Over the course of time, many unsavory characters have arrived on the scene proclaiming to be Christ, often twisting and perverting scripture in order to justify their erroneous and heretical views. Many don't seem to understand The First Epistle of John , and the nature of sin and grace. If they did, they wouldn't be mislead and arrive at the errant and outright dangerous conclusions that they do.
In order for us to confess (and thus be forgiven of) our sins, we must first be conscious of the fact that we are indeed sinners.
One of the points that John was trying to explain was that the Son and Father are a package deal, and that the spirit of Antichrist (a denial of the relationship between Jesus and the Father) was incompatible with church doctrine, and was in fact heretical.
Whatever mishmash of misinformation or rumor that may have been going around at the time that contradicted his divine origin and his sinless life either stemmed from the heathen or from well-meaning but tragically misguided members of cults.
Anyone who outright denies the fact that they need His salvation is in fact lost.
Anyone who claims to have a relationship with Christ and who does not mind his commandments is lost and is walking in darkness.
If we name the name of Christ, we would make an earnest effort to walk and grow in his grace.
What we are talking about is various forms of self-deception.
1 John explains the litmus test, or measuring stick by which we are judged.
Does Christ count you as his own?
Anyone who places these things above the Lord (idolatry) does not, in fact, serve the Lord.
The serve themselves.
Sin is, in definition, a failure to serve God's purposes.
It is to serve the desires of the flesh instead.
If we walk in the light, when we do sin, it is laid on Christ's charge.
It is as if we never did sin.
We dust ourselves off and keep moving.
If our conversion was insincere, we will be branded the hypocrites we are and Christ will one day tell us to depart from him.
Like it all never even happened.
There's that concept of forgetfulness once again.
Hijacking improper motives to reach this particular goal will get us nowhere.
In one of my last entries before my "birthday," I'd like to address some pressing issues concerning health care overhaul and "executive orders."
"Executive orders" are "laws" or decrees that are not legally binding, but they are indeed spiritually binding.
What does this mean to you?
In a minimally-invasive manner, these decrees are meant to discourage behavior that would cause harm to other individuals or to our children. Violation of these would mean that you would likely have to go under the knife or radiation to remove that tumor, receive an injection for that achy joint, or undergo lasik to cure your blindness. A premature death would also be permanent. I would no longer serve as the proxy between you and Jesus for access to these miraculous treatments.
These are a supplement to the laws that are already on the books on the the national, state, and local levels.
What are violations of "code" that would apply here (there is a 2-year rollout schedule)?
-Hacking.
"Follow the white rabbit."
-Piracy.
(The following will be enacted prior to the full implementation of the law.)
-Murder
-Rape, sexual assault, or knowingly spreading STD's.
(For youthful offenders, or those under 21, there is a threshold of one incident permitted for amnesty. For those over 21, a threshold of one incident will be in effect. If you were not able to learn from causing someone else much pain and suffering, you are a waste of resources.)
-Causing a pregnancy on purpose.
-Child molestation.
(Concerning those in positions dealing directly with children, they will not be eligible for any of these sorts of treatments. For those who do not deal directly with children, a limit of one occurrence will be enacted. Again, I do not like to waste money or resources.)
Also, those little flower vials (intended to smoke crack cocaine) that you find at gas stations will be considered subject to sanctioning as well.
An executive order will also apply to those in the pornography industry.
21+ and a non-promotional policy will apply or sanctions will apply.
I am trying to encourage ethical conduct and transparent disclosures and discourse amongst our citizenry.
If you don't like laws on the books in your jurisdiction, use your vote and change them.
On a related topic, one way to conduct transparent disclosures online would be to place all websites containing pornography under specific domain suffixes, for easy parental controls.
That being said, after my surgery and release from the hospital, I will immediately hand over my (canceled) New York State driver's identification card to trusted Christian colleagues for safekeeping until eyewitnesses can look it over and it can be and buried under the soil. This is the most responsible thing to do with it, so that no one can deny its existence or claim some sort of wild conspiracy that did not exist.
After my "birthday," there is going to be a 30-day deadline for all undocumented illegal immigrants (country of origin does not matter) to register at any U.S. Post Office, or they will be ineligible for the health care coverage that I have mentioned above. The social security number will be utilized when health-care overhaul takes place, so those using the social security number of another individual will eventually be caught. They will be deported when caught after the fact anyway, so a lottery system will be enacted for those who earn the right to stay.
* Considering an abortion? I will be forming a charitable foundation to aid and assist expectant mothers who are doing just that.
Anyone old enough to remember the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks is old enough to remember the security crackdown that ensued not even two months later embodied in the USA Patriot Act.
When sudden, unforeseen, and tragic events like these take place, our cores are shaken, our world views are challenged, and our collective consciousness tends to be (for better or worse) altered in ways that we probably never imagined.
The question posed long ago and that still reverberates to this day pertains to whether or not this legislation is onerous and overbearing.
I am inclined to answer "yes."
What could we possibly do about it?
Here are a few sensible ideas for reform that might pique your interest.
1) Immediately move to seal the porous US/Mexico to prevent unauthorized access to the interior of the country. Also, take firm steps toward cleaning up the mess that is now scattered about the Alaskan tundra. These steps would actually provide the type of "shovel-ready jobs" that President Barack Obama once joked about.
Drones are simply not sufficient for these purposes.
2) Move to secure our border crossings and airport terminals with high-tech, molecule-scanning laser technology. Used only at the perimeter and sensitive areas such as airport terminals, illegal drugs and explosives could be interdicted before they ever have a chance to cause mass disruption.
3) Reform the way that the NSA obtains warrants for access to metadata.
Store data off of government premises (with our communications companies) and cease the sweeping, mass collections process that the Federal Government currently utilizes.
Trusted appointees (not lifetime political machine lackeys) should oversee the FISA court system.
"If you see something, say something" is a common maxim used pertaining to what might be perceived as suspicious activity in your local community. You should do this, and allow the formalized (separated, not nationalized) relations between local and federal law enforcement to operate in the most efficient, safe, and secure ways possible.
These notions entertained, I'd like to talk about a few other ideas concerning the themes of waste, fraud and abuse.
The first would be to flat-out eliminate the CIA.
The second?
Eliminate the civilian national security force that operates out of the DHS.
What happened to our national guard forces, and why aren't they good enough?
Why shouldn't we consider these possible excesses and ways to address them?
How does one explain one's odd (though harmless) behavior after one comes down from a manic, sleep-deprived bender?
You would probably be at a loss of words as well.
Let me make one thing clear:
1) If you deal with psychosis, you should probably be on medication, and working in close coordination with a doctor for the reasons mentioned in the film.
(I have been diagnosed as Bipolar II, but sleep deprivation combined with alcohol can push me into psychosis. That's why I do not mix the two, and sleep every night.)
2) Bipolar Disorder can ruin your life.
3) Mental illness eats away at your quality of life and your ability to function.
No one should be shamed from seeking the help that they need, nor should they be ostracized if they do so.
Stigma and ignorance is a large part of why many people who do need help do not end up seeking it.
What is "iniquity?" God finds one guilty of iniquity ("A perversion of intent; a bending of rectitude into willful disobedience." In other words, not just a "mistake."
Building upon the material covered thus far (namely the last entry concerning messengers), I'd like to revisit some occurrences in my life for the sake of discussion, simply because I found them rather interesting.
I've already mentioned a near-death experience that I had in 2012, and the related accident that took place.
I'm as certain as I can be that this was punishment for my lack of discipline and poor diet.
That being said, I'd like to look at some seemingly innocuous incidents that have transpired in my life to entertain the possibility of them being not so innocuous.
A couple of nights after Thanksgiving, I had reheated a plate of leftovers.
(Yes, including turkey.)
Strangely enough, I ended up falling asleep as the plate rested on the dresser.
I woke up the next day and took a few bites of room-temperature turkey.
Minutes later, I came down with a terrible case of food poisoning.
One more?
Right in the midst of discussion concerning turkey (cowardice), I rolled over and rubbed my arm against a rubber cord sticking out of my portable DVD player, ripping the hair off of my arm.
Could these have possibly been examples of messengers helping to keep me in line, giving me subtle hints on how to behave?
I'll leave that up to the reader to decide.
I'll also leave you with three simple truths:
1) All calories count.
2) There is no such thing as a free lunch.
3) We are responsible for our own behavior.
A subject worthy of intensive study that tends to get overlooked by most is the very nature of spiritual warfare, namely the spiritual beings known as Angels and Demons.
This is not an endorsement of Gnosticism, but instead I'd like to focus on some important facts and definitions gleaned from the text.
The first point to note is that the term "Satan," in the Old Testament is simply another term for "messenger," or "angel."
The book defines a "satan" as "a supernatural character sent by God for the specific purpose of blocking or obstructing human activity."
The root "'stn" refers to "one who opposes, obstructs, or acts as an adversary."
In this light, the Book of Job takes on a different context than many today tend to understand.
Why could bad, seemingly unexplainable things happen to good people?
These forces of Good are sometimes used to test God's servants, or in some other fashion used to bring about God's will and to serve his greater purposes.
For further disambiguation, the term "devil" in the New Testament is simply a term for an "agent of evil." Using contextual clues, one can discern if this is in reference to a human being or an evil spirit.
Now, let's segue into a related topic, and that is the relationship that my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ had with Heavenly angels.
