Did God Really Say You Couldn’t?

Almost everyone is familiar with the following story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and how they gave into temptation ruining man’s relationship with God for all the rest of us:

Genesis 2:15-17 “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Then God decided it was not good for the man to be alone, he needed a helper, so God took a rib from Adam and created a woman. The man and his wife were both naked and they felt no shame.

Genesis 3:1-7 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die." “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” When God found out He was very displeased with them.

Then in Genesis 3:12-13 “The man said, “The woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “the serpent deceived me and I ate.”

They were told not to do something but they did it anyway, but is there an underlying meaning to this account? Why would God tell them not to eat from that one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? What was so important about it that they were told “you will surely die.”?

Well there are several ideas that come to mind; one would be that God gave man the freedom of choice. Man could choose to follow the directions or commands of God or he could follow his own desires. God said not to eat the fruit or to even touch one certain tree, because He knew what would happen if they did, but he did not stop them, he let them choose. From the very beginning God did not force His will on man, but let man seek Him out on his own. He doesn’t tell them that they can’t; but His warning is that they shouldn’t. The death that God had hoped to have Adam and Eve avoid was the death of their innocence, like a parent with a child longing to keep them safe from the horrors of the world.

Another thought is that this is the beginning of the “blame game” that has been handed down from generation to generation since the creation of the world. First Adam blames Eve for giving the fruit to him, then Eve blames the evil snake for telling her it was ok to eat it. So there it is, the practice of passing the blame to someone else instead of taking the responsibility for one’s own mistakes.
This is still prevalent in the world today; it’s always someone else’s fault when things go wrong and not ours. We never want to step up and take responsibility for our own problems or short comings. The reason being we don’t want to deal with the consequences; we want someone else to take the punishment.

Still another thought would be that God knows what is best for us and He gives us fair warning not to go against His commands. God is like a loving parent, giving us guidelines to follow throughout life. Things such as the Ten Commandments were meant to help us avoid the pitfalls of life on earth and keep us out of trouble. The whole Old Testament of the Bible is all about God trying to teach His strong willed and stiff-necked people a lesson in love.

Maybe we need to pay more attention to the warnings God has given us and learn how to deal with the consequences of our own actions instead of placing the blame on others. Now is the time to stop being a stiff necked and strong willed people and let God lead us in the right direction through the salvation given freely by His Son, Jesus Christ!

Messing with Creation

With all the controversy that has been sparked by the sex transformation of the well known athlete, Bruce Jenner, here are some of my own thoughts. One of the first questions would be, is it a sin? Well, let’s look at it from the beginning; he was created as a man by God, God doesn’t make mistakes, humans do. So His creations are perfect the way they are in God’s eyes, no improvement needed. So do we as humans have the right to mess with his design? Aren’t we showing disrespect to Him by trying to change what He has created?

He has given us the knowledge and skills to use in correcting birth defects and other health problems, along with repairing the damage we do to ourselves, but we carry it a bit too far. We think we can improve things by reconstructing them to fit our own perverse desires. To me this seems like we are trying to steal His glory.

I don’t believe it when people say stuff like “I always knew I was a girl in a boy’s body or a boy in a girl’s body.” It just isn’t true; the only thing that is wrong with our bodies is our own depraved desires. If you think about it logically, people who undergo a sex change or gender change are only altering their outside appearance; they can never really be transformed totally from the inside out. So people like Jenner, will never be a real woman or a real man. Where are the female organs, ovaries and uterus? Where are the male organs, prostate and testicles? Even if there’s a way to add a vagina or penis, they will not function as if they were natural, so all of the money, time and pain can never truly fulfill their dream!

From the “fall of mankind” we have set about to go against creation. We think we know what is best for us, when actually that doesn’t play into the scenario at all! We are just trying to fill a void in our lives, a void that should be filled by God! As His main creation we have never liked being told what to do or how to live, that’s just our nature. So we pick which ever thing that seems to feel good at the moment.

I believe it’s a part of our internal makeup to have a little bit of both femininity and masculinity ingrained in us. For women having a little masculinity helps us to be strong enough to weather the storms in life and for men having a little femininity in them makes them a little more sensitive to others. The problems arise when we decide to let either femininity or masculinity take us over. We are not happy with ourselves as we are and think we will be more appealing to others by changing.

There are actually people who do have a legitimate reason to feel that they are in the wrong bodies, they are called “Intersex” or “Hermaphrodites” because they are born with the genitalia of both sexes. Usually the parents decide which sex the child should be shortly after birth and have the child surgically altered, so the parents could actually pick the wrong sex for the child. These days they are often left to decide for themselves and may never make a decision at all.

There was a time in my youth when I actually applauded women who didn’t flaunt their sexuality, by dressing in a way that didn’t use sex as a means of covering up for their lack of talent! The problem was most of them actually turned out to be “gay”, which was very disappointing to say the least! There also were men whom you knew seemed a little too feminine and they too ended up being “gay”!

The really disappointing thing is when people like Jenner, use it as a means of exploitation! If he was really sincere in wanting to be just a woman, he would not have made such a big deal about it, he would have done it quietly like so many others. He isn’t the first, there is a relatively famous model that started out as a boy in some foreign country too, but no one knew until she spoke out awhile ago. There have been so many famous people or children of famous people who have decided to change sexes, but I do find it odd that Jenner has a reality show lined up already!

I do believe that it is a sin against God to alter our sex for our own perverse desires; it’s a sin that many have to live with the rest of their lives, but it’s no greater than the sin of just changing our sexual preference or abortion, adultery, incest, pornography, drugs or any other.

Perhaps Bruce Jenner will someday be called by Jesus and repent with the rest of us sinners! I’m sure God is waiting!

Can they be Christians?

Our country is in the middle of a huge debate as to whether people of the same sex should be allowed to be legally married; some states have already legalized it. But there is another problem that arises from this issue, marriage has always been defined as the union of a man (male) and a woman (female) and this still stands in most Churches. But recently things have changed even within the Church, some religions have chosen to follow the trend of modern society and allow homosexuals to be Priests, Ministers or Pastors, even in some “Christian” sects. This is a reflection of the sad state of Christianity in the world today. We are being forced to follow today’s trend in society, which says don’t make waves, let people live their lives the way they want. Unfortunately that is not how Christ lived or how God wants us to live, Christ stood openly against such hypocrisy!

We are expected to give others the freedom to say and do as they like, but we as Christians don’t receive the same treatment. It would seem as though Christians are the only ones who don't have rights these days. We are not allowed to speak openly about our beliefs (prayer in schools, pledge of allegiance, etc.) or to even have displays depicting scenes referring to Christ out in public anymore. Everywhere you look, TV, movies, the internet, all have jumped on the band wagon, helping to promote same sex relationships as normal. TV shows and even commercials have added scenes which depict homosexuals in everyday life, even as parents being normal.

Now this type of thing has even started to creep into the most scared of places, the Church, with some actually condoning this behavior by letting “gays” call themselves “Christians”. The problem arises with this question, can one be living in the sin of homosexually and also be a Christian? I believe the Bible says no, because when we answer the call of Christ to follow Him, we are to put the things of God ahead of our earthly desires and selfish indulgences, we are to became a new creation, by putting off the sins of the old person we are washed clean by the blood of Christ.

In Ephesians 4:17-24 it says “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. You however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Let’s also consider 1Corinthians 6:18-20 which says “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”

So if you believe in the Bible as the inspired word of God and are truly a follower of Christ and not just a “fan”, than this is very important! It is basically telling us not to remain in the sins of our old life, i.e. homosexuality, adultery, thievery, drugs, alcohol, etc., but to start living a life that is honoring to God. God does not want us to continue doing the very things that separate us from Him. If you are truly sincere in wanting to follow Christ by becoming Christ like or Christian, you would want to honor God by letting go of your sexual desires for the same sex or at the very least remain celibate!  

In John chapter 8:1-11, it tells of the woman the scribes and Pharisees brought before Jesus that was caught in the act of adultery and they wanted to stone. They quoted the Law of Moses to test Him, which said that she should be put to death and asked Jesus what should be done. At first Jesus acts as though He doesn’t hear them as He stoops down and draws in the dirt. Finally He stands and says “he who is without sin cast the first stone,” after thinking this over one by one they all walk away. When they had all gone, Jesus was left alone with the woman and He asked “where are your accusers, has no one condemned you?” She answers “no one, Lord” and He says “neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more.” He later continued speaking to the people saying “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

As you can see Jesus did not say “I don’t condemn you either, now go and continue in your sin!” Nor did He say “it’s ok I’ll be dying on the cross soon for your sins and all will be forgiven.” He specifically told her not to continue sinning.

I think the biggest miss conception that we all have and that we take for granted is that the forgiveness of the Cross means we can just keep sinning and in the end all will be forgiven. I don’t think there is real forgiveness if we never repent of our sins. 2 Peter 3:8-9 says “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” To me that would mean that if God is waiting for us to repent and we never do, then we will perish by ending up in Hell. The only real forgiveness comes when we repent and try not to continue in sin. On the Day of Judgment we will face Christ and our name will either be found in the Book of Life or not. Because Christ knows our hearts, he will know if we have repented or not, if not we will be told by Christ “I never knew you!” Meaning you were not sincere and didn’t have a direct relationship with God through Christ. This point is also made very clear in the passage of 1 John 3:4-6 where we learn the following, “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins. And in Him is no sin. No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him.”

Christ’s death on the cross was not a blank check that we fill in as we go, it was a onetime deal, once for all, but it’s a gift that has to be accepted to count. The proof of the acceptance is in the change from our old life to the new one offered by Jesus. So I think the Church has to find a way to take in people with sins like homosexuality and help them to see the importance of making the change by using Biblical scripture to introduce them to what Jesus desires for us. We need to learn to have compassion and to treat them with love as Christ would do, not to condone their lifestyle but to help them grow in the Lord.

So according to Romans 3:22-24 which says “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus,” we are all counted as sinners no matter how righteous we think we are. The only difference is that we as Christians have faith that Jesus will show us how to change our lives through his righteousness. The fact that they have shown up on the doorsteps of the Church, tells us that they are looking for the truth. So instead of rejecting them because of their lifestyle or condoning it, we need to step up in love and really try to help them see the change they need to make to become more like Christ or Christian!

A Poem About U

Before U were thought of or time had begun,
God stuck U in the name of His Son.

And each time U pray, you'll see it's true,
You can't spell out JesUs and not include U.

You're a pretty big part of His wonderful name,
For U, He was born; that's why He came.

And His great love for U is the reason He died.
It even takes U to spell crUcified.

Isn't it thrilling and splendidly grand
He rose from the dead, with U in His plan?

The stones split away, the gold trUmpet blew,
And this word resUrrection is spelled with a U.

When JesUs left earth at His upward ascension,
He felt there was one thing He just had to mention.

'Go into the world and tell them it's true
That I love them all - Just like I love U.'

So many great people are spelled with a U,
Don't they have a right to know JesUs too?

It all depends now on what U will do,
He'd like them to know,
But it all starts with U.


Will YOU pass it on.
When Jesus died on the cross he was thinking of you!

(Author unknown)

Free Music!!!!

Songs of Innocence by U2

                                      

Free music is always exciting, especially from an iconic band like U2, but I must say that when I saw this image as the album cover, I was a little taken aback! I wasn’t exactly sure what it was depicting and it made me a bit skittish about even bothering to check the music out. Amid all the controversy it appeared in my iTunes and I hadn’t even taken the time to listen to it until recently. I’m not exactly sure what U2 had in mind when they decided to enter into this deal with Apple and I had no idea what to expect as to the kind of sound it would have. 

Now that I have spent some time listening to it, I’ve found it is typical sounding U2 and I’m not so frightened. Although the title of the first song “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)” had me wondering! I love the Ramones, but what miracle? As it turns out, it’s not so much about Joey, but more about finding one self. The story goes that Bono as a teen, after seeing the Ramones live, was inspired by the way Joey Ramome sang, like a girl, because he also sings like a girl. Interesting thought process there, I’ve noticed over the years that there are many male lead singers out there in the music business that sound like girls when they sing. Bono goes on to explain that the whole album is basically a revisiting of their youth, first journeys geographically, spiritually and sexually.

After listening to the complete album several times I do get the vibe of a tribute to the 70’s and 80’s sounds mixed in with the current sounds in music. Especially the song “California (There Is No End To Love)” which in the beginning has a little teaser sounding almost like the Beach Boys “Barbara Ann”. The song “Iris Hold Me Close” is a song that is written about Bono’s mother. The rest of the songs follow the same kind of pattern centering around events or memories of the past.

It’s starting to grow on me a little more each time I listen to it, but I wouldn’t really say it’s their best album. I don’t feel the impact yet from this one that I felt with most of their early work. My favorite album so far would be “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” followed by “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” and “No Line On The Horizon”. 

The songs on this one don’t leave me mesmerized like “Vertigo” and “All Because Of You” from “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” or “Beautiful Day”, “Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of”, “Elevation”, or “Grace” off the album “All That You Can’t Leave Behind”, along with the songs “Magnificent” and “Moment of Surrender” from “No Line On The Horizon”. Going even farther back to “Achtung Baby” with “Even Better Than The Real Thing” and “Mysterious Ways”. 

I never paid them much attention when they showed up on the scene back in the early ‘80s. I’d hear them playing on my local mainstream stations and one day I started paying attention to the lyrics, I’m still very big on lyrics, then the music crept into my brain and I realized I actually liked listening to them. Songs like “I Will Follow”, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, “New Year’s Day” and “Pride (In The Name Of Love)” were popular and played a lot on the radio. Soon they began to stick in my head! Then came “With or Without You”, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and I was hooked!

But getting back to “Songs of Innocence”, so far I'd have to say I'm drawn to the songs "The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) and "Every Breaking Wave" the most, if you have received it on your iTunes then you should really check it out! It’s free and you might just like it!