ELOHIM – The Old Testament contains a number of names and compound names for God which reveal Him in some aspect of His character and dealings with mankind.*

In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth. Gen. 1:1

And God (Elohim) said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. Col. 1:15-23

All the magnificent power that is evident in the created world that Elohim brought into being by His Word alone is resident in the Person of Jesus Christ, God the Son, as He sits at the right hand of God the Father. Christian, “God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” 2 Cor. 4:6

Rejoice this Lord’s Day in the power of His resurrection and the security of the power of Elohim, the One that made you, that redeemed you and who will glorify you in His presence for all eternity.

YOU HAVE ELOHIM’S WORD ON IT!

 

 

 

*Names of God (Nathan Stone)

 

STRANGE FIRE- Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopal and all ministers who officiate, and thereby attempt to sanctify, same-sex marriage are guilty of offering “Strange Fire” at the altar of the Lord. And those members of these churches that initiate, attend and applaud these ceremonies are guilty as well.

Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered strange fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke of when he said:

“ ‘Among those who approach me I will be proved holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.’ ”

Do you seriously believe that you have been given permission by God to redefine the most basic relationship that God established at the Creation of the World?  And then to publically attempt to sanctify what God, the Prophets and Christian Ministers for thousands and thousands of years have held to be the most unnatural of sins? And then to claim that you have been given the authority to do so because you “minister in the name of Jesus Christ?

Jesus said, “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh ?  So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”  

You are foolish madmen who are only fanning the flames of your own destruction by offering Strange Fire before the Lord.

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “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!’

Never, never forget that our God is a consuming fire.

Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," declares the Lord GOD. "Therefore, repent and live."

You stand duly warned.

 

PENIS, VAGINA, ANUS: an anatomy lesson for all the Elders and Members of the Presbyterian Church USA

 

The human PENIS is an external male sexual organ. It is a reproductive, intromittent organ that additionally serves as the urinal duct. (Wikipedia)

The human PENIS is designed by God to make babies, and to assist in relieving the bladder of urine.

The VAGINA is a fibromuscular elastic tubular tract (passage) which is a sex organ and mainly functions for the facilitation of sexual intercourse and childbirth. In mammals (especially primates), menstruation, which is the periodic discharge of blood and mucosal tissue from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina, is another primary function of the vagina and usually signals fertility. (Wikipedia)

The human VAGINA is designed by God to make and birth babies, and to assist in monthly menstruation.

The HUMAN ANUS (from Latin anūs meaning "ring", "circle) is the external opening of the rectum. Two sphincters control the exit of feces from the body during an act of defecation, which is the primary function of the anus.

The human ANUS is designed by God to assist in the relieving of waste from the bowels.

Warning: any use of these organs for activities other than their designed purpose is destructive.  

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; ….” Gal. 6:7-8

“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”  Gal. 5:19-20

    

ABOMINATION

Abomination:  things that are disgusting, loathsome and absolutely intolerable—things unacceptable to God, things that “turn God’s stomach”.

 

Any careful reading of God’s emotional and judicial response to certain sinful actions of men, women and children in the Old Testament Histories will reveal that He counts certain sins to be more disgusting, loathsome and absolutely intolerable than others.

 

1. idolatry or idols - Deuteronomy 7:25, Deuteronomy 13:14, Isaiah 44:19
2. illicit sex - Ezekiel 16:22,58, Ezekiel 22:11, Ezekiel 33:26
3. illicit marriage - Deuteronomy 24:2-4
4. male prostitution and/or other male homosexual acts, heterosexual immorality - Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 18:27-30, Leviticus 20:13
5. temple prostitution - 1Kings 14:24
6. offerings from the above - Deuteronomy 23:18
7. child sacrifice - Jeremiah 32:35
8. cross-dressing - Deuteronomy 22:5
9. cheating in the market by using rigged weights - Deuteronomy 25:13-19, Proverbs 11:1
10. dishonesty - Proverbs 12:22
11. stealing, murder, and adultery, breaking covenants - Jeremiah 7:9,10
12. usury, violent robbery, murder, oppressing the poor and needy, etc. - Ezekiel 18:10-13
13. Dishonesty -Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who deal faithfully are His delight.  Pro. 12:22
14. Arrogant pride - Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; assuredly, he will not be unpunished. Pro. 16:5
15. Ignoring God's law - He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination.   Pro. 28:9
16. Devising evil and sowing discord -There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. Pro. 6:16-19
17. The act of homosexuality -'You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination. Lev. 18:22
    In case some may decide that these sins are only listed under the Old Testament prohibitions and that somehow Jesus changed all that should take John the Apostle’s words to heart.
    And I John saw the holy city, new  Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband… But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death…. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defiles, neither whatsoever works abomination, or makes a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. Rev. 21
    THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND. REPENT. Jesus of Nazareth

 

HURTS LIKE HELL

 

The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus of Nazareth

God hates us sinners because as sinners we do evil.

Therefore, the proud may not stand in your presence, for you hate all who do evil. You will destroy those who tell lies. The Lord detests murderers and deceivers. Ps. 5

The Lord examines both the righteous and the wicked. He hates those who love violence. He will rain down blazing coals and burning sulfur on the wicked..Ps. 11

God will not cast SIN into the Lake of Fire. But, SINNERS will be cast into the Lake of Fire. God will not love sinners who suffer eternal torment, but rather He will maintain His hatred of unrepentant sinners eternally in the furnace of fire. Our God IS a consuming fire.

God’s hatred towards sinners is a terrifying expression of His just wrath. The Day of eternal judgment has been set for us all. A Judgment Day established by God the Father, adjudicated by God the Son and executed at the direction of God the Holy Spirit through the instrumentation of the Angels of God. It will be a Day when Social Justice will finally be established. It will be a day of retribution. The wicked will be held accountable and punished eternally for their SINS in a place of unimaginable suffering. Weeping and gnashing of teeth will be the constant expression of each unrepentant sinner’s suffering.  A chorus of hopelessness will constantly meet the ears of those who have lost all expectation of deliverance because they have followed the wide path that leads to destruction.  And, to make matters worse, the damned will not suffer in private hidden from the presence of God. Rather the unredeemed sinner will experience the presence of God in the fury of His eternal wrath.  The Lamb of God Himself will preside over the just punishment of the wicked.

“If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night. Rev. 14

"So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Jesus of Nazareth

"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." John the Apostle

 "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," declares the Lord GOD. "Therefore, repent and live." Ezek. 18

Do you believe this?

 

KNOWING GOD

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.         2 Tim. 3

Just what “Scripture” was the apostle talking about? No question that Paul was actually writing what we understand to be the New Testament Scriptures at that very moment.  So we are only left with the Old Testament Scriptures to use as the “all Scripture” that Jesus, Luke, Paul, Peter, John, Jude and the author of Hebrews used as the authoritative Word of God when teaching, rebuking, correcting and training the servants of God for every good work.

God Almighty the Creator of Heaven and Earth has chosen to reveal Himself in High Definiton in the Scriptures of the Old Testament. It is in the Old Testament that we are privileged to “see God” reveal His Power, Intelligence, Pity, Anger, Jealousy, Wrath, Patience, Sorrow, Joy, Grief, Mercy and Faithfulness. Please feel free to add to the list.

It is in the OT that we find God as the “hands on” Creator, Destroyer, Friend, Enemy, Husband, Peace Maker, Warrior, Healer, Judge and only Sovereign of the world we know and of the eternal world we have yet to experience.  In the histories of His personal dealings with The Children of Abraham, the only “people group” that He chose to set His love upon among the nations of the earth, we discover what makes God Jealous, Angry, Aggrieved, Wrathful and  unrelenting in His Justice, and yet Longsuffering and Merciful,.  It is in His Covenants, Promises and Benefits to them, as well as the very intimate intercourse that HE maintained with the Israelites, that God demonstrated His faithfulness. The response of the children of Abraham to the God of Abraham and His reactions to them is the template for the New Testament authors in speaking to the “people of God” in the New Covenant.     Rom. 13, 1 Cor. 10    

Read every single word of the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi. Take a good hard look at the God that you worship as your God.  The World around you hates “this god”.  Proof? Reprints of The Ten Commandments, written with His own hand, have been removed from “The Public Square” in the United States of America!

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Eph. 5

Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist and discharge all the duties of your ministry. 2 Tim. 4

 

 

 

ONCE APON A TIME

Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Jer. 31:

When a story begins with, “Once upon a time and, ends with, “And they lived happily ever after,” it has universal appeal for the child in all of us. And, for that matter, it has an appeal for the adult in all of us as well.  

I love the classic fairy tales and the old school super heroes. The protagonist (good guy), the antagonist (the bad guy) and the hero (the deliverer) who comes to save the day! I believe every story ever told that becomes a classic is only a type of the true redemption story. Homer’s “Ulysses”, Hugo’s “Les Miserable” or Lucas’s “Star War Trilogy” all hold this in common – in the end the good overcomes the evil. The desire for things to end well is common in the hearts of us all.

I’ll be, Lord willing, threescore and ten in July. 70! The last few years every time I shave I am confronted with my mortality. The travel itinerary is set.  I’m leaving this earth. I am going to die, and, so are you. And I certainly want things to end well for me. And, I assume you feel the same about your eternal future.

“…. it is given unto men once to die, and then the judgment.” Heb. 9:27
So, experiencing the Glory of God, or what most folks call Heaven, or the New Heavens and the New Earth, forever; OR experiencing no hope in the torment of the Lake of Fire, forever, are the only two possible destinies for each of us. That’s it! It will be one or the other.

So, while it is yet today and the final destination of our lives has not yet been set, let’s listen as the Scriptures tell us the true tale of hope. 

Once upon a time, “…God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” Gal. 4:4-6

And they lived happily ever after, “…because the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. Rom. 8:16, 17

This happy ending is what I call a very large slice of “The Children’s Bread”!

And what the apostle Peter called the exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature; and so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Pet. 1:4

Despite the certainty of death that seems to be rushing towards me, I live each day as one of the beloved characters in this tale of hope we call the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because Jesus made the same promise to me that He also made to all of you.  

He said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he was dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Jn. 11