To Be Least

      As the new movie the Passion of the Christ was released today some kids in my school who went to see it with their church had some thoughts on it. Every one of them thought that it was an excellent movie, however they were not fond of the gore. One girl in my English class, who happens to be Christian, thought that Christians would appreciate it much more then the non-Christians as believers understand what all this pain and suffering was for. Either way they were just stunned when the movie ended. Apparently the audience in that particular theater just sat and starred after the film had ended. It had a very deep impact.

God bless.

"They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God."

I was reading the Bible in lunch today when I came across this verse. It struck that today people in the name of their God blow themselves up, some in hatred to America which they believe to be a "Christian" nation. Don't get me wrong, this type of activity has been happening since the beginning of the church. Saul, later Paul, thought he was doing a service to God.

Just something to think about, God bless.

"6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned."

      Notice that this passage says that the person that "does not remain in me" we will end up being thrown into the fire and burned. Earlier in this passage Jesus says "Remain in me, and I will remain in you." (v. 4) Now what exactly is "remain in me" mean?

3We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. (1 Jn 2)

      Look closely at the last verse here, "This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." So if we are to be in him, we must walk as Jesus did.

"10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love." (John 15)

      I just pointed out that we must walk as Jesus did to be in him. Jesus obeyed his Father's commands, and because he obeyed his Father's commands he remained in his love. All this aside, this verse clearly supports this idea of obeying God is a necessity to remain in him.

"16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. " (1 John 4)

"6And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love." (2 John)

      We have to live in love to live in God, we have to live in obedience to live in God. If we live in obedience to his commands God lives in us. How does God live in us? By the Holy Spirit. When we become Christians we receive the Holy Spirit.

      "If a man remains in me and I in him" (John 15:5) closely relates to 1 John 4:16 where it says "Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." In order to be remaining in him you have to be living in him. To live in him you must be living in love. To be living in love is to be obeying God's commands.

      Obviously we have to live in love, live in obedience in order to live in God. Whoever "Does not remain in me" clearly does not live in obedience. God lives in us as long as we live in obedience to his commands just as Jesus did. If we do not live in obedience, if we do not remain in him and he in us, we will cut off and will be thrown into hell.

   The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
   But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble.

"If you love me, you will obey what I command." (John 14:15) We truly love God when we become Christians. He commands us to live a holy life. "For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit." (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8) Notice he did not call us to make a holy one month, but a holy life.

Christianity is not a religion. It is a personal relationship with God, with Jesus. A relationship is a not a one day thing, it is not a one time decision. The church is Jesus's bride, a marriage requires commitment until the end of our lives.

Is being a Christian a walk or a one time decision?

1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

      Here Jesus is clearly addressing Christians shown by verse 3 in which he states that "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you." We are cleansed by Jesus's blood which he shed for mankind.

      "No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." We as Christians are identified by our fruit. The unsaved can be identified by their lack of fruit or the quality of their fruit. "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit." (Matthew 12:33) So we must remain on the true vine (Jesus) in order to produce good fruit.

      "6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." The key word here is "remain." If we do not remain in Jesus, we will be ultimately thrown into the fire and burned. So is it our decision whether or not we remain in him? We can choose to leave and reject God by embracing sin, however he will cut us off if we do not produce fruit. "2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit..."

      Now what exactly is fruit? First of all we as Christians are filled with the Holy Spirit when we become Christians. The Holy Spirit dwells in us as Christians. "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?" (1 Cor. 6:19) Knowing this, there is something called fruit of the Spirit as talked about in Galations 5. "22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control." So there is some of the fruits that we as Christians produce.

      "14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." (James 2) Here James notes that faith without deeds or actions is dead. Notice faith comes first, faith that Jesus is God's Son and that he died for our sins. Faith that we will enter heaven if we continue to lead a holy life. "Thanks be to God–through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin." (Romans 7) We are in fact a slave to Christ now that we are saved. We promise to obey his commands to our ability although we all fall short of the kingdom of God. Because of this we perform actions and deeds according to his commands. To sum up what James is saying is simple. We become Christians by faith. Now that we are Christians we obey God and thus have actions and deed. Faith without obedience is in a sense dead.

      According to the scripture God will obviously cut us off of the "true vine" or Jesus. We will be thrown away, and in the end will be "thrown into the fire and burned." This is an obvious representation for hell. When it comes down to it, if we as Christians do not produce fruit, do not have actions and deeds to back up our faith, we will be thrown into hell unless we again repent of our sins and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior before our death, realizing that we are sinners in need of Him and begin to produce fruit.

God bless.

Praise the Lord , O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord , O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.

He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children-
with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.

Praise the Lord , you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
Praise the Lord , all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
Praise the Lord, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord , O my soul.

      During the church service today there were several baptisms, one of which struck me deeply. It was an older man who had recently accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. One of the things he talked about was the very subject that I posted yesterday. He said for most of his life he had a "relationship with the religion and not with the Lord." I think many people are in that same position. They love everything about the religion by going through motions and putting an act on the outside, forgetting to tend to the inside. Christianity is not about religion, it is about a personal relationship with Jesus.

"Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness." (Luke 11:39)

May the grace of the Lord be with God's people.

You may have noticed the new design, tell me what you think.

---

However, that is not what I am going to talk about today. When attending youth group and bible studies I get the impression that many of the kids are spiritually dead. They are dormant. From what I have seen there is something seriously wrong with that picture. When once Christians (or claim to be, only God knows each persons heart) cease to grow, cease to produce fruit, it troubles me greatly. I see this more and more in "Christian" teenagers who attend church, or pronounce themselves to be Christian. "So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth." (Rev 3:16) As I this scripture points out, God will spit out anything that is lukewarm, anything that is neither hot nor cold for the Lord. Anything that believes that Jesus is this world's Savior and Lord, yet somehow have not done anything about it. This is exactly where I see many people in the church today.

Is this where we want to be?

45"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." (Matthew 13)

      In a simple parable Jesus has summed up what we as Christians have done. We have found the truth, and accepted it. The kingdom of God has such great value that we as Christians are willing to give up everything we have.

      In fact the book of Matthew says this as well. "21Jesus answered, 'If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'" We are clearly to give up everything, and then follow him.

      "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23) What are some things that we should leave behind? Our old secular ways, our sinful desires. We can not be consumed about ourselves, we must "deny" ourselves. As followers of Jesus Christ we must be leading a holy life as a pointed out earlier. All of our energy, all of our strength is focused on serving Jesus Christ.

God bless.

Matthew 6

19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

      The amount of time we spend our life on earth is nothing compared to the eternal life in heaven. To often we do worry about things of earthly importance, while brushing things of eternal importance underneath the rug. We put our time with God, whether in his word or in prayer, on the way side. "Those things can wait," we say to our selves. We as Christians need to prioritize the doings of our lives here on earth and place what is important in God's eyes first in our daily walk, instead of the opposite.

God bless.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)

      Jesus is obviously stating that not everyone will enter heaven, only he who does the "will" of God or his "Father who is in heaven." So we have to do the will of God to enter his kingdom. I began to search for a passage from scripture dealing directly about this concept of God's will. Here is what I found.

"It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. 7For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit." (1 Thessalonians 4)

      Now this entire book, which was supposedly written by Paul, was addressed to the church of the Thessalonians. So it is obviously addressed to Christians. So what is the will of God according to this passage of scripture? It is that we should be sanctified. We should "avoid sexual immorality," and it goes on to give reasons for this. This God inspired letter also states that God called us to live a holy life. So I am sure that we as the body of Christ agree that it is the will of God that we do not live in blatant sin. However, you may say, we all are sinners who are saved by God's amazing grace. While this is true, there is a definite difference than living a life of embracing sin and living one of attempting within our human capabilities to live a sinless life while responding to God's discipline. So God's will is that we live a holy life.

      Here is another example of God's will, another one of many example, supports this idea of living a holy life, not a life of embracing sin. The well known story of the Noah and the flood.

"The Lord saw how great mans wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, 'I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth-men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air-for I am grieved that I have made them.'" (Genesis 6)

      The "Lord" or God was grieved by mankind's wickedness. Notice that this was not one incident, one occasion. This was a sinful lifestyle where "every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time." So naturally, if God is grieved and is filled with pain when we as humans are living in absolute wickedness and sin. This grief clearly shows that what humankind was doing at this time was against his will.

      So applying these passages, we know that "only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Also that the will of God is that we live a holy life. Thus, if we do not lead a holy life, we will not enter heaven.

God bless,
Your brother in Christ

Matthew 13

1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop--a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear."
10The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
11He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 13This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
" 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.'[1] 16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
18"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."


      I have recently pondered over this common parable. The first type of person mentioned heard about the "kingdom" but didn't understand it. Satan came and took this "seed" that was sown in his heart. A path is generally well packed and hard to grow in as it always being trampled and walked on. Because it could not go deeper in the soil the birds could easily eat it. Unlike the second kind of person that hears of the kingdom of God this one could not even begin to grow, much less take root. Again, this person could not even understand.

      The second type of person described hear heard the word and "at once receive it with joy." I have wondered about this statement. Did this person except the truth? Was he only glad that this truth existed? When it says that he received it with joy I think it is possible that this person did become a Christian. To receive according to The American Heritage Dictionary is to take or acquire (something given, offered, or transmitted); get. So if this is the right meaning of this word, then this man acquired salvation, the word was offered and he took it. Another thing to notice is that all this happened with joy. Is there any greater joy then becoming a child of God? However, Jesus goes on to say that he had no root. Yet he sprang up quickly. This person grew for a short period of time, obviously not long enough to become a mature Christian. When troubles and trials came because of his new faith in Jesus, he falls away. Falls away from what? He obviously had to fall away from something. I believe it was his salvation. Jesus says that he faced trials because of the word. Do you face trials for a faith that is not you own? I think not. This passage is saying that he acquired the word, grew, fell away and no longer is a Christian, he lost his place in eternal life.

      Going on Jesus describes to use yet another person. This person heard the word, not necessarily excepted it as truth. His life and his success is obviously more important then God. Just as I stated in my last post we can not serve both God and money. Thus the everything that he heard was unfruitful as it was "choked." Also in Mark 10 Jesus says that, "25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." It is quite evident that a person preoccupied with his life and wealth has a harder time entering heaven.

      Finally he ends his parable with an example of a person that a true Christian should be. He received the word (there is that word again), and understands it. Unlike the others, he lands in good soil he grows, forms roots, and produces a crop. This man will obviously enter heaven if he continues to do what he has been doing. We obviously need to produce a crop or fruit as shown in Matthew 3:10, "The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." This Christian received the word, grew, and produced fruit, and is exactly what a Christian should be doing.

      So there you have it, an analysis of this well know section of scripture. In attempting to post something worth while reading on this blog I am learning much and growing in knowledge and truth. I just wanted to thank all of you that encouraged me throughout the short history of this blog and I hope to continue to learn truth as the Lord wills.

Good night and God bless.

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." (Matthew 6:24)

In the New international Version, I found it quite interesting that Matthew 6:24 both the word money is capitalized. I looked up this passage under several other translations, finding that this word was either not capitalized or was not used (such as the Kings James Translation). I believe it is used in this manner to emphasis the fact that money can or is a "god." Something that people worship, that they put at the highest priority in their life where God should be. In another sense throughout the Bible other false idols were referred to as "god" or "gods." I can see how it could be capitalized, however it is not the one and only God.

Anyone have any thoughts why it is capitalized, or why it shouldn't be? I'd love to hear what you have to say.

God bless.

I have talked earlier about salvation, and how we are first saved by God's grace, then because we love him so much we have actions or deeds to back up our faith. The way I see Christianity is this, it is not a decision that gets you into the kingdom of God, it is grace. We can not decide that we are going to go to heaven, even if we followed God's commands and did everything a "good" Christian should we still fall short of entering through the gates of heaven. It is only because God let his own Son die to pay for our sins that we could even have the choice to enter his kingdom. Too often we as Christians think it was by our decision by itself that we now can enter heaven if we continue to stay on the narrow path to life. Yes, we recognize that are sinners in need of a savior who is Jesus, God's own Son, but it is only and always only by God's grace that we can spend eternal life with him. So the grace of God allows us to enter heaven if we recognize that we a wretched sinners and need Jesus.

But it is also a walk. One way to think of it is our life as a Christian is a path. That path is can be riddled with temptations and obstacles, but if we continue to keep on that path we will eventually reach heaven where we can live eternally. What happens if we stray off that path? What if we begin to love the ways of our old selves, begining to take the road that everyone else is using? I believe that we if we leave that Christian walk by completely rejecting God and embracing sin, and we continue on this path until it's end [or our human death] God will say that he never knew us much to our surprise. When one wanders of the the path to life, he is not permanently blocked or stopped from repenting [to turn away from our sin]. God is allways ready to forgive and except you as a child once again. "21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?' 22Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." (Matthew 18) To sum everything up, in order to enter heaven we must walk with him until the end, we can not turn away from God and expect to enter God's kingdom.

If we show up using that common road that this secular world takes, will not God see this? Just because we entered through the narrow gate does not mean we will end up on the road that we entered.

2 Peter 2:15, 20-22
15 "They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness."
..."20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.""

I will close with that verse, God bless.

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)

Here James begins his letter to the Jews with the explanation of why we as Christians should be glad when we face trials. Carefully he states that these trials or "testing of your faith" develop preseverence.

Perserverence:
1. Steady persistence in adhering to a course of action, a belief, or a purpose; steadfastness.

So in the case of Christianity trials develops persistence, standfast in our belief that Jesus is our Savior. That he has payed for our sins. This perseverence will make us "mature and complete" as Christians. God's Word has many examples of people that rejoiced when they were "tested for their faith." One excellent example of this is in the book of Acts.

41The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. (Acts 5:41)

They were not complaining, no they were rejoicing. They had been thrown into jail, yet they had joy. Christians all over the world are persecuted for there faith in Jesus Christ. I know that here in America about the only way that Christians are persecuted is usually verbally. Of course I am sure that people have been beaten for their faith, although I don't have any statistics in front of me. Anyhow, it is obvious that "trials of many kinds" are needed for developing mature Christians. Christians that will standfast in times of persecution.

Will you show joy when you face trials for your faith?

I think to often we as a society are revolved around ourselves, it is always about me. Not some one else, me. When we become Christian we die to ourselves, to our sins, and our former way of life. Instead of following the world's way, we have followed God's way. I think we as Christians often struggle with this. Not so much following Jesus, but turning away from our old selves. Jesus said that to be the greatest in the kingdom of God you must be the servant for all.

So I close today with this one question. Are you a servant for God, for Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, or are you a servant yourself? Have you died to your selfish ways, or do you embrace them?

In the last chapter of the Bible, in Rev. 22:14-15, it says this.

"Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. "

What does it mean when it says wash their robes? Previously in Revelations it mentioned "those who wash their robes." "And he said, 'These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'" (Rev. 7:15) There it is, "They have washed their robes." It continues to say "and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." The "Lamb" is Jesus. He died an innocent death as he had not done anything to deserve it, however there was reason for it. What was the reason? He had to shed his blood so that our sins would be paid for, would be forgiven so that we could live with him in his Fathers house. In the Old Testament, God commanded Moses when the Israelites were in Egypt to sprinkle Lambs blood over the door way and thus be saved from the angel of death.

So now we begin to see what exactly is going on here. Jesus, the "Lamb" shed his blood so that we can be saved from an eternity in hell. So "blessed" are those who's sins are washed away by Jesus's (Lamb's) blood.

What do these people who have been washed receive? They enter through the gates into the city, so they enter heaven. They also "have right to the tree of life." In Genesis it says, '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." (Gen 2:9) They were forbidden to take from the "tree of life," which they did not although they took from the other tree. Why were they not allowed to? "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.'" (Gen 3:22) So the tree of life gives you eternal life. Thus, they will have eternal life.

Does it stop there? No. It goes on to say who exactly won't enter heaven, or those who are "Outside." These are "those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." I don't believe I need to explain any of that to you as it is obviously stated. However, who else "practices falsehood?" "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars–their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." (Rev. 21:8) So the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, and all liars were added to this ongoing list. There are many more of these verses that talk of those who practice false hood, but you get the idea.

When it says the "cowardly," who is talking off? Is it possible that God is talking of those who are "ashamed of the gospel?" (Rom. 1:16) I think it is quite possible, love to hear what you think.

So there it states who exactly enters, and who doesn't. Notice it does not say those who do good deeds will enter heaven, no it says those that are washed in the blood of the Lamb will enter through the gates and have right to the tree of life.

Unlike many bloggers who have long since passed on from the school days. I have not. Even preparing for tests should be done for the glory of God. As with everything else we do on this earth.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

-Mark 12:30

I'll be back in full blast tomorrow, until then God bless.

Here's some more "bibical errancy" questions I found about Jesus.

[Question] While on the Cross Jesus said, "My God my God, why hast thou forsaken me" (Mark 15:34). How could Jesus be our savior when he couldn't even save himself? Those aren't the words of a man voluntarily dying for our sins; those are the words of a man who can think of a hundred other places he would rather be.

[Answer] Do you really think God couldn't save himself? Before he was taken he said this in Matthew 26:53-54, "Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?" Jesus answers it quite plainly, he could call for help, but didn't because he had to fulfill the scripture to and to do the will of God the Father. See also the last response to for an explaination of the fact that Jesus is God.

The next two questions have a similar answer question indirectly. Read on.

[Question] While on the Cross Jesus said, "Forgive them Father they know not what they do." To whom was he speaking? They say, "God." But I thought he was God. How can God speak to God if there is only one god? That's two gods.

[Question] In Luke 23:43 Jesus said to the thief on the cross, "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." But how could they have been together in paradise that day if Jesus lay in the tomb for three days?

[Answer] Again, remember what I said earlier. Also, listen to what John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." I'll have to do another post on this, but for now I'll just explain it. The word "Word" is refering to Jesus. In the beginning [when God created the heavens and the earth] was Jesus. This obviously showing the connection between God and Jesus. Jesus was with God. Self explainitory. Finally, Jesus was God. So you may be thinking, that makes sense, but I don't believe that the "Word" was really Jesus. Look what it goes on to say in John 1:14, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. What does Christianity claim or believe? That God sent his only son [Son of God] Jesus down to this earth to take on human form. We believe He came to give us life, to become children on God and look what John 1:12-13 states, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

So there it is, whoever wrote these questions obviously had not studied the Bible thouroughly because there were some simple answers that proved that there was no errancy or contradiction.

God willing I'll "see" you all later.