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
 -------------- snip ---------------

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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When They Say How Bad, Ask for the Good

Every day, I'm pretty sure some of us run across people who seem to have nothing good to say.  They complain about everything and they never seem to find any optimism in all that they do.  My daughter's school gave them a verse to remember out of 2 Philippians 2:14 which says, "Do everything without complaining or arguing".  I think some of us adults should learn a little something from this verse as well. 

The next time someone complains to you about something (or if you find yourself complaining), ask them this question: "Now what positive can you learn from this situation?" You'll get one of two responses:  1) They will be wondering why you asked them something like that when they were laying all the bad complaints on you thick or 2) they will honestly think about the positive points of their situation. 

Either way, you have done your part and probably have avoided feeding into their downward spiral of negativity.

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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Be Like A Tree

The beginning of Autumn has to be one of the most awesome displays of God's beauty and creativity.  The leaves on the trees change to the colors of oranges, yellows, browns, etc. and the scenery is nothing short of a photographic moment!    As I walked along the sidewalk this morning, I looked up at a tree (who's leaves were orange) and a single leaf fell, floating to the ground.  All I could do was smile because in that moment I was reminded of the power and presence of God.

In the same moment, I had to look at the tree itself and this is what I saw.  A tree is the perfect symbol of our walk with Christ should be.  Now, I know you are thinking, "Antoine, how in the world did you come up with that idea?" Well, first off it definitely wasn't mines.  The Holy Spirit had some involvement, but I am going to tell you. First, let's go back to school where we first learned about plants and their life cycles. 

As we all know, a tree starts out as a seed.  That seed is planted into the ground and over time, with some nurturing, sunlight, and watering the tree will grow to be a larger and larger plant.  As the tree gets bigger over the years, its roots go deeper into the ground in order to support the tree's weight and most importantly to get nutrients from the ground.  Then the tree grows branches.  The branches grow and spread out far so that the leaves can soak up the most amount of sun as possible in order that photosynthesis can occur.  ("Photosynthesis is a process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight"1.  Without photosynthesis, the tree cannot live because this is how it creates its food.)   When the tree is able, it then creates it's own seeds which fall from the tree to ground to take root and start the process all over again for another seedling. Wash, Rinse, Repeat.


If we look and compare us to the description above you may see the similarities in our Spiritual Walk with Jesus.  When we first proclaim that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, we become babes in Christ.  This is because a 'seed' is planted within us.  As with any baby, you need nurturing and support so that you can continue to grow spiritually (see 1 Peter 2:2).  As long as you are in good ground, you will continue to grow until you can start to do things for yourself (ie, read & interpret the bible).  We continue to walk with Christ and our 'roots' go deeper into the ground to support out growth and to get more spiritual nutrients (remember, seeds have to be on good & fertile ground for them to grow - see Mark 4:1-8). As with the tree, if our roots are in loose & unstable soil, any light wind could come along and blow it over.  If our roots are not firmly rooted in Him who saves us, any hearsay or false teaching would make us stumble and fall (or blow us down).   We continue grow and stretch our arms, heart, and mind upward and open to receive more of the Son so that we may have more of Him.  At some point, we should reach a stage where we start to produce our own seeds so they can drop from us and be planted in someone else to start their spiritual lives as well (see Matthew 28:18-20).  Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

I thought this was pretty cool how it was revealed to me and I think it is how we should live our Christian Walk.  We should never remain babes in Christ.  We should be growing more every day with a continued desire for Christ.  While you may not be a Pastor or a Deacon, all of us are called be active participants in the building of the Kingdom of God (see Ephesians 4:11-13). Today, I want to encourage you to be like a tree.  Continue to grow your faith, with outstretched arms towards the Son, so that you too can leave seeds that will one day help spread the good news.

Be blessed everyone.

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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The Sky Is Still Blue

Updated: 03/18/2020

The most interesting things occur to me while walking my dog.  I have shared once before that when I am walking him alone, it is typically my quiet time to be with the Lord and this morning was no different.

This morning in Milwaukee, there was a heavy overcast and the wind was blowing pretty hard.  As I walked down the sidewalk, I happen to look into the gray ominous clouds and found a break in them.  It was just a small break, but what I saw was the beautiful blue sky and the bright white clouds high above the gray rain clouds.  Because the wind was blowing steadily, the break didn't last long.

It is something that happens all the time, but we typically do not recognize it.  When rain clouds move in your area, they are a different color and thick.  They blot out the blue sky and sometimes the sun as well.  Because the clouds are over our heads it is hard to think about what is behind them because we are caught up in the moment of preparing what could happen. What we fail to realize is that behind that storm cloud, the sky is still blue.  Behind that cloud of rain, the sky is still blue.  Behind that thunder and lightening cloud the sky is still blue!  It never changes (until dark of course).

This is how God is to us.  Even though we go through trials in life God never leaves us.  He has always been there with us.  Despite how cloudy it gets in life, God is still there.  No matter how trivial or violent the trial, God is still there.  He's there because He promised to never leave us out to dry.  In Deuteronomy 31:8 it says,

And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.

Whatever it is God has purposed for your life it will come to past.  No matter what your current situation may be, continue to hold on to His words.  If you want, remind Him of His promises!   Always know that just as the sky is blue behind the dark clouds, God is still with you through the days of your life. 

Be blessed folks and have a good one!

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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