Category Archives: Salvation

Watching Buses Bear down… Why bother to Proselytize? Penn Jillette

Natsu_floating_in_Genesis_Zero

preacher

Penn Jillette gets a Bible

"How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?"Penn Jillette, outspoken atheist and one half of the comedy magician duo Penn & Teller, recorded this video in 2008 recounting the story of how a man gifted him a Bible after one of their Las Vegas shows. It's amazing to see Penn's reaction to the man's gesture as this video shows an inside view of how to evangelize to an atheist. • Subscribe to the NAYC Rumors YouTube channel for more Jesus' name videos! YouTube.com/naycrumors •

Posted by NAYC Rumors on Tuesday, January 12, 2016

^^^Watch this Clip.

woe

no hellll

Read more…

Happy New Year? Let us Re-commit to the Battles of the Minds, Hearts, and Souls of our fellow humanity.

Hell is for the Self Righteous, Heaven is for Sinners.

A High Calling.

The Gospel of God’s Grace.

The hope which is In Christ. Terrible grief shall be turned into great joy!

Christopher Hitchens Dies.

Nyctophilia: Hiding in the Dark….

The Darkness. Then the Dawn.

David Bowie… stepping through the door… Fags, Fanatics,Freedom and Fate.

Ruff Draft…To be edited.

bowwwwiiiee

News of David Bowie’s death from cancer reached Cyberspace tonight (Jan 11 2016NZ).
Planet Earth is Blue and there’s nothing I can do.
I am merely one of untold millions of fans who have been rocked by the news… esp having only today gossiped with friends about his latest songs… and that “He’s still shocking… and still got it!”.
Now I see that his latest songs were a foreboding message to his fans that the Reaper was calling.
Obvious now.
This is where my Blogpost comes to the Tee intersection.
One direction heads up ‘Tribute’ hill towards the usual sycophantic adoration and pinning.
The other heads down Guile pass which is the path enjoyed by those who seek to throw stones, and take opportunity to exercise their personal piety.

There will be plenty of both types of commentaries on Bowie’s life for everyone to slake their thirsts… each according to their palates.
Mine is going to careen off these well beaten paths… on a tangent… out out somewhere I don’t expect many to want to go… as it will not completely satisfy any particular mindset…. Except the minority of social outcasts like myself.
And this in it self is 50% of why I think The passing of David Bowie is not only an opportunity for me to express some of my personal insights, but the best tribute to him that I can produce.
You see that when people die… there is a popular conception that in the ‘time of respect for the dead… and for those grieving’… that certain things are best left unsaid.
I broke that rule in my Tribute to Scott Weiland… and his tragic end, yet obeyed it when I did my recent Eternal Vigilance Blog tribute to Lemmy from Motorhead which is conspicuously absent of any personal commentary and just filled with snapshots, and videos of his exploits, yet in doing so I fail to explain my own reasoning to the lovers and haters… why a Bible believing Christian still likes Lost souls like Lemmy… and this was to avoid saying things I knew would upset everyone.
Yet I don’t like writing stuff simply to please the masses, or avoid controversy at the expense of my strongly held personal views.
I don’t like remaining quite about things that I believe need to be said even though I will probably upset everybody… for different reasons.
I don’t write to please. I write to hold up the Torch… and so it is that I will do Bowie the tribute of boldly speaking my mind about his life and how I see he fits in to the Flow of Culture and the story of western civilization.
I could make the following sorts of comments about most of the greater Rockers of Recent history, yet taking care of business here and now will mean that I can avoid this long windedness in many future tributes that I will write, and will simply be able to refer readers to this post.
Eternal vigilance blog has from it’s foundation *Always been about the Music.*

Blar Blar Blar.
I have probably already lost 50% of my readers … too much talk about me… not enough about Bowie, yet I believe I have now set up the necessary props for the main show to begin.

With reverence I salute David Bowies musical genius and contributions to the happiness of Millions of Fans.
I grew up loving Space Oddity, Star Man, Ashes to ashes, etc…. all received via Radio waves.
Via that same medium my spirit wandered to ‘Rocket man, Don’t let the sun go down on me, Saturday nights alright for fighting, Another one Bites the Dust, Radio Gag ga, Flash, Who wants to live for ever?, etc.
Why have I included these tracks from Elton John, and Queen?…. some of you will have already guessed yet for those who need further explanation, it is because the musical genius of David Bowie, is part of the massive contributions to music and western culture made by mega talented Homosexuals and the impact they have had…. For better or for worse on our societies… modifying the very sexual fabric… and depending on which faction you choose to belong… most peoples’ sentiments will be typified in the common antagonisms of various conflicting world views.

David Bowie went through changes… was married twice, yet like many Rock stars, David Bowie in his younger years gratified his insatiable sexual appetites, which included having orgies involving both sexes. I don’t need to dwell on this any further to explain an important aspect of my blog post… My concern for his Immortal soul.
Did David Bowie receive the Gift of God…. Salvation from the Judgment of God that all sinners face?
Or was he… like so many Homosexuals/ Bi sexuals an infidel to the bitter end?
I am a ‘Straight’/ heterosexual guy… and A Christian, yet though I share the typical revulsion at the thought of Homosexual activities… and the common Christian belief that Homosexuality is perverse, I do not share the common and historical Christian idea that Homosexuals are ‘Extra evil/ sinful’ or the desire to persecute them.
In truth I confess my own sexual perversity… which I need not go into any further detail, but mention the fact because in my view all so-called straight people are just as guilty of Sexual degeneracy as homosexuals are …. We all fall short of the mark of Purity and holiness… and that needs to be said because it exposes the hypocrisy of the Bigots whom desire to persecute Homosexuals, but turn a blind eye to their own sins.
In fact the sin of Adultery which is most common among ‘Christians’ ought to be considered *more evil* than plain homosexuality between consenting adults because Adultery not only offends God, and breaks the marriage covenant with him, but also involves dishonesty and the betrayal of third parties… the spouses…real victims of the offense.
Yet still I want to discuss the probable reasons why of all sinners and reprobates many Homosexuals seem to be ‘Extra antagonistic’ towards Christianity…. A tragic situation given that God’s love towards us sinners motivated him to send Christ … so that …Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord might be saved.
There is none righteous no not one… for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God… saith St Paul.
Many Christians however think that God hates Homosexuals, and that they are a class of sinner all on their own… and are without hope.

In my view the phenomena of Homosexuality is yet another signpost to the truthfulness of the Biblical doctrine of original sin and the fall of Adam. It’s straight up weird.
As the saying goes God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.
The Human condition itself is perfectly explicable via the literal theology of Genesis.
God made sex pleasurable and most importantly… for procreation of our kind… yet true to form Sinful mankind has found ways to pervert this Divine order.
The Penis and vagina *Are designed* to function together as surely as the bolt and the nut, with the result… a miraculous thing… Children…. Little people… in accordance not with Darwin, but with the Biblical law of Kind after it’s Kind… unfortunately after the fall of our Original parents…. We are born fallen beings… mortal, sinful, and perverse.
The First born Mortal murdered the second born…
And so the nature of fallen humanity has determined our History, and affected every society.
There is no desert Island filled with Noble savages… no times or places where societies have not had their share of Murderers, thieves, Adulterers, and Homosexuals.
The Laws of the book of Genesis are IronClad, and it is in that first book of the Bible that the perversion of Homosexuality is found full blown.
After the Judgment of the wicked world by flood, we see that sin had ‘stowed away’ on the Ark, and a Drunken Noah was raped by his son Ham, and later Descendants of his grandson Canaan built the notoriously Corrupt cities of Sodom and Gomorra.
These cities were destroyed by God Almighty… and this was in an age (dispensation) before The Mosaic Law.
Homosexuality…. Along with eating Shellfish were ‘Abominations’ prohibited to the Jews… as was working on Saturdays.
Adultery was also forbidden to Jews, and Jesus himself said that even if they Looked at another man’s wife with lust that they had committed adultery in their hearts.
Not only does mankind have strange lusts… We are also by our sinful and lost natures prone to hypocritical Judgment and vicious persecution.
The term ‘Faggot’ is of course reference to times when the persecution of Homosexuals by Christians meant they were Burned alive… Google what a faggot was if you need to. (It is Ironic that many Homosexuals prefer to be called ‘Faggs’…. go figure!)

faggots

Why I myself don’t share this historical lust to Legally oppress homosexuals is because I am a Dispensationalist Christian who understands just how Evil, Unchristian, and unbiblical this sort to Horror really is.
I understand that while the Bible does say that Homosexuality is wicked, displeases God, and was illegal under the Jewish theocratic Laws which were a part of their Covenant with him, that Christianity as preach by St Paul is a completely different ‘voluntary society’ under which no such legal imposition of morality can be rightfully endorsed.
Thus I condemn the historic persecutions of Homosexuals, Witches, Drug users, etc under the guise of ‘Christianity’ and ‘Civilization’ as being Wicked heresy and absolutely at variance with the true spirit of Christian grace and modus opperandi.
Christianity’s solutions to the wickedness of humanity is via the Gospel of God’s grace and voluntarily embraced values and ideas… not via Moral legalisms imposed on unbelievers via Political force.
Like every other form of Bigotry… so many Christians seethe with self righteous malice and lust and crave for the legal right to vent their hatred upon the target of their prejudice… and this is where the Demon possessed Lynch mobs and Stake burnings of history have caused the name of Christ to stink in the nostrils of so many sinners for whom Christ died to bring Salvations and Gods forgiveness.
And this persecution has been horrific!
And following Moral causation… Evil tends to produce reciprocal evils, this historic persecution has led to the phenomena that today Homosexual fraternities are Rabidly Anti-Christ … to an extreme and bigoted degree.
While this in itself is nasty and foolish, and has resulted in violence towards innocent Christians, and should be condemned… It is understandable given humanities weakness for recklessly and hypocritically dealing out evil for evil.
You would think that having been the victim of Bigotry and injustice that newly liberated minorities would be wise, and would hesitate to perpetrate similar evils against others… yet the fact is that Human beings are very slow to apprehend general principles, and are quick to take opportunity for venting their own personal hatred with violence.
Today Homosexuals stand at the very forefront of the drive to ‘De-Christianize’ western civilization, not simply on the political level (much of which I Agree with as truly progressive for civilization and Christianity), but more fundamentally they attack faith in Christianity, and biblical morality.
Two examples.
The first example I present is the musical genius and raving Homo …Maynard James Keenan of ‘Tool’…. My favorite band.
I will talk about how guys like David Bowie moved modern society to make Bands like Tool possible very shortly, yet here I simply want to point out that few bands reach the heights of Anti-Christian distain, and revel in the highest forms of Homosexual perversity as Tool has reached under the guidance of Maynard.
His sexually perverse lyrics are descriptive and he writes Song Titles like ‘Stink fist’, ‘Hooker with a penis’, and ‘Prison sex’, and his blasphemies drag Christ himself down into his perverse mentality.
He accounts other Antichrists as his mentors and idols and apparently took pleasure ‘Punking’ Korn’s Brian Head for converting to Christianity on M TV.
The behavior of Guy’s like Maynard summon visions of the Cross road and bargains with Satan… offering Fame and glory, if they will serve him… and he gets their souls.
There is a video out there in cyber space with him dressed up as Red Satan… yet it is all a mockery.

My second example of the link between Homosexuality and the modern Anti-Christian movements is…
I personally know one of New Zealands most militant Atheists and Antichrists.
Radio and TV personality, Founding Father of the now disbanded New Zealand Libertarian party (Libertarianz), the unabashed Homosexual and Objectivist Lindsay Perigo.
In Politics I consider him my New Zealand mentor, to the extent that we both occupy whats is described in Libertarian circles as the ‘purist’ position… absolutely opposed to Political correctness, and compromise, and committed to standing on principle irrespective of how extremely unpopular any position might be.
Many times this has us standing among some of the most loathed minorities, in opposition to many of the most popular rallies for New persecutions.
Many times we have been criticized even by so-called fellow Libertarians for being too ridged and lacking Political expedience… after all is it not a political party’s ambition to be popular enough to get elected?
Linz and I would always say NOPE!
We would say there is no point getting into parliament naked… without our principles… and that to fool voters about our real intents for the sake of getting elected would be the very height of Shysterism… and such strategies are irrefutable evidence of such candidates unworthiness to Govern!
We never did get elected… but does this prove we are wrong?
I think not.
I have put myself forward at countless elections, always with the same values and Ideals.
I have never been successful in being elected… yet I say I have never *lost* an election because I have always remained true to my personal convictions and always forthrightly expressed them to the voting public, even when I know how unpopular my Libertarianism is because it threatens the vested interests of the Status quo, and refuses to pander to the popular phobias of the masses.

We have also watched many of the ‘expedient touting Compromisers who though claiming to be Libertarians, distain idealism and instead claim pragmatism to be far more effective in the battle for freedom … as Act Party members… they get elected to parliament by selling out many of their professed values…because their position is less threatening to status quo… yet Time after time, year after year… these types prove to be useless inert nothings… effecting no Libertarian reforms… just collecting a State pay cheque… funds for their party… and actually working for the beast against justice and libertarian ideals.
These sorts of people have never been responsible for the reforms that have slowly raised western civilization out of barbarism and oppression.
As Ayn Rand said… in any compromise with evil… evil wins.
Both Linz and I are Stubborn… yet we prefer the terms like Resolute… Stalwart.

So back to the subject… on this political level Linz and I are Kindred spirits, yet on another we are polls apart… the matter of Religion.
And it is easy to see how history will have guided many Homosexuals towards Libertarianism , yet also affected a deep hatred of Christianity… and not simply because of the persecutions… but also because it says Homosexuality is perverse and sinful.
They don’t like being called perverts, and they have been militant… esp in the atheist Leftist sphere of politics in systematically attacking Christian values… far beyond merely the removal of unjust laws… but in attempting to ‘normalise’ homosexuality and obliterate the idea that it is sinful.

lesbians

The Left via Marx has always been an Anti-Christian movement, always attempted to overthrow the Christian world view and install it’s own Atheistic pseudo morality… Yet It is disappointing for me that though Lindsey Perigo is super intelligent and was smart enough to abandon Socialism for libertarianism… yet he still harbors a vicious hatred for the Christian religion… and in fact believes that belief in God is one of the pillars of tyranny.
As an Objectivist his personal Ego knows no bounds and any belief that he is somehow a pervert is tantamount to Blasphemy against his self-worship.
Interesting enough his Goddess… the Atheist Ayn Rand also thought homosexuality was immoral and perverse, yet he has gone to great lengths to argue *She was Wrong!* about this… proving *No argument… no matter who from what direction will ever convince Lindsey to believe Homosexuality is sinful.

Stalwart… or beyond reason?
Lindsay is dedicated to keeping his conscience clear about his personal sexuality… and there is plenty of Modern Psychology and pseudo science to under-gird his ideological Edifice.

As a christian vehemently condemn his chosen Religion of Atheism!
Not only because I believe it to be false, but just as importantly because in my view it is corrosive to the underpinnings of Libertarianism and the Justice of the principle of Equal rights for all…. which are squarely founded upon Biblical Theistic principles… Inalienable rights being *God Given* and above any dictates of Human government.
Thus I contend that despite that manifold evils that have been committed in God’s name… that Linz is absolutely wrong… and that Religion is essential to Freeing humanity from Tyranny!
See some of my aruements >here< and >here< and >here< Nonetheless Yet I sympathize with Atheists , having been one myself... knowing the Darkness they mistake for light... and just how alien Theism is to the Godless. I spend a great deal of my spare time attempting to present well reasoned arguments both for faith in the Bible, and exposing the follies of Atheist materialism. Though there is no *HomoGene* yet still Modern Atheist Evolutionary psychology is attempting to obliterate Christian morality by denying freewill, and saying all our thoughts, choices, and desires are nothing but machine programs originating in our DNA. For Homosexuals this would mean they cant be morally responsible for their perversions any more than a waterfall is responsible for gravity. Via such a conception the idea that Homosexuality is genetic eliminates the whole accusation that it is 'Un-natural'....against nature. Read more >here< Any one Goggling Lindsay Perigo and religion, atheim, etc will find mountains of his works that seethe with bitterness and hatred for all things Christian... for theistic religion in general.... to him they are all equally false... equality oppressive and Evil. The perseverance of Homosexuality while supporting the doctrines of the book of Genesis *actually defies the theory of evolution* because if it was merely some form of Genetic anomaly... it is definitively *a dead end*.... Homosexuality makes such Genetics... less fit to survive... because it is sterile... tending towards Extinction. His unwavering animosity towards Christianity has meant that despite our Political Comradeship, Lindsay and I are so diametrically opposed on the question of Religion as to only communicate on rarest of occasions...and this is sad because as Libertarians we could have been the best of friends and allies. The choice to keep our lives separate is no doubt mutual… I do it to insulate myself from his Rabid atheism, and I assume he does it to insulate himself from my Rabid Christian Theism… though we may find each others political posts inspiring, and fortifying, We find each others daily rants about religion intolerable. .. so in keeping with the best Libertarian ideals… we simply leave each other alone. I pray for his enlightenment and Salvation… yet it appears to me that Homosexuals are some of the most blinded souls to the mercy and forgiveness of God. I hope that if he ever reads this post that it gives him pause. Here is but a tiny snippet Anti theism/ Anti-Christianity from Linz's pen... quite a mild example at that, yet shows just how he maintains his hatred by reliving the dark ages... "In the case of the good guys like Aristotle and Jefferson, their lapses contradicted their essential goodness. In the case of Christianity, persecution, torture and bigotry went with the territory (and still would if the fagot-lighters had political dominance)[ie, Christians are EVIL!!!]. They who believe absurdities (such as your lonely goblin story) commit atrocities. [See, see, EVIL!!!!] They who are capable of believing in the justice of eternal torture are not going to have any qualms about inflicting temporary torture [Oh, except for not wanting to end up there themselves, but we'll ignore that ... Christians are EVIL!!!!]." Lindsey Perigo Many Homos refuse to forget the ages of persecution… even though they themselves may have never have experienced any of it. They will have encountered plenty of Zealous Christians motivated by the same Self-righteous hatred who have told them ‘God hates Fags’… and insisted that Homosexuals are far more deviant sinners than themselves. This Rank hypocrisy of the Christians only serves to strengthen their resolve to die unrepentant … thumbing their noses at Christ with their dying breath, yet in reality The Bible does not single out Homosexuality as being more wicked than other sins, nor does it instruct Christians to hate them… yet still many do. To Homosexuals… Militancy against Christianity is exercising their Rights… and paybacks for centuries of oppression of ‘their kind’, and to Libertarians like myself it is a just that they are now free not only from persecution for being gay, but also to speak their minds without censure… even though many of them are now actively attacking *my own faith*. Not only do I understand where their angst came from, I believe they have the right to reject Christ, and vocally express their views, and am glad that the era of Legalistic oppression of homosexuals is virtually over in Western democracies. And here we Return to David Bowie and his Gay Friends and contemporaries, whose musical talent has helped to break down the walls of bigotry by their sheer genius… and musical gifts they have bestowed upon their generations. They were a big part of the movement of Liberation, often activists and spokesman. They are adored by millions. Society no longer cheers, but morns when they die. And I am one of their fans who love the music... and the freedom that comes when ancient tyrannies crumble. I cant help but chuckle about the revelation that David Bowie was getting so High that he cant even remember making one of his most revered Lp's Station to Station. :-D Freddy Statue
Swiss monument to Freddy Mercury.

Yet typically for mankind…. As Ralph Waldo Emerson… ‘the law of Compensation’ is a part of the human condition, and is at all times at work.
This law means that for every advance, progression, reform, positive Good innovation… there will result… from the human condition some Declines…. Some negatives.
This means that when some good man creates something designed to improve the human condition… that some scoundrels will in short succession figure out how to use it for wickedness… and so it is that Homosexuals in western civilization have not merely been liberated from oppression, many are hell bent on actually manipulating the general bigotry of atheists towards traditional Christianity, into Lobbying for Laws forbidding Christians from exercising their own religious liberty!
Theses militant Atheists seek to prevent Christians vocalizing their belief that Homosexuality is sinful… by labeling such expressions as ‘hate speech’.
Having been granted the right to get ‘married’… some homosexuals maliciously call upon ‘anti-discrimination laws’ in the hope to *force churches* to perform Gay marriages *against their own will and beliefs. They demand Christian Bakers bake them Gay Marriage cakes, etc… and all this is not only a gross hypocrisy on their part, not only new oppressions, but also ammunition for those bigoted Christians who resisted Law reforms that removed oppressions from Homosexuals.
Wikipedia has a page on ‘Militant Gays’>here<. MilitantHomosexuals0

Yes, Mankind as a society appears fated to remain unregenerate… It is not only the poor who will always be with us…. But also the spirits of Bigotry, Hypocrisy, and Oppression.
They just take on new forms… and reciprocate… as power shifts from one side to the other.
Thus it is difficult for a Libertarian to say that Western civilization has in reality become more enlightened… but rather gains on one side are being counterbalanced by regressions on another.
Homosexuality is nothing new, yet in terms of ‘the salt of the Earth…. Christian values and it’s cultural paradigm… the moral slide that David Bowie and Homosexual atheists have played such a massive part in may be understood by looking back… Bowie was ‘Shocking for his day’… yet comparatively benign compared to what is needed to shock us today.
We have all to a certain degree acclimatized to the ‘Post Christian era’… We are inoculated rather than enlightened… at ease with Sexual perversity…. We feel this liberalism as an opiate on our conscience… yet which is in reality a regression back towards Sodom and Gomorrah.

We read articles predicting consumers are expected to buy more ‘Gender neutral’ toys this year… ‘As the lines between sexes continue to Blur’.

Checkmate Feminists!

We are all more comfortable with our own sins… we feel less need for Christ.
Many Christians are forsaking the spirit of Persecution of Homosexuals… yet because of the Atheist propaganda that has accompanied this shift… they themselves have been abandoning faith in the veracity of the Theology of Genesis!
They Join the Infidel chorus in ‘normalising’ and morally sanitizing Homosexuality!
Some Liberal churches willingly perform Gay marriages, have Gay Priests and ministers, etc…. and in my view this is nothing short of a sell out… the loss of Truth… part of the slide downhill.
It is one thing to stop persecuting sinners and infidels… yet quite another to endorse them and absolve them of sin.
It has always been the hardest thing for me as a Christian Libertarian to walk the line between these two factions of Christianity… to one moment be seen standing with the liberals against oppression, and yet the next be standing with the conservatives in support of their rights to call homosexuality Sinful.
Both sides think I’m a sell out… and Most Homosexuals dislike me simply because I am a Christian.
How many ‘Facebook likes’ will this Blog post receive?
I expect very few.

This is not the note I was hoping my tribute the Great David Bowie and discourse to finnish.
His Death from Cancer of the liver is tragically but one of millions… my own Dear Aunty Carol died that way.
Modern medicine being able to thwart many of the Grim Reapers traditional weapons… he resorts to this accursed blight more and more… and it is greatly feared.
Yet still the Upside of such deaths gives the departing time not only to say good bye to friends and loved ones… it also gives them time to contemplate their own spiritual condition knowing they are about to pass through the door into eternity… it gives then opportunity to call upon Christ to be saved.

The fact Bowies second marriage to a stunning Muslim woman lasted 23 plus years an was cut short by his death, leaves us to speculate that he had in fact abandoned his need for homosexual gratification, and none other than Christian Evangelist Ray Comfort speculates that Bowie himself may have been contemplating his approaching appointment with his maker … and “returned to the faith of his youth”… in his last song named ‘Lazarus’ he sings… ”Look at me Man, I’m in Heaven…”.
I truly hope so!
For the blood of Christ is powerful enough to redeem the foulest, most depraved of sinners who but calls upon his name…. and I say for all his sins and perversions… for all his participation in the moral slide of contemporary western civilization… David certainly was not the most evil of men… not by a long shot.
Far Worse in my book are all those who commit persecutions and evils in Christ’s holy and blessed name because they inspired the backlash and rejection of Christ.
David will be greatly missed.
Tim Wikiriwhi
Christian Libertarian.

transphobia

Update:16-1-16 Stuff article: David Bowie’s sexuality is still hotly debated, but does it matter?

“In the days since his death, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender fans have shared how the rocker influenced their lives and helped bring queer culture into the mainstream in the 1960s and 1970s. In essays, interviews, on Twitter and on Facebook, they told how his rise gave them strength.
Many saw a kindred spirit in Bowie’s various characters and gender-bending style, beginning with his first androgynous persona, Ziggy Stardust, in 1972. Not only had he made a glittery, alien-looking creature look cool, he had helped pioneer a sexy (and marketable) form of otherness that mainstream artists have tried to replicate in the decades since…”

Read more >Here< Update 2: 20-1-16 Bowie Really is in Heaven!! :-) bowie constilation

Read >>> David Bowie: astronomers give the Starman his own constellation.

The Bible. What is it good for?

sola_scriptura

As is his wont, my King James Bible believing Dispensationalist libertarian Christian co-blogger Tim tagged me in his post (of the above image) on Facebook. 🙂

Be sure to get your doctrine from the Bible, not the traditions of man! (Colossians 2:8)

I really do appreciate the pro-tip. It’s just that there’s a whole lotta problems with this instruction. At least one of which renders Tim’s advice utterly useless!

One problem is that the cited verse, Colossians 2:8, does not even mention the Bible.

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. (KJV)

See! What this verse is really saying is be sure to get your doctrine from Christ, not the traditions of man! I agree! But let’s be clear. There’s no mention at all of the Bible in this verse. And I’ve made it quite clear in previous blog posts what my view is. It is that Jesus is inerrant, but the Bible isn’t. The Word of God is inerrant. His scribes, not so much. Yes, that’s right. I basically equate the Bible with “the traditions of man”. I don’t equate the Bible with Christ. The Bible as we know it hasn’t even been around a couple of thousand years yet. Whereas

In [the] beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (DARBY)

Believe it or not, another problem is that the KJV mistranslates this particular verse. And don’t believe it or do, so does the NIV. But of course! 😉

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces[a] of this world rather than on Christ. (NIV)

Which is why I always have recourse to Young’s Literal Translation for times like this when it matters exactly what the Bible says.

See that no one shall be carrying you away as spoil through the philosophy and vain deceit, according to the deliverance of men, according to the rudiments of the world, and not according to Christ (YLT)

It’s clear that “spoiled” is a KJV mistranslation of “spoil”. Yet at least the NIV has the good grace to provide a footnote (see above) to the effect that it has construed “the basic principles” (rudiments) as “the elemental spiritual forces” of this world.

But here’s the fatal flaw with Tim’s advice—be sure to get your doctrine from the Bible, not the traditions of man!—which renders it useless. Which Bible?

Tim’s telling me to be sure to get my doctrine from the Bible, but which one? As we all know, Christians (e.g., Protestants vs. Catholics and Orthodox Christians) can’t even agree on which books belong in the Bible, let alone which translations of the canonical books are themselves canonical.

Which Bible? Tim will, of course, answer the Authorized King James Version of 1611. Which is a fair answer to a fair question. But if I accept this answer, one thing’s for sure. I’m now getting my doctrine from the traditions of man, and from the traditions of one man in particular, viz., my co-blogger Tim Wikiriwhi! And not necessarily from either the true Bible (if, indeed, there even is such a thing) or Christ.

It comes down to this. When all is said and done, we must decide—each of us individually must decide—in what and/or in whom to trust.

I trust in Jesus, the Son of God, whom I know from the first-hand accounts of his ministry by the original gospel authors, from his work in the lives of my brothers and sisters in Christ, from his work in my own life, and from personal encounter.

I trust in the deliverances of my own God-given moral compass when (not often, just occasionally) they conflict with what’s in the Bible.

So the Bible. What’s it good for?

Why, it’s profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works, of course! 🙂

theological_disputes

The Word of God is inerrant. His scribes, not so much.


bc_4

Jesus is inerrant, but the Bible isn’t.

Anyone who’s spent any time in serious study of the Bible (or even someone who’s only delved into it intermittently) will have discovered, for themselves, apparent contradictions, of which there are very, very many.

Just for example, Ezekiel 33:11 (and Ezekiel 18:32) and Psalm 37:13 seem rather at odds.

Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’ (NIV)

but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming. (NIV)

How should a Christian respond to such apparent contradictions? It’s not easy maintaining contradictions. Maintaining a contradiction is surely the very essence of cognitive dissonance, and cognitive dissonance is something we all naturally seek to minimise.

Of particular concern are the apparent contradictions in Bible verses about salvation. Is justification through good works or by faith alone? Enquiring minds want to know.

The inerrantist response is to hold that the Bible is inerrant. On the premiss (due to Douglas Stauffer) that

God will preserve His word, and not allow it to pass away.

And then try to explain away the apparent contradictions. All of them. One attempt to do this (with particular emphasis on what the Bible says about salvation) is the doctrine of Dispensationalism due to John Nelson Darby.

Now, I can see that the above premiss has merit and that Dispensationalism is, in some sense, a reasonable response to the apparent contradictions in the Bible.

But doesn’t God operate according to the KISS principle?

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (NIV)

Dispensationalism is complicated. Doesn’t God’s fundamental message have to be intelligible to little children and simpletons? Because Dispensationalism isn’t.

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The errantist response is to hold that the Bible is not inerrant. To concede that it’s full of contradictions, some of which cannot be adequately explained away. But that, nonetheless

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (KJV)

and that Jesus’s fundamental message remains intact, which it does.

Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (KJV)

My reason for writing this post is my concern that those who hold that the Bible is inerrant are fooling themselves. In a bad way. Notwithstanding that Douglas Stauffer (already quoted above) tells us that

Satan has reveled in creating doubt concerning the authority of the words of God.

the simple fact is that there is doubt concerning the authority of scripture as it has been handed down to us. Not to acknowledge and to express doubt such as this is to deceive oneself and maybe others too. It’s my considered opinion that those who persist in maintaining that the Bible is inerrant are involved in more convolutions and contortions than David Bain trying to explain his movements on the morning of 20 June 1994, more turns than a sluggard on his bed, more preposterous suspensions of disbelief than an atheist proclaiming that this blog post is an anticipated result of the Big Bang. They’re playing the exegetical version of Twister—the game that ties you up in knots.

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Evolutionists admit Global Flood. Joe Rogan Experience.

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^ Watch at least the first 10 minutes

Just love it when after the Evolutionists wax lyrical about ‘Their discovery’ of a Cataclysmic Flood … merely thousands of years ago that Joe blerts out that their assertion that Mankind came from a Shrew was way harder to accept than their assertions about the mega Flood!
🙂
They of course claim their dating of the flood @ 10 000 years ago is ‘solid’, and dont fail to say that Cataclysms (like the supposed Comet that wiped out the Dinosaurs) are the impetus of Evolution!

Pause and contemplate just how absurd that idea is… Disasters foster evolution!

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Add this new validation of the Book of Genesis, to other validations… Read > Noah’s Ark given the seaworthy seal of approval by physicists. NZ Herald

and Genesis is real history: Evidence supporting the account of Noah.

I will expand on this as time permits, yet I will simply say that This ‘new evidence’ of the Flood, like so many facts that I have gleaned is not the biased opinions of vested interests trying to validate the Bible, but comes from those who claim the bible is a myth!
As much as 90% of the supporting evidence I have found comes from such sources.
You just have to recognise the implications of what is being presented, and have the nouse not to be deluded by their Qwazi-excuses and personal bais that they try and foist upon the hard data.
Not only does this take away any infidels ability to claim the facts are subjective fabrications… it also just goes to show how incredulous the Atheists are themselves… that they can stare straight at the evidence that proves the bible is true… yet miss the boat completely.

They have blinders on…. Satan Laughing, spreads his wings.

The Truth is that with the process of time, and the progress of science more of What we Christians believed by Faith becomes grounded in Scientific fact, and with the advance of Biblical theism… it is atheism that is in Retreat!
Atheism exists in an ever decreasing ‘Gap’ in Human knowledge.

naturalism of the gaps

Atheism is pure ignorance. Read > The Walls are closing in on Atheism… not Theism.

and this is why Honest Atheists like Anthony Flew have the courage to ‘abandon that sinking ship’… in light of new evidence that Scientific progress lays at their feet. Read> Rapturous Amazement! The Advance of Science Converts The High Priest of Atheism to Deism. A Flew.

and > Death of an Atheist. Follow the evidence.

Hang your heads in shame all you liberal Theologians who have abandoned faith in the scriptures in favour of Infidel philosophies.

Nor should we just focus on the Judgement of God upon the wickedness of Humanity, for the Story of Noah is not just about destruction, but also about Salvation, the Arc being a type of Christ and the new life of the redeemed.

Ark-garden

Tim Wikiriwhi.
1611 King James Bible believing Christian Dispensationalist.

More from Tim > The Rock of Divine Revelation.

Do you believe you have the Perfect Word of God? Theism vs Humanistic Rationalism. Seeing The Light! My Testimony.

You gotta Crank up the volume for this one Ye Activists and Radicals…. 🙂

‘Good Atheists’ and the seriousness of sin. Good God/Evil world. 6

good atheists

Several things today have stimulated me to write this post, the second being that Meme above which was posted to my Facebook page by an Atheist friend.
She commented that she actually likes ‘this Pope’, and from this meme it is easy to see why he has impressed unbelievers, and Heretics/Protestants.

On face value…. in the ordinary sense as a Protestant Libertarian I’m impressed too by the simple fact that it is a far cry from the sort of Tyrannical dogma the world has come to expect from Pontiffs, and thus it appears such moderation is a good thing for peace and harmony between The Catholic church, and the rest of us.

Yet on another very important level these Liberal sentiments which appeal to my atheist friend betray some of the most important spiritual truths which are fundamental to understanding The Lord, which leads onto the central topic of my post… The seriousness of Sin.

This Meme is true…. using a yardstick of ‘comparative goodness’.
There are/have been…. comparatively speaking…. many Good atheists, and many Evil doers whom have called themselves followers of Christ.
Eg Dawkins may say with confidence to me “I’m holier than thou!”… and indeed this may be completely true.
I have done many wicked deeds to which Dawkins may have not even come close… I know not his secrets.

Yet ultimately this rationale is a deadly trap!
Why?
Because it is using *the wrong measure*.
The true measure of Goodness in this Universe is not out shining our peers… but is Absolute Holiness… of which we all fall short.
This True measure means *We all* need the Salvation of God which is in Christ.
By God’s perfect standard… “There is none righteous… no not one…”
“For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God”.
Thankfully God is Rich in mercy and has made away for us to be saved from the righteous judgement of our wicked deeds, yet which still satisfies the demands of Justice, and allows us ourselves the liberty to choose redemption or reject it.

“For God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
“…whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved…”

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I have written on this train of thought before and you can read a more expanded veiw here>>> Hell is for the Self Righteous, Heaven is for Sinners.<<< Of course it is a very peculiar thing for atheists to claim to be 'Good' given their world view denies the veracity of ethics! This is a testament to the fact that many many atheists have not the Steel to countenance the depressing 'reality' of their own Amoral Cosmology. The hardest, most real of them look at the chaos and misery which befalls humanity and say it is a testament to the truth of their assertions... "there can be no God in such a world"... there is no right or wrong... either in Earthquakes, or Rape, or genocide.... any such feelings of injustice have no objective reality... they are merely the pathetic wimpers of Soul-less machines who have no more intrinsic value... or rights... than the stardust of which they are composed. Many simply believe you may as well Kill yourself... return to the painless meaningless nothing that you are. stephen-fry

These ideas are the subject of my first blog post in this series ‘How can a Good God exist when there is so much evil in the world? (part1) Atheist Nihilism.’… Click >>>Here<<< to read more. Yet it is the less consistent portion of the Atheists whom I seek to call out tonight. The ones who think their own moral virtues exonerate them from any possibility that even if they are wrong.... and it turns out that there is a god... that it is morally unthinkable that they might face damnation for their sins. As mentioned earlier via the Self righteous Rationale that comparatively speaking, they deem themselves to be not morally inferior beings, but in fact far more moral, and enlightened, and tolerant, than the great horde of savages whom have flocked into churches over the millennia. Having already pointed out the grievous error of such comparisons (first 1/2 doz paragraphs above), I would like to progress further into these disastrous rationalisms, and lay out some more Objective facts about sin, and atheist inconsistency. Setting aside the fact that Atheism is fundamentally an Amoral world view, and that therefore atheists have no 'higher ground' upon which to stand to pass down condemnation upon God and his followers... we all know that this does not faze the bulk of them from proceeding to do precisely that! Their hypocrisy goes much deeper. With one breath they will play down the seriousness of their own moral short comings as 'trivial', yet with the next shake their fists at Heaven decrying the weightiness of the manifold evils of everyone else... and curse God for his inaction! While they think nothing of their own blotches on creation, They boldly declare that no Good God would allow Hitler to rampage across Europe... as if their own existence could not be an affront to morality... yet Hitler's evils... they are God's fault! God is a Bastard on Hitler's account... but not on theirs... they are better than God, they have the right to Judge God, they conciser themselves the innocent victims of God's Amoral inaction. It matters not that all Hitler's actions stemmed from his atheistic world view. They busy themselves trying to make out Hitler was a Christian!...(a topic for another time and an interesting psychological behaviour in itself). hittttllllrrr

Having said all that I may now get down to my main points…. Our personal culpability, and the seriousness of sin.

You see the reality of things is quite different from what these atheists assert… esp the idea that God does not give a toss about the evils of humanity.

God takes sin very very very seriously!
Way more seriously than all these self-righteous God hating atheists do!
Just because God has set up the world in such a way that we human beings have moral responsibility for our own actions… which means he has left us free to act with extreme goodness or extreme Evil *does not mean* he does not care, or intends evil doers to escape Scott free.
God has declared that in his time he will balance the scales and reward everyone their due.
Hitler has not escaped judgement by fleeing to Argentina!
So these notions that God does not care, are simply false.
He has good, valid, righteous reasons, for allowing Humanity to ‘act out their own vain imaginations.
That we are freewill moral agents living in a moral universe, means that our deeds have *moral weight*…. both for good, or ill… and when we do evil… innocent people suffer… that is what it means to live in a moral universe… It is in fact impossible to claim any goodness in a reality in which evil is impossible.
That is why Robots are amoral beings… whether they perform surgeries which save lives or slaughter thousands… they have no choice in their deeds.
The moral responsibility for the actions of Robots falls back on their free-will creators who made them, and so too would God be responsible for all Hitler’s evils… if Hitler was a robot… yet he was not a robot.
In all his deeds Hitler exercised his own freewill.
Thus it is absurd to blame God for Hitler’s deeds.

I have written more on this topic… ‘We are not Robots Ayn Rand. We are Moral Agents.’ Click >>Here<< and another... 'Monism: Evolutionary Psychology and the Death of Morality, Reason and Freewill.' click >>>here<<< So it is folly to suggest that Human evils are evidence against the existence or goodness of God. When Adam sinned, God took that with such seriousness that he separated himself from Mankind, and condemned us all to death! You see Adam's sin... had great moral weight.... affecting countless billions... though many will not be able to appreciate the mechanics of it... how what they see as a small act of disobedience by one man could bring such calamity upon posterity. Yet that is how serious the consequences of Sin are! They upset the entire hierarchy of reality... When Adam disobeyed God, not only did he loose faith in God's Good Character, he was dethroning God and establishing himself and his will above Gods! a little leven leveneth the whole lump! Humanity has been doing that ever since. This is part of the reason why... the pragmatic portion... of why The Standard for Goodness is 100% Holiness... not comparative goodness... not a 'statistical mean/ scale of goodness' The other portion is simply because God himself is Holy. He sets the *Ideal Goodness*. Yet God has sworn eternal Judgement upon sin! Despite what the liberal Bible doubters say... there is a hell! There is eternal damnation. Yet everyone who ends up Damned, will be damned by their own Hatred of God, their pride, and rejection of God's mercy. Jesus-Facepalm

God has seen every act of evil we all have committed and is reserving his judgement.
Yet still God is loving, compassionate, and merciful.
We may say “It’s not fair that I was born into this cursed world!”… and indeed if we were born without hope… then this may in fact be a legitimate accusation against God’s character… yet he has not utterly abandoned us to Damnation, but instead immediately set in motion his plan to redeem us… and his modus opperandi reflects his absolute justice, The seriousness with which he condemns sin, and his love and mercy…. all displayed in the crucifixion of his sinless son Jesus Christ.

In Christ’s crucifixion we see God himself suffering a grotesque fate at the hands of evil men… he is not, nor has ever been completely insulated from the sufferings of evil himself.

dawwkkknnnzz

That God deemed such a grotesque means was necessary for the payment for sin shows just how extremely seriously he takes sin to be, and how he will not allow his love to violate the principle of Justice… an eye for an eye… tooth for tooth…. The wages of sin is Death… Jesus took the full penalty of our sins upon himself.
He was not guilty of any sin himself and thus he was not subject to the penalty of death… for his own sins.

When Christ rose from the Dead, this was a testament to his victory over sin and death, and his resurrection altered the course of human history!

the-crucifixion-detail-Matthias_Grunewald2
To receive Christ a person must appreciate the gravity of their own sins.
By it’s very nature the proud will reject the crucifixion as un-necessarily barbarous.

And the greatest sin anyone can commit is to *reject the sacrifice of Christ!*
For all their fuming against God, they prove they themselves dont take sin seriously… deeming themselves to be not guilty before God.
It is a hypocritical folly of the highest order.

Yes folks it is appointed unto us once to die and after this, the judgement!
At an appointed time the dead will stand before his judgement seat, and all whose names are not found
written in the book of life shall be cast into the lake of fire… with their Father Satan… to spend eternity where they chose to be…. separated from God.
The reality of hell is a clear demonstration of how weighty a matter God considers sin to be.

In the light of these facts we see the tables turned on the atheist… the reality is *they dont consider sin to be anywhere near as serious a matter as God does….for all their accusations… it is they themselves whom are found wanting in ‘the righteous indignation department’.

Yet millions of sinners like myself will enter paradise… not because we are more righteous than our atheist friends and family, but because we simply received the Gift of God… he placed our sin upon Christ, and clothed us in Christ’s holiness.
And we will see God face to face and sing God’s praises for eternity.
Amen.

Ditch your foolish pride my neighbours, my friends… my family!
get a grip that you are a creation of God… a Moral agent.
Choose Christ and join us in the love of our Holy Heavenly Father!

Tim Wikiriwhi

Read more on this here

No Free Will = No Moral Responsibility. William Lane Craig

The Gospel of God’s Grace.

End note: I decided to tag this post onto the end of a series I started several years ago entitled ‘How can a Good God exist when there is so much evil in the world?’
I wrote those in fairly quick succession, so that there is to my mind a progression of thought.
I always meant to carry on with the series as there is no way that they can be considered to have exhausted such an important subject, yet because of procrastination I have fumbled the ball somewhat, and so this post may not fit very tidily.
That being said I think it is a topic worthy of inclusion and hopefully I shall not be so long in adding the next one.

When the Accuser comes calling…Trust in the Lord’s Good Character…Trust in his word. (Good God/Evil world part 7)

How can a Good God exist when there is so much evil in the world? (part1) Atheist Nihilism.

How can a Good God exist when there is so much evil in the world? (part 2) The Thirst for Blood.

Horror stories. How can a Good God exist when there is so much Evil in the world? (Part 3)

How can a Good God exist when there is so much Evil in the world? (Part 4) Interlude.

Seether: Know Thyself. How can a Good God exist when there is so much evil in the world? Part 5.

Salvation is by works (Part 2)

Just_do_it_jesus

These verses close the Sermon on the Mount in Chapter 7 of the Gospel of Matthew.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (NIV)

Jesus again makes it abundantly clear that salvation is by works.

Just do it.

Standing on the Edge of the Abyss? Jesus Saves!

bkjgvfh

Come to the end of your endurance? ^^^^ MUST WATCH!

Read more >>> Car Crash.

Hell is for the Self Righteous, Heaven is for Sinners.

>>> My Story <<<

Salvation is by works (Part 1)

love-god

Here’s the preamble to the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” (NIV)

Jesus makes it abundantly clear that salvation is by works.

How do you read it?

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his everlasting life for his friends

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Jesus said

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (KJV)

Jesus also said

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (KJV)

Jesus didn’t say

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his everlasting life for his friends.

But suppose that he did. (I added ‘everlasting’ just for the sake of this blog post. It’s an awkward insertion to make you think.)

If you had a ticket to everlasting life, but you had a friend who was destined to eternal conscious torment in hell (or even destined merely to personal annihilation), would you gladly trade places with that friend?

In the early days of Eternal Vigilance I posted this letter by Ayn Rand. In it, the usually hostile-to-Christianity Rand tries to cozy up to one Reverend Dudley. She claims that

The first duty of a Christian is the salvation of his own soul. This duty comes above any he may owe to his brothers.

and goes on to say that the foregoing “is the basic statement of true individualism.”

What is the first duty of a Christian? And what is the essence of true individualism? Is Rand right?

I think Rand’s wrong on both counts. Certainly, Rand’s “gospel in a nutshell” is a caricature of Christianity. Thus the question remains. If you had a ticket to everlasting life, but you had a friend who was destined to eternal conscious torment in hell (or even destined merely to personal annihilation), would you gladly trade places with that friend?

(The second duty of a Christian is to love his neighbour as himself. Toss a coin, maybe?)