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God. Allah. Buddha. Baal. Ashtoreth. Diana. Ra. Gaia. Whoever he or she is, your god defines who you are. Your god typifies everything that you aspire to be in life, and possesses all of the attributes which you desire to make your own. You might say that as your god is, so you are - only not quite as good.

But what is a god anyway? Is it something you can go shopping for like lemons or shoes? Can you log into Ebay and type in “god who allows me to do _insert sin here_” and then select a promising candidate and click “buy it now”? Well… it’s a little bit more complicated than that, but… not as much as you might think. In fact, you’ve already done it. You do it every time you make a decision about God that is based on what you “think” is right. Allow me to explain.

You see, six thousand years ago God created man in his own image. And ever since then man has been recreating God in HIS image. Because our God defines who we are. Our God tells us what standards we ought to demand from ourselves. And so if we really don’t like our God, we will find a way to change him. Man has been doing this ever since God said “Don’t touch that tree…” and Eve said “well… maybe God didn’t mean THAT tree… I think that this is what He really wants me to do…” and suddenly Eve was following a new god. A God that was very similar to the real one - but subtly different.

Not too long afterwards, Cain (knowing that God wanted a lamb for a sacrifice) brought God a big armload of carrots instead. But… God didn’t WANT carrots. He wanted what He SAID He wanted. But Cain decided that this was good enough for God and “after all,” he thought to himself, “my heart is in the right place, so how DARE God not accept me!”

And so now the world had a yet another new God. We already had Eve’s god (the one who didn’t care if she ate the forbidden [or only semi-forbidden?] fruit), and Adam’s god (the one who wouldn’t want him to disobey his wife), and Cain’s god who liked vegetables. Of course, Abel had a God too - and his God seems like the right one, but he died soon after this (Cain’s god said it was OK to kill him) and so the world was back to just the other gods - let’s call them “false gods” shall we?

And this process didn’t stop here - on the contrary, God was changed more and more, but He wasn’t merely changed, he was divided and then subdivided each time a man had a sin to justify that he didn’t want to get rid of, and so God’s character was molded and morphed to allow a given man to do whatever it was that he wanted to do, and still not alienate his beloved god.

How was this accomplished? Well, Read the rest of this entry »

Where is your identity? What do you think of when you think “me”?

If you have to describe yourself, where do you start?

What would crush you the most if you were to lose it?

Most people define themselves by their “stuff”. In fact, I can scarcely name anyone I’ve met who isn’t the house, the car, the money, something. None of these people would admit that they are all about those things, but there can be no doubt that it is “for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” (Luke 6:45). The stuff coming out of your mouth, the stuff your mind always leans towards talking about, is who you think you are. If you always talk about the Dallas Cowboys it’s because you don’t really have a life of your own; you live vicariously through them. You are a Cowboy’s fan. As such you can easily relate to other Cowboy’s fans. They are like you, and you belong to them because they share the same identity you do.

If you’re always talking about how good your grades are or what you know, it’s because you think of yourself as being smart. It’s who you are; not just a character attribute, but something that defines you to yourself, something that gives your existence value.

If you kiss your car goodnight and wash it twice a day, it’s because there is something wrong with your head; your car is more than what it should be, a tool to move you from point A to point B; it has become a living thing, a part of your psyche and very literally, part of you. If it gets scratched by a careless passerby, you flip out not because they scratched your car, but because they scratched YOU. The car is an extension of your ego.

Do you really think two retired people NEED a 10,000 square foot house with 12 bathrooms? Of course not; but after living in squalor in their childhood and hating the man who had more money and power than them, after feeling inferior for the bulk of their lives they feel GOOD about building a BIGGER house than the person they hated; it means they are a success. They have status to prove it.

These concepts expand to cover everything we get attached to; comic book collections, strength, knowledge of trivia, speed, boats, fishing and everything else. We literally lose ourselves in our jobs, our lives, and our hobbies, and forget that we even exist. In some ways, we no longer do; we literally become the job, the children, the model of the titanic made out of toothpicks. But that should never happen.

Luke 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

Every thing - every single one - I just mentioned is a violation of the tenth commandment. One of the lesser understood commandments. Those things are all based in covetousness; stuff that you have, and that you cling to far beyond its intrinsic value. And it isn’t limited to those who have a lot of nice things; bums living in cardboard boxes can be as possessive of their worthless scraps of clothing and cigarette butt collections as the most grasping scrooge around.

But what happens to us when those things we love so dearly are taken away? When the stock broker loses his millions and has to face adjusting to a lifestyle that half the population already has and another quarter WISHES they had, he can’t handle it and jumps out a window. He’d rather end his life than live it as a different person.

Because he wasn’t a person. He was a walking hundred dollar bill. And when that bill became worth twelve cents, there was nothing left of it worth saving in his mind. Athletes who start to fail, models who get ugly, anyone who loses the thing that defines themselves and gives them self-worth, face depression, nervous breakdowns, and some even drink or drug themselves to death. Why? What makes those worthless things so valuable to them that their lives are not worth living without it? Read the rest of this entry »

Joining the MILITARY SERVICE and GOING TO WAR IS A SIN!

Have you ever asked yourself, what does GOD SAY about fighting in the military? What is your duty to your country? What IS your country? Why do wars happen? Where do they come from? SHOULD YOUR COUNTRY HAVE AN ARMY TO SAVE THEM, and SHOULD YOU FIGHT IN THAT ARMY??

Psalms 33:16-19 THERE IS NO KING SAVED by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

Notice what the word of God says - A king IS NOT SAVED BY HIS ARMY! Horses, tanks and atomic bombs, and MILLIONS OF TROOPS AND WEAPONS WILL NOT HELP YOU in battle!

2 Chronicles 36:16-17 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy. Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.

When God sends an army against your country - when he flings a nation into a war, He does so to WAKE THEM UP! He causes wars to PUNISH ERRING NATIONS! Again and again you see this, throughout the Bible.

Ezra 9:7 Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.

BECAUSE OF THEIR SINS they were delivered into the hand of the enemy! Regardless of the size of their army, or the number of men or weapons they had - they would have lost! God Himself said so!

Jeremiah 37:10 For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.

God says IF YOU SOMEHOW DEFEATED THESE MEN I SEND AGAINST YOU, I WOULD RAISE THEM UP TO FINISH THE JOB!!

You cannot fight the judgment of God! When you join the military to attack another army, one that God is sending against you, you are FIGHTING the judgment of God on a sinning, corrupt nation! DO YOU SUPPOSE HE LIKES THAT?? Read the rest of this entry »