Crosby, Stills, and Nash: "Long Time Gone"

When this song was recorded, the Vietnam war raged and student protests against the draft were commonplace. Those years certainly felt like dark days to us who lived through them.

Crosby, Stills, and Nash recorded this as their commentary on the anti-war movement. Check it out here:

Every age had its dark days. All through the Old Testament, Israel ended up conquered and enslaved whenever they abandoned God. And as we read in Hebrews chapter eleven, faithful folks endured hard times with the hope of heaven in their hearts.

Long before Christ and the apostles, Abraham sought after the Lord. Hebrews 11:9 and 10 (Bible in Basic English) said of him, "By faith he was a wanderer in the land of the agreement, as in a strange land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who had a part with him in the same heritage: For he was looking for the strong town, whose builder and maker is God."

Though it seems like Christ has been "long time gone," his return is a certainty. James 5:8 (BBE) reminds us to, "Be as calm in your waiting; let your hearts be strong: because the coming of the Lord is near."

Likewise, Paul trusted his readers and wrote in 2 Thessalonians 3:4 and 5 (BBE), "And we have faith in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things about which we give you orders. And may your hearts be guided by the Lord into the love of God and quiet waiting for Christ."

Two angels also gave the disciples the good news that Christ would return someday. Acts 1:10 and 11 (BBE) tells the story of how it happened. "And while they were looking up to heaven with great attention, two men came to them, in white clothing, And said, "O men of Galilee, why are you looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come again, in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

May our Lord come soon. If he hasn't arrived by Saturday, I hope to post about fickle political fashion.

Holiness Can't Be Feigned.

The world considers certain religious leaders to be holy. But the world can't judge holiness as it knows nothing about it.

God has much to say on this matter. The most famous passage is 1 Samuel 16:7 (BBE) when David was selected as king of Israel. "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not take note of his face or how tall he is, because I will not have him: for the Lord's view is not man's; man takes note of the outer form, but the Lord sees the heart.'"

Another good passage which shows how God knows our innermost secrets is Psalms 44:20 and 21 (BBE). "If the name of our God has gone out of our minds, or if our hands have been stretched out to a strange god, Will not God make search for it? for he sees the secrets of the heart."

In the Old Testament, circumcision was a rite which separated Israelite males from those of other Nations. God used metaphorical circumcision to sanctify his people spiritually in Deuteronomy 30:6 (BBE). "And the Lord your God will give to you and to your seed a circumcision of the heart, so that, loving him with all your heart and all your soul, you may have life."

We also have the responsibility to warn others who are sliding toward destruction. As Solomon wisely wrote in Proverbs 24:12 (BBE), "If you say, 'See, we had no knowledge of this:' does not the tester of hearts give thought to it? and he who keeps your soul, has he no knowledge of it? and will he not give to every man the reward of his work?"

Likewise, we read this truth in Jeremiah 17:9 (BBE). "The heart is a twisted thing, not to be searched out by man: who is able to have knowledge of it?" God is the only one who can figure it out.


This truth is even expressed in the New Testament. Hebrews 4:12 (BBE)says plainly, "For the word of God is living and full of power, and is sharper than any two-edged sword, cutting through and making a division even of the soul and the spirit, the bones and the muscles, and quick to see the thoughts and purposes of the heart."

It's obvious that people who say they're holy will be proven wrong on Judgement Day. That's why I feel compelled to write my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? All bishops, priests, and whatever else they're called will answer to God Almighty. Most won't have a decent answer to give.

On Thursday, I hope to post about God's reward for sanctified deeds.

How is Christianity Intuitive?

Previously, I wrote about how the law given to Moses was primary to our faith but grace is intuitive. How is this so? This isn't the best example but it does fit this question fairly well.

In the old days of computing, people had to type in commands in a machine language or poke out tabs in punch cards to get the computer to execute commands. If one keystroke or hole in the card was wrong, it messed up the entire program.

I remember learning MS DOS in 1992 and how each command had to be typed in correctly. Otherwise, all the computer would say was "Bad command or filename."

DOS commands were rather cryptic as well. For example, this is how you would move text files from the hard drive to a floppy disk:

MOVE C:\DIRECTORY\*.TXT A:

When Windows 3.1 came out in the early nineties, Microsoft introduced an intuitive point-and-click system. It allowed people to highlight files and move them to different places without typing in a command.

The reason I'm mentioning DOS and Windows is because the Old Testament law and the New Testament grace are similar to those two operating systems. Instead of specific commands, we now filter everything through the love of Christ. By loving him, we obey his commands to love others and spread the good news of salvation to all the world. No more do we need to remember a lot of "thou shalt not" commands since the Holy Spirit motivates us to do good works.

This is one reason I'm working on a new book called You Think You're Going to Heaven. People mistakenly think that Christianity is a religion of rules rather than, as it truly is, a lifestyle of love. I hope to publish it next year.

Isn't Christianity a Cult?

 My previous post dealt with cults but some folks could claim that Christianity is one. After all, one man originated it. This isn't the case for Christianity, as I explain below.

Christ fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. Being of the lineage of King David and born of a virgin, he fulfilled many messianic prophecies.

Jesus also perfectly fulfilled the law of Moses, the only one to do so. The Pharisees tried to dig up dirt on Christ but they couldn't find a single thing which would disqualify him from being the long-sought saviour.

Jesus often referred to the Old Testament. Never once did he disparage or misquote those scriptures. Instead, he said that they spoke of him.

Neither did Jesus write a book. Mohammed, Joseph Smith, and others have claimed to have had special revelations but their writings were flawed.

Though Christ instituted holy communion and baptism for Christians, the moral code of the Old Testament is a part of the Christian faith.

Two writers of the New Testament wrote eyewitness accounts of Christ's life, death, and resurrection. Had they made it up, they would never have kept to their story in the face of execution and torture.

Cults refute many basic tenets of the faith they originated from. Apart from ceremonies which were types and shadows of Christ's work on Earth, the New Testament upholds the Old Testament.

Many people don't understand this difference. This is why I wrote How I Was Razed. Be sure to check out this glorious story of God's providential guidance.

In my next post, I'll deal with why the four gospel accounts differ. Atheists think it proves they aren't true.

Why is Christianity so Full of Rules?

Where do people get the notion that Christianity is just a bunch of DOs and DON'Ts? Study the New Testament and you'll find out that there aren't as many "rules" as people think. Let me explain why this is.

Jesus Christ said that the whole Old Testament law hung on two commandments: love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbour as yourself. That's all a Christian needs to do.

I liken the Old Testament law and Christ's new commandments to be similar to MS DOS and Windows, though the analogy is a bit shaky. To start a program in DOS, you needed to type in its exact name or initials. In Windows, you click on an icon and the program starts. That's much easier for most people.

The Old Testament Ten Commandments, and subsequent ordinances, were like DOS in that they were specific. Christ's commandments, like Windows, are both intuitive.

How is this so? When you love God, you won't make any idols and bow down to worship them. You automatically want to put the Lord first in every aspect of your life. Neither would you murder, lie under oath, covet what isn't yours, dishonor your parents, or do any other evil thing. In fact, you will naturally want to worship the Lord and do good things for others.

Some folks think this is too simplistic. They want to impose rules upon rules to keep people in line. That is why many denominations have come up with regulations which aren't in the Bible or have been superceded by the New Testament. These legalists want to go back to Sabbath worship and some think certain activities such as gambling and listening to rock music are sinful. Truly, there's no "thou Shalt not gamble" commandment in either testament.

I know from bitter experience about legalism. The cult church elders objected to me listening to rock music, talking on the CB, and the like. They also treated me cruelly because of my poor vision. I wrote about how God delivered me from those false Christians in a book called How I Was Razed. This glorious testimony of God's providential grace is available directly from me.

"FOLLOW ME AND I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN"

What does it mean to be a follower of Christ? Is it all about performing miracles and jabbering away in an unknown language? A close study of the New Testament shows that to follow Jesus for most people was completely different from what TV preachers demonstrate to the watching world today.

During Christ's ministry, he performed miracles to fulfil the Old Testament prophecies. These were also a sign of a new phase in God's redemptive plan for humanity. Most of the biblical accounts of miracles happened in three periods of history. The first was when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. The second happened when prophets were called and sent to warn Israel of her harlotries. The third wave of miracles happened when Christ lived among his people. The miracles continued after his resurrection and ascent into heaven.

Some people will argue that a new phase has happened with the charismatic movement of the twentieth century and that it still continues today. I take issue with that view because of all the false miracles and phony tongue-speaking taking place. On that fateful day when the Holy Spirit entered into the disciples at Jerusalem, everybody who was willing to listen heard the gospel in their own language. The only ones who scoffed thought that the men were drunk. If today's tongue-speaking was the same as on the day of Pentecost, earnest seekers would be able to hear the good news of salvation in their own language. Instead, missionaries need to learn the language of the land they'll be sent to.

Additionally, a  close study of The Acts of the Apostles shows how miracles tapered off by chapter twenty-eight. Reading the letters written by the apostles to the churches they set up also shows that the flow of signs from heaven slowed to a trickle by about A.D. sixty. Those letters were mainly concerned with the good news of salvation and how to set up the local churches.

So what really is the Christian life supposed to consist of? We who have surrendered control of our lives to Christ are to spread the good news of his atonement on the cross for whosoever will believe in him. The amazing grace he showed us compels us to love others. We're called to be witnesses in all the world to the new life he has given us. Though we sometimes sin, Jesus is just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all un cleanliness. Though we pray for the sick to recover and for our enemies to do a spiritual U turn, it's up to God to grant or deny our petitions according to his wisdom.

But some will argue that we shouldn't say "thy will be done" because it's a lack of faith. We mustn't use the name of Jesus as if it was an unlimited charge card. We place our total trust in him and let him direct our steps in life. Faith isn't some magical force but implicit trust in God's sovereign power and wisdom. Knowing this makes even tragedies less of a burden. God does do miracles but they are rare and never done on command by famous preachers at arenas filled with spectators.

I know of what I speak since I used to believe in the idea that advanced Christians could wield the power of God like a magic wand. Now I'm much happier since I've placed my trust in the heavenly Father instead of my weak and wobbly faith. My journey from cultism to Christianity is laid out in How I Was Razed. This wonderful story of discovering real contentment is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Virtual Bookworm Publishers.