You Must Be Born Again

“Verily, Verily I say unto you unless a man is born again; he cannot
see the Kingdom of God”

These words spoken by the Messiah Yeshua were in response to a prince
of the Hebrews and a leading member of the Sanhedrin named Nicodemus
who stated that Yeshua must surely have come from God because nobody
except someone who did could do the things he did. What prompted this
response and what does it mean?

I would like to go back into history to the Garden of Eden to explain
the necessity of being born again before I explain what it actually
is, though it will probably be apparent from the story of Adam and Eve
as to why it is required. We read in Genesis chapter three the story
of how Adam and Eve fell from grace with God, God told them that they
could eat from any tree in the garden except one and he warned them
that the day they ate from that particular tree they would die.

All went well in the garden until one day Satan in the guise of a
serpent approached the woman Eve and asked her why she did not eat
from this tree, which had by far the best fruit in the whole garden.
She explained that God had warned her and Adam against eating from
that tree and that if they did they would die. Satan then told her
that God was a liar, he told her that God did not want them to eat
from this tree because they would then be as he was. Because Satan was
such a great liar (The Bible actually describes him as the father of
the lie) the woman believed what he said and ate of the fruit of the
tree. She in turn gave some of the fruit to Adam and thus they both
ate of the tree that was forbidden to them, they immediately knew they
had transgressed and done the one thing that God had commanded them
not to do. When they heard God walking in the garden out of shame and
fear they hid themselves from him.

God called out to them, “Adam, Eve where are you?” to which they
replied that they were naked and so they had hidden themselves. God
enquired of them “Who told you that you were naked, have you eaten of
the tree that I told you not to eat from?”. Adam then informed God
that the woman whom God had given him had eaten of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil (For that is what the tree was) and that
she had given him the fruit to eat. Turning to Eve, God asked her why
she had done this and in an attempt to wiggle out of her predicament,
she told God that the serpent had talked her into it. We know that all
three, Adam, Eve and the serpent were punished for this misdeed but I
would like to leave Satan to one side and concentrate on the effects
of these actions on Adam and Eve and through them us.

The perfect father, children relationship that they had shared with
God up to this time was no longer possible; they were now in the grip
of the Devil and slaves to sin. They were expelled from the garden
where they had known peace and an easy life and sent out into the
world to toil and suffer to make a life for them selves. Wait I hear
you saying did God not say that the day the ate from the tree they
would die, yet they live and scripture even tells us that Adam was
over nine hundred years old when he died, was God lying when he told
them that they would die.

It would appear that God did indeed lie but never fear it is
impossible for God to lie, he is incapable of lying. The truth is much
deeper than what appears on the surface they may have gone on living
physically but spiritually they became as dead. They no longer had a
spiritual relationship with their God. As I said earlier because of
the disobedience they had shown they could no longer have that close
relationship with God that they had shared in the garden. The result
of their sin, was that they passed it on to all who became there
descendants which includes you and me, the sin was passed down through
the generations and infected us all. When we are born of our mothers
we are physically alive but we are spiritually dead and just like Adam
and Eve after the fall we are unable to have a relationship with our
creator.

A perfect man broke the relationship we could and should have had with
God and there was or is nothing we can do to remedy that situation, a
unique and costly price was needed to repair the broken relationship.
. I think the necessity of being born again has now been explained but
let us just recap.

(i) Man had a perfect relationship with God.
(ii) Because of sin, that relationship ended.
(iii) Man died, not physically but spiritually.
(iv) A way to rebuild the relationship between man and God was needed.

Therefore, as we can see we are spiritually dead, and that is what
Yeshua was referring to when he told Nicodemus that he needed to be
born again. It is a fact that in order for us to enjoy the close
relationship with God we need to be born again but the process is a
costly one. The cost was another perfect man who would take upon
himself the punishment that all of humankind deserved in order to
restore that relationship and if you like get God’s plan back on line.
It was for this reason that God’s only begotten son Yeshua Ha Mashiac
came into the world and took on the form of a man, living in perfect
obedience to his heavenly father unto the point of a terrible and
painful death on the cross at Golgotha otherwise known as the place of
the skull or Calvary. It is only through the atoning blood of Yeshua
that we can have that relationship with God and find remission from
our sins.

So how are we born again? Do we need to re-enter our mother’s womb as
Nicodemus thought, of course, the answer now as then is no, that would
not if possible bring any changes to our situation. In order to be
born again we must accept the fact that we are estranged from God and
the close personal relationship he offers us and that we are living in
our sins. We must acknowledge that without him in our lives we can be
likened to dirty rags, we must repent of our sins and invite God into
his rightful place as the Lord of our lives and our hearts and submit
ourselves 100% to his authority. Only then when we are truly
repentant, and open to his authority over our bodies, minds and souls
can that father-children relationship be restored through Yeshua whom
scripture tells us is the only mediator between humankind and God.

Most people would define God’s greatest characteristic as love and in
fact, if you were to ask most Christians “Who does God love?” the
majority would tell you that He loves everyone. However, is God’s love
universal and granted to all or this at worst a lie and at best just a
mistake the church has made in its interpretation of scriptures? If we
were to take, concordances such as Strong’s and look at all the
instances of the word love and each of its derivatives in the Bible
(which should not take too long as surprisingly there are not that
many) we shall discover the truth regarding those whom God loves.

The love of God has been greatly misunderstood, we are told that God
wants us to be happy, and have nothing but positive things in our
lives. We are told that it is God’s desire that everyone should be
saved as He loves every one equally – some have taken this to such a
point that where they reject the notion that a loving God could send
anyone to a fiery Hell to face eternal punishment for their
disobedience. Some even hold to the notion that God loves everyone so
much that he has no desire to see anyone lost but will eventually save
everyone – a careful study of the relevant scriptures will reveal that
these ideas are on very shaky ground.

Let us start by looking at Isaiah 46:9-11 where God makes a rather
definitive statement about Himself:

Remember the things I have done in the past.
For I alone am God!

I am God, and there is none like me.
Only I can tell you the future
before it even happens.
Everything I plan will come to pass,
for I do whatever I wish.
I will call a swift bird of prey from the east—
a leader from a distant land to come and do my bidding.
I have said what I would do,
and I will do it. (NLT)

It is obvious from these verses that God declares Himself to be the
absolute and sovereign ruler of all and He does that which pleases
Him. He answers to no one nor does He need the counsel of others and
of course there is nothing in these verses about His love, why is that
let us look at another couple of scripture from Exodus where He
defines Himself.
In the 33rd. chapter of Exodus, we read in verses 18-19 of how Moses
made a request of God to see His glory, take note of God’s answer:

Moses said, "Please. Let me see your Glory."
God said, "I will make my Goodness pass right in front of you; I'll
call out the name, God, right before you. I'll treat well whomever I
want to treat well and I'll be kind to whomever I want to be kind."
(The Message)

Exodus 34:5-7 goes on to say:

And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and
proclaimed the name of the LORD.
And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD
God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness
and truth,
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and
sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children,
unto the third and to the fourth generation. (KJV)

We can see that God has many great qualities such as mercy, goodness
and truth; we see that He is longsuffering and is ready to forgive
iniquity. We see however that he is also unwilling to clear the guilty
that remain in rebellion towards Him. You will notice that there is no
mention of love here, perhaps God forgot that He is a loving God but
of course that is impossible an omniscient God forgets nothing. He
announced to Moses and the rest of humankind the attributes of His
character that we need to know about.

If you have checked all the instances of the word love and its
associated words in a concordance then you will have no doubt noticed
that what we usually understand about the love of God is completely
different to what we have been used to or have been taught in the
church. In the book of Acts, there is no mention of love in the
records of the early church and in more than half of the books of the
Old Testament, love is not even mentioned.

Is the love of God then unimportant? John declared that God is love
therefore, it is of great importance. Yet if it so important then why
is it not mentioned more than what it is. Within the four gospels and
with the unique exception of John 3:16 God’s love in regards to man is
not even referred to. To get a better idea of what this love is and to
whom it is given, we need to look at some of the other passages where
God’s love is mentioned.

The commonly held notion that God loves everyone regardless is just
not to be found in scripture and to understand this we need to know
what the “love of God” is and on which sort of people it is bestowed.
John 3:16 on the surface makes us think that the love is universal but
in light of other scriptures we will see that, that thinking is
erroneous.

God tells us in Revelation 3:19,

I rebuke and punish all whom I love. Be in earnest, then, and turn
from your sins. (GNB)

Hebrews 12:6-8 says,

For the Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He
punishes, even scourges, every son whom He accepts and welcomes to His
heart and cherishes.
You must submit to and endure [correction] for discipline; God is
dealing with you as with sons. For what son is there whom his father
does not [thus] train and correct and discipline?
Now if you are exempt from correction and left without discipline in
which all [of God's children] share, then you are illegitimate
offspring and not true sons [at all.] (The Amplified Bible)

Of course, there are those who will claim that God disciplines
everyone and thus everyone will be brought into repentance and
salvation, here are some more scriptures that deny that theory. Romans
8:7 tells us,

The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit
to God’s law, nor can it do so. (NIV)

1 Corinthians 2:14 goes on,

A person who isn’t spiritual doesn’t accept the teachings of God’s
Spirit. He thinks they’re nonsense. He can’t understand them because a
person must be spiritual to evaluate them (God’s Word Translation)

As can be seen by the previous two verses our natural rebellious heart
and uncomprehending mind is in a state of enmity with God, could we as
Christians withstand that discipline and chastising that God sends us
if He did not fulfil the promise found in Ezekiel 36:26-27,

And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within
you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I
will give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my
statutes and keep mine ordinances, and ye shall do them. (Darby’s
Translation)

John recounts in the 2nd. Verse of chapter 15 of his gospel that Jesus
enforce these ideas by telling us that the Father removes the branches
that do not bear fruit and prunes those who do so that they will
produce even more. The only logical conclusion especially in light of
the verses we read from Hebrews and Revelation are that God removes
those He does not love and strengthens and purifies those He does
love. Many and I include Christians in this would be scandalised by
the idea that God does not love everyone, and that is why a correct
understanding of the scriptures on this subject is so important
because a belief in Universalism (that being the common name for this
belief) leads to so many other equally dangerous ideas.

Romans 9:5-27 has the following to say,

5 God will do what he said he would do. Not all who are Jews belong to
the real Israel.
6 Not all the people in Abraham's family are his children. But the
holy writings say, `It is Isaac's family who will be called your
family.'
7 This means that not all who were born in Abraham's family are God's
children. God promised Abraham a son [Isaac]. His children [the Jews]
are the ones that God called Abraham's true family.
8 For this is what God promised, `About this time next year I will
come and Sarah shall have a son.'
9 And that is not all. Rebecca also had children. Their father was
Isaac, our father.
11 When the children were not yet born, they had done nothing good or
bad. God chooses the people he wants. He does not choose people
because of what they have done. He chooses people who will answer his
call. So he said to Rebecca, `The older one will be a slave of the
younger one.'
12 The holy writings also say, `I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.'
13 So what shall we say? Does God do what is not right? No, never!
14 He says to Moses, `I will be kind to a person if I choose to be
kind to him. I will share in the suffering of others if I choose to be
sorry for them.'
15 God is not kind to a person because the person wants God to be kind
to him. God is not kind to him because the person runs to him to ask
him for help. God is kind because he chooses to be kind.
16 In the holy writings it says to Pharaoh, `That is why I made you
live. I wanted to show my power through you. I wanted people to know
about me all over the earth.'
17 So God is kind to any person if he wants to be kind to him. And God
makes a man's heart hard if he wants to do that.
18 So you will ask me, `Why does God still blame us? Who can fight
against what God has planned?'
19 But you are only a man. Will you tell God what to do? Can the pot
say to the man who made it, `Why did you make me like this?'
20 The person who makes pots has power over the mud. He can make two
different pots out of one pile of mud. One pot will be fine and
another will not be fine. Can the potter not make them so?
21 God has a right to be very angry if he wants to be. He has the
right to show his power. God was very angry with some people who
deserved to die. And yet he waited a long time before he did anything
to them.
22 He did it to show how very great he is. He was kind to some people.
He planned for them to be made great.
23 That means he also called us. He called not only those who are
Jews, but also those who are not Jews.
24 In the book written long ago by the prophet Hosea, God says `They
were not my people. But I will call them "my people". I did not love
her, but I will call her "the one I love."
25 And in the very place where it was said to them, "You are not my
people," they will be called "sons of the living God." '
26 Isaiah the prophet of God said long ago about Israel, `Even if the
people of Israel are as many as the sand by the sea, only Some of them
will be saved.
27 The Lord will do what he said he will do on the earth. He will do
it all and do it soon.' (Worldwide English New Testament)

Verse 5 tells us (once again) that God will do all He has said He will
do, verse 11 tells us how God chooses those he loves. God loves
everyone, take a look if you will at verse 12…”I LOVED JACOB BUT I
HATED ESAU”. It is impossible for God to hate some including
commentaries say yet the Greek word translated here quite clearly
means hate and not as some would surmise or say love to a lesser
degree. We need to take the Bible at face value, we believe every
single part of it or we believe none of it we cannot pick and choose
only the parts we like and discard those that seem harsh or difficult.
If we do pick and choose then our faith is a useless faith and we are
living in vain hope waiting for our fantasies to be fulfilled. Can we
then remonstrate with God over His lack of love for some whilst
showering it down on others, of course not remember He is sovereign
and He can do as He pleases. As some of the other verses quoted here
say He is kind to those He chooses to be kind to, and not because we
want or ask Him to be kind to us.

If God loves some and hates others, can He still be a just and good
God, the answer is of course a resounding YES. The question is asked
in the scriptures quoted above “Can God do that which is not right” of
course, He cannot. We are given the analogy of a potter and his clay,
with the same clay, he can make one object for honour and another for
dishonour – the clay has no right to tell the potter what he may or
may not make. In the same way we (the clay) have no right to tell God
(the potter) what he can and cannot do with our lives, we have no
right to tell Him who to love and who to hate. We are told above and
throughout scriptures, that God chooses us and not the other way
around; He chooses those He knows will heed that calling to be a part
of the chosen ones. Will everyone be saved please look again at verse
26.

26 Isaiah the prophet of God said long ago about Israel, `Even if the
people of Israel are as many as the sand by the sea, only some of them
will be saved.

If “ONLY SOME” of the house of Israel are to be saved, how much easier
will it be for God to reject those who are not part of his chosen and
special people? There are many other examples in scripture that speak
of God’s love for some and not for others and I would urge you all to
do your own study of this topic. Remember that everything God does,
every action and every thought has a determined purpose and though we
may not always want to agree with them or understand them it is He who
is in charge.

Those that are loved need to know that He loved them before they loved
Him, this study ties in with predestination and I will shortly publish
a note on that subject in depth. I hope that this has been of help to
those who may have fallen into the trap of Universalism, which is
misleading and dangerous, one other thing to consider of course is
that if God loves everyone then what is the point of praying for
others to be saved.

As most of us are aware one of the most anti-Semitic organizations on
this earth is the Roman Catholic Church (which by the way is also
against true Christians as well - you have to remember that there are
"Christians" and then there are real Christians), ever since it was
set up by Constantine as the official religion of the Roman empire it
has sought to downplay the fact that Yeshua and the apostles were
Jewish. It has also tried to engender hatred against the Jews by
labelling them as "Christ Killers", they have gone far in their
attempts to deny the facts that Yeshua was a Jew and that the Jews are
the chosen race of Elohim. We know that Elohim does not change and
that he is the same today as he always was and always will be.

As scripture tells us Yeshua was crucified which history shows us was
the favoured Roman method of execution and to add to the shame of the
person being executed they used to nail them to the cross naked. Very
early depictions of this mode of execution show its victims naked as
in fact did the early depictions of Yeshua's time on the cross. This
of course presented something of a dilemma to the Catholic Church and
its reasoning that rather than being Jewish Yeshua was in fact a
Catholic and thus Jews had to be hated because they had killed the
first Catholic.

Why would this create a dilemma for the Roman church, well for one the
scriptures tell us that in accordance with Jewish law and the direct
commandment that Abraham received from HaShem that on the eighth day
of life all males were to be circumcised. If the populace therefore
saw paintings or statues (all idolatry by the way) showing a
circumcised Messiah, the question would have been raised that infact
he was not only not Catholic but infact Jewish. If I had been around
at that time I know I would have had questions about what I was being
taught and being told to hate the very race in which I was told the
saviour of the world was born into - logic would have told me if not
my heart that surely there was something special about a people whom
the Creator chose to bear such a singular honour.

Let us jump forward some centuries now and slightly to the west of
Rome to a place in Germany called Wittenburg and the story of a
Catholic priest named Martin Luther. Luther had been a priest for many
years and had grown up in the anti-Semitic atmosphere of the Roman
church which if anything rather than diminishing with learning in the
intervening centuries had grown more virulent. He did however see that
this false church had wandered away in many respects from the
teachings of Yeshua and those of the apostles and thus he sought to
reform the church by posting his famous 95 thesis's to the door of the
church in Wittenburg. This angered the authority's of not only the
church there in Germany but also in Rome, and led eventually as I am
sure most of you are aware to what is known as the reformation and the
birth of Protestantism (protest against).

Luther in starting a reformed movement did bring out into the open
many of the teachings of Yeshua and the Apostles that had been denied
or hidden for centuries, the only problem was that he also brought
with him the hatred for the Jewish people that he had learnt as a
Catholic. He brought forth in even stronger terms than what had been
known previously that the Jews were no longer a concern of HaShem
teaching that because of their rejection of the Messiah they had been
once and for all discarded by the Creator and that "Christians" had
replaced them as the apple of G-D's eye, this theology of Luther's is
what is now commonly referred to as Replacement Theology. It is of
course totally unscriptural.....scripture teaches that rather than
replace the children of Israel the true followers of Yeshua have been
grafted as a branch into the vine but with a dire warning that if in
times past the chosen have had to face punishment how much quicker and
ready is the Lord willing to punish those who do not do his will.
Remember also the words of HaShem when he told Abraham that he would
bless those who blessed him and would curse those who cursed him.

I am sorry if this is a bit long-winded but I do hope it explains a
little of what Replacement Theology is and where its origins lie.
I wrote this one some time ago but did not notice until today when a
friend tagged me in one of her notes about the same subject that I had
not posted it, it was originally a reply to someone who asked me what
Replacement Theology was on a FB thread.

One day Yeshua (Jesus) was asked "Who should we love" he replied with
"Love thy neighbour but was then asked "Who is my neighbour". He then
told the story that has come to be popularly known as the parable of
"The Good Samaritan" it talks about a Jewish man who was set upon by a
band of robbers and left for dead by the side of the road, a short
while later one of the Jewish priests came by but fearing that if he
stopped he may also become a victim of the robbers hurried by without
stopping. A little while later another of the mans countrymen came
along and likewise fearing what would happen if he stopped to help the
unfortunate man rushed on also without stopping to help. It so
happened that a little while later another traveller came along who
saw the man by the road and his heart was filled with compassion for
the poor victim, not worrying about what may happen to him he stopped
and tended to the mans wounds, covered his naked body and took him to
an Inn where he paid the Inn keeper to look after him telling him that
if any extra expense was incurred he would see to that on his return
journey. The thing was this man who helped was a Samaritan and someone
most of the Jewish people would probably have spit on or cursed, of
course this would have been a hard hitting lesson for those who were
listening at the time.

Gibraltar, where I live has suffered many things at the hands of our
neighbours the Spanish who have tried to strangle our economy and deny
us our freedom of choice to be who we want to be as a people and there
is quite naturally a lot of ill feeling not only towards the Spanish
government (The real perpetrators) but the people of our neighbouring
towns as well and there is on both sides of the border those who would
like to see the perpetuation of bad feelings between what should
essentially be a people who could work together for the betterment of
the whole area. Spain has space and Gibraltar has money, the central
government of Spain cares nothing for their own people who live in
close proximity to Gibraltar. There is at present a situation in La
Linea de La Concepcion (our neighbours) where the municipal workers
have not been paid for the last six months, it is an atrocious
situation and could easily be resolved by the government of Spain
investing in the area something they do not wish to do in case
Gibraltar also benefits in some way. Gibraltar's people do have a well
earned reputation of being caring and always ready to help those in
need be they in Africa, Haiti or wherever they may be in the world and
it is with this in mind that nearly two thousand people have signed up
to a Facebook page seeking to aid these people and their families who
are literally going hungry and losing their homes.

There is however some who are against helping them just because they
are Spanish, they come up with arguments such as "look at all they
have done and continue to do to us", "they will not thank us" etc.
They try to politicise the situation but this is not about what they
have done, this is not about what they may do in the future nor is it
about politics or receiving thanks it is about humanity and helping
those who need it regardless of who they are, what their politics are,
what creed they follow (or not) or what colour skin they have. It is
like the Samaritan all about compassion and a heart to help fellow
human beings who find themselves upon hard times in what is supposedly
the season of goodwill to all men (women and children) and acting upon
that compassion.

On a recent cruise, we were told by the Captain that there was going
to be strong winds and heavy seas...I waited, and I waited, and I
waited and when they failed to materialise I asked a member of the
crew "Where is all this rough weather the Captain promised us" to
which the poor guy said "but this is the roughest I have seen it in my
ten years at sea". Unlike me I do not think he had sailed through
winter seas in the Arctic on a small fishing trawler or the south
Atlantic on a small frigate. Having experienced the really rough stuff
the minor discomforts were not even noticeable and our spiritual life
is like that.

If we walk with God and put our trust in Him when the big storms hit
and the going is really rough, if we let him take us by the hand and
guide us through those bad times then the minor upsets will be hardly
felt. It is no small thing when we put complete trust in Him to see us
through the storm be it a small swell or a raging hurricane, but it is
the only thing that will see us arrive safely at our next port of
call.

YOU WILL BE HATED BY ALL MEN BECAUSE OF MY NAME, BUT WHOEVER THAT
ENDURES UNITL THE END, HE WILL LIVE. MATHEW 10:21,22 ....

The important thing here is the second part, the bit about enduring
until the end, how many think that saying the so called sinners prayer
is all they have to do to get saved and get to heaven one day? the
fact is that we have to live the life that He has set out before us
and do that which he called us forth from the darkness of this world
for. We are not called to come and attend meetings, house groups and
prayer groups, do not get me wrong these are an important way of
growing in the faith (if the teaching is Biblically correct) but we
are called forth to spread the good news of His word, to alert people
to the fact that there is a righteous God who hates the sins of this
world but has provided a means to each and every one of us to escape
the coming judgement and that way, the only way is through the blood
shed by His son at Calvary.

It is in this that we must endure taking this message to a hostile,
unbelieving yet hungry world, no matter the personal cost we must
endure in our faith and not sway from side to side or sit on fences.
He will not take our salvation away from us but we can walk away from
it when we fail to endure until the end, we must keep our focus, our
eyes and our minds upon Him to give us the strength to do so no matter
what the enemy puts before us.

Proclaim Me God.

This is a very interesting little story from the Midrash Tanhuma
written in the year 500, it illustrates a good point about people who
think they are a God.

Hadrian, King of Rome, having made great conquests, requested
his court in Rome to proclaim him God. In answer to this modest
request, one of his ministers said, “If your Majesty desires to become
God, it will be necessary to quit God’s property first, to show your
independence of him. He created heaven and earth; get out of these and
you can proclaim yourself God.”

Another counsellor replied by asking Hadrian to help him out of a sad
position in which he was placed. “I have sent a ship to sea,” he said,
“with all my possessions on board her, and she is but a short
distance--about three miles from shore--but is struggling against the
watery elements, which threaten her total destruction.” “Do not
trouble,” replied the King, “I will send some of my ships well manned,
and your craft shall be brought to the haven where she would be.”
“There is no need for all that,” said the counsellor satirically;
“order but a little favourable wind, and her own crew will manage to
bring her safely into port.” “And where shall I order the wind from?
How have I the power to order the wind?” answered Hadrian angrily.
“Has your Majesty not even a little wind at your command?” said the
King’s adviser mockingly, “and yet you wish to be proclaimed God!”

Hadrian then retired to his own rooms angry and disappointed, and when
he told his wife of the controversy, he had had with his ministers she
remarked that his advisers did not strike on the proper thing, which
would bring his wish to a happy consummation. “It seems to me,” she
said mockingly, “that the first thing you must do is to give God back
what he has given you and be under no obligation to him” “And what may
that be?” inquired the heathen. “The soul of course,” answered his
wife. “But,” argued the King, “if I give back my soul, I shall not
live.” “Then,” said his wife triumphantly, “that shows that you are
but mortal, and can not be God.”
(Midrash Tanhuma 500 A.D.)

How many mere humans throughout the ages have followed in the
footsteps of the original would be replacement for the one true and
eternal God and desired the adulation of others. Great is the number
of those deceived by Satan into taking the route that he travelled
when he said, “I shall ascend and place my throne above that of the
most high”. Great is the number of those who believed him when he said
to them as he did to Adam and Eve “Ye shall be as God” and great is
the number of those he has led down the broad road that leads to
destruction with these spurious lies. Man can never ascend above the
throne of the Most High nor can he be like him in the sense that
people like the Caesar’s believed themselves to be, we can become the
sons and daughters of God but we can never be God.

As I sit on the shore,
I just know there has to be more,
More than what I can see,
Other places where I need to be.

There has to be other places to go,
Far off places to explore,
My whole life in a seaside town,
The thought alone makes me frown.

Stuck in this little place,
Another member of the Rat-Race,
I should be away from all the strife,
In other places having a good life.

I watch the ships come and go,
I would love the sea this I know,
Alas marooned in this seaside town,
Wearing a constant frown.

(c) Steven Barry Reeve

I have said it before and I will say it again....What makes us so
special that suffering would be withheld from us, was it withheld from
the apostles, the Christians who were burned at the alters of false
teachings or those today who are being tortured and murdered simply
because they profess unto death Jesus as Lord. All who came before us
and our peers have suffered and are suffering for the Lord and the
word of God, and those who come after us shall also suffer but we
escape, what a blessed generation are we.

Lies, dirty unscriptural lies - did not our Lord say that if we wanted
to follow him then we must pick up our cross just as he picked up the
cross of glory that gave us a second chance, how many times must He
pick up that cross. Logic and History and more importantly God's holy
word tells us that we shall be hated for his name, and that we shall
be turned over to the workers of evil and be beheaded.

It is not a future or a fate that I look forward to but let His will
be fulfilled and not mine, let me finish the race and hear the words
welcome good and faithful servant of the Most High God. Let me guard
my salvation and not depart from the faith, on that great day of
judgement let me be found worthy through the redemptive blood of my
saviour and the keeping of his commandments.

I was previously a pre trib believer but I now see the illogical
idiocy of that belief, I thank the Lord that there are people out
there who are coming to this realization and I pray for those who
tirelessly try to take this truth to the masses and expose the lies
that have taken, are taking and will take many to the fiery depths of
Hell, I pray these keep up the Good work of disseminating the truth
so that they may be a blessing to those with ears to hear and to open
the eyes of those who are willing to see. At one time or another I
have believed all the lies but over the last six years the Lord has
spoken so much truth into my heart and exposed all that I believed
before in the previous 25 years as a "follower" of God for the lies
that they were.

As a young Christian I remember people taking bibles to church along
with a notebook and a pen, and checking things for themselves, the
fact that in many churches this has fallen by the wayside is the
reason that so many are willing to listen to the lies that
promise...Health, wealth, do what you want, live and sin once in a
while your still saved, and what's more you will be in heaven before
the the time of troubles is upon those fools who disobey God and do
not send me all their money.

It is right that we feel sadness when we look at the world and see
those who flounder like a boat on rough seas tossed from one side to
another with no real sense of direction when they could be safe in the
Lord. It is right that we feel sadness when we look at the lost and
deceived who do not know God apart from what the liars tell them when
they could be walking in the light of the true Word. It is right that
we feel sadness when so many have a bible in their hands and do not
know how to read it or even what it really says.

Let us weep, let us weep and feel for the lost and especially those
who do not believe they are yet still walk in darkness following the
doctrines of men rather than God. Let us weep, oh yes let us weep for
ourselves if we do not expound the truth and bring into the light the
false teachers and their abominations. Let us weep, let us weep bitter
tears for a world that worships many types of idols and is far from
its Creator.

Let us fear the living God if we wander from his ways, and do that
which is not right in His eyes. Let us fear the living God, the author
of salvation who though slow to anger shall with justice punish the
apostates. Let us fear the living God if we neglect the tasks He has
appointed us to, let us be awake to His voice lest he close our ears.

Let us cleave to the word of God and not the lies of men, for therein
is our true hope and our true future, we have a choice folks live for
God or live for the lies of men. Suffer and die for His sake if that
be His will or give into false hopes, it is fine to walk with the Lord
in the sunshine but what will you do when the rains come.