Tracy Tarum: there is NO SUCH THING as moderate Islam. My reply.
Tracy,
You need to do a bit of digging into the different factions of the Islamic religions. When you can talk intelligently about which Islamic faction you are referring to as "peace-loving, Christian-saving Muslims", that would help your argument. You appear to only have opinions that are based on "coffee-table" discussion mentality rather that any real knowledge of the people who adhere to the Sunnah and "Koran"( as you spell it).
Christians have the Bible which contains the laws of "Jehovah" God... (as opposed to "Allah" God). When Christians live in the United States, France Switzerland, etc., Christians abide and obey the judicial laws of that county. Jesus says to "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and to God that which is God's". So, Christians obey the judicial laws of a country while believing in God.
Muslims are not so.
Muslims have their "Koran" (from Allah), and also the Sunnah, which contains the thoughts ideas of Mohammad and the four imams who interpreted his thoughts for about 400 years after his death (nuts, but true, as I am sure you are aware). (These four are separate from the "12 Imams", just so you know I am not mixing them up in one big bunch).Then they have Sharia Law, which is a mutation of all of the above, PLUS ANY ruling imam's "intellectual input at the time" of interpreting the law and punishment.
If a Muslim lives under and believes Sharia Law, that Muslim believes the judicial laws of the land in which they reside do not apply to them. Only Sharia Law.
Without giving a lecture on the divisions of Islam, you need to differentiate which Muslims you are talking about bring so kind and thoughtfully understanding to non-Islamic believers. Are you talking about the Twelvers and if not, which ones?
Muslims have as many factions as Christianity has denominations. Arabic is the official langauge of 22 countries in the world, but there are so many different dialects, many Arabs don't even understand each others' speech, much less have the same understanding as to the way to Heaven! I would be more apt to listen toyour comments if you were somewhat savvy as to what you talk about. By your own words, it appears you know nothing about Muslims and Islam and their religion and the laws they adhere to or WHY they believe what they believe.
Hint: a TWELVER would never be shielding a bunch of Jesus-is-coming-back-to-save-us-Christians, and certainly never the (they believe) Jew-pigs! So, tell us who you were referring to. You write as if at anytime, any Muslim might suddenly have a "Jesus moment" and save a non-Islamic believer from destruction in a war- zone! That is just not the case.
Terri Snider
Friday, February 4, 2011
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Part 3: How to React to Obama's Economic and Socialistic Policies
World President' in Trouble?________
Months after Europe anointed candidate Obama the next leader of the free world, he faces a potential 'public relations disaster' there at next week's G20 summit.
Obama faces his first major international test next week when the world's largest economies meet at the G20 summit in London.
"I think as the president heads to Europe, he faces a huge public relations disaster,..."
"...Europe is increasingly turning against his massive spending plans, which most European leaders see as a destructive way to move forward for the global economy and will only add to a massive American debt burden," Gardiner told FOXNews.com.
A top European Union politician on Wednesday slammed Obama's plans for the U.S. to spend its way out of recession as "a way to hell."
*****************************************************************************
Ouch! What a statement from the European Union! Obviously, we are not alone in the economic stew of bad judgements and dangerous spending sprees called "bail-outs"! The world banks are suffering as a result of Obama's economic (or lack of) policies. I use the plural (policies) because there is a new policy everyday.
There is a solution. There is a way . There is help and there is hope! The help and hope is through our Savior, Jesus Christ. WAIT! Before you go turn on OPRAH, listen a minute.
There was a small discussion two posts ago about the power of words and how Faith and words are connected. We talked about how God created the world and He framed it by Faith. As you know, God simply spoke the world into existence! Since we are made in His image, and we have been given the same powers (howbeit much weaker) as He, we can evidently create with words also!
Johns Hopkins Hospital has just come out with the revelation of a cancer study that says prayer and a positive frame of mind is as much a cure for cancer and other illnesses, as chemo! There have been studies of the brain that have shown that the part of the brain used in earnest prayer is used for NO OTHER PURPOSE! There is a special part of the brain that is activated by prayer that is not activated by any other means and that part of the brain releases endorphins!
I can think of no way to be full of Faith without being in a "pretty much" constant state of Prayer...can you? Saying "Now I lay me down to sleep..." over and over all day long or chanting some goofy monologue is not the answer. But thinking constantly with the thoughts of God. THOUGHTS THAT ARE UPLIFTING AND NOT THOUGHTS OF DESPAIR! Prayer is communion with God. Talk to Him. He knows every word you think...(did you know that Satan cannot read your mind?...just thought I'd mention that).
The same is true of your words. When you go home at night, tell you family what a great day you had! Praise the fact that you are all together! And, to your family, around the dinner table, or in general conversation with friends, speak your blessings! Talk to your family with hope and how the Lord is taking care of you.
Happiness and peace can prevail in the midst of all the horror of this world...yes! That is what is called "the peace that passeth understanding". Start using your Faith with words to make your family and yourself feel good! Change your attitude and create happiness and also create your future! Paint your future with the Faith God gave us. Faith is a substance! Remember? It is an unseen, invisible substance God used in creation and He says we are to have it too!!! Grab it! Take it! Use it! HAVE FAITH AND TALK TO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT AND TELL IT IT INCREASE!
Silly? Well, lots of things of God sound silly to us, but are not. Tell your house that it is YOURS! Or, if it is up for sale, just because the times are rough, they do not have to be for you! God is your LORD...not the economy! Have Faith and use your thoughts... your words! Say what you want! Yell it! When you are alone, yell to God and to Jesus the things you want and ask your Angels to help also! God says the angels are standing around waiting for your commands! Use your Faith to create your future!
Before He left us to return again, Jesus said in John 14:14 (New Century Version)
14 "If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it."
Ask! Use your Faith. See if it is not the miracle you have needed. In these last days, God has promised to pour out His blessings on the Believers. These are not the TIMES OF YOUR TROUBLES! No! Do not accept sadness and fright. Fear is a sin and not of God! He will take care of you. Just ask Him and SAY what you want and need.
Yell it to the house top! In your car, in the shower, in your house!
"MY FUTURE IS PROSPEROUS AND GOD IS MY FATHER! I NEED A CAR FOR MY FAMILY! I NEED A CAR, LORD! I DO NOT KNOW HOW YOU WILL DO IT, BUT YOU PROMISED! JOHN 14:14!"
"MY FUTURE IS HAPPY! I AM BLESSED! I HAVE A JOB FOR MY FAMILY! I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU WILL DO IT GOD, BUT THAT COMPANY NEEDS ME! THEY DON'T KNOW IT YET, BUT THEY NEED ME! GIVE ME THE RIGHT WORDS! GIVE ME THE COURAGE TO TELL THEM HOW MUCH THEY NEED ME! YOU PROMISED! JOHN 14:14 ...AND THE BLOOD OF JESUS!"
Say what you want! Use your Faith and your words! DO IT NOW!!!
Whew!!! (I'm out of breath!)
....Now..whattaUthink...about God!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Update on..".The Man Who Didn't Believe in God"
Several weeks ago, I told you about a man who went into open-heart surgery certain the procedure would be a normal, successful operation. However, problems arose and the man who we call JOHN, almost died and had to be put into a drug induced coma. His vital signs were not good and at that time, his prognosis was pretty low for recovery.
If you remember, the real problem for all of us who know about his situation is, John is a devout atheist! If you need to refresh your memory or have not known about his situation, go back several posts and read about him. I'm about to get into some really amazing stuff here!
Well, John has had many prayers said for him...by his family, the doctors, nurses and the hundreds of students he has taught at Vanderbilt University. You see, this is a real man. Not just "some person" fictitiously invented to make a Christian point.
Here's the latest...John woke up!
Now, he's not perfect and things are not quite right yet, but he is on his way to becoming normal . He has memory loss and the years of his life are confused. Sometimes he thinks he is back in 1960 and at other times, his mind seems to be working in the present. But he is "coming along", as his team of doctors say.
It happened this way...
...John remained in his comatose state for 12 days, long after the drugs to relax him had been discontinued. Doctors had induced his coma to allow John's body to revive itself little by little, after the great shock it had experienced by having two open-heart surgeries in a 12 hour period. (One in the OR, and the other about 9 hours later, as a startling emergency procedure in his ICU bed)!
But John did not respond after the discontinuation of the drugs; he just lay in his bed, very still. Whether or not he was paralyzed, it was not known. His eyes had a glazed appearance when his lids were lifted, he didn't squeeze the hands of family when asked, he didn't blink his eyes when his wife called to him, and there were no signs that he was going to live. He could not breath on his own and nothing, from his kidneys to this toes were working. Only his heart was strong and pumping normally. Everything else had basically shut down in John's body.
Then on the 12th day, John just simply opened his eyes when one of his son's was standing by his bed! The son excitedly began yelling for the nurses screaming,"Someone! Come here fast! Dad, it's me! Can you hear me! Dad, Dad!" John looked straight at his son and smiled. Yes! He had heard! The respirator was still in h
is lungs and the IVs were still hanging and John was still naked as a jaybird, laying in his ICU bed, but this brilliant scientist, loving father and wonderful husband was awake! Yeah, God and praise the Lord! Wow! Prayers had been answered!
On the second day of his awakened state, John started nodding his head, blinking, squeezing hands, trying to wiggle his toes and generally displaying signs that he was understanding some of the things around him. However, every time he was asked,"John, do you know where you are?" he shook his head "no".
On the third day, John started fidgeting in his bed so much that his team of doctors decided he would be taken off the respirator, to see if he could breath on his own. That was a big step. John passed that test, but it was scary for his family. Either he could breath on his own or probably be on the respirator for his life, a near vegetable..John's worst fear! ( His mother had lingered in a vegetative state for years and he had a horror of that type of existence).
As of now, John is actually kind of being "born again". When he started verbalizing on the first day off the respirator, his words were "dahhh,gajj, nuuu", saying absolutely NOTHING! The next day he was talking better. Within a day or so John had advanced up to talking much better, thinking he was living in the 1960's and in his first teaching job! ( The nurses were his students and one of his daughters-in-law was his old girlfriend)! The adventure has been in someways delightful and in some ways frustrating as he yells, cries, has temper tantrums and actually "grows up" again emotionally. He has also tried to "escape", which is very much like a teenager's actions, but he could hurt himself doing that because he fell. Standing up is a bigger challenge than he is ready for and he is very frightened to get into a wheelchair. He is just now, about 10 days into his newly awakened state, realizing he is in Vanderbilt, and not a VA hospital! By the way, John was never in the service!
So, it is about another three months in the hospital and then to a rehabilitation center before the Vandy Doctors believe John will be back to normal. John's complete recovery will take a year or more and the process is actually progressing (at this posting) at a normal clip, in association with what happened to him. He was actually dead at one point. John's heart stopped. John actually died but he is now alive!
One thing I have not mentioned yet ...John's atheism! Right now, as of this posting, John does not REMEMBER THAT HE HAS ALWAYS PROFESSED TO BE AN ATHEIST!
PRAY JOHN NEVER REMEMBERS THAT PART OF HIS LIFE! He goes in and out of knowing who all the members of his family are, because if he is back in the 1960's his children are not born yet, so at that moment he doesn't recognize them. When he gets back to the present, he knows everyone.
Like I said earlier, his recovery is both a delight and a frustration, especially for his wife who feels as if she is raising a child...a very ill child, who is now alive and not dead. Who is now perhaps...just perhaps, a believer in God. The jury is still out on that one. I pray I can write the column..."The Man Who Forgot He was an Atheist."
God has answered prayers for which John never asked. In fact, John told one of the hospital chaplain's the day of his surgery that he would probably go to Hell if there was one, but he knew there was not anything after life...just nothingness. I wonder what John thinks now? Did God pay him a visit during his comatose state? Hummmm.
I'm going to do all I can to see that he is never again faced with dying and going to Hell. I will be talking with John, as soon as God tells me the time is right.
Pray for John. God has given him the second chance few receive.
...Now...whattaUthink...about God!
If you remember, the real problem for all of us who know about his situation is, John is a devout atheist! If you need to refresh your memory or have not known about his situation, go back several posts and read about him. I'm about to get into some really amazing stuff here!
Well, John has had many prayers said for him...by his family, the doctors, nurses and the hundreds of students he has taught at Vanderbilt University. You see, this is a real man. Not just "some person" fictitiously invented to make a Christian point.
Here's the latest...John woke up!
Now, he's not perfect and things are not quite right yet, but he is on his way to becoming normal . He has memory loss and the years of his life are confused. Sometimes he thinks he is back in 1960 and at other times, his mind seems to be working in the present. But he is "coming along", as his team of doctors say.
It happened this way...
...John remained in his comatose state for 12 days, long after the drugs to relax him had been discontinued. Doctors had induced his coma to allow John's body to revive itself little by little, after the great shock it had experienced by having two open-heart surgeries in a 12 hour period. (One in the OR, and the other about 9 hours later, as a startling emergency procedure in his ICU bed)!
But John did not respond after the discontinuation of the drugs; he just lay in his bed, very still. Whether or not he was paralyzed, it was not known. His eyes had a glazed appearance when his lids were lifted, he didn't squeeze the hands of family when asked, he didn't blink his eyes when his wife called to him, and there were no signs that he was going to live. He could not breath on his own and nothing, from his kidneys to this toes were working. Only his heart was strong and pumping normally. Everything else had basically shut down in John's body.
Then on the 12th day, John just simply opened his eyes when one of his son's was standing by his bed! The son excitedly began yelling for the nurses screaming,"Someone! Come here fast! Dad, it's me! Can you hear me! Dad, Dad!" John looked straight at his son and smiled. Yes! He had heard! The respirator was still in h
is lungs and the IVs were still hanging and John was still naked as a jaybird, laying in his ICU bed, but this brilliant scientist, loving father and wonderful husband was awake! Yeah, God and praise the Lord! Wow! Prayers had been answered!On the second day of his awakened state, John started nodding his head, blinking, squeezing hands, trying to wiggle his toes and generally displaying signs that he was understanding some of the things around him. However, every time he was asked,"John, do you know where you are?" he shook his head "no".
On the third day, John started fidgeting in his bed so much that his team of doctors decided he would be taken off the respirator, to see if he could breath on his own. That was a big step. John passed that test, but it was scary for his family. Either he could breath on his own or probably be on the respirator for his life, a near vegetable..John's worst fear! ( His mother had lingered in a vegetative state for years and he had a horror of that type of existence).
As of now, John is actually kind of being "born again". When he started verbalizing on the first day off the respirator, his words were "dahhh,gajj, nuuu", saying absolutely NOTHING! The next day he was talking better. Within a day or so John had advanced up to talking much better, thinking he was living in the 1960's and in his first teaching job! ( The nurses were his students and one of his daughters-in-law was his old girlfriend)! The adventure has been in someways delightful and in some ways frustrating as he yells, cries, has temper tantrums and actually "grows up" again emotionally. He has also tried to "escape", which is very much like a teenager's actions, but he could hurt himself doing that because he fell. Standing up is a bigger challenge than he is ready for and he is very frightened to get into a wheelchair. He is just now, about 10 days into his newly awakened state, realizing he is in Vanderbilt, and not a VA hospital! By the way, John was never in the service!
So, it is about another three months in the hospital and then to a rehabilitation center before the Vandy Doctors believe John will be back to normal. John's complete recovery will take a year or more and the process is actually progressing (at this posting) at a normal clip, in association with what happened to him. He was actually dead at one point. John's heart stopped. John actually died but he is now alive!
One thing I have not mentioned yet ...John's atheism! Right now, as of this posting, John does not REMEMBER THAT HE HAS ALWAYS PROFESSED TO BE AN ATHEIST!
PRAY JOHN NEVER REMEMBERS THAT PART OF HIS LIFE! He goes in and out of knowing who all the members of his family are, because if he is back in the 1960's his children are not born yet, so at that moment he doesn't recognize them. When he gets back to the present, he knows everyone.
Like I said earlier, his recovery is both a delight and a frustration, especially for his wife who feels as if she is raising a child...a very ill child, who is now alive and not dead. Who is now perhaps...just perhaps, a believer in God. The jury is still out on that one. I pray I can write the column..."The Man Who Forgot He was an Atheist."
God has answered prayers for which John never asked. In fact, John told one of the hospital chaplain's the day of his surgery that he would probably go to Hell if there was one, but he knew there was not anything after life...just nothingness. I wonder what John thinks now? Did God pay him a visit during his comatose state? Hummmm.
I'm going to do all I can to see that he is never again faced with dying and going to Hell. I will be talking with John, as soon as God tells me the time is right.
Pray for John. God has given him the second chance few receive.
...Now...whattaUthink...about God!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Part 2: How to React to Obama's Economy and Socialist Thinking
Say a Little Prayer: Religious People Less Anxious
Friday, March 06, 2009 
Research from the University of Toronto found that those who believe in God have less anxiety and stress than those who are not as religious.
To test the theory, the university’s assistant professor of psychology Michael Inzlicht conducted two studies in which he hooked participants up to electrodes to test their brain activity.
The result indicated believers and non-believers have significant differences in their brains.
According to Inzlicht, the religious participants had a lot less activity going on in the portion of the brain that signals when attention or control is needed because a person is producing anxiety.
"You could think of this part of the brain like a cortical alarm bell that rings when an individual has just made a mistake or experiences uncertainty," Inzlicht said, who teaches and conducts research at the University of Toronto Scarborough. "We found that religious people or even people who simply believe in the existence of God show significantly less brain activity in relation to their own errors. They're much less anxious and feel less stressed when they have made an error."
==========================================================
Wow! This article is in the news today, just one day after I started the series of postings on "How to React to Obama's Economy and Socialist Thinking!"
I will continue our thoughts on Faith being the stuff by which God created the world. Remember...Faith is a substance. Reread yesterday's post to refresh your memory. Wrap your mind around this thought; Faith is not just a thought, but the actual stuff, invisible to us be not to God, by which He framed and made the world. Faith, the actual substance that we cannot see, has been given to us to use! Right? Right!
You use Faith to create! What you think in your mind as possible, is Hope. What you frame as reality and make happen is done with Faith! Some things that you can create are done with your actual hands. Other things you create are done by your words! More about creating with words, tomorrow.
For now, think about Faith as your God-given tool to use to create! (and as with anything, the more you use your tool [like becoming better at hampering a nail], the better your tool performs at your directing!) Think of a tool you have had to learn to use. The more you practiced, the better you got.
The same is the way of Faith!
Now...whattaUthink...about God?
Sunday, March 8, 2009
How to React to Obama's Economy and Socialist Thinking
The situation with our economy is serious and we have to treat it as such, but how can we deal with all this political, economic and world turmoil? For us, as Christians there is an answer. The answer begins with a the little letter "eff"...f. This little letter is the beginning of perhaps the most important word in the English language... Faith!
This is not the trite, "HAVE FAITH IN GOD TO WITHSTAND THESE TRYING DAYS" diatribe. If it were, I might as well not be writing... because you probably wouldn't be reading... because you've heard that all your life, as a standby in all situations, I would think!
No! I want to introduce you to Faith in a way you may have never known or realized.
Is Faith a thought, an idea, or maybe a deep feeling inside us that makes us goose bumpy? Is Faith the the comfort we have when Grandpa dies, because we know he is going to heaven? Is Faith the thing that makes us believe in Jesus?
God says that Faith is a substance. God says that He framed the world with Faith. God says He made the world with Faith. But, you say, God just spoke and the world was here. It says so in Genesis, in the very first words of the Bible!
We can only take God at His word! Faith is actually stuff! It is like...well, like God's clay!
This is as far as I can go tonight. I will be back tomorrow morning to finish this thought and show you how we can use our Faith, the Faith (that stuff) that actually created the world, to help us in this time of turmoil and economic trouble. I'll give you a hint...WE CAN CREATE A PART OF OUR LIFE WITH THE FAITH GOD GAVE TO US! Crazy? No! It is Faith! This is the very essence of life! Faith is essence!
"By faith" does not mean our faith. The faith Paul talks about is GOD'S FAITH!... the stuff!...the substance!
The Greek translation of this passage reads more like: "We understand that the Universe was created by faith, by the word of God, so that what is seen, was not made out of things that are visible."
Now...whattaUthink?...about God!
This is not the trite, "HAVE FAITH IN GOD TO WITHSTAND THESE TRYING DAYS" diatribe. If it were, I might as well not be writing... because you probably wouldn't be reading... because you've heard that all your life, as a standby in all situations, I would think!
No! I want to introduce you to Faith in a way you may have never known or realized.
Is Faith a thought, an idea, or maybe a deep feeling inside us that makes us goose bumpy? Is Faith the the comfort we have when Grandpa dies, because we know he is going to heaven? Is Faith the thing that makes us believe in Jesus?
God says that Faith is a substance. God says that He framed the world with Faith. God says He made the world with Faith. But, you say, God just spoke and the world was here. It says so in Genesis, in the very first words of the Bible!
Genesis 1:3 (King James Version)
3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Right! But what happened before that? Let's just think about this for a minute. God did not create this world and the universe because he was lonely, like Bill Cosby's 1960's comedy sketch about the creation portrays. He created it because He wanted to! Our world is not the first thing He ever created, as our minds lead us to believe as children, and it sure is not the last!
God calls himself the CREATOR of all things. Like Michelangelo, the painter who painted all during his life, so is God the creator, who creates all the time! Our little universe and world is probably nothing more than a science project to Him, that He put together on his kitchen table!
I am not being flippant about Almighty God. I am simply putting our world into perspective as to what it really is, using terminology we all understand.
Now...follow me here. If you (yourself) were going to create a project, you would assemble the products needed and perhaps lay them out on your kitchen table. Right? OK. What would you have? You'd have the implements necessary for your soon-to-be-creation... maybe some paint, a brush, some clay, or pieces of wood and a few nails. You'd have something in front of you to work with. You might even have a pen and paper to draw a sketch of your idea before making it.
We are made in the image of God. That means, we are pretty much like Him in many ways. When He breathed His breath into us, it gave us life with the ability to do things like God does. We can create stuff too, but we use stuff already created by Him, to create our stuff. Got it? We can use our minds to create things too, only we have to use God's stuff, to put together what we call our... "creations"!
OK. So that brings us back to "the drawing board" of God. There He sits, ready to undertake His creation project...our universe and entire world! God sits there, with all the stuff He needs to do it, in front of Him. God doesn't want us to be ignorant of His ways, so He even tells us what that stuff is! God tells us in the Bible what that stuff is. He tells us right there in Hebrews! He had Paul write it down just for us!
Hebrews 11
1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Wow! God says that Faith is an actual substance.
Let's see what is the definition of substance:
- Main Entry:
- sub·stance
- Pronunciation:
- \ˈsəb-stən(t)s\
- Function:
- noun
We can only take God at His word! Faith is actually stuff! It is like...well, like God's clay!
This is as far as I can go tonight. I will be back tomorrow morning to finish this thought and show you how we can use our Faith, the Faith (that stuff) that actually created the world, to help us in this time of turmoil and economic trouble. I'll give you a hint...WE CAN CREATE A PART OF OUR LIFE WITH THE FAITH GOD GAVE TO US! Crazy? No! It is Faith! This is the very essence of life! Faith is essence!
Hebrews 11:3 (English Standard Version)
3By faith we understand that the universe was created by(A) the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of(B) things that are visible.
Cross references:
The King James Version says the same thing, but the ESV puts the above in very clear terms."By faith" does not mean our faith. The faith Paul talks about is GOD'S FAITH!... the stuff!...the substance!
The Greek translation of this passage reads more like: "We understand that the Universe was created by faith, by the word of God, so that what is seen, was not made out of things that are visible."
Now...whattaUthink?...about God!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
The Man Who Didn't Believe in God
It is now February and so much has happened in our lives and world since my last posting in January, that "catching up" would be not a realistic undertaking.
Had I been blogging and writing on the days that I have NOT been doing these things, I could have made comments about the happenings of the world. Maybe the comments would not have been intelligent or noteworthy or even worth reading, but they would have been timely! Therefore, there's no use trying to comment on President Obama's "State of the Union" speech or the Miracle on the Hudson plane-crash-survival story or the elections in Israel.
I was thrilled however, that Israel will have the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu as the new Israeli government organizer. As you remember, Netanyahu was at one time, during the 1990's, Prime Minister of Israel. Netanyahu is against giving away the Golan Heights and against a divided Jerusalem. But those are discussions for a day soon to come. I will cover that in a few days, to give you better understanding of how a divided city of Jerusalem and a Syrian controlled Golan Heights would be contrary to the covenant our Father God made with Abraham, 6000 years or so ago!
"Christians United for Israel" (CUFI) is a conference held annually in Washington DC, as organized by John Haggy Ministries. It is a world conference. I was among over 5000 who attended the three day conference in 2007. Benjamin Netanyahu was a keynote speaker via satellite. (Traveling to the US would be too dangerous for him at the time). He was articulate, powerful and even by satellite, his leadership sprang forth into the convention center, as thousands watched his address on huge big-screen TVs. He thanked us for our support of Israel and spoke of his love for his country. I am even more of a supporter of his leadership since the conference.
Now, to the subject ,"The Man Who Didn't Believe in God". There is such a man; a specific man I am writing about, who is a friend of a friend. I have had occasion to meet this man, who was shall call, John.
John's CV: scientist, professor, teacher,educator, researcher, author, father, husband, grandfather, former prescription drug addict (result of pain killer abuse after an operation), alcoholic AND atheist. THESE ARE THE ATTRIBUTES OF HIS LIFE, but not necessarily in that order, as I believe his atheism is pretty much at the top of the list. Oh! I forgot one thing about John. I have to add this, as it is quite important at this time:
JOHN IS IN A PARALYTIC COMA IN AN INTENSIVE CARE UNIT OF ONE OF THIS COUNTRY'S BEST MEDICAL CENTERS.
John's being a wonderful educator, scientist, family man is... hummmmm!...what do they matter now?! I mean right now! These things, right now, mean nothing to anyone who loves John. What matters is that John is about to die and he went into his coma an atheist!
You see, John needed triple by-pass heart surgery. In most cases the procedure is uneventful, the patient is up and walking within hours of the surgery. Not that the patient WANTS to get up and walk, but it is a mandatory step in the healing process after such surgery.
But not so for John. You see, about 9 hours after his surgery, while he was in the ICU, an artery inside John's chest burst and filled his chest cavity with such emergency speed, that the nurses on duty , along with a resident doctor, had to OPEN HIS CHEST AGAIN, BED-SIDE!
Picture this: for half an hour, the nurse in ICU is examining new x-rays of John's lungs and heart. Nothing is showing any abnormalities. John's blood pressure is stable. Yet, John is awake and BEGGING his nurse to, "DO SOMETHING! I AM DYING! I AM HURTING! I CAN'T BREATHE! HELP ME!".....Then, John's blood pressure takes a rapid dive! The nurse alerts a CODE BLUE ; more doctors and nurses and all available staff run to John's bedside.
John is given sodium pentathol IV, his chest is scrubbed w/ betadine for only a few seconds and then, with time running out, John is cut open AGAIN, only this time not in the OR, but in his bed!. His doctor, who is only a resident ( as compared to a a seasoned heart specialist) and a young, night ICU nurse (who has never encountered anything like this before) fight to save him. When his chest finally is pried open for the second time in 12 hours, the view is a chestful of spurting blood! Bright red blood sprays everywhere...on the doctor, the nurse, the bed! To make a long story short, these two wonderful, God-gifted medical personnel, the Resident Doctor and the ICU Nurse, save John's life. They find the bleeding artery, close it off, and while the Resident is working, the Nurse is holding John's heart in her hands, pumping it, to keep blood flowing into his brain and body, keeping him alive, as JOHN IS CAREFULLY TRANSPORTED INTO THE OPERATING ROOM TO COMPLETE THE OPERATION!
Neither the Resident doctor nor the ICU Nurse had ever even seen a procedure done like the one they had to preform on John at bedside. This is something only one sees in the text books and reads about.
As I write this, John is is a drug induced coma. He lies in his bed in ICU, naked with 17 IV lines attached to him, from poles arranged all around his bed. He has a central line that comes out his chest from his heart, up to a bag on another pole. He has a feeding tube in one nostril and a tube for "something" in the other one. The respirator tube fills his mouth, going down his throat into his lungs.
John is on dialysis and complete life-support systems. The sound of the respirator and the accordion cylinder that moves up and down makes a rhythmic eerie whooshing sound through the room. Machines beep and monitors are flashing and continually reflecting the readings of his life support systems. For some reason only known to God, none of his organs are functioning except his heart. None of them are dying, however. The tissue in each organ is normal. The organs just won't cooperate and work as a unit. His kidneys won't produce urine. His liver is not filtering. His lungs are surrounded with fluid and won't work, his bowels are not moving properly...nada! Nothing! And why? The doctors are stumped. John went in for a procedure his world-class doctors preform with near 100% success daily. But not for John.
I have yer to mention the horror all of this has posed for his family. John's family is seeing their father, husband, etc, laying naked in ICU, with tubes coming in and out of every orifice of his body and needles or clamps from every finger and limb. John is looking more like Frankenstein's experiment than a human!
But even worse, if John dies, in all probability, he is going to Hell. JOHN IS PROUD TO BE AN ATHEIST! I had Christmas Dinner with his family about seven years ago and he tried to engage me in a conversation, during the Christmas dinner of which there was no blessing, about how Jesus did not save the world from sin and hell because his contention is there is no hell and there is not God! And there certainly is not a Savior we which we have to cow tow! Whew...I do not have to have anyone tell me John doesn't believe in God, because he has told me so himself!
Maybe John thought he could play around with being a famous scientist and professor, educator and teacher and SOMEDAY give serious thought to seeing is there is a God. I don't have any idea if this might be the scenario or not. but I do know this... John went into his surgery a "man who didn't believe in God". Maybe he will come out of it a Man Who Believes in God.
Everyone who knows John is praying that God will go to him in the coma and talk to him. Maybe we are just trying to believe in all these near-death tales of how God and Jesus "came to me while I was in a coma" type of stories. Whatever the case, I am scared. I just hope I get a big surprise and see John at the Rapture. Because at this point, unless God decides something different, the doctors are going to have pull the life-support systems off John's body at some point . That would mean that for John, there is no hope.
Pray for JOHN! Apply John's circumstances to your life and those in your fmily. Are you ready to go into a coma? That's a pretty gross thing to say or even think, but...are you? If you would go into a coma today, would your family have to worry about your salvation? Would YOU BE HEADING TO HEAVEN OR TO HELL?
God loves you. All you are created for is to love God That's all. Not to cure cancer, invent a better mouse trap..nothing! Nada! JUST LOVE GOD AND FOLLOW HIS COMMANDMENTS AS BEST YOU CAN! It's pretty simple. And you'll live with Him forever! Rapture, here we come!
That's all Father God asks of you. That's all Father God asked of John. But John thought more of himself and his achievements than he ever thought of God. In fact, John always thought God didn't exist. Well, I wonder what John thinks now?
Now...whattaUthink about God?...
Had I been blogging and writing on the days that I have NOT been doing these things, I could have made comments about the happenings of the world. Maybe the comments would not have been intelligent or noteworthy or even worth reading, but they would have been timely! Therefore, there's no use trying to comment on President Obama's "State of the Union" speech or the Miracle on the Hudson plane-crash-survival story or the elections in Israel.
I was thrilled however, that Israel will have the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu as the new Israeli government organizer. As you remember, Netanyahu was at one time, during the 1990's, Prime Minister of Israel. Netanyahu is against giving away the Golan Heights and against a divided Jerusalem. But those are discussions for a day soon to come. I will cover that in a few days, to give you better understanding of how a divided city of Jerusalem and a Syrian controlled Golan Heights would be contrary to the covenant our Father God made with Abraham, 6000 years or so ago!
"Christians United for Israel" (CUFI) is a conference held annually in Washington DC, as organized by John Haggy Ministries. It is a world conference. I was among over 5000 who attended the three day conference in 2007. Benjamin Netanyahu was a keynote speaker via satellite. (Traveling to the US would be too dangerous for him at the time). He was articulate, powerful and even by satellite, his leadership sprang forth into the convention center, as thousands watched his address on huge big-screen TVs. He thanked us for our support of Israel and spoke of his love for his country. I am even more of a supporter of his leadership since the conference.
Now, to the subject ,"The Man Who Didn't Believe in God". There is such a man; a specific man I am writing about, who is a friend of a friend. I have had occasion to meet this man, who was shall call, John.
John's CV: scientist, professor, teacher,educator, researcher, author, father, husband, grandfather, former prescription drug addict (result of pain killer abuse after an operation), alcoholic AND atheist. THESE ARE THE ATTRIBUTES OF HIS LIFE, but not necessarily in that order, as I believe his atheism is pretty much at the top of the list. Oh! I forgot one thing about John. I have to add this, as it is quite important at this time:
JOHN IS IN A PARALYTIC COMA IN AN INTENSIVE CARE UNIT OF ONE OF THIS COUNTRY'S BEST MEDICAL CENTERS.
John's being a wonderful educator, scientist, family man is... hummmmm!...what do they matter now?! I mean right now! These things, right now, mean nothing to anyone who loves John. What matters is that John is about to die and he went into his coma an atheist!
You see, John needed triple by-pass heart surgery. In most cases the procedure is uneventful, the patient is up and walking within hours of the surgery. Not that the patient WANTS to get up and walk, but it is a mandatory step in the healing process after such surgery.
But not so for John. You see, about 9 hours after his surgery, while he was in the ICU, an artery inside John's chest burst and filled his chest cavity with such emergency speed, that the nurses on duty , along with a resident doctor, had to OPEN HIS CHEST AGAIN, BED-SIDE!
Picture this: for half an hour, the nurse in ICU is examining new x-rays of John's lungs and heart. Nothing is showing any abnormalities. John's blood pressure is stable. Yet, John is awake and BEGGING his nurse to, "DO SOMETHING! I AM DYING! I AM HURTING! I CAN'T BREATHE! HELP ME!".....Then, John's blood pressure takes a rapid dive! The nurse alerts a CODE BLUE ; more doctors and nurses and all available staff run to John's bedside.
John is given sodium pentathol IV, his chest is scrubbed w/ betadine for only a few seconds and then, with time running out, John is cut open AGAIN, only this time not in the OR, but in his bed!. His doctor, who is only a resident ( as compared to a a seasoned heart specialist) and a young, night ICU nurse (who has never encountered anything like this before) fight to save him. When his chest finally is pried open for the second time in 12 hours, the view is a chestful of spurting blood! Bright red blood sprays everywhere...on the doctor, the nurse, the bed! To make a long story short, these two wonderful, God-gifted medical personnel, the Resident Doctor and the ICU Nurse, save John's life. They find the bleeding artery, close it off, and while the Resident is working, the Nurse is holding John's heart in her hands, pumping it, to keep blood flowing into his brain and body, keeping him alive, as JOHN IS CAREFULLY TRANSPORTED INTO THE OPERATING ROOM TO COMPLETE THE OPERATION!
Neither the Resident doctor nor the ICU Nurse had ever even seen a procedure done like the one they had to preform on John at bedside. This is something only one sees in the text books and reads about.
As I write this, John is is a drug induced coma. He lies in his bed in ICU, naked with 17 IV lines attached to him, from poles arranged all around his bed. He has a central line that comes out his chest from his heart, up to a bag on another pole. He has a feeding tube in one nostril and a tube for "something" in the other one. The respirator tube fills his mouth, going down his throat into his lungs.
John is on dialysis and complete life-support systems. The sound of the respirator and the accordion cylinder that moves up and down makes a rhythmic eerie whooshing sound through the room. Machines beep and monitors are flashing and continually reflecting the readings of his life support systems. For some reason only known to God, none of his organs are functioning except his heart. None of them are dying, however. The tissue in each organ is normal. The organs just won't cooperate and work as a unit. His kidneys won't produce urine. His liver is not filtering. His lungs are surrounded with fluid and won't work, his bowels are not moving properly...nada! Nothing! And why? The doctors are stumped. John went in for a procedure his world-class doctors preform with near 100% success daily. But not for John.
I have yer to mention the horror all of this has posed for his family. John's family is seeing their father, husband, etc, laying naked in ICU, with tubes coming in and out of every orifice of his body and needles or clamps from every finger and limb. John is looking more like Frankenstein's experiment than a human!
But even worse, if John dies, in all probability, he is going to Hell. JOHN IS PROUD TO BE AN ATHEIST! I had Christmas Dinner with his family about seven years ago and he tried to engage me in a conversation, during the Christmas dinner of which there was no blessing, about how Jesus did not save the world from sin and hell because his contention is there is no hell and there is not God! And there certainly is not a Savior we which we have to cow tow! Whew...I do not have to have anyone tell me John doesn't believe in God, because he has told me so himself!
Maybe John thought he could play around with being a famous scientist and professor, educator and teacher and SOMEDAY give serious thought to seeing is there is a God. I don't have any idea if this might be the scenario or not. but I do know this... John went into his surgery a "man who didn't believe in God". Maybe he will come out of it a Man Who Believes in God.
Everyone who knows John is praying that God will go to him in the coma and talk to him. Maybe we are just trying to believe in all these near-death tales of how God and Jesus "came to me while I was in a coma" type of stories. Whatever the case, I am scared. I just hope I get a big surprise and see John at the Rapture. Because at this point, unless God decides something different, the doctors are going to have pull the life-support systems off John's body at some point . That would mean that for John, there is no hope.
Pray for JOHN! Apply John's circumstances to your life and those in your fmily. Are you ready to go into a coma? That's a pretty gross thing to say or even think, but...are you? If you would go into a coma today, would your family have to worry about your salvation? Would YOU BE HEADING TO HEAVEN OR TO HELL?
God loves you. All you are created for is to love God That's all. Not to cure cancer, invent a better mouse trap..nothing! Nada! JUST LOVE GOD AND FOLLOW HIS COMMANDMENTS AS BEST YOU CAN! It's pretty simple. And you'll live with Him forever! Rapture, here we come!
That's all Father God asks of you. That's all Father God asked of John. But John thought more of himself and his achievements than he ever thought of God. In fact, John always thought God didn't exist. Well, I wonder what John thinks now?
Now...whattaUthink about God?...
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Why Did God Creat Me in the First Place?
Well...whattaUthink?...
The "question of the day" around the water coolers of the world this morning, concerning the United States' transitioning yesterday into a new government administration is, "Well, whatta you think?"
I'm sitting here with a cup of coffee on this cold January day, a bit tired from watching all that inaugural ball dancing last night. How about you? Well, all went pretty well. Michelle was beautiful, Obama was handsome, the children were cute and there was a feeling of anticipation in my heart, as I watched from my home in east Tennessee, the events in D.C. yesterday and last night.
America has a brand new president and the world is watching. How about that! The world and it's people are watching America and our new president, President Barack Obama, hoping he will solve the world's financial problems, peace problems, global warming problems (if there is such a thing) and cause the deserts of the earth to spring forth drinking water and vegetation to halt world hunger problems! Whew! Huge tasks! Can he do it?
Well...whattaUthink?...
Has Barack Obama found his purpose in life? Is this what he is supposed to do with his life? If this is what he thinks his purpose is, and he strives to fulfill it, wonderful. However, I don't know whether President Obama FEELS purposeful toward these goals or not, but if he feels so inclined, as a "citizen of the world," that is acceptable. He, like you and I, has goals to achieve.
Maybe, just maybe, that is why God created each one of us... to set and achieve goals during our lifetime! Yes! That's it! I've been wondering why I am here! God created all of us on this earth with the purpose of setting goals and achieving them. In order for you and I to have a fulfilling life, we need to set some goals, then work toward them and we'll be fulfilling not only OUR purpose for our lives, but GOD'S purpose . That's... WHY GOD CREATED ME IN THE FIRST PLACE...RIGHT?... WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!!!
Rick Warren wrote the book on how to have a purpose filled life. I am not attempting to get into that. What I am getting "into" is why God CREATED you.
When you boil life down to the very basic reason of our existence in the first place, God made us so that He could have some real love in His life. That's right. God has a life just as we do, and He wanted some real love!
Follow my thought. God created the angels and the beings in Heaven to love and serve Him. They do this well. They praise His name and His work. These heavenly beings do what God wants them to do and their duty, if you will, is to love and to serve. Collectively, these beings are called the Heavenly Host, and a "host" is an army. When one is in the army, one does what the army's commander commands! In the case of the angels and heavenly beings, God is the commander and they do what He commands.
Hey! Wait a minute! Where's the love? I mean REAL love? Actually, the angels and heavenly beings have no choice but to love God, because they were created to love and serve Him. (Well, there's Lucifer, but that's a story for another time).
God IS love! To manifest (or multiply) His love so He can feel Love from another being, from another source, in another way (other than the heavenly ones)...He creates us! We have the same sort of love that He has and is! The heavenly beings do not have love "by choice". All heavenly beings, such as angels, were created to love God. They can do nothing less.
So...now concentrate...God makes man in His own image with the same attributes as Himself; body, spirit, soul! Right down to the fingernails! He gives us a mini-intelligence like He has and He lets us have choices like He makes. Then...God presents Himself to each one of us individually (remember the many times God has come to you?), giving each of us a choice of whether to love Him or not. If we do love Him as He is hoping, and if we choose to follow His laws as He is hoping, our reward is getting to live with Him for Eternity in the wonderful place He has prepared for us called Heaven. If we reject God and His laws, and do not love Him or obey, we do not get to live with Him in the nice place, but we will go where all creatures and men go who reject Him and His love...hell.
Harsh? Not in God's perfect way. God's only reason for creating us is to have someone to love Him, by choice, not duty! That is God's love. He chose to love us. He wants us to choose to love Him back. It's just that simple. Take it or leave it. Heaven or hell.
There is more to say, and there are Bible verses and books that will tell one all about God's love but I just wanted to tell you why God created you in the first place. IT VERY BASIC. No other god in the world, earth or universe claims to have created ANYTHING, just to love... Buddha didn't, Ra didn't, Baal didn't, Allah didn't...but the god who made heaven and earth does!
He even sent to earth His only begotten son, Jesus the Christ, to prove it to you. ( Wow! That's THE great story!)
The question of the ages has been to wonder why we humans are on earth. The answer is so simple, it seems dumb! But what is folly to men is not necessarily folly to God. We humans make life harder than it is. Once you know, I mean really know, the basic reason for your existence, sorting out the big stuff becomes easier.
God loves you. Do you love Him?
If you don't agree with all this, take it up with The Big Guy. He said it, I didn't.
Now...whattaUthink?....
The "question of the day" around the water coolers of the world this morning, concerning the United States' transitioning yesterday into a new government administration is, "Well, whatta you think?"
I'm sitting here with a cup of coffee on this cold January day, a bit tired from watching all that inaugural ball dancing last night. How about you? Well, all went pretty well. Michelle was beautiful, Obama was handsome, the children were cute and there was a feeling of anticipation in my heart, as I watched from my home in east Tennessee, the events in D.C. yesterday and last night.
America has a brand new president and the world is watching. How about that! The world and it's people are watching America and our new president, President Barack Obama, hoping he will solve the world's financial problems, peace problems, global warming problems (if there is such a thing) and cause the deserts of the earth to spring forth drinking water and vegetation to halt world hunger problems! Whew! Huge tasks! Can he do it?
Well...whattaUthink?...
Has Barack Obama found his purpose in life? Is this what he is supposed to do with his life? If this is what he thinks his purpose is, and he strives to fulfill it, wonderful. However, I don't know whether President Obama FEELS purposeful toward these goals or not, but if he feels so inclined, as a "citizen of the world," that is acceptable. He, like you and I, has goals to achieve.
Maybe, just maybe, that is why God created each one of us... to set and achieve goals during our lifetime! Yes! That's it! I've been wondering why I am here! God created all of us on this earth with the purpose of setting goals and achieving them. In order for you and I to have a fulfilling life, we need to set some goals, then work toward them and we'll be fulfilling not only OUR purpose for our lives, but GOD'S purpose . That's... WHY GOD CREATED ME IN THE FIRST PLACE...RIGHT?... WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!!!
Rick Warren wrote the book on how to have a purpose filled life. I am not attempting to get into that. What I am getting "into" is why God CREATED you.
When you boil life down to the very basic reason of our existence in the first place, God made us so that He could have some real love in His life. That's right. God has a life just as we do, and He wanted some real love!
Follow my thought. God created the angels and the beings in Heaven to love and serve Him. They do this well. They praise His name and His work. These heavenly beings do what God wants them to do and their duty, if you will, is to love and to serve. Collectively, these beings are called the Heavenly Host, and a "host" is an army. When one is in the army, one does what the army's commander commands! In the case of the angels and heavenly beings, God is the commander and they do what He commands.
Hey! Wait a minute! Where's the love? I mean REAL love? Actually, the angels and heavenly beings have no choice but to love God, because they were created to love and serve Him. (Well, there's Lucifer, but that's a story for another time).
God IS love! To manifest (or multiply) His love so He can feel Love from another being, from another source, in another way (other than the heavenly ones)...He creates us! We have the same sort of love that He has and is! The heavenly beings do not have love "by choice". All heavenly beings, such as angels, were created to love God. They can do nothing less.
So...now concentrate...God makes man in His own image with the same attributes as Himself; body, spirit, soul! Right down to the fingernails! He gives us a mini-intelligence like He has and He lets us have choices like He makes. Then...God presents Himself to each one of us individually (remember the many times God has come to you?), giving each of us a choice of whether to love Him or not. If we do love Him as He is hoping, and if we choose to follow His laws as He is hoping, our reward is getting to live with Him for Eternity in the wonderful place He has prepared for us called Heaven. If we reject God and His laws, and do not love Him or obey, we do not get to live with Him in the nice place, but we will go where all creatures and men go who reject Him and His love...hell.
Harsh? Not in God's perfect way. God's only reason for creating us is to have someone to love Him, by choice, not duty! That is God's love. He chose to love us. He wants us to choose to love Him back. It's just that simple. Take it or leave it. Heaven or hell.
There is more to say, and there are Bible verses and books that will tell one all about God's love but I just wanted to tell you why God created you in the first place. IT VERY BASIC. No other god in the world, earth or universe claims to have created ANYTHING, just to love... Buddha didn't, Ra didn't, Baal didn't, Allah didn't...but the god who made heaven and earth does!
He even sent to earth His only begotten son, Jesus the Christ, to prove it to you. ( Wow! That's THE great story!)
The question of the ages has been to wonder why we humans are on earth. The answer is so simple, it seems dumb! But what is folly to men is not necessarily folly to God. We humans make life harder than it is. Once you know, I mean really know, the basic reason for your existence, sorting out the big stuff becomes easier.
God loves you. Do you love Him?
If you don't agree with all this, take it up with The Big Guy. He said it, I didn't.
Now...whattaUthink?....
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