The Missing Piece (Replay)

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October 23, 2007

Good morning family,

I pray that all are doing well this day. I have a question for the list. Have any of you ever seen someone who does not believe in the Word of God? Let me go back a little bit for you. Were you that someone who did not believe in the Word? If you were what changed your mind?

Last week I saw a question about the Bible and whether or not any atheistic or non-believers ever read the Bible. The answers that I saw were truly amazing and I was blown away. Believe it or not a lot of atheists have read the Bible from cover to cover. I even saw where there was a guy who was once a minister and later decided that the Bible was all "foo-foo" and became an atheists. So then you might ask, why doesn't one believe?

Discernment

The missing piece from the equation is Discernment. Just what is discernment? A good definition says, that it is "discretion: the trait of judging wisely and objectively" (http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn). Also, "Discernment is not a function of the mind; it's a function of the Holy Spirit which is in union with your soul/spirit" (http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/3386.htm). Of course we know that Jesus promised to send a comforter also known as the Holy Spirit.

John 14:15-17 "(15) If you love me, you will obey what I command. (16) And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— (17) the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. "

See, any one can read anything and totally miss the true meaning. This is exactly what happened to the people who read the Bible and still didn't get it. During a class, the entire class can go through the Bible in a semester and take tests on it and look at it from a scholarly point of view. However, if there is no spirit of discernment, the reader totally miss what God is trying to share with you.


In regards to the former minister turned atheist, he neither had the spirit of discernment. If you truly possess and believe with your heart, there is no question about what's in the word. It's when we start to try to understand the scriptures with our own mind and attempt to make sense of them in a worldly view when we get into trouble. It only takes the devil one good opportunity to slip you a spiritual mickey and then you're left not knowing what to believe. That's just long enough to keep you away from God. I John 1:4 says, "...do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.". Guess what, without the Holy Spirit working in you, the devil can work on you, hence, you cannot discern the truth.

Even when you are not saved, the Lord has ways of nudging you that He exists. He can use people, accidents, events, etc. to speak to you, but remember from a past WFTD, we are made free beings. We are made free to by God and to love God, but it's when we make the choice to ignore the signals that you do not believe what the Word of God says. It's like tasting new foods. If you never listen to the inner urge to try sushi, you'll never know that not all of it is raw and that it actually tastes pretty good. If you never yield to the inner inclination to try God, you'll never be able to expect to read His Word and understand in the same manner one of His disciples might understand.

The next time you hear of someone who just doesn't believe, remember they made a choice to not believe. Even if they say, I tried God but He didn't work, you can check that excuse at the door. If they tried God, the probably only plugged into the "Source" intermittently and leaned on their own understanding instead of the Lords. Proverbs 3:5 says, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;".

Trust in the Lord and listen to the Holy Spirit when He taps at your spiritual door. "When the Spirit sounds a warning, your mind may not be able to perceive what's wrong. Have the courage to acknowledge that something is wrong when your spirit is troubled. Share what you are sensing with others, and ask the Lord for wisdom." (http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/3386.htm)

Be Blessed Gang!

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Antoine E. Hall

Blog:  http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22

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Can't Get Right (Replay)

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November 13, 2007

Good afternoon family,

I pray that all is well with everyone.  Today is a great day in the Lord as He has been truly working miracles in our lives.  Today I want to talk about just being plain old hard headed.  It's nothing profound, but just straight to the point.  In 1 Corinthians 4:21, Paul ends with "What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?"

Just to give you some quick background, this is Paul's first epistle (or letter) to the church at Corinth. Basically, the Corinthians are down there acting like they have no home training, when indeed they received the Gospel from Paul.  Now Paul has caught wind and basically is sounding like a parent:  Do you want a whooping (yes whooping and not whipping)?  You better straightening up and fly right!  He even has gone so far as to send Timothy to Corinth to help the people remember the teachings of Christ so they can right what they've been doing wrong (see 1 Corinthians 4:14-17). 

Many of us have been spoken too by the Holy Spirit, instructed in the Lord, and encouraged by friends in Christ, but still choose to do the wrong thing.  How many times will you need to be told to follow the Word of God?  How much of a whooping does one have to take to know that going against God's will in your life is not good for your health?  If there is something you just haven't been able to get right with the Lord, it's time to do so.  You should look to Him right now and ask him to forgive you and show you (or remind you) how to follow Him as He has instructed you.

Sorry to sound angry, but I'm not.  Just that sometimes, we just can't get right!

Be Blessed All, and have a good one.
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Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:  http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33

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A Study on Evil - God Chose This World (Replay)

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September 25, 2007

Good afternoon family.

It's good to be back as I missed you guys.  Ryan, thanks for holding down the fort while we were out on vacation.  That's how it should be.  When your brothers/sisters are out, other brothers and sisters step in to fill the void.  So, again thanks bro-ham.  Today will be our final day on the study on evil.  Again, I was pulling a lot of this information from the chapter called Questions About Evil in the book "When Skeptics Ask" and I was urged by the Holy Spirit to share with you all.  I pray that you all got something out of it because if not I did *LOL*.  Well without delay let's go to it.

Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Yep, there it is again.  If you ever picked up a bible, the first sentence you read in the Old Testament is the above verse.  Pretty simple in idea, but let's keep in mind, God CHOSE to create this world.  You do realize that He had choices?  I mean why not - He is God and has all power in his hands.

In reference to evil, one might think that if God knows all things, why didn't He foresee that the world would be flooded with evil.  That's something that we cannot overlook as it is a valid question, but, you then have to ask the following question.  If God did not create this world, then what other options did He have?  God could have "a) not created anything, b) created a world without free creatures, c) created free creatures that would not sin, [or] d) created free creatures who would sin but would all be saved in the end."¹  By the way, I am not saying this is an exhaustive list for the Lord.  Let's look at each one briefly.

A) ...not created anything.  -  Yep, God could have not created anything but this is a moot point.  We know that God created something out of His love and made man in his likeness (see Genesis 1:27).   Had God creating nothing we would not be having this conversation.

B)  ...created a world without free creatures -  We've already answered this one before.  It is free will that allows us to love one another.   For God to create non-free creatures would be evil in itself. 

C) ...created free creatures that would not sin - Now this is a possibility.  Adam was created with free will and without sin before the apple incident.  "Jesus did it throughout His whole life (Hebrews 4:15)."¹  This is a great idea in theory but making theory reality is another thing.  This is like saying we can make a car that will never need "gassing up" or recharging.  GM, Ford, Nissan & Toyota could tell us this is a great idea but making it happen is a totally different story.  It's all pretty theoretical.  The way that God guarantees we would not sin is to alter our freedom a little bit.  See where this is going?  Tamper or altering our freedom to make us [not] do something is dabbling in evil.  Of course this is impossible of God. 

D) ...created free creatures who would sin but would all be saved in the end - Well this is almost like our world today but has one problem.  Not all will be saved and this goes against biblical teachings.  Mark 16:16 says, that "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."   We know that hell is real and all those who turn a deaf ear to the Lord will not go to heaven.  God does not force us to love Him as "forced love is rape; and God is not a divine rapist"¹ (this one was good, I had to use this quote).

So, God ultimately chose this world.  In this world we have freedom to choose and this choice is a grace from God.  In that we have free will, we are free to love God, free to hate God or free to be neutral.  Either way, the choice is up to us.  Evil is a matter of choice and we can either choose God or choose evil.  Even the evil that we cannot control or appear to be pointless (sickness, death, etc.) still give us choices.  In the midst of it all, we can choose God or not.  In the end evil will be overcome as God will separate good and evil with heaven and hell.  Again, I ask why not this world?  "Ultimately, we must trust God who knows the beginning from the end and sees the grand picture. He will have the final word and He will be vindicated."²

Be Blessed Gang and have a good one!


¹ Geisler, Norman and Brooks, Ron. When Skeptics Ask. Copyright 1990.  pp. 69-74.
² CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS AND RESEARCH MINISTRY.  http://www.carm.org/questions/suffering.htm-------------- snip ---------------
 Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:  http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22

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A Study on Evil - What's Its Purpose and Why So Much? (Replay)

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September 5, 2007

 Happy Hump Day Everyone,

It is truly a great day to be alive.  I started feeling a little under the weather these past couple of days but I've already spoken to this thing and I'm coming out!  Besides my wife and I have a vacation to attend next week, so no room for sickness *LOL*.  I could call the slight sickness evil but then that would be me choosing to remain sick instead of speaking directly to it and doing something about it :-) .

We've made some good headway thus far.  We've:  1) defined evil,  2) found it's origins,  & 3) talked about defeating evil.  Today we are going to talk about what is the purpose and why is there so much of it.  I mean let's be real, everything has a purpose right?  Even if it isn't always for the good there is a purpose and this leads me to believe that there is a method to God's madness (He's not really mad, just some slang yall :-)).  "There is a difference between our knowing the purpose for evil and God having a purpose for it.  Even if we don't know God's purpose, He may still have a good reason for allowing evil in our lives"¹. 

Let's look at our good friend Job.  In Job 1:6-22, the Lord allowed Satan to test Job.  It was rather like a bet but God allowed Job to endure this suffering so that he might further call on the name of God.  In Jonah 1:17, it says, "But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights."  You might say that was just wrong, but you have to look at what happened.  The Lord had given Jonah orders to go preach, but he ran.  Well he was swallowed by the fish and allowed some time to think.  In the next chapter, Jonah 2, we see that Jonah prays to the Lord and eventually surrenders to the Lord's will.  Another example.  If you keep telling a child (like our child) to quit standing on the top of her toy box after a while you will have to stop talking.  One day she will eventually fall, but she will learn that she cannot stand and dance on the box any more.  It's the little ways God uses evil to stop us from allowing greater evil to consume us.

"But good gracious Antoine, what about all the other evil that seems to be running rampant?"  Well, to answer this question we have to look at the gift of free will that was given to us by God.  As human beings we have choices to make.  Unfortunately, not all of us make the choice to follow God and because of this some choose the path to hell.  You can bring a horse to water but you can't make him drink.  In other words, you can show people the right way, but ultimately they must choose that path.  So, to wonder why is there so much evil, you have to analyze the human race and not God. 

Before I go, I wanted to leave you guys with some scriptures about how not to choose to evil and how to follow God:

1. John 3:18
2. John 3:36
3. John 5:39-40
4. John 8:24
5. John 12:48
6. Luke 10:16
   

 Be blessed gang and have a good one.

¹ Geisler, Norman and Brooks, Ron. When Skeptics Ask. Copyright 1990.  pp. 65-------------- snip ---------------

Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:  http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22

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A Study on Evil - Why Can't Evil Be Stopped (Replay)

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September 4, 2007

Good Morning Family,

I pray that everyone had a good Labor Day yesterday, although it seems like more people work now-a-days on Labor Day than have the day off.  In continuation with our study on evil, today we will tackle the question of "why can't evil be stopped?"

To ask "why can't evil be stopped" implies that there is a counter question.  That would be "why can evil be stopped" and as Christians, this should be our view on questions such as this.  However, even for Christians this may be a tough question to answer.  Typically the argument goes something like this:

1. If God is all-good, He would destroy evil.¹
2. If God is all-powerful, He could destroy evil.¹
3. But evil is not destroyed.¹
4. Hence, there is no such God.¹

Hmmm.  Numbers 1 & 2 makes perfectly good sense to us thus far, but because of 3, number 4 throws up a red flag to any Christian with an ounce of Jesus in them *LOL*.  To say that God cannot do such a thing suggests that He is not the omnipotent God who we claim He is.  That is rather counter productive to anyone who follows the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In Exodus 15, we see just a sample of after-effects of God's power against evil:

"(6) Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.  (7) And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble."

This was the children of Israel after God had plunged the pharaohs army into the sea, who were coming to destroy them.  God DEFEATED evil in this scenario. So the question is still "why can't evil be stopped?". 

"If someone said that God should stop evil and suffering, then should God then stop all  evil and suffering? If God only stopped some of it, then we would still be asking the same question of why it exists. So, if we want God to stop evil and suffering, then He must stop all of it. ...He must stop that person from thinking his own thoughts. To do that, God must remove his freedom of thought. Furthermore, which person on the earth has not thought something evil? God would be required, then, to stop all people from exercising their free will. This is something God has chosen not to do."²

Destroying evil would be destroying the gift of freedom which allows us to love one another.  As we learned last week, if God did this, it would be an act of evil in itself.  God is not capable of evil but of only love.  The real answer is that God can defeat evil.  There is a difference.  To destroy something means to "do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of" or to "destroy completely; damage irreparably"³.  The definition of defeat is to "win a victory over". ³  With destruction you do not damage one thing, but it can have lasting side effects and/or inadvertently destroy other things.

Take for example 9/11.  When the terrorist decided to fly planes into the World Trade Center, their plans were to cause the destruction of 2 planes and to damage the 2 buildings.  However, the end result is that 2 buildings along with a couple surrounding buildings were completely destroyed.  Even Bin Ladin himself said he was shocked the buildings fell as that was not in the original plan.  As a contrast, the US and Coalition troops are in Iraq trying to defeat the enemy.  To defeat the enemy means they are to be no longer operable to cause havoc or destruction.  So they are not necessarily "irreparably damaged" but defeated to the point where they can no longer operate.  Or, to look at it another way, they have been disbanded or dismantled.

This is what God can do. "When will God defeat evil" is the real question at hand.   Just because it hasn't happened yet, does not mean it will not happen.  He will defeat evil some day.  God does not operate in our time, but rather when He sees fit.   Ecclesiastes 3:1, says "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven".   Net/Net, Those who wonder the answers to the question will have to wait a little longer as God has not deemed it the proper season to defeat evil.   "Apparently God would rather wrestle with our rebellious wills than to reign supreme over rocks and trees"¹.

Be blessed gang and have a good one!


¹ Geisler, Norman and Brooks, Ron. When Skeptics Ask. Copyright 1990.  pp. 63, 65
² CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS AND RESEARCH MINISTRY.  http://www.carm.org/questions/suffering.htm
³ WordNet.  http://wordnet.princeton.edu/.  "destroy, defeat"
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Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:  http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22

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A Study on Evil - Where Did Evil Come From? (Replay)

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August 29, 2007

Good morning family,

I pray that all are doing well this day.  Today we will continue our study on the topic of evil.  This week we will tackle the question of "Where in the world (or out of this world) did evil came from?"  Last week, we were wrapping up how we defined evil which gave us a different way of looking at it.  We did leave one open question which was "Did God create evil?".  Well the wait is no more because now you get your answer. 

Revelations 1:8 "'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, 'who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.'"

In the beginning there was God and He created the heavens and the earth.  This same God we have is a perfect God....one without blemish.  So, if this is the case why do we have evil in the world today?  One would have to think that the flow of things would be broken, right?  A perfect God creates perfect creations which cannot do what is imperfect.¹  One look at humans and you'd immediately conclude that we are by far not perfect at all, so what happened?  Does this means that God is now not perfect?

Dah Haaaa!  The problem is how we view perfection.  Just what is perfection one may ask?  According to WordNet, perfection is "the state of being without a flaw or defect".²  However, this would contradict what we would understand God to be.  Let's look at something:

1. God made everything perfect¹
2. One of the perfect things God made was free creatures.¹
3. Free will is the cause of evil¹
4. So, imperfection (evil) can arise from perfection (not directly, but indirectly through freedom).¹

The one thing that God did was to make us perfect.  As a part of that perfection, God gave us freedom so that we can love freely.  After all you'd have to agree that "forced love is not love at all..."¹  Look at yesterdays WFTD, the "Ultimate Commandment".  In this commandment plain and simply God told us to love one another.  There is not enough love in the world to ever have loved enough.

However, because we were made with this freedom to love, we also have the choice to choose good and/or evil.  God did not create evil but because of our design, it made evil possible.  God knew this, in the very beginning.  Remember Satan was an angel in God's kingdom?

Ezekiel 28:13-17 says, "(13) You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.  (14) You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.  (15) You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.  (16) Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.  (17) Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings."

Satan was also given the freedom to love and honor God, but He chose to love and honor himself.  He thought he was higher than God, but was quickly excused from his post.  Again, look back earlier.  We said that God gave us this freedom in order to love one another.  God wishes us to love as He also loves us.   If He forced us to love, that in itself would be an act of evil which with God is not possible (we'll talk more on that later).

Until next week folks, be blessed and have a Happy Hump Day!



¹ Geisler, Norman and Brooks, Ron. When Skeptics Ask. Copyright 1990.  pp. 61-63
² WordNet.  http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=perfection
³ SATAN, THE ADVERSARY OF MANKIND.  http://users.aristotle.net/~bhuie/satan.htm
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Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:  http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22

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A Study on Evil - What is Evil? (Replay)

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August 22, 2007

Good afternoon family.

Today we are going to dive into our first of many studies on evil.  I am going to pull a lot of the lead studies from the book "When Skeptics Ask" by Norman Geisler and Ron Brooks.  In addition, there will be references from the Bible along with any other reference that the Holy Spirit leads me to use.  Without further delay let's hop to it.

In order to begin a study on something, I think we must first lay some ground work.  What is Evil?  I think this is a relevant question to the study.  Have you ever really put much thought into it or can you merely identify evil when you see?  Is it one of those "I know it when I see it type of things"?  Well, its alright if you haven't thought about it, but I have pulled a few meanings for us.

Evil is....

1. “...a term describing that which is regarded as morally bad, intrinsically corrupt, wantonly destructive, inhumane, selfish, or wicked. In most cultures, the word is used to describe acts, thoughts, and ideas which are thought to (either directly or causally) bring about withering and death —the opposite of life.” ¹
   
2. "...when good that should be there is missing from something....Evil is, in reality, a parasite that cannot exist except as a hole in something that should be solid. In some cases, though, evil is more easily explained as a case of bad relationships”²
   
3. “...morally reprehensible : SINFUL, WICKED... arising from actual or imputed bad character or conduct”³

Taken these three definitions, we have a little something in which to work.  Almost all the time we look at evil from the standpoint of definitions 1 and 3.  You usually say, that this person is evil either because of their attitude, thoughts, etc.  Or, you say that some particular actions or conditions are evil (e.g., murder, child molestation, war, having cancer, etc.).  This list can go on and on, but all of these point to acts or end-results of evil.  They do not tell us what is evil.  Definition 2, goes a little deeper and identifies the entity of evil itself.

Evil can be a case of bad relationships of good situations.  What do I mean by this?  Well Norman Geisler uses the following example:

"...If I pick up a good gun, put in a good bullet, point it at my good head, put my good finger on the good trigger and give it a good pull....a bad relationship results."²

More than likely the results end in death or a very bad medical situation.  Everything is good in the situation, but the relationship of all results in evil.  A murderer did not go to find a bad gun, a bad bullet, and point it at a bad head.  They chose to use those good things in relationship to cause a bad effect.  If this is the case, this means you can either be of faith or of the world - you can either accept that it exists or you can live in denial but evil is present and does not discriminate.

But this leads us to another question.  Isn't God all powerful and all knowing?  If He is the creator of all things, didn't He create evil?  Well, God did create all things, but then again evil is not a physical thing :-) .  Rather, "[i]t is a lack in things."²   Sounds a little confusing but look at our second definition.  Evil is either a hole, which is a missing part of a thing, or it is a mix of bad relationships (which is still not a thing).  Don't be confused by me referring to evil as an "it" and assume it's a physical, tangible thing.

Since we are talking about physical and tangible things, lets talk about what God created.  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (He really did, you should read Genesis sometimes :-) ). In Genesis 2:9, God created all the trees:

"And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

Notice that in here, God created the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Now, if we remember correctly, God told Adam (and Eve as well although she came afterward), that he can eat of any tree in the Garden of Eden, but the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (see Genesis 2:16-17) .  Could this be because He new something that Adam didn't know?  The tree of life ensured that Adam and Eve had eternal life.  They did not have any worries but only were forbidden to eat from one tree.  Then here comes the serpent urging Eve and Adam to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil hence the downward spiral (see Genesis 3:4-6).

Genesis 3:21-23 - "(21) The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. (22) And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." (23) So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken."

Hmmm, I may not be a rocket scientist, but do you think God was maybe trying to protect his creations from knowledge that could lead down the wrong path.  Before this event Adam and Eve had no idea what was good or evil.  Of course knowledge is power, whether it be good or bad.  In some cases to know is almost worst than not knowing at all.  For example, the knowledge of enriching radioactive elements was probably a bad thing.  Because of this knowledge we now have the Atom, Hydrogen, and a slew of other bombs in which we are probably not familiar.   In any case, God had us protected with simple instruction, but one thing started the domino affect.  God made us free creatures and this gives us the freedom to make our own decisions.  This is not a bad thing, but look at the decision to eat from the forbidden tree. 

This will lead us into next WFTD topic which will be on the origins of evil.  Stay tuned folks and pray for this study as the Holy Spirit has His way with me.

Be Blessed and happy hump day!


¹ Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil
² Geisler, Norman and Brooks, Ron. When Skeptics Ask. Copyright 1990.  pp. 60-61.
³ Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.   http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?sourceid=Mozilla-search&va=evil
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Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:      http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter:     http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22

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A Study on Evil (Replay)

Back in 2007, I read the book, "When Skeptics Ask" by Norman Geisler & Ron Brooks.  While reading the it, I was prompted to look more at evil and decided to share my findings.  This study lasted to what equated to 6 days worth of write-ups, but it was over the course of a month.  Today will be only the introduction.  Be blessed folks!

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August 21, 2007

Good afternoon family.

I hope that everyone is doing well today.  Yet again, it is another scorching 102 degrees outside and my grass looks like hay but that's a different story :-) .  Today, there is not really a WFTD per say, but rather an introduction to a study in which I am about to embark.  I should have said that we all are about to go down this road on the study because I will be sharing all of what I receive.

Why a study on evil you may ask?  Why not?  The question of the existence of evil in the world is a big hindrance to some individuals believing that God is real.  You get questions like, "If God is real then why does He allow so much evil in the world?".  When it all boils down to it, that is a valid question and it deserves a serious look.  Look at Judas, who betrayed Jesus.  In the very beginning, Jesus knew who would betray him but yet he said nothing.  Let's look at John 6:68-71:

"(68) Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. (69) We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."   (70) Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" (71) (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)"

Jesus had just finishing teaching that He was the bread of life and the many disciples had a hard time believing it.  All but twelve of them deserted Jesus, but still there was one of them possessed by evil.  So, it's not like evil just started.  It's been around for a long time so it is worth taking a look.

Until next time, when we begin our journey.  Be blessed.

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Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:      http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter:     http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22

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Correction Is Tough For All Parties

Hello Everyone,

I hope that you all are having a good day thus far.  I am doing pretty good this fine Monday.  You know, since last Friday I had been planning to start replaying a study in which I did back in August through September of 2007 on evil in the world.  I was ready to get started this morning, when the Holy Spirit gave me another topic to do. Seeing that I want to be obedient I will relinquish my day to Him and try again tomorrow (providing I do not get another topic to do *lol*).

Today, I want to talk about something that many people say about all religions, although you probably already know my thoughts about lumping Christianity together into religion (see It's History, Not Just a Religion).  My point of view is from that of a Christian and my concern surrounds the recent comments that I have seen/heard as of late.  The one that has struck a nerve with me is the idea that people who believe in God have no brains of their own.  To go one step further, some believe many use religion as a way to control people and to line their pockets with money.  My issue with these beliefs is that people who do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, read and hear these comments and believe them.  As with anything else it the world, it is easier to spread the bad news than it is the good news, because most people have an appetite for what's wrong with the world instead of what's right with it.

In a time where it seems many Pastors are being outed for doing what they preach against or for being accused of criminal acts, it is not hard to understand why people believe what they believe.  In many ways, it is the truth.  There is no other way to sugar coat it.  There are people out there who have no other intention other than to manipulate people into believing certain aspects of the Word of God so that it may benefit them financially.  I can speak, because I have experienced this myself.  The problem is that many Christians would adamantly deny the claims above which I have stated without providing adequate reasoning for their position.  Thus, we fail at reaching the non-Christian.

The first step for many Christians is accept the fact that we a major image problem.  It does not help the fact that we have a few bad apples out there ruining for the bunch.  I equate the Christian hurdles for carrying out the Great Commission (see Matthew 28:16-20) to the same problem that a company has when the have a major issue.  Let's look at this example with the airlines..

An Air Plane Crash  - It is not an every day occurrence, but every once in a while an will airplane crash.  The very moment that one does, we hear it every where.  Every news network covers it constantly and images are everywhere on the web.  You cannot get away from it.  People look for someone to blame for the accident and an investigation is started to find exactly what happened.  By now, we know how this plays out in the media.  The problem that the airlines have is that they could take a hit in ticket sales because of the accident.  People remember seeing the broken tail fin with the airline's logo on it or the smoldering wreckage which is only identifiable by the little black box found (which the media does a great job of letting you know which airlines it was).  What we fail to keep in mind that there are thousands of flights that occur daily.  Look at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, IL.  According to Wikipedia, "In 2008, the airport had 881,566 aircraft operations, an average of 2,409 per day...O'Hare International Airport is the third busiest airport in the world with 64,397,782 passengers passing through the airport in 2009, a -9.07% change from 2008."  What I highlighted is one day's worth of operations for one airport.  Think of how many planes that are flying over your head as we speak.  You never hear about them, but you hear about the one that goes down.  It's a pure PR nightmare for the airlines industry, specifically the company that experienced the accident.

I know I went a little in depth on the airlines example, but I wanted to drive in the point.  There are many bad pastors, ministry leaders, etc. out there.  In the same breath, every Sunday there are a ton of good people doing the right things for the Kingdom of God according to scripture.  You never hear about them though.  You only hear about the folks who "crash and burn" on the world stage as being hypocrites and blasphemers. 

There use to be a saying that talked about a man's word being his bond.  I took this to mean that what someone spoke to you is what they meant.  Not only did they mean it, but you could count on them to follow through on their words with action.  Today, all people can be misleading and this does not exclude someone in ministry.  They are still people and they make mistakes, no matter in how high of esteem you hold them.  The Word of God tells us to

(15)"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. (16) By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? (17) Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. - Matthew 7:15-17

Yes, many things can be misused to mislead people for malcontent.  It is not just with religion, but with companies, non-profits, and the list could be a mile long.  It is up to us to decide whether or not the tree we are eating from is yielding bad fruit. 

For Christians.

We have work to do.  Yes there are bad blotches against us, but that just means we have to work extra hard reach those flooded with misinformation.  This means that if you are the sheep of a shepherd in wolf's clothing, then it is your responsibility to not subject yourself to manipulation.  James 1:22-25 says,

(22) Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (23) Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror (24) and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. (25) But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

I understand that people are loyal to their Pastor and church.  Some will quickly quote you Psalm 105:15, which says, "Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm."  That is fine. You do not have to touch those who are in leadership, but you do have a responsibility in identifying if you are eating good or bad fruit (there goes Matthew 7:15-17 again).  If you are eating bad fruit, leave and find good fruit.  Your loyalty is not to a person, building or location, but to Jesus Christ. 

For Non-Christians.

For those who are seeking out the existence of God, do not be mislead or become frustrated by what you see and/or hear.  There are Christians out there doing the right thing and you can know that by how they live their lives.  I encourage you to give Jesus a try and taste and see that He is good.  I have said it before an I will say it again.  You cannot say something is bad if you have never experienced it. 

I hope this has helped someone today.  If I have misrepresented the Word of God I will quickly apologize and correct any errors.  If you are a Christian and this offended you then I make no apology to you.  I stand by what I mean and I mean what I say.  It could be that the Holy Spirit has alerted you that there is some work to do on your part.  Proverbs 13:13-18 says,

(13) He who scorns instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command is rewarded. (14) The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death. (15) Good understanding wins favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard. (16) Every prudent man acts out of knowledge, but a fool exposes his folly. (17) A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a trustworthy envoy brings healing. (18) He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame,  but whoever heeds correction is honored.

As teachers and students of Christ, it is not our job to make everyone happy, but to make sure the Gospel goes forth unhindered, unaltered, and unblemished.

Be blessed and I hope you all have a great Monday!

Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:      http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter:     http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22

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Know What You're Talking About (Replay)

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October 2, 2007

Good afternoon family.

I pray that all of you are doing very well today.  I must say that I am doing pretty good considering my sinuses are acting all crazy.  Question for everyone.  Have any of you ever had any one come up to talking crazy about something they have no clue about?  Or, what's better, how about a person that hears someone else saying something and try to butt into your conversation repeating what that person said?  What do you do?  If you are a like me, first of all you'd probably look at that person like, "I don't know you".  *LOL*

See there is danger in going around repeating what people say and you don't know what it means or have knowledge of what it is you are repeating.  Music, for example, is peppered with hidden messages but yet we go around repeating it.  I can point to one genre because I used to do this but none are exempt.  Yep, even some gospel isn't always doctrinally sound!  All of my old hip hop heads remember Wu-Tang Clan ?  Their group and music was heavily based on the old Kung-Fu flicks from back in the day.  Well what a lot of people do not know is that a lot of the members were Five Percenters.  A Five Percenter is a break off of the Nation of Islam with some crazy stuff added.  The lyrics are tight.  The beats hot.  But if you listen, in some of their songs they interject their believes and next thing you know kids (and grown men) are running around saying things they have no clue what their talking about or advocating

Let's go to some scripture please:

Acts 19:13-16    "(13) Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." (14) Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. (15) (One day) the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" (16) Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding."

Here is some background on the above scripture.  Paul, an Apostle, had just gone to the city Ephesus preaching and teaching the gospel.  Paul was a devout follower of Christ and was persecuted, jailed, cast out of cities but yet he healed the sick, cast out evil spirits, and did other miracles that Jesus did.  Well here come some Jews, who were exorcists trying to cast out demons, calling on Jesus just as Paul did to cast out demons. 

The problem with this is that if you have not accepted Christ, you cannot do things in this name because you don't believe. Look what happens.  One day they tried to caste out an evil spirit in the name of Jesus, "whom Paul preaches" and the spirit says, uhm who are you.  I know Jesus and Paul, but who in the world are you and where did you come from?!  Long story short, the evil spirit jumped on the Jewish priest and beat him down.

To bring things on home, just know what you're talking about.  If you are saying some things now that you do not know what they mean, question it.  Research it.  You may find that you should not be saying it or speaking about something that could cause you harm.

Be blessed folks and have a Happy Hump Day!
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Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:  http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33

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Familiar Hells vs Unknown Heavens (Replay)

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June 27, 2007

Hello everyone,

I pray that everyone is having a great day thus far. Either yesterday or a couple of days ago, I was listening to an online gospel radio station (onenationfm.com) and this lady was doing a segment on Asking God.  She was talking about how we were not asking God properly for whatever it was in which we needed an answer (or whatever request we needed filled).  Then she went on to say that most of us today would rather live in "Familiar Hells" than live in "Unknown Heavens" and I was like "WHOA!".  That totally blew my mind but made me think.

Complacency.  Yep, it can be a bad thing.  A lot of the times a lot of us stay in the same rut doing the same thing because it's what we are use to doing which can be also a familiar hell. You'd rather keep doing what you're doing because it feels "right" to you even when  you know it is wrong.   In Amos 6:1-7, the prophet Amos gives warning to those who were complacent in Jerusalem.

 (1) Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!  (2) Go to Calneh and look at it; go from there to great Hamath, and then go down to Gath in Philistia.  Are they better off than your two kingdoms? Is their land larger than yours?   (3) You put off the evil day and bring near a reign of terror.   (4) You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs  and fattened calves.   (5) You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments.   (6) You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.   (7) Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end.

The folks in Jerusalem was basically eating high up on the hog.  They didn't have a care in the world because they were fine with what they were doing.  Why change when you had all what they had right?  WRONG!  If you read the full chapter of Amos 6 you will see the Lord very much dislikes this prideful complacency.

We are in relationships, on jobs, and hang with "so-called" friends that put you through hell every day.  But, despite it all, we stick with it because think we love him/her, or that job is really what we wanted to do and it pays well, or my boys/girls ride or die with me.  Yep, but they can ride with you straight to hell. 

Proverbs 13:20-21 says,

"(20) He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.  (21) Misfortune pursues the sinner, but prosperity is the reward of the righteous."

Ephesians 1:7-8 says,

"(7) In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace (8) that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding."

Philippians 4:19 says,

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

All the many unknown heavens we'd rather not try because it's not customary for us to do so.  Before I talked about Robert Frost's poem about "The Road Not Taken" and again I think is applicable here (if you've never read it before here is the link to it:  http://www.bartleby.com/119/1.html).  Are you living in that familiar area or are you willing to change for what God has for you? 

Be blessed gang and I pray that you all have a happy hump day.
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Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:      http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter:     http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33

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It's History, Not Just a Religion (Replay)

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February 28, 2007

Good morning family.

I pray that everyone is doing well. I missed you guys & gals last week, but I'm back this week.  For some reason, the Holy Spirit will not let me leave the historical significance of the Bible alone.  No matter how you spin it, I can no longer look at the Word of God as a bunch of pages in a binder.  I can't help but to look at it as historical.  Obviously there is something that I need to either ingrain into my brain or something someone else needs to read.

Let's look at a few definitions:

• Religion:  "..sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system—is commonly defined as belief concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine, and the moral codes, practices and institutions associated with such belief. In its broadest sense some have defined it as the sum total of answers given to explain humankind's relationship with the universe. In the course of the development of religion, it has taken a huge number of forms in various cultures and individuals..."¹
• Historical:  "having once lived or existed or taken place in the real world as distinct from being legendary; "the historical Jesus"; "doubt that a historical Camelot every existed"; "actual historical events""².  "History is a term for information about the past. When used as the name of a field of study, history refers to the study and interpretation of the record of human societies."³

See the problem with the word religion is that it can be refuted by someone.  You can place some other religion next to it and try to say, "mines is true, yours is not".  Notice that it says it is a belief system or a set of moral codes.  That's great as the Bible is the ultimate source on how we as people should live and interact.  But what I'm more focused on is the historical part.  With history, it is factual.  You could put your hands on it...or at least someone at some point and time could.  Let's look at something.

If anyone knows anything about the history of Jerusalem (or has read a little bit of the bible :-) ), one would know that the city stayed in constant battle.  The walls of Jerusalem being destroyed and repaired and destroyed and repaired.....Let's look at the book of Nehemiah:

(5) And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.

The walls of Jerusalem had been destroyed and Nehemiah put in a request to his king to be excused to go back home to repair the walls.  Long story short, Nehemiah and some men rebuilt the wall with a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other (about 440-446 BC⁴).  Now look at the old city of Jerusalem today.  Some of the walls still stand. (And as a side bar, passed under President Clinton's administration, the Nehemiah Program made affording a home a reality for those who would otherwise be able to afford one.  Hence building up a people...but I digress).

Now fast forward to the New Testament.  I like the definition of Historical above because it says, "the historical Jesus".  Whether people like it or not, Jesus was a real person and at the same time the Son of God. We know that Jesus came here to this earth to pay the debt for our sins, died and ascended into Heaven to sit at the right hand of God (and to intercede on our behalf). 

Looking at the Gospels (Matthew, Luke, Mark, & John), one would note that they seem pretty repetitive.  Some of the same accounts appear in each one.  What one have to realize is that the New Testament is not meant to read like a story from beginning to end (that can be a WFTD in itself).  However, what it does is give an account of the life of Jesus Christ, how He affected his disciples and how they preached and carried on the work of Jesus and the gospel.  Matthew, Luke, Mark & John were of course some of his disciples.  Now let's look at some comparisons.

• Matthew 21:8-10  "(8) And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.   (9) And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.   (10) And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?"
  
  
• Mark 11:9-11 "(9) And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: (10) Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.  (11) And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve."
  
  
• John 12:12-16  "(12) On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,  (13) Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. (14And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, (15) Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt."
  

Why did you type all of this Antoine.  Well glad you asked.  What these very similar verses from different books show us is corroboration.  It's like putting together a crime scene investigation and what you get is eye witness accounts of Jesus in action.  That's one thing about the Bible that makes it so historical and true.  It's not just a mention of an event, but you have many different eye witnesses of the same account. 

Look at after Jesus' death.  He appeared before all of the apostles and Mary Magdalene.  Not to mention others witnessed the same account of Jesus after his death.  Why in the world would someone play off the resurrection of Christ for the sake of "covering up a story"?  It makes no sense.  If you look at the books of Acts, the apostles begin to blossom and do the things that Jesus did:  preach, heal, pray.  They carried on the church to which it spread vastly throughout the world today.  Greek Mythology was nice, but it didn't last.  Even the "trueness" of Christianity trumped it's existence despite the rulers of the Roman empire.

Religion. It's a nice word. But Jesus and the Word of God is History.  You can't take anything from history, because it stands on it's own.

Be blessed gang and sorry for the length.  I got so excited because I missed you all.  We had a lot to catch up on :-) .

Happy Hump Day!



¹http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion
²http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
³http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical
⁴http://ezinearticles.com/?Bible-Prophecy-Fulfilled:-Messiah-to-Appear-in-Jerusalem-in-A.D.-31&id=466887
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Regards,

Antoine E. Hall

Blog:      http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter:     http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33

Read More