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Tuesday, January 30, 2007: Last night, I was reading my normal chapter from the Old Testament, chapter from the New Testament, and chapter of Revelation. I have lately felt like God has been distant in my readings. I used to get some really great insights and understanding from the Holy Spirit after reading. Lately, I have felt like my relationship with God has been ritualistic and not the intimate friendship it was for the last couple of years back...not that I felt abandoned by God, but that He has not made his presence known in such intimate fashion as of late via reading. My prayers had become stale and repetitive, and seemingly unanswered in what to me are vital questions that I need answers to...guidance and such.
Well, I was finishing the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24 v. 51, "And it came to pass, while he (Jesus) blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven." when I noticed a cross-reference to Psalm 68:18, a prophetic verse about Jesus, which reads: "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them."
When I read that I felt like God had reconnected that personal touch to our relationship because that verse answered one of the vital questions I had been seeking guidance on. THANK YOU, JESUS!!!!!!!!!!
Then I came across Psalm 142-144, which were of even more comfort to my soul. I really felt like God was still with me. And then I turned on the television and came across a new favorite "preacher" (more of an educator of Jesus and apostles' histories), the late Dr. Gene Scott. I got turned onto his show after I could not take my eyes off his widow Pastor Melissa Scott (until just now I thought she was his daughter, then I looked at their website http://www.drgenescott.org/ ). She is difficult to follow sometimes, but one of the most beautiful women to watch, and she sings well too. Dr. Gene Scott's presentation last night focused on Psalm 143, which was one of the above mentioned Psalms which I felt was God's way of comforting me and answering me at the same time. The show focusing on said verse just made that feeling even MORE substantial. THANK YOU, FATHER GOD, JESUS, AND HOLY SPIRIT!!!!!!!!
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Monday, January 29, 2007: Last Friday or Saturday on the job (I'm a handyman's assistant...the handyman is my pastor), we went to buy tin roofing for a room addition we are finishing up. The business is owned by a Christian, so when we went in the office to pay for the materials, on the counter was a business card that read, "Please take one with you" and beneath it was "The Resume of Jesus Christ". I thought that was really cool, and I'm sure this has probably been an email circulation, but I thought I'd post it anyway. Here are some pics of it:
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Thursday, January 11, 2007: Belated Happy New Year! Actually, I'm early for Chinese New Year and Muslim new year I think...maybe it's just Iranian new year...yeah, that might be it. Anyway, I am reconstructing the front page in hopes that I will better organize the clutter monster the blog has become...Thank you God for helping me find the search engine code!
I had an odd dream image from a week or so ago. I remember seeing about 5 or 7 railroad spike type "nails" that would be used in crucifixion. I remember that each one was in front of me, and each looked a little different from the others. Some looked nice and shiny, others old and worn, some with designs or unused, others plain or used. I think they were in a hand...not through a hand, but presented on the palm of a person's hand. Well, today I was working on a roof on a mosque, and I find this on the roof (I had been up there before and not seen this):
This is a much smaller version of what I dreamed, but it looks VERY much the same in shape. Weird that it manifested into my reality. This looks like a miniature railroad spike that I imagine is a smaller version of what pierced Jesus' hands or wrists in crucifixion. I keep wondering, should I be worrying???
Well, I have been very lax in my website duties, but vow to improve my postings, especially more scripturally relevant, spiritually important, and still fun stuff.
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This past Sunday for my words of exhortation by the ministers, I did a bit about the movie Run Lola Run, and how as a movie unlike others, it gives us a better idea of how far above OUR ways God's ways are. The Bible says that God's ways are so far above our ways, that "the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men" 1Corinthians 1:25 . What I mean is that most movies go in a linear fashion, or in the case of Pulp Fiction, a disjointed linear fashion...something happens, the characters react to situation, movie continues on that line of reaction to situations. In Run Lola Run, the first 20 minutes of the movie sets up the situation: Lola gets a frantic call from her boyfriend Manni stating that he lost the American equivalent of $60,000 of his mob boss's money and if she can't help him come up with that money in the next 20 minutes, he'd be a dead man. The movie then takes the viewer through 3 different versions of what happens in the next 20 minutes of their lives. What does that have to do with God's wisdom, or how his ways are so far above ours?
Well, Proverbs 5:21 tells us "The ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings." In the movie, the three different "next 20 minutes" result in drastic results for each of the characters involved (or encountered by Lola or Manni). The movie does a "photo flash forward" of each of the characters Lola or Manni encounters, showing what happens to each of them in the near and distant future. In each of the different 20 minute scenarios, the characters either end up going a certain way and getting mugged, but from that meeting their future wife, or in one or another character will die by the end of the 20 minutes. The point is that tiny little changes (like Lola tripping down the stairs at the start of the second 20 minute sequence) made her get to her dad's office (the only person she could think to rely on to come up with the $$, since he works at a bank) results in her walking in on her father in the middle of an argument with his mistress. This time her anger gets the better of her and she robs her dad's bank. In the first sequence she got there a little before the fight, but still walks in on her dad and his mistress talking, and he says he'll help her as he escorts her out in her confusion. Proverbs 14:12 says "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." In the first 2 sequences, it doesn't turn out well for neither Manni nor Lola. But in the third sequence things obviously come out the best way possible for everyone. Well, God has a plan for our lives and he wants our lives to be lived abundantly and fully. We can ONLY receive this kind of life when we are in line with His word and have a personal relationship with Him. He considers every possibility and outcome, and wants to give us those things we want and need (the Bible says "we have not because we ask not" (exact verse: James 4:2-4). The movie only considers 3 scenarios in the lives of a limited number of people and the variety of outcomes possible from simple and seemingly unimportant happenings...like someone stopping on your car to delay you long enough to avoid a fender bender (in the movie). God considers a multitude more possibilities for each and EVERY one of our lives...imagine the complexity of THAT!!! And he has our best interests at heart, so it's best to get in line with him.
A nice side-story in the movie is the character Mr. Meyer, as business associate of Lola's dad. In each of the 20 minute sequences this poor man gets in fender bender. In the first 2 sequences, Lola runs past his vehicle as he exits a parking garage, and distracted by her he ends up hitting the same white car...first time in the front broad-siding the car, and in the second broad-siding the rear of the same car. In the third sequence, Lola jumps stumbles onto his hood and stays long enough for Mr. Meyer to miss the car, get to her father on time to pick him up for a lunch meeting, thereby making Lola miss her dad entirely by the time she gets to his office at the bank. So, she finally gets it right and prays to God that he help her, saying she'll keep running and she'll leave it to God to stop her at the right place. On the way, a truck nearly runs her over, but sees her chance (I won't give it away, but don't try it if you see the movie). On her way back to Manni, an ambulance stops suddenly near her, and she hops in, only to discover Mr. Meyer inside and the paramedic frantic and unable to stabilize his condition or his vitals. Mr. Meyer extends his hand, and Lola takes it in her hands, sits there holding his hand looking him in the eyes. His vitals become slow and steady. The paramedic is astounded and relieved. Lola became Mr. Meyer's comforter. "Comforter" is another name for the Holy Spirit. This scene demonstrates healing touch, which is mentioned numerous times in the Bible (touch is usually a precursor to many healings in the Bible). Mark 1:39-45 is a perfect example, in which a leper showed his faith in Jesus by saying if he willed it Jesus could will that he (the leper) would become whole (healed). In this scene, Mr. Meyer didn't have faith in the paramedic, and he was undoubtedly afraid. Lola, because he knew her and she was with him was his comforter, and by touching him, he felt that comfort even more.
I challenged everyone to be more like God and consider the possible consequences of their actions or inactions (like not talking to people about Jesus and getting saved)...it could result in their death or the eternal loss of those peoples' souls. Also, I challenged them to be comforters to others. That is part of our duty...to comfort those that need comforting...just look at the parable of the good samaritan (Luke 10:30-37).
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Tuesday, December 19, 2006 (PART 2): Another clip from Clerks II. Got Christ? Boredom's the first step on the road to relapse, says Jay.
Here Randall debates coworker Elias on whether or not the Transformers cartoon was a sleight against God:
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Tuesday, December 19, 2006: Lord Jesus, I thank you for Sue. Sue, happy birthday!!! ILU!
Here's a clip from Clerks II in which Jay (of Jay and Silent Bob) explains how he can sell weed and stay sober through the power of Christ. Then he tells his customers to read the Bible:
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Sunday, December 17, 2006: Here's an introduction into who Satan is, how Satan works in everyone's life, but most importantly showing that destroying your soul is such a way of life for Satan that he'll distract you with whatever works. He's a liar, and his job is to deceive you into a sense of security when in reality your life or your soul is in eternal peril. Satan also fills up your daily life with unimportant things like tv, games, chores, distractive people, and work to such an overwhelming degree as to disconnect you from God, life, and peace in your daily life. He can appear as addictions, aberrant emotional behaviors or addictions, or as people and/or angels of light. Satan was God's number one angel until he fell from grace, continued to fall, and never returned.
The music video below is called "Liar" by the Henry Rollins Band (thank you so much for the music videos Rose! Mwaah!) When I first saw this video in the early 1990s, I only saw it as a bad boy slimy guy video. But now I see it as a perfect metaphor for how Satan works his way into our lives, and as far as I know the lyrics are not gender-specific to the song. The video imagery in the music video itself seems to lend credence or validity to this point (when he sings the chorus "I'm a liar", he is painted red, which is typically how Satan is propagated in today's society; also, there is always fire burning in the background as he sings the chorus, and one of the lines is "I'll burn your soul"). So, for the person I spoke with at the party this weekend who was determined to burn in hell for her beliefs even if God were to tell her they were wrong, here's an introduction to Satan as envisioned by the Henry Rollins Band (whether they know it or not)...the song is "Liar" Enjoy.
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Saturday, December 9, 2006: Forgive me, I have been lax in my website duties. I saw Clerks II, and will include some clips from that movie here on the site soon. Also, expect the look of the page to change...I am thinking out how to improve the site with better organized areas and hopefully a search engine for the site (I'll need to research that). So, bear with me through the changes.
This past Thursday the ministers and I were supposed to come up with a 10 minute speech on Baptism, so here is an outline of what I came up with:
I. Baptism as defined by the dictionary:
A. Baptism (defined):
1) A Christian sacrament marked by symbolic use of water to rid the recipient of original sin and resulting in admission into Christianity.
2) A ceremony, trial, or experience by which one is initiated, purified, or given a name.
3) A submergence in Spirit or purification by Spirit.
B. "Baptism of fire" (defined):
1) A soldier's first combat experience.
2) A severe ordeal experienced for the first time
C. Baptize: (defined)
1) To cleanse or purify
2) To initiate
3) To administer baptism
D. Why Use Water and Fire for Baptism?
1) Both water and fire are agents or catalysts used in the purification of people, places, and things according to Numbers 31:23 .
a) Water: cleans (under the Law it was necessary to wash things or yourself to be purified from defilement and or diseases like leprosy), it brings life (water sates our thirst and without water we die in days; also, water makes seeds sprout and grow into food and materials for our needs). The Great Flood purified the world by water. God used water to destroy Egypt's grip of bondage/slavery on the Jews. The Jews had to cross the river Jordan (a body of water) to be purified again before entering the Promised Land, and these same waters purified the minds of the people in the sense that it was reinforced in their heads and the heads of the survivors, "There is a God, and nothing can reckon with God."
b) Fire: mostly purifies metals, but in the spirit world, God is a consuming fire, Jesus will baptize us with fire (God or the Holy Spirit), visible evidence of the Holy Spirit was as tongues of fire resting above the heads of the apostles (Acts 2:3). Fire purifies by destroying impurities: examples Sodom and Gomorrah (two cities leveled and destroyed by fire from the sky (meteors or volcanic rocks, either way sent by God) (Genesis 19:20-30), and in the final days fire will destroy most life on earth (Revelation 8:1-13)
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***Note: Before I go on with what I came up with, I spoke with the pastor to review everything I had come up with, and he wanted me to know the official 4 Baptisms recognized by the apostles: 1) Noah, 2) Moses, 3) John (repentance), 4) Peter (Acts 2:38 repentance and rebirth)****
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Continuing what I came up with...mostly me jotting ideas down as the popped into my head, then getting the supporting verses, I may as well sort the info here before posting, so it's not as disjointed as my notes:
II. Types of Baptisms found in the Holy Bible
A. Baptism unto Noah- Out of the entire world, only 8 people survived the flood released by God almighty to purify the earth from all the evils spawned by not only man, but also by the power men were endowed with when the sons of God mated with the earthly women. Water destroyed to purify. 8 people overcame the water, saved by righteousness (Genesis chapters 6-9)
B. Baptism unto Moses-
1) Moses led the Jews out of bondage (slavery) in Egypt by parting the Red Sea for safe passage for the Jews, and then closed the sea on Pharaoh's army as they chased after the Jews. (Exodus Chapter 14) So, water saved from bondage by destroying the evil, again.
2) Not even Moses made it to the Promised Land, the land promised by God almighty as an heritage for the Jews, but Moses DID get to see if from a mountain peak before he died. The whole lot he took out of Egypt had to die before God let the Jews into the Promised Land (Deuteronomy chapter 34)...that means only the young next generation was allowed in...again, God purifying the people before starting them anew elsewhere. Point is, they had to cross the Jordan river in order to get into the Promised Land. The Jews were the seed and the Jordan river was the means of watering the seed of the promised generation. Also, this could be symbolic of feet washing as well...walking across the river is sure to wash your feet before entering the new land of promise (Joshua 1:1-8), also for another mention of the baptism unto Moses (1 Corinthians 10:2-4).
C. Baptism unto John- Repentance for the Remission of Sins (Mark 1:4-5) (Jesus was baptized this way)
1) People were baptized in water
2) They confessed their sins before being dunked
D. Baptism unto Peter (Acts 2:38) - Repentance and Spiritual Rebirth into Lord Jesus the Christ (you become one in/with the body of Christ)
1) Baptize in water in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
2) You are buried to sin (going into the water) (Colossians 2:12), and
3) You are born a new creature (Galatians 6:15), no longer bound by death in sin (spiritual rebirth or better put: actual spiritual resurrection
4) You can now have the opportunity to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (God himself living inside you, interacting with you on a personal level)...but you don't have it yet...you must either tarry for the Holy Spirit or a minister or qualified pastor must lay hands on you and the Holy Spirit will be upon your body. (Acts 8:13-16)
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Okay, that covers the technically accepted forms or instances of baptisms. But here's more of the stuff I found that qualify as either interesting to know, or needs to be looked into more:
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E. Other "Baptisms":
1) Baptism unto Elias (aka Elijah)- Elias/Elijah sealed up the sky for 3 years, letting no rain fall in Israel, causing a drought for that time period. (James 5:17 and 1 Kings17:1-3)
2) Baptism of Fire (Matthew 3:11) (defined in dictionary as 1: Soldier's first combat experience or 2: A severe ordeal experienced for the first time)
a) Jesus' Baptism of Fire- the abuse and death he must go through, by the very people he came down to earth to save, will likely be God's first taste of death, so this may better be named "Jesus' baptism of death", since God, the source of life, has never been dead. Jesus makes mention of this in Luke 12:49-13:5 and it foreshadows the kind of death he must endure.
b) Elijah also brought down fire from heaven on a few occasions: once to prove his God was the real God and disprove the false prophets he called fire down from heaven to consume a water-drenched meat sacrifice (1 Kings 18:20-38), which in turn was surrounded by a trough of water, like a mote; the other 2 times it was to consume the 50 men and soldiers sent by the king to talk to him...each time killing 50 men for a total of 100 men killed. (2 Kings Chapter 1) and (Luke 9:54)
c) Baptism of the Holy Ghost (aka "Baptism of Fire") (again Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8 tells us Jesus will baptize us with the Holy Ghost). God is described as a consuming fire (as we saw with Elijah's accounts), but also describing the look of God and sometimes angels (Daniel 10:5-12). Another way to receive the Holy Ghost: laying on of hands by qualified minister or qualified pastor (Acts 8:14-17). Jesus tells us in the gospel of John 3:1-8 that in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven, you must be born again of water and of spirit, so getting the gift of the Holy Ghost/Spirit is a requirement for getting into heaven, and you can't get it until you've first been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Also in Acts 2:1-5 we see an account of the Holy Spirit visible as tongues of flame that came down and rested above the heads of the apostles when they received the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues.
3) Baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. (Matthew 28:16-20) as commanded by Jesus. I believe that means initiating the world into the laws of the Father (Old Testament Law and commandments), the Son (Jesus's laws and commandments), and the Holy Spirit (gifts/talents/powers and abilities you receive when you get the gift of the Holy Spirit).
4) Baptism unto the angel in the pool of Bethesda for healing (John 5:1-8)
F. The Benefits of Baptism
1) If we believe and are baptized, we are saved (Mark 16:16-18 shows the signs that follow believers)
2) Purification and cleansing in the spirit world.
3) Initiation and assimilation into the Body of Christ. You become inseparable like a blood cell...but beware: if you become "cancerous" to the body of Christ you will be removed.
4) You now may receive the gift of the Holy Spirit by either
a) tarrying for the Holy Spirit (a sort of group chanting meditation using Jesus)
b) or by the laying on of hands by a qualified minister or qualified pastor.
5) God will no longer tune out your prayers. God will tune INTO your prayers will answer you in ways you won't imagine or believe until it happens to you.
6) You have become born of water (one of the prerequisites for entry into heaven) (John 3:5)
7) You have what it takes to be born of spirit now (receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit...baptism is a pre-requisite for having the Holy Spirit alive, active and able to communicate to you from within you.
8) You have been baptized into one body (1 Corinthians 12:13) and that body is Christ (Galatians 3:27)
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And to conclude here, since I couldn't think where to put this tidbit of info...here's an example from the Bible of an unusual experience occurring from a baptism. Philip was baptizing a eunuch and the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away to another place almost instantly (Acts 8:36-40).
And that concludes everything you never wanted to know about Baptism. Now GET BAPTIZED in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and save yourselves!
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