real friend of Xanga?  Or are you merely a user, who takes but never gives?  Is that how others see you in real life?  A user or a friend?

Today I ponied up $100.  It’s not my final gift to Xanga, it is merely my first.  As more money comes available, I will give more.  Simple as that.  But for today I bought 2 1 Year subscriptions, and rounded it off for good measure.

How about you?  Isn’t it time you started helping your friends?  Xanga has been there for you…. now is the time for you to be there for Xanga.

I’ll make it easy for you…. here’s the link.

I want to support Xanga.

Your “friend” is counting on you.

I try not to flaunt myself over who I’ve met or things like that.  I do have a really cool tie to the Titanic.  One of my aunts survived.   Not only did she survive, but she lived long enough to actually see the Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, James Cameron production 3 times before she died.  Her name was Eleanore Shuman, and she can be found on Wikipedia.  I met her several times over the course of her life, and really grew to love her — as a person, not because she was famous.  To be honest, I never once asked her to tell me her story.

Xanga is dieing, so they tell me.   Fewer and fewer people are showing up at my recent posts.  I guess that’s to be expected.  And yet for all that, I don’t mind.  I never was a footprint counter.  I never bothered caring if I got few or many visitors.  I only cared that I spoke the truth, told it as plainly as I was able, and honored my Lord in all that I wrote: personal or theological.

In my last post I threw down a gauntlet — why should any of us leave now?  Xanga’s future hasn’t been decided yet…. and yet… here we are, so many folks seem to feel like it’s no longer worth continuing.   Hmmm, I wonder if that means I’ll finally make front page at ReveLife…. probably not, the bad blood still runs pretty deep between the Editors over there and myself.   In any case… so many are leaving like things are already decided…. and yet no one really knows the future.

If you cut me, I’ll bleed Xanga colors, you can bet on it.  I paid for a lifetime membership not because I wanted perks.  I paid because I believe in Xanga.  Notice, that sentence is not in the past tense.  I believe in Xanga.  I still do.  As a place to express my thoughts, Xanga can’t be topped.  And if more people thought that way…. maybe we’d have a chance.   That’s my point right now…. if we stopped all feeling like the Titanic has already been hit by the iceberg and is going down…. if we stopped calling out doomsday… maybe, just maybe… Xanga could thrive and survive… and who knows, maybe even grow.

 

But it starts with us… right now.