1914 and "Crisis of Conscience"

In defense of the failed watchtower dates set in the past for all those events that they erroneously foretold,all the while attributing them to God in various phraseologies,you will often hear Jehovah's Witnesses defend the society,saying that the organization never said they were infallible or inspired.JW's will absolutely break out a plethora of quotes to prove that these men said they "did not know" and hence are NOT false prophets.I was one of those Jehovah's witnesses.I even wrote a blog defending them pertinaciously in regards to these matters.I was ill informed,however and decided to remove that particular blog.Here's why.And much of this is inspired by or taken directly from the HIGHLY recommended,especially for Jehovah's Witnesses,book "Crisis of Conscience" written by former governing body member Raymond Franz,a meek and well intentioned Christian who wanted to expose the hypocrisy and injustice,having witnessed it closely himself,within the society's operations.I want to make a very serious point for the Jehovah's witnesses reading this..I mean this earnestly& sincerely.You are NOT reading a book that will kill you more quickly then pornography would if you read this book.You are reading something that may save you from "putting your trust in men,in whom no salvation belongs".It is a MUST read.Don't let anyone stop you!And no it didn't cause me to disassociate from the society..I was already resolved to do that before I ever touched this book.What I found when I opened it was a man after my own heart,propagating truth and justice for those who I think he really loves,Jehovah's witnesses.Now I really don't need to go over the various dates that have been set by various men within the society,some of which didn't originate with the WT society or Charles Taze Russell but other men or sects from whom they just borrowed them,changing the meaning of them when their expectations weren't fulfilled after the dates had come and gone(because they had to!)..pushing dates forward or simply redefining what they mean,as they did with 1914.First it meant the absolute end..now it just means "invisible presence" which conveniently for them is impossible to disprove.It's like trying to disprove an imaginary friend.Suffice to say Jesus didn't preach it and if it is the good news of the kingdom then the apostles weren't preaching the good news of the kingdom..No need to add to the bible's succint good news with speculation.No need to keep haughtily setting dates when it reality you should've humbled yourself long ago and ceased from doing so,having been humiliated with falsely proclaiming them over and over in the past.The bible even lets us know it isn't up to us to know these things.

Acts 1:7:He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority."(Really,nothing more even needs to be said as powerful as Jesus's words are..)


Judge Rutherford said of his predictions about 1925,which was when he said Christ's millenial rule would be fully manifest on earth,"I know I made an ass of myself"

And to quote Ray Franz,as I will be doing frequently in blogs if I continue writing on this, as his words are much more eloquent than mine and his wisdom is far more pronounced ..
"It is one thing for a man to make an "ass" of himself because of wanting to see something happen.It is quite another thing for him to urge others to share his views,to criticize them if they do not,even to question their faith or impugn their motives if they do not see the matter as he sees it"..p 174,"Crisis of Conscience"

Now these points Franz makes are still very much relevant today.If you question 1914,you aren't just questioning men or an organization,you are questioning "Jehovah's sole channel of communication","Jehovah's appointed faithful and discreet slave class".You suddenly get to bear titles that would degrade anyone's integrity were they true such as "apostate","spiritually weak","worldy" ,"the walking dead","bad association" etc,especially with no eventual conformity.In other words,to question the society is thought of as the equivalent of questioning God himself,ultimately.The literature encourages this thinking.As will be evidenced later in other blogs as I reveal more realities Franz exposes within the organization.Ray goes on to say,and I think this information is relevant when JW's tell us the apostles had the SAME KINDS of premature expectations as they did.Please keep in mind the apostles ASKED Christ what was going to happen as opposed to claiming it as God's proclamation and proceeding to propagate it to countless people for decades..numerous times.


"It is still more serious for an organization representing itself as God's appointed spokesman to all mankind to do this--and to do it,not for a few days or months,but for years,even decades,repeatedly,on an earthwide basis.This kind of responsibility CANNOT be shrugged off by saying "well..nobody's perfect"..No one is but everyone of us bears a responsibility for what we do.And that is especially so when our actions may dramatically affect something as important and personal as others' relationship with God...No less serious is it when a group of men have DIVIDED views on predictions related to a certain date and yet present to their adherents an outward appearance of UNITED confidence,encouraging those adherents to place unwavering trust in those predictions"..p174 ,"Crisis of Conscience"

From these revelations from a former governing body member himself,we can discern that the WT is far from honest or at least certainly hides information,giving false impressions.We are expected to assume that Christ is working through each anointed member of the governing body and that they would be in full agreement on every matter before they force us to,but no..they are divided..Again,this screams injustice!How can we trust divided opinions to be from God?And why are we expected to adhere to an opinion that the bible isn't clear enough about for a few men to all agree on it because it isn't a succint bible belief,presented indisputably?How in the world could someone justifiably not be considered a real acceptable saved sheep for questioning something that precarious?If God is a God of justice and his sheep in the past have questioned these men's PROVEN lies and were punished in whatever way for it,why would that be acceptable to God?



Observe the following quotes from the WT magazine.I think they are beyond revealing and should be acknowledged by JW's in application to themselves as opposed to being applied to everyone BUT themselves.I repeat :the JW's should not be exempt from their own standards!How would that be fair?Again,God hates hypocrisy and DEMANDS fairness.

from April 1,1972 Watchtower

"Of course,it is easy to see that this group acts as a "prophet" of God.It is another thing to prove it.The only way that this can be done is to review the record.What does it show?"

Well,when I review the record I find men who have falsely made predictions that they said were God's dates while saying that they were acting as God's mouthpiece and God's channel of communication,saying that to question their speculations would be the equivalent of questioning God and Christ(proof below),then when their lies didn't come to pass blaming it again on God.Never truly repenting but instead using propagandist language to make the "rank and file" believe that they never did anything wrong at all.


One example of comparing questioning them to questioning the Lord:

from May 1,1922 WT

"To repudiate him(Charles Russell) is the equivalent to a repudiation of the Lord."


Yikes.Check out this one

May 15 1922 WT

"the Lord has placed the stamp of his seal upon 1914 and 1918 beyond any possibility of erasure."

from May 1 ,1997 Watchtower

"Jehovah God is the Grand Identifier of his true messengers.He identifies them by making the messages he delivers through them come true.Jehovah is also the Great Exposer of false messengers.He frustrates their signs and predictions.In this way he shows that they are self appointed prognosticators,whose messages really spring from their own false reasoning--yes,their foolish,fleshly thinking!"

Wow!That's from 1997.Amazing.And I am seriously not trying to be sarcastic.I am just stunned.

Suffice to say that all the events that supposedly took place in 1914 acc to the JW's today were attributed to DIFFERENT dates in the past .I have no idea at this point why this one lasted at all after "reviewing the record".In 1874 they said the end would come..it didn't .So instead "Christ's invisible presence" did.The end was also supposed to occur in 1914 and since it didn't "Christ's invisible presence" did..Notice a pattern here?"New light" seems to flash usually when a false prediction doesn't come to pass and is forced upon the society as opposed to any honestly genuine enlightening truth from Jehovah through Christ.I would urge anyone to hesitate before presuming this date came straight from God.Remember,do what the WT says and first "review the record" to make sure.What do YOU find?

More on this later.

Disassociation

I recently disassociated myself from the Jehovah's witnesses.Just wanted to warn the JW's so they wouldn't think I am trying to mislead or fool them.Having been where they are and thought how they think and felt how they feel,I can honestly say that no matter how hideous they think I am right now,I love them from the bottom of my heart.Always will..And the best piece of advice I can offer them is to ponder WHY the society tells you constantly that any outside opinions and literature are poison.It is because the society could not stand under the light of the type of scrutiny and the brutal honesty you can find in books like "Crisis of Conscience" and "Captives of a Concept".Where would someone go if they aren't on the WT "ark"?To Jah through Christ,obviously.It is ok to home fellowship or seek somewhere less controlling and dogmatic about nonessential issues for worship(though it CAN be hard it's worth the effort to find a place or make one).And those who think that would be forming some kind of sect,well,the WT IS a sect from another sect etc.Congregating with fellow Christians who believe essential truths isn't forming a "sect".Questioning men who have been detrimentally wrong too many times to count is NOT the equivalent of questioning Jehovah as they would have you believe.And them having you believe that is the equivalent of imprisoning your mind to be susceptible to anything they want to plant there.It takes a WHILE to break free.First come the nagging smaller doubts.Then come the disturbing discoveries that JW's push out of their minds by reading more and more bias WT literature or being afraid of losing everyone they love.Then if one remains objective unbias and continually studious and fair minded,one discovers the inconsistencies and outright lies within the org till it breaks you down and leads you to Christ who ALONE can save you with sayings of everlasting life.No organization of fallible and inconsistent men can,especially if those men are going to require you believe them even when something may be false in order to remain "saved" and "unshunned" and "acceptable".In other words,they expect followers to accept what they say as if God said it even if it is speculative at best(1914 anyone?) and then proceed to say they are fallible.Those two concepts are incongruent..Now there are obvious succint truths in scripture regarding Jesus being the savior,the Christ,the Son of the living God.His father being the ONLY TRUE God,and God being love and the wicked perishing(hell is a lie).Christ's actually dying(ALL of him) and being raised on the 3rd day..the earth being inhabited forever by the meek and righteous..these are clear.."Interpretive possibilities" should NOT be dogmatically enforced beliefs.I realize there are many fantastic things about JW's and about the literature.I understand their views on holidays,war,essential truths etc are all good ..but there is too much bad mixed in.Think of Christmas.There are beautiful lights,trees,gifts,family dinners,warm fuzzy feelings of sharing and closeness etc..but there are DARK truths beneath the surface,no?Well that is how I will classify the WT organization for now.Bad analogy..just trying to think of a way to express it.As hard as it will be after reading the bible WITH WT literature for so long,I recommend JW's read the bible ALONE for a while..things will pop out you never noticed before and certain WT teachings and strong assertions and repeated declarations will start to appear questionable.Their overuse of "faithful and discreet slave class","organization for salvation","new light","past truths"(that were REALLY lies),1914,"Jehovah's sole channel of communication"(while still saying they are fallible..again,incongruent concepts),"other sheep class","anointed class","watchtower ark",being unable to actually BE born again,passing around bread and wine that you will only deny,etc...these should all be examined meticulously without watchtower literature.It is an uncomfortable feeling being confused and not having answers about many of the things I thought I knew before,but it's a process.And I darn well know Jesus will not say to me EVER

"I never knew you!!Get away from me you worker of lawlessness!You wouldn't preach 1914 even though the men who set the date were wrong about all the other dates they had set before it!!You are none of my sheep!"

Yet,that is what the WT is willing to do.Disturbing.And unfortunately,that's just one of a number of qualms.I won't lie and say I'm in a comfortable place right now..that I know everything and feel I've found some greater truth..I only know the thought of implicitly trusting men to guide me to salvation and being forced to adhere to their every whim and speculation is a scary thought.I have a hard journey ahead seeking truth and finding my place but as long as I think of God before I think of me(because I rarely feel like doing what is right) I will be ok.

Btw,I will leave the pro-Jehovah's witnesses blogs up because I feel some of the information is still relevant and besides,it is always good to know how they defend themselves.

The truth about Hellfire

This was in a debate about hell between Dan Mages,Steve Scianni,and Patrick Navas with Gene Cook and 2 other traditionalists.I will provide the link for Dan Mages' podcasts where I found this.Dan Mages and Steve Scianni are speaking in these portions(you can listen to the whole thing on the link..just click on the podcast about hell..obviously)

http://hungertruth.com/Podcast.php


I am amazed and appalled at the traditionalists' attack on these 3 men(in the entirety of the debate.this is what ppl do when thay have no REAL biblical defense..they tell you you don't have the holy spirit to help you understand God's son is God or the wicked won't just perish) just because they take words like consumed destroyed death and perish literally,taking the LITERAL few scriptures that supposedly prove the "hellfire" doctrine in context of the OT scriptures that explain their symbolism..If you're a Christian watching this,it is time to wake up..You don't know who you worship!God is love.If he tells you that immortal worms and unquenchable fire are on CARCASSES and that eternal fire means DESTRUCTION and that weeping and gnashing of teeth means anger (which would be normal when one is being judged!)and that the CONSEQUENCES of nouns of action when paired with "eternal" are generally what's eternal as opposed to the action itself(eternal sin,eternal judgment,eternal destruction etc) then you should listen.And it doesn't matter who or what someone is,if they are trying to help you understand that immortality is a GIFT that does not BELONG to the wicked and that souls can die.these are biblical facts.Like I said,time to wake up.

My question to you is..are you going to take what the bible teaches clearly and irrefutably from Genesis to Revelation..that the wicked shall perish and return to dust OR are you going to take a literal few symbolic texts that you think prove something that the bible explains in OT passages(yes folks..the symbolism is explained for you) literally and call it justice when temporary sin that we INHERITED is punished with a literal eternal fire(that the bible says means destruction) and then profess to know that God is love and tempers his justice with mercy and shall make a world anew where mourning and sin and death will exist NOWHERE?Seriously?As an orthodox believer,you believe he will extend mourning and sin and "eternal dying" forever after.That is incongruent with his plans to reveal his glory and his promised way of doing so!By eliminating all the things you think he will preserve.


If you ignore blatant logic and explicit biblical statements like the fate God promised Adam then don't be surprised if God questions your perception of him and the definition of justice and love and reason.If you take symbolic hyperbolic passages literally and proclaim that gehenna preserved what was thrown in it alive,don't be surprised if God exposes your reliance upon tradition instead of fact and reason and truth.I say all this not to seem pushy or shattering of long held traditions that are difficult to sever but simply to point out the truth that MUST be embraced in order to properly understand God and his Son and their kingdom.Admittedly,this orthodox belief confounds me in a most disturbing way.Not because I don't WANT to accept what the bible teaches,but because I understand what it does and consider this teaching blasphemous,a grand and inexcusable error.

The Discipline of Pain

This is an excerpt from the book :"The Life of Paul" by F.B Meyer

It is a great little book,highly recommended,poetic and encouraging.Thought I would share an excerpt that touched me personally..and this book is full of touching words.

This was written in regards to Paul's visit to the Third Paradise(2 Cor 12:2,4-5)(which the author here thinks was Paul because Paul reveals that by reasons of the visions and revelations granted him that there was danger of his being exalted overmuch.Whether it was Paul or not,the ultimate message here is still relevant and poignant.)

To Such,Bridal Moments come

Paradise would indeed be a poor place if words could describe it.The third heaven would not be worthy of its Maker if its glories did not transcend our furthest imaginings.He hath set eternity in our heart,a capacity for the infinite,a yearning after the divine.In moments of reverie,when stirred by certain notes in music,when under the spell of a sunset on a summer's eve,when we wake up to love,we know that words are but the token of thought,the signs and symbols of realities,and not the realities.Translate into words for me the sighings of the wind through the forest and the withdrawal of the sea down a pebbly beach and the string of sunlight playing on the hyacinth-strewn grass.You cannot!Then you know why the apostle described his experiences in Paradise as unspeakable.

But these hours are as fading as they are unspeakable.Why?Lest we should be exalted above measure and become proud.If the apostle feared this,much more should we!Lest we should come to trust in an experience as an aim or object of life instead of regarding it as God's will and testimony that He may withhold if we make more of it than we ought.We must live not in an experience but in Jesus,from whom,as from the sun,all lovely and helpful experiences emanate.Lest we should get out of touch with men and women around us,the majority of whom do not live on mountain tops but reside in valleys,where demons possess and worry the afflicted.

Through God's wise providence, such radiant hours do not linger,because our strength is not fed with them.We shall not get much working strength out of whipped cream,however pleasant it tastes;and if we rely on the raptures of Paradise for our sources of spiritual power,we shall come lamentable short of our true reinforcements.So God,in His mercy,gives them once or twice,now and again,and,at the time of sending them,accompanies them with a thorn that we may be reminded of our utter weakness and helplessness and be driven to avail ourselves of His grace,in which alone is our sufficiency.

Do not expect the vision of Paradise to linger;it would dazzle you and make life unnatural and unreal.Do not regret the passage of the blessed ,rapturous hours,light of step and fleet of pace.Do not think that you have fallen from grace when their flush and glow are over.Whether they come to you constantly or not,or even if they never visit you,you are still in Christ,still joined to the Lord,still accepted in the Beloved;and neither height of rapture,nor depth of depression shall ever separate you from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord.Be content,then,to turn,as Jesus did,from the rapture of Paradise,presented on the Transfiguration Mount,to take the way of the cross through which you will become able to open Paradise to souls in despair ,like the dying thief.

The Discipline of Pain

Paul's "thorn" must have been VERY painful.In infinite wisdom,God permitted the messenger of Satan to buffet his servant,and all through that first missionary journey,Paul had to face a long succession of buffetings.There were perils of robbers,of waters,of mountain passes,and of violent crowds;but in addition to all,there was the lacerating thorn.

Paul could have suffered from weak eyes or some distressing form of opthamalia.We infer this from the eagerness of his Galatian converts to give him their eyes,from his dependence on an amanuensis,and from the clumsy letters with which he wrote the postscripts to his epistles(Gal 6:11)..And if this were the case,the pain would be greatly aggravated as he faced the keen blasts that swept the mountain plateau on which the Pisidian Antioch was situated.

Was it during this journey that Paul sought the Lord on three separate occasions for deliverance and received the assurance that though the thorn were left,more than sufficient grace would be given(2 Corinthians 12:9)?If so,like a peal of bells,at Antioch,Iconium,Derbe, and Lystra,he must have heard the music of those tender words:My grace is sufficient,sufficient,SUFFICIENT for you!Sufficient when friends forsake and foes pursue;sufficient to make you strong against a raging synagogue or a shower of stones;sufficient for excessive labors of body and conflicts of soul,sufficient to enable you to do as much work,and even more,than if the body were perfectly whole--for my strength is made perfect only amid the conditions of mortal weakness.

In estimating the greatness of a man's lifework,it is fair to take into consideration the difficulties under which the man has accomplished it.And how greatly does our appreciation of the apostle rise when we remember that he was incessantly in pain.Instead,however,of sitting down in despair and pleading physical infirmity as his excuse for doing nothing,he bravely claimed the grace that waited within and did greater work through God's enabling power than he could have done through his own had it been unhindered by his weakness.

Ah,afflicted ones,your disabilities were meant to unite with God's enablings,your weakness to mate his Power.Do not sit before that mistaken marriage,that uncongenial business,that unfortunate partnership,that physical weakness,that hesitancy of speech,that disfigurement of face,as though it must necessarily maim and conquer you.God's grace is at hand--sufficient--and at its best when human weakness is most profound.Appropriate it and learn that those who wait on God are stronger in their weakness than sons of men in their stoutest health and vigor.

*Romans 8:35 Who will separate us from the love of the Christ? Will tribulation or distress or persecution or hunger or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 Just as it is written: “For your sake we are being put to death all day long, we have been accounted as sheep for slaughtering.” 37 To the contrary, in all these things we are coming off completely victorious through him that loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor governments nor things now here nor things to come nor powers 39 nor height nor depth nor any other creation will be able to separate us from God’s love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.


*Hebrews 12:11 True, no discipline seems for the present to be joyous, but grievous; yet afterward to those who have been trained by it it yields peaceable fruit, namely, righteousness. 12 Hence straighten up the hands that hang down and the enfeebled knees, 13 and keep making straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather that it may be healed.


*2 Corinthians 12:6 For if I ever do want to boast, I shall not be unreasonable, for I shall say the truth. But I abstain, in order that no one should put to my credit more than what he sees I am or he hears from me, 7 just because of the excess of the revelations. Therefore, that I might not feel overly exalted, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan, to keep slapping me, that I might not be overly exalted. 8 In this behalf I three times entreated the Lord that it might depart from me; 9 and yet he really said to me: “My undeserved kindness is sufficient for you; for [my] power is being made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, will I rather boast as respects my weaknesses, that the power of the Christ may like a tent remain over me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in insults, in cases of need, in persecutions and difficulties, for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am powerful.

Support our troops?

I found this blog that was written on January 4,2007 by Steve Scianni.I just wanted to share it.I agree on so many levels.
http://hungertruth.blogspot.com/

We see it on bumper stickers and we hear it constantly, 'Support the troops.' Now let me ask a question: what does this mean exactly? I wish someone who says this would actually finish the thought and tell me what it means and just how we are to do this. Does it mean we support every word they say and every action they take, whether good or bad? Does it mean that we leave them overseas and send reinforcements? Does it mean that we cannot criticize the President, his Administration and the War? Well whatever it may mean, it ought to never inspire the American people to swallow every word the President speaks, nor should it stop us from criticizing a war that has proven to be criminal, illegal and murderous.

It should never stop the American people from telling the President that we will not be lied to anymore...that we do not want our taxes to buy one more bomb, fly one more plane, ship one more troop, or kill one more Iraqi.

By supporting our troops I mean that the American people need to stand up and fight this corrupt administration and let them know that we do not condone the killing of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's...that we do not like seeing our soldiers maimed and killed....that we are not interested in ruining lives and families...that we abhor the lies and propaganda of a false 'war on terror'...that we are not Imperialists and have no business invading a foreign country.

By 'supporting the troops' I mean very simply that the American people reject the war. I also mean that we tell the President and his cabinet we know what they are doing and that the gig is up....that we know about the scandalous corporate profiteering in Iraq...that we understand the horrors of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the negligence with which our returning troops are treated. We will tell them that we know Saddam Hussein was a puppet empowered and used by the United States and that by killing him was only destroying what we initially created...we know that Iraq has no connection to 9/11 and they have no WMDs...we also know that what they do have is what the U.S. has always wanted -- large oil reserves...we know about the secret wars and coups of the CIA and U.S. Government in the past (in Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, etc. etc.)...we know that our Imperialistic, Bully-minded foreign policy does not 'fight' or 'eliminate' any threat, it only creates terrorists and hatred for America...we know, we know, we know!

And this is the saddest part, that a country built on such great principles and ideals, the "land of the free," is being ruined and villainized around the globe by militaristic officials and greedy corporate scoundrels. Think about it!? Why does the U.S. encounter such hostility around the planet? Very simple, because we are oppressive and brutal to the rest of the world. And then we wonder why they burn our flag and blow up our buildings?

What a sad testimony to the intellect of Americans when they get fooled by a line like, "They hate us for our freedom." This is perhaps the most absurd thing any U.S. President has ever said. In answer to the question, why are there terrorists and why do they hate us, this is the most childish and devious response anyone can voice, and here is the tragedy, (1) it came from the 'leader' of our country and (2) the American people believe it! Listen, NOBODY hates anybody for having freedom...people hate because they are DENIED their freedoms and that is what the U.S. has done time after time, and they continue to do so now. We deny them their liberties, we deny them their land, their resources, their governments, their livelihoods, their houses and their lives -- THAT Mr. President is why they hate us and everyone seems to know it but the Americans.......shame.

Support the troops by bringing them home and ending the war....support the troops by impeaching the President....support the troops by demanding that our military ONLY be used to defend our borders...support our troops by educating them into Intelligent Individuals, not Robotic Slaves who kill on command...support the troops by supporting this Lieutenant who refuses to go to Iraq http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/scp_v3/viewer/index.php?pid=16598&rn
=49750&cl=1585703&ch=87581&src=www.yahoo.com(this link is not working now)

Steve Scianni



Here's a video I thought I'd share as well.



Yes,war is traumatic.No,the UN can not end it.I saw a picture where a girl was holding a sign "Bombing for peace is like having sex for virginity."(only she used a bad word)

Only Yehovah can end killing and war and injustice and trauma etc..God will destroy everything nefarious and evil.He will not preserve it in flames forever,but instead make sure it doesn't exist anymore.He said there would be no more sin,excluding the possibility that sinners will be alive.And without sin He won't have wrath.Wrath is not what magnifies his holiness,except to eliminate all things that kindle it.."Making all things new" will magnify his holiness.

I can't imagine supporting and participating in a war where we murder our SUPPOSED enemies(even though propaganda is sometimes what makes us believe they are) when Jesus said to pray for our enemies and those persecuting us and that those who kill by the sword will die by the sword.We're supposed to follow Jesus's footsteps closely and I did not see him killing those threatening him.If the governments are controlled by Satan(revelation says the dragon gave the beast its power) then why support the beast led by the dragon?Isn't that ultimately supporting the dragon(Satan)?I'm not sure how anyone cannot see that Revelation and prophetic scriptures are being fulfilled before our very eyes.But then again,since Satan permeates the air and the world. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the prominence of mass deception everywhere,from false teachings within Christianity to the increasing denial of God's existence to governmental injustices and ceaseless war.



haha..clean it up!!

Romans 9..Calvinist's mother's milk.

This man believes in the trinity and orthodox hellfire misintepretation but I still respect this competent exegesis of Romans 9.There are other possibilities I have heard before that are sensible as well..anything that lines up with the entirety of the scriptures and God's definition of and revelation of his own personality is obviously superior to the Calvinist one.I recommend cutting and pasting the url and watching it on youtube as it will be bigger there.It's one of those big vids that consumes your screen ;)..One thumb up for exposing and refuting Calvinism.One thumb down for not being able to exegete hellfire passages the same way you do Romans 9.(in their OT context,for heaven's sake)(to the guy in this vid)

addendum:Btw,I have 2 new Romans 9 exegesis blogs from January 2010.Read parts 1 and 2 for my take on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msu-dtnge5M





As I watched this,I was reminded how small and narrow minded the Calvinist interpretation of Romans 9 actually is.It is very similar to hellfire adherents inability to interpret texts in their OT context that CLEARLY explains what it all means.Obviously,this will not be good enough for most Calvinists assuming they "make sure of all things" before adopting their erroneoous theology.For those Calvinists who say that the texts should just be read straight through and believed by what they say on the surface and the entire bible interpreted in light of that, I can only wonder why in the world you think one chapter in the bible that is explained in context like this guy competently does here should make the entire bible's constant revelations of God's impartiality and awe inspiring awesome personality moot.Of COURSE he has wrath but it is only temporary and against willful unrepentant sinners detrimentally abusing their free will,always.As a Calvinist,you are no longer able to interpret the bible straightforwardly like you brag about doing in Romans 9!Every text you behold becomes "well,in light of Romans 9" instead of just simple truth.I will provide a few very sarcastic examples for those who can stomach sarcasm now and then to get a point across.If not,skip ahead and save yourself the trouble of taking offense ;)

Deut 30:19:I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live..Oh wait!I have already chosen for you so just go about your business and assume you're saved..if you aren't,sorry 'bout that!My fault!All these declarations I make that you have a choice are a SHOW,a facade.Not sure why I keep telling you to repent and that you have the choice but no..I will repent FOR you and make the choice on your behalf.Sit back and let me do all the work while you just skip about hoping you're like Jacob and not Esau!



Proverbs 1:29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD because I didn't let them because I am sadistically partial EVEN though I SAID I epitomize love and am impartial .I just want to see some folks burn(forever!) because it magnifies my holiness according to some men who didn't really get this notion from the book I wrote for them.But ,then,don't say I didn't warn you about false teachers now!My holiness is in fact magnified by ELIMINATING evil and "making all things new",not by preserving the worst kind imaginable into all of eternity.But don't let me telling you the wicked will be consumed and become ashes make you think they won't be alive forever in flames!Instead,let traditon,symbolism and manmade philosophy become your reality over my clear testimony!


Jeremiah 32:35:they built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination..Erase that!Not only did it enter my mind,but I decreed it and am so pleased to see my holiness magnified in this absurd display of sadism and horror.It makes the good I will decree shine that much brighter!Praise my haphazard sadism and be glad that I was partial enough to choose you for NO reason whatsoever and burn innocent children for my good pleasure even though it disgusts me..Makes sense,huh?Did I mention I am haphazard and partial?

James 4:8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.Hold up!Let me rearrange."God will MAKE you draw close to him and purify your hearts.You cannot do it of your own initiative"

Eve SAID she was deceived by the serpent when in all actuality,she was deceived by me and then sinned because I made her.Poor Eve.She's just a pawn in my game and though all evidence points to the fact that she had the choice to partake of the fruit or not,ignore that evidence!Obviously,she didn't.And then she didn't become ashes at all..she's still burning where worms never die..worms said to be on corpses in Is 66:24 but don't believe that!They're on souls burning alive!


Texts like these(minus the sarcasm of the Calvinist God's rearrangement) are endless and should not be interpreted in light of men's flawed exegesis of a few texts that have superior interpretations like the ones presented in the vid above.Calvinism truly concerns me because the God of Calvinism is NOT the God of true Christianity.

Acts 10:34 For a certainty I perceive that God is not partial, 35 but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him. (It doesn't say God is partial and in every nation the man that he makes fear him will be acceptable..does it?)The Calvinist rearrangement of texts rivals the trinitarian!I'm not sure who would win in the "make it fit" competition!



God DESIRES all men to attain to repentance.That is honestly what he desires.As a Calvinist,your arrogant perception is an atrocious attack on God's true desires.Let Him be as merciful, loving, impartial, and just as he wants to be.Stop misrepresenting him and extending the wrath he has against sin into all of eternity where the kingdom is supposed to reign with NO sin or death,as opposed to sinners being preserved in an "eternal dying process".A kingdom where whoever CHOSE life and used their free will according to God's purposes will live forever in benevolent conditions without arrogantly perceiving they got there because God played duck duck goose and decided to burn others who weren't as fortunate in the game for all of eternity.If that makes you feel good,see a therapist.If you can live peacefully and blissfully in your arrogance with people you loved burning alive forever,see a therapist.

Btw,this is a plea to accept truth and an attack on giant misrepresentations of God and not on Calvinist individuals who have been misled.

21crosscheck21 posts a sensationalized video PLUS a bonus hell rant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHBNXrBYqow

I urge everyone to go to youtube to watch this video and read ABibleReader's comments about what the mother said about this tragedy..She thinks it was murder. Also,ABibleReader made some logical truthful comments about how Christians traumatize kids with hellfire preachin' consistently.(I personally was traumatized by my great grandpa's passionate preaching about it when I was little)As well as facts about how prominent suicide is for boys this age.So to isolate a JW case and blame it on the WT when NOTHING is known is just bizarre.This is a tragedy to be sure ..That is why I hate to see it being exploited when no one knows the facts!!



WHY else do I think it was wrong for Brian to post this?Because news programs are about sensationalism.No one knows what happened!So to sensationalize something like this and to think that preaching Armageddon is an abomination when you personally preach something as heinous atrocious monstrous and disgusting as eternal hellfire is hypocritical and preposterous.I like Brian and that is why it upsets me all the more to see intelligent nice people like him exploiting something like this when they have a massive erroneous doctrine like hellfire they use like a weapon against anyone they wish up their theological sleeve.I know one argument traditionalists will use is that their children are assured of a heavenly calling.Well I for one would find no comfort in that whatsoever if my little friends at school who weren't as "Christian" as I would never be fanned in the flames of hell.Talk about traumatic!And what about family who perhaps think Jesus is God's son as opposed to God or don't believe at all?I have to live with their screams of terror for an infinity in a supposedly blissful kingdom?PLEASE!If I believed in hell,I would live and breathe traumatized!And it is truly a perturbing thing to be child trying with all your little heart and soul to understand how love and mercy can be reconciled with hellfire and how God's son is God!I knew God could not be balanced or truthful at all if these lies were true!John 3:16 alone disproves both.Believe it or not,I am not advocating the excessive WT depictions of Armageddon etc. but trust me..logically,heartfeltly,it is the lesser of two evils.To say the least!Children have VIVID imaginations and sensitive hearts and it doesn't take pictures for them to "see" what you tell them to believe!Poor kids.How very big of you Brian to lambast people who preach destruction when you preach the boldfaced lie of eternal life in flames for the majority of mankind!The same ol Satanic lie..no one ever REALLY dies.Back to the Garden of Eden for some education.

Genesis 3:19:For dust you are and to dust you will return.

Sounds kinda like :

Matthew 3:12 His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will completely clean up his threshing floor, and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, but the chaff he will BURN UP with fire that cannot be put out.(what happens in fire Brian?Did anyone stay alive in gehenna?)

I'm thinkin' in John 3:16 ,when it says the wicked shall perish,that it pretty much means what it says!

To anyone who lives to criticize the WT for their faults(and yes they have them I know!)Time to examine yourself first.


Matthew 7:3 Why, then, do you look at the straw in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the rafter in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Allow me to extract the straw from your eye’; when, look! a rafter is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First extract the rafter from your own eye, and then you will see clearly how to extract the straw from your brother’s eye.

If the WT is a cult what would you call the broad and spacious road that preaches "Christianity's" two biggest most detrimental lies..the trinity and hell?You'd probably call it "truth" if you're fond of tradition and philosophy of men.But I would venture to say you're fooling yourself.God said "This is my son"..what about THAT is hard to understand?God also said "The wicked shall perish"..That is precise language as well..

I sincerely hope Brian takes no offense but instead continues to prayerfully investigate his core beliefs as I think he is a smart man who Jah could use to grand effect with the right humble spirit,willingness to reform..AGAIN,and to accept blatant truth when it is shown him straight from the pages of scripture.I am not talking about symbolic texts being taken literally and elaborate inferences about God's son being anything but his father's servant and agent and son in some philosophical 4th century manmade formula either.God how I pray truth will reign and become clearer to the sincere hearted as time draws closer for the establishment of His perfect kingdom restored to this earth.

Here's the reality,Brian.You are judging people who preach annihilation when you preach hellfire!The hypocrisy and absurdity there is striking!Yes the pictures might disturb children..(please note JW children are taught positive things from scripture more than armageddon)..But to confidently articulate(yes I've heard you speak about your beliefs) a fiery fairy tale of the worst kind of sadistic evil man or child could EVER imagine?UNFORGIVABLE.Here's hoping you and every other stubborn Christian will delve deeply into logic and exegesis and pick apart every text they think proves hellfire and "make sure of all things",holding fast to what is good and true!

You can start by googling "everlasting torment examined" by Steve Scianni.And that's just the beginning of exegesis available that actually remains within the bounds of logic,recognizing the symbolism and hyperbole in Revelation,understanding what gehenna entails,refusing to look at words like "destroyed,perish,ashes" as anything but what they would reasonably say.etc.Why?Because you're preaching the same lie Satan did and traumatizing children and adults alike.Those who don't just look for any way out that they can..like atheism..to avoid believing in a sadist God.You don't know his personality and that confounds me!The bible is clear.The worst that ever happened to sinners?Agony leading to death.That satisfies God's wrath against sin.To get rid of it.His holiness is magnified in "making all things new" without the preservation of the most heinous evil man could ever imagine into all of eternity.That would hamper the kingdom peace,no?

Earthlings

Time to wake up to the way the animals you eat and wear are treated and killed.How barbaric humans can be!Truly frightening.Animals are SENTIENT remarkable creatures who we are supposed to care for with the highest regard.I'm sure some would rather stay ignorant than face the truth.As I watched this,I thought about not only how the animals and myself felt,but how Jehovah himself would feel.Jehovah's heart is bigger than ours so there is no reason he would find this acceptable or accept that we would rather remain ignorant to this kind of disregard for life and abuse of animals who ,yes,have feelings.What about how the animals are handled and treated in the process of making them our food and clothing and in experimentation etc?UNACCEPTABLE.I urge you to watch this entire documentary,narrated by Joaquin Phoenix.It is NOT an easy watch,but an important one.

The heart of the NWO

I like this guy's channel because he fearlessly exposes the evil in the government and the entertainment industry with passion.I'm sure I would disagree with points in his theology but I recommend his channel..theforerunner777..He also recently posted some eye opening videos about Jay-Z and the music industry and their involvement in nefarious schemes.Wicked spirit forces in high places indeed!Check those out too.Even if just a portion of it is true..it's enough to understand Satan's schemes even better.

Calvinism rant 2..

This was written by someone else a while ago..Another Calvinism rant I would say!

http://hungertruth.blogspot.com/2006/10/synod-of-dort-fear-and-power-worship.html

Calvinism rant..

I had this up before then removed it for fear of offending Calvinists because it has kind of a harsh tone.But since it is all true and from my heart and meant to make Calvinists think about what they believe I shall repost.


Couple QUICK questions:Why was God so appalled at people's wicked behavior like burning their children in fire to Molech if he decreed and desired it?Was he pretending to be disgusted about something he in fact decreed?Why if we were created in God's image would we be sickened to contemplate the things that the God of Calvinism "decreed for his fine pleasure" and then think God whose love and justice and mercy and goodness are FAR superior to ours as fallen humans wouldn't?Similar to the "trinity" and "hellfire" "proof texts" there are FAR SUPERIOR interpretations to calvinist "proof texts" that gel with God's love in a much more tenable,reasonable and defensible way.


Jeremiah 19:5:They have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind

1 John 4:8,16:God is love.

Contemplate what LOVE means,HONESTLY assessing it.That is his dominant quality.That is who HE IS.The God of Calvinism is like the original serpent who he condemns,causing everyone he chooses to be tortured in sadistic flames eternally for his pleasure,pure evil.It is hard enough explaining to non Christians why God PERMITS suffering..the God of Calvinism wouldn't exactly be easy to defend ,but,thankfully,He isn't the God of the bible.

If you're a Calvinist reading this,I hope you won't be quick to take offense but will be quick to read the bible in it's entirety and see what the scriptures speak loudly and clearly about from cover to cover.God has no part with evil.God is love.


God created everything PERFECT and then some of that creation REBELLED and BECAME evil without his assistance.Yes he allowed the downfall of man to occur because of the rebellion but he DID NOT decree the rebellion and he does not harbor the characteristics of Satan.He is NOT a sadistic evil deceiver and liar who said he was love but meant "I decree child rape".He warned Adam and Eve of the consequences of their idiotic decisions and they did NOT include him being the puppetmaster of every man who is evil and every man who is not.Just like Adam and Eve did,we have CHOICES ..Yes,God draws us.Yes,we can resist.Why?Because free will isn't a fantasy but a scriptural truth.And whoever says it isn't doesn't seem to understand that God is not partial just to be partial..He examines hearts and blesses those who draw close to him because they see him in the creation and understand his beauty and love.He wants those who want him and not those he has to make want him just because he can.That would be the equivalent of a man taking a woman hostage and forcing her to marry him just because he can..and then claiming that he is the epitome of love while also throwing whoever he he wants into an eternal fire for no reason but that it pleases him and somehow magnifies his holiness(even though this idea is NOT one in scripture)!.BUT he is love ..how ironic.

You can pretty much bet that if God wants us to be repulsed by the torture of people then he is repulsed by the torture of people and not pleased by torturing people infinitely AT ALL.Unless ,of course,our heartstrings are superior to God's.It's also a safe bet to assume that if God doesn't want us to be partial but to care lovingly for the most downtrodden that HE is NOT partial either and would never decree an orphan to an infinity in a literal lake of fire just because he can.Absurd.Yes,God's ways are higher than our ways.But,that does not mean sadism trumps love and mercy.And that the love and mercy we feel for fellow human beings without partiality is something too precious for God because supposedly wrath and sadistic decrees overtake those beautiful qualities he has and no mercy is up his sleeve in the flames of hell!The consistent testimony of scripture from beginning to end is that God is IMPARTIAL and LOVE,that his justice is temperd with mercy.Christ suffered an agonizing death ..God was merciful and let him die and not continue to be tortured.That's what will happen to us(agony that leads to death) if we have to pay for our own sins..that's right..our OWN sins..sins that God did NOT decree.God detests the evil and wickedness in the world which would logically lead any sincere heart to the conclusion that he did not DECREE IT.Now we are witnessing what happens when the world rebels against God and we needed to see this so we would know.So we would understand that he is the ONLY one who can bring peace and lead us in the way that is good and fruitful and blessed.If we did not see this now we wouldn't know and that is one reason he permits the suffering temporarily..he is not the Satanic one causing the sin but the loving one allowing it so we would know the hell it brings and could repent of it and live in a new world where it will exist no more where all things will be "made new" and there will be no more evil period,certainly not the flames of a fairy tale hell!



In Ezekial he is instructed to put a mark on the foreheads of those sighing and groaning over all the DETESTABLE things being done.Those with the mark would be saved because they weren't enjoying those detestable things but instead were disturbed by them.Now if God favors those who hate the detestable things would it REALLY make sense to think he himself decreed them and is in the same boat with the ones who took pleasure in them?I really cannot think of anything more despicable or heinous than hellfire.I sigh and groan over it.What about you?And don't even think about comin back at me with annihilation and how it will be detestable too.There is NO comparison.One is necessary and just and the punishment made clear for the wicked from Genesis on when God told Adam he would return to dust...the other is infinite sadism from a God people say is love..Hello atheist..meet the orthodox Christian God.Don't question anything,just embrace the tradition regardless of how illogical or asinine.Regardless of other interpretive possibilities that may be superior.Regardless of clear scriptural truths like God being impartial,merciful and loving and the wicked having to PERISH.In actuality,God is extremely partial,sadistic and unmerciful and tradition trumps logic and fact.Right?No balance with the Calvinist God.No impartiality.Quite frankly,no love.Yet,scripture says he IS love and he isn't partial.That is how I know right off the bat that Calvinism is false.Manmade.Just like love is God's dominant quality,it is also a grand theme in the bible which is absolutely in irrefutable opposition to Calvinism's whole mind and heartset.

God HATES wickedness and evil therefore he did not DECREE it.Common sense.If he has foreknowledge of something how would this be proof that he CAUSED it.Allowing and then being disgusted by it (soon to intervene) is a trillion miles away from decreeing it,taking pleasure in it and then extending his wrath into all eternity against poor people who were chosen by him for flames so that a sadistically "righteous" "new creation" could see how mean and big God can be even though he is supposed to epitomize love.

God's scales of justice are for the wicked to perish and "eye for an eye".The hellfire doctrine isn't an "eye" for anything!And it CERTAINLY isn't logical and there is NO excuse for taking a symbolic book like revelation and interpreting NON symbolic texts about the wicked perishing in light of the symbolic ones instead of the other way around.

May God's love and mercy and impartiality abound in your heart.You were created in his image with the capacity to be reasonable and to question what you're taught from men.Don't cease ever questioning what you're taught from men.Don't let your heart be hardened to the feeling that a God who is the one of Calvinism and Orthodox Christianity with the whole "hellfire thing" and "partial thing" is reasonably NOT LOVE.Then you may find the true One from scripture who is and embrace worshipping him in truth.

Contemplate(seriously) the life of Christ..did he seem like a man who would go around tapping heads that he desired to torment eternally and letting the heads untapped survive the wrath and live in "peace" while enjoying the cacophany of screams of the less fortunate (or maybe they don't even have to hear them..that would be better..but still unbearably HORRENDOUS for ANYONE righteous just knowing this was goin on)?Did he seem like a man who would look at two children and decide to torture one and save the other just because he's powerful?Did he seem like a man who scouted "vessels" for wrath even though he healed ALL the sick and embraced all who came to him?Was he love or was he partial and angry at those who he decreed to be his vessels of wrath just because he takes pleasure in seeing people suffer because it magnifies his "holiness"?The Calvinist Jesus is not the bible's Jesus.This should be pretty clear.And as a Calvinist,did you become one AFTER hearing intricate arguments and justifications from men OR did you get the impression from scripture itself that God's love is trumped by power trips?The wisdom of men like James White is foolishness to God. A well constructed ridiculously sharp argument can make ANYTHING sound plausible..but is that what God wants us to do?Ignore the simplicity of texts and take a few that SEEM to support something and make sure we make the entire bible fit it by twisting texts everywhere even though we should see if these texts CLEARLY in the minority can't conform to the entire bible.And they can.There are reasonable and superior interpretations available for Calvinist's delight if only they'll partake.

To reiiterate and to be realistic.God is impartial..God is love.Even when his severe wrath needs to be satisfied and his holiness magnified..the worst that happened was agony then death.And only against those willful unrepentant sinners that had the CHOICE to sin or not..he wasn't pulling their strings to make 'em.And if he was,he never told us this.


I'm just putting one part of this series here about Romans chapter 9(James White's lifeblood)but I urge you to watch all (I think 6) parts.These are some superior interpretations to the traditional Calvinist ones that are IN LINE with the TOTALITY of scripture which is that God is love.In Calvinism,God does despicable things that are not in harmony with the personality the bible provides for Him.As for this guy's beliefs,I'm sure I would disagree with him on MANY,but not on his thoughts about calvinism. Search:Romans 9: Predestination or Free Will? on youtube for the rest of this series.Enjoy!I need to rewatch it myself!




Honestly.I didn't even know how strongly I felt about Calvinism till I wrote this.If this defense against it seems harsh..that would be because there is no reason for me not to scream from the rooftop that God is love.. hell is a lie.. and God is not a tyrant.I am a Christian BECAUSE God is love.BECAUSE he is impartial.AND because He gave us free will,allowing us to choose him or not.We are free creatures.I appreciate that!THANK YOU GOD.


"I never know what I think about something until I read what I've written on it"~William Faulkner

Answering a trinitarian's comment..

Answering a comment on my last blog:


SonOfAJewishCarpenter said...
you said:
" “…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” —Rom. 10:9

I already covered how Jesus had to be MADE LORD and I confess that readily and without hesitation.I also confess that God raised him from death and that he is alive to plead for me now at God's right hand.Yet to Christians I'm not a christian at all.Interesting."


What is interesting about this comment is that you seem more interested in confessing that Jesus was MADE LORD more than you are in confessing him as YOUR LORD. Regardless of your oppinion of Him, He IS soverign over you and ALL of creation.

Jesus is the only One who can save people.
His name is the only power in the world
that has been given to save people.
We must be saved through him.
Acts 4:12

Jesus saith unto him,
I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me;
John 14:6

I, even I, am the LORD;
and beside me there is no saviour.
Isa 43:11








SonOfAJewishCarpenter,

Thanks for your comment.The following is said assuming you're trinitarian..


Yes,Jesus had to be made Lord.And yes,he is my Lord.And no he couldn't have saved if he hadn't been sent forth to do so by his father.God so loved the world that he gave his special Son to die for us.I sincerely hope you understand the sacrifice Jesus's father made at least as much as the one his Son did.And that Jesus worships his father as the Only True God so there is no reason anyone else shouldn't.Jesus said "We worship what WE know.."..including himself as One who worships his father in spirit and truth.Does his father worship him?If not,there is no coequality.An Almighty God in no way logically would be worshipping someone else called Almighty God within his own "being"..That is unreasonable in the highest degree and not supported in scripture or explicitly stated anywhere.Also,that would equal two Almighties already regardless of what ANYONE says to make it "go away".Even if they share the SAME "substance" within the 1 "godhead" as separate individuals it would STILL equal 2 Almighty Gods.

I don't disagree with any scripture you provide.Jesus is absolutely the way,the truth,the life.His father used him to save us,making him mediator and king and Lord.Why shouldn't he?He's a proud father with an obedient faithful and inimitable Son he "approves",who is "beloved".The best proof Jesus was created ?He is called "God's Son."

John 10:34 Jesus answered them: “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said: “you are gods”’? 35 If he called ‘gods’ those against whom the word of God came, and yet the Scripture cannot be nullified, 36 do you say to me whom the Father sanctified and dispatched into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, I am God’s Son?

"God's Son" would be HIGHLY illogical language to use for someone who IS "TRUE God".You won't find the bible itself stating that Jesus shares God's "essence" or "nature" as one of three persons in God's "being" so no one should formulate a doctrine to accomodate philosophies that support this.

I am not demoting Christ..I am recognizing his God-given position as the Second Most High over all the Universe,never said to exist within the same "being" as the "Most High" so there is no reason for me to put him there.

Recognizing that Jesus had to be "Made Lord" aids in understanding WHY he IS Lord.Take heed!Even the name that is the only one that can save us under heaven was GIVEN him.Keep in mind the father's "equal" should NEVER have to be given anything at all,from a name,to a power,to a kingdom,to a revelation. God made him heir and loved him.

As For Jesus being Sovereign and Almighty,even if I surrendered that point it would only be possible because HIS God made him so which could only mean he would STILL not be the SAME TRUE GOD his father is OR equal as his authority is that which had to be gifted from a superior.God has no superiors,certainly not within his own "being"! God works through Christ's agency by means of the holy spirit so powerfully that Jesus can do what his father does if his father grants it.(acts 2:22,John 3:34)If it's not granted to Jesus or GIVEN him from his own God,Jesus wouldn't have anything at all,excluding the possibility that he is the true God.He lives BECAUSE of his father no?(John 5:26)And forever now because the One he said was greater and the only One good(without any qualification that only his "flesh" was speaking and not his ENTIRE person as the Christ of God..no inference needed) raised him from a genuine death.

Acts 2:32 This Jesus God resurrected, of which fact we are all witnesses. 36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know for a certainty that God made him both Lord and Christ'


So again,WHY is Jesus Lord,WHY is he savior, and WHY is he alive at all?

As for absolute statements in scripture,they are sometimes qualified in other texts ..For instance,Jehovah is the ONLY savior BUT

1 samuel 23:5:David was the saviour of the people of Keilah.(bible in basic English)

Judges 3:9:Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help. The LORD sent a savior to rescue them. It was Othniel, son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz.15The LORD sent a savior to rescue them. It was Ehud, a left-handed man from the tribe of Benjamin.(God's world translation)

Jude 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus the Messiah(explains how they are both savior)

Sorry..I'm on some caffeine and got "long winded" ;)


Thanks for reading my blog!

Jesus is...

I'm gonna do some scriptural hopping to find out the clear biblical formula as opposed to any creeds that were formulated in councils of men for who exactly Jesus is.

Everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. —1 John 5:1-5

The bible says that we can be born of God and that we are if we confess Christ and that God raised him from the dead ..So if we are born of God and we aren't the same God he is why is Christ if he is born of God as well?

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God” —1 John 4:14, 15

And what does Son of God mean exactly?

Matthew 3:17 Look! Also, there was a voice from the heavens that said: “This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved.”

John 10:36: do you say to me whom the Father sanctified and dispatched into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, I am God’s Son?

So Jesus is God's son and that is what son of God means. He is the most special one,made firstborn heir to a kingdom like no other but yet he remains a son.
Solomon, Adam, and Israel all sons of God in a special way.If God calls you his son it does not mean you are him but that he loves you dearly and you are favored.


One question I've heard is why did the Jews want to stone him for saying he was God's son if so many are..I can only assume because they thought he was somehow usurping God's sole rights but they were wrong.Scriptures let us know people were amazed that God had given such authority to a man!So no one thought he WAS GOD!They also knew he was making claims to be the Messiah but they simply didn't believe it.




He is “the apostle and high priest of our confession”—the “one mediator between God and men” (Heb. 3:1; 1 Tim. 2:5).

So here we have some more clear succint formulas of who Christ is ..high priest and mediator.


So he is high priest and high priests in scripture are to be served which does not make them God but those who have been appointed by God himself to be so.
According to the manner of Melchizedek is his priesthood..one that is not from appointment from man but from God and eternal once having begun.

“God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ” —Acts 2:36

Interestingly,trinitarians have a God who had to be made Lord or his human nature did I should say which really doesn't make any sense at all since he is still one hundred percent man right?So why did his human nature have to be made Lord if he already was 100 percent God and his human nature supposedly retained nothing but humanity?Either his human nature is no longer really a human nature because it had to be made Lord supposedly again OR it is still 100 percent human as I've heard trinitarians say..Which is it?Both make moot of scripture..that Jesus was a perfect man who was exalted to the right hand of his father because he obeyed God not because he is God.

I'm probably inadvertantly misrepresenting something here in regards to the "2 natures" thing in my ditziness..if so,forgive me.

“…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” —Rom. 10:9

I already covered how Jesus had to be MADE LORD and I confess that readily and without hesitation.I also confess that God raised him from death and that he is alive to plead for me now at God's right hand.Yet to Christians I'm not a christian at all.Interesting.

What does it mean when the bible says Jesus dies?How does the bible define death?.First let us establish that souls can die and be destroyed and perish.(Ez 18:4,Matt 10:28,James5:20)Having said that let's go further

Ecc 9:5:the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all(excluding the possibility that one is breathing moving or existing elsewhere)

Psalms 146:4: His spirit goes out, he goes
back to his ground;In that day his thoughts do perish.

So since Jesus died and this is God's definition of death there is no reason to think Jesus was anything but completely gone until his God raised him in the 3rd day.Any other confession is a manmade one based on philosophy of man and is frankly Gnostic..So on the third day God gave Christ back his spirit or his breath and animating force so that he could breathe move and live again.I confess this ..Do you?Do you confess that Christ was dead in a grave and not alive at all with no thoughts for 3 days?

Moving on..John lets us know why he wrote his book..why he wrote the book of John:
“These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life in his name.” —John 20:31

Just because he has been appointed to a position that no other son has ever been exalted does not mean he is anything but God's most beloved exalted son.

Isaiah 11:1-3 "1. A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him (Jesus)-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of
counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD (Jesus fearing his GOD)--
3. and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or
decide by what he hears with his ears;"

Matthew 12:18 "Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him (Jesus), and he will proclaim justice to the nations."

So we know from these that God's spirit rests upon his awesome servant Jesus..Jesus is not a servant of his own being but a servant of his God who allows him to live and breathe and gives him his orders and will..



Acts 2:22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus the Naz·a·rene´, a man publicly shown by God to you through powerful works and portents and signs that God did through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know, 24 But God resurrected him by loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to continue to be held fast by it.

So death held him fast for three days but did not continue to.As promised,his God raised him on the 3rd day.

Acts 3:13 The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has glorified his Servant, Jesus

So again we have Jesus being nothing but DISTINGUISHED from the Most High of the OT as the most high's servant and son.never said to be a member of his being..anywhere ..ever..

Acts 3:22 In fact, Moses said, ‘Jehovah God will raise up for you from among your brothers a prophet like me. you must listen to him according to all the things he speaks to you. 23 Indeed, any soul that does not listen to that Prophet will be completely destroyed from among the people.’ 26 To you first God, after raising up his Servant, sent him forth to bless you by turning each one away from your wicked deeds.”

Here were more testimonies from God-breathed scripture who Jesus is.No need to infer anything further than what's given.

Daniel 7:13 “I kept on beholding in the visions of the night, and, see there! with the clouds of the heavens someone like a son of man happened to be coming; and to the Ancient of Days he gained access, and they brought him up close even before that One. 14 And to him there were given rulership and dignity and kingdom, that the peoples, national groups and languages should all serve even him. His rulership is an indefinitely lasting rulership that will not pass away, and his kingdom one that will not be brought to ruin.

So what we have here is a lovely picture of someone like the SON OF MAN being GIVEN a rulership from a loving father aka the Ancient of Days and being distinguished from that one as the one who had to be given what he has and would have to here be excluded from himself being the Ancient of Days unless you're willing to only be traditional and philosophical as opposed to succintly biblical..The Ancient of Days would be the supreme sovereign Lord of the universe the Most High Jehovah God almighty.. God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob God of my appointed king and consecrated Lord Jesus Christ..

Again I would like you ask why a human nature had to be given anything given the fact that it is still one hundred percent human and the God nature should've already had this.And has it ever stricken you as bizarre at all to blame every reliance and declaration of inferiority of Jesus's to a nature and not just Jesus himself,who never qualified this for us?

1 Corinthians 15:27 For God “subjected all things under his feet.” But when he says that ‘all things have been subjected,’ it is evident that it is with the exception of the one who subjected all things to him. 28 But when all things will have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also subject himself to the One who subjected all things to him, that God may be all things to everyone.

Let's never forget to praise the God of Jesus Christ and let us cease to worship anyone else as the same God who is the God of Jesus Christ.

John 17:3:. This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.

And this isn't a "joint object" as I've heard James White say or two persons existing in the same God as trinitarians boldly say but a father who is the only true God and his son who he sent forth to save us who will always serve him and worship him as his one and only True Most High God.And because of Jesus faith obedience and goodness and love God has exalted him to be our Lord and King and second most high over all the universe..Praise God for his power to do this.Praise Jesus for his exalted status and love and goodness and exceptionalness..Praise Jesus for all the same reasons that God blessed his most exalted servant and son.Because God loves him and tells us to.Because he is deserving king and Lord.

So if you're the one who thinks that these statements and BIBLICALLY based "givens" are not good enough "formulas" for who Christ really is then I would say you have a problem with scripture itself ..If Jesus being called God on a literal few occasions in a representational and authoritative sense,authority that he had to be GIVEN cannot be reconciled in your mind with the sheer irrefutable Jewish Monotheism without having to add 2 persons to God's "being" then imo there's a problem.In light of the clear and tenable proof that there is precedent in scripture for others to bear the name of God and the title of God that he places within them. They are acting on his behalf.If they have been given power from the Most High himself.

3 simple truths..1.No one may see God and live.Jesus has been seen and not just in manifestations and agents revealing him but literally seen and people continued to live.2.God cannot die and Jesus can and did.3.Calling someone who is God "God's son" would be misleading and ridiculous.

Reminds me of Jesus saying we need to be like children..I knew as a child God's son wasn't God and told the preachers around me..I did not listen to them when they insisted he was.I knew it wasn't possible.And quickly recognized scriptural precedent for others bearing the title god..And doesn't the bible say that the kingdom belongs to childlike ones?Is it really appropriate to not trust that God would've revealed a distinctive formula so we would at least know he was three persons?Even IF we couldn't grasp it?Do you really think he wanted to conceal his identity of a composition of three persons so that 400 yrs later trinitarians could arrogantly proclaim that you cannot know who he is except through divine revelation and that we should not question this "orthodox" "truth" and are in fact threatened with title "heretic" and "cultist" if we do.Suddenly the logic and reason and truth seeking God endowed and blessed me with isn't valid and must be ignored?Suddenly I am unchristian for only being willing to confess Christ as Messiah,Son of the Living God?


For those of you who condemn people like me to either hell or something else for not confessing that Christ is the second person of a triune God then your condemnation is unfounded given my ready willingness to confess that Christ is the beloved most exalted of God's sons who has been anointed as Christ by the God he himself serves and worships ...all I can say is..who are you to judge someone for confessing what the bible says we must confess for salvation and then telling me I have none?

Now the scriptures I've provided are the overwhelming testimony of Christ's identity.The trinity "proof texts" are never clear and can all be found wanting even in the "orthodox" community itself..conflicting views and interpretations..So when you have a doctrine that forces you to infer,be dogmatic about irrefutably precarious texts to formulate doctrine not even based on scriptural terms,and throw reason by the wayside while embracing philosophical terminology the bible never uses..then houston we have a problemo.

In conclusion,Jesus is :1.High Priest..2.Appointed as Lord..3.Mediator..4.The Christ of God..4.God's Son..5.servant of and beloved One of God...6.Second only to God and worthy of our confession, faith, and honor.

HeLLL naw.

This is all taken from an online essay by Steve Scianni called
"the contributions of Chris Morgan in Hell under Fire"
under the heading
Conditional Immortality and Hell
found here:
http://hungertruth.com/Religion_Articles.html

Read the other articles found there under that heading as well for a wealth of important information :)

Melchizedek

This is all taken from the following page..I copied most of it to paste..there may have been a few more points in there I left out here if you'd like to check it out:)..There are also some other links on the page so visit it.This is for trinitarians who can't do their own research ;)..

http://godandson.reslight.net/?p=335

Hebrews 7:3: without father or mother, without lineage, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest in perpetuity. (Montgomery)

Some, in reading the above scripture, see something in it that is not there, that Jesus has neither beginning of days, nor end of life. They do not seem to notice that when saying that *he* has neither beginning of days, Paul is speaking, not of Jesus, but of Melchizedek (also spelled Melchizedec), and not literally, but figuratively, to show the difference between the priesthood of Jesus and the Aaronic priesthood. If one reads this literally then we must believe that Mechizedek was always a priest from eterity past and that he is still now a priest. Jesus, of course, did begin his priesthood, but not with a lineage or beginning of days here on earth, but in heaven. There is no earthly lineage, no earthly beginning, from which his priesthood is attached. There is nothing here that says that Jesus existed for eternity past; such has to be read into the text.

Paul says that Melchizedek resembles the Son of God. Yes, Jesus is Son of God [He is not the God of whom is Son], and yes, Jesus does live forever, having been given such power by God, although this is not what is being spoken of in the verse, for it is concerning the priesthood that Paul is speaking, not existence. Paul is not saying that Jesus exists “from eternity”; this has to be imagined, assumed, and read into what he said. The only reason I can see for reading this into the text is to promote the idea that Jesus is Yahweh.

Very few believe that Melchizedek is God Almighty himself, having lived for eternity past, having no beginning, no ending, etc. Very few believe that Melchizedek literally continues to be a priest even to this day and forever. And, of course, we know that Jesus had a father. But Jesus had no earthly father from which he obtained a priesthood. To take the view that Paul is speaking literally would make Melchizedek Yahweh, and not our Lord Jesus, who is called the “only-begotten” (John 1:14,18; 3:16,18; Hebrews 11:17; 1 John 4:9), “the Son of God” (Mark 1:1; Luke 1:32,35; John 1:34; 3:18; 5:25; 6:27; 9:35; 10:36; 11:4; 20:31; Acts 9:20, etc.), “the beginning of the creation of God.” (Revelation 3:14)

It would scarcely be necessary to show that Christ was not without a Father. Call to mind his words: “Father forgive them;” (Luke 23:34) Jesus was “born of a woman.” Wakefield’s version renders this (Hebrews 7:3) “Of whose father, mother, pedigree, birth, and death, we have no account.” There was a strict record kept of parentage, birth, death, &c., of every Levite, so that any one claiming to be a priest or Levite could prove it by the records.

It is testified of Melchizedek that he had no end of years, yet we do not see him living today; and it is testified of Christ that he did die, but he was made alive. This same Paul could say of Christ: “Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man.” We conclude, then, that as Christ, in the days of his flesh, had a Father existing on the spiritual plane, and a mother who existed on the earthly plane. Jesus did “die for our sins,” “even the death of the cross,” therefore we have to conclude that Paul is not speaking literally about either the lack of father, birth or death of either Melchizedek or Jesus in a literal sense, but rather he is illustrating the lack of genealogy of the order of the Christ’s priesthood as shown by the account of Melchizedek, and thus Jesus’ priesthood is after the order of Mechizedek, not being of Aaronic genealogy, not having any earthly beginning or end.

When is Jesus made priest after the order of Melchizedek? Has he always been such a priest? No, but while this priesthood has no earthly beginning — he could not even have been such a priest while on earth, while in the days of his flesh, nor did Jesus have an earthly father from whom he could claim a priesthood — he was made priest after his return to heaven. (Hebrews 8:1-4; 9:11; 10:11-12) Thus like Melchizedek, Jesus’ priesthood does have a beginning in the heavens, but it is not seen on earth, nor is it given as a result of any earthly inheritance of the law and its priesthood. Like Mechizedek, Jesus does not literally have “no beginning of days”, but his heavenly priesthood has no beginning of days on earth, nor can be it be accounted for by human descent.

Jesus, now possessing endless life that will never die again, and he will be a priest for all eternity. — Romans 6:9; Hebrews 7:8,16,24,25; Revelation 1:18.
To interject a meaning into Hebrews 7:3 that Jesus is God Almighty because of the description given to Melchizedek is to derive such a meaning out of context, and detract from what Paul was actually saying.

Nor did Jesus glorify himself as priest, for we read: “Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest.” (Hebrews 5:5) It is Yahweh himself that speaks to the Messiah saying: “You are a priest forever according the order (manner, Hebrew Dibrah, Strong’s Hebrew #1700) of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 110:4) Thus Paul says that Jesus is “named by God a high priest after the order (fashion, Greek, Taxis, Strong’s Greek #5010) of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 5:6,10; 6:20; 7:11,17,21) And it is Yahweh, the God and Father of Jesus, who speaks to the Messiah, saying: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” — Psalm 110:1
Thus there is nothing in Hebrews 7:3 that proves that Jesus is Yahweh.

Even as Jesus is made a perpetual priest, Melchizedek is made by Yahweh in the prophecy of Psalm 110:4 (Hebrews 5:6,10; 6:20; 7:11,15.21) like the Son of God pertaining to the priesthood of the Son of God. So that Jesus becomes a priest after the likeness of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 7:15,21) It does not prove anything, however, about the definition that trinitarians would like to give to eternity (as having no beginning), for Jesus has not always been a priest.

The fact that Melchizedek is made like the Son of God does not do away with the fact that it is of Melchizedek that Paul says that he is without beginning of days and or end of life.

There is no genealogical record of Melchizedek, his priesthood had no genealogical record of its beginning of days and no record of its ending of life. Paul is, of course, speaking symbolically, and not literally. Nevertheless, this is how his priesthood is a type of the priesthood of Jesus. We know that Melchizedek’s priesthood actually did have a beginning, and we know that Melchizedek himself did have a beginning, even though we do not know who his father and mother were, nor when he was born, when his priesthood began, etc. Nevertheless, his priesthood was not one that had a heritage from a lineage of priests, and in this Melchizedek is like Jesus. This is Paul’s argument in Hebrews chapters 3 through 10. “After the likeness of Melchizedek there arises another priest” (Hebrews 7:15), a priesthood superior to that of the Aaronic priesthood; Jesus did not receive a lineage as a priest from Aaron. Thus Melchizedek — is made, rendered similar, by the expression of Yahweh (Psalm 110:4), to the priesthood of Jesus. We also know that Jesus was not such a priest while on earth — thus he did not become a priest after the order of Melchizedek until after he was raised from the dead. He did become a perpetual priest after his ascension.

What is the holy spirit?

John 3:34:For the one whom God sent forth speaks the sayings of God, for he does not give the spirit by measure.


John 20:22 And after he said this he blew upon them and said to them: “Receive holy spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any persons, they stand forgiven to them; if you retain those of any persons, they stand retained.”

What these texts tell me is that Jehovah,Jesus's father,is the SOURCE of the holy spirit..He GIVES it to Jesus without measure and Jesus ,as mediator and due to authority afforded him from his superior,dispenses measures of it to his followers so that they TOO can accomplish what he or his father would,EVEN FORGIVE SIN!Significantly,the spirit was given by Jesus BREATHING upon them,.Think about it.Did he breathe a PERSON??Are people baptized in a PERSON and water and fire??

This video is simple enough...from youtube user ancienthebreworg..I have tried to reason with trinitarians that our spirit is our breath,what animates us and so God's HOLY spirit is a kazillion times more dynamic and unexplainable than even ours and so He can use it in ways we cannot fathom or understand but that it ISN'T a PERSON..I hope you'll sincerely watch this..very brief though it may be,it should REALLY help you embrace something true if you're willing...I don't like to define the holy spirit as anything but the holy spirit..I'm not sure "active force" does it justice..it is certainly not to be put into words..if our spirits animate us,make us breathe like electricity for a TV imagine GOD'S how dynamic and unfathomable!The main point I'm trying to make is that it is extraordinary because it is God's BUT THAT IT ISN'T A PERSON lol..MAYBE part of the problem is the common "Christian" belief that spirits are separate entities that survive our deaths.This is false.When our spirits return to God that means our lives are in his hands..He can return our breath(ruah,pneuma=spirit=breath) and animation at the resurrection.Not that we're alive when we are dead...We have to be raised before we are alive again after we die.That is WHY there is a resurrection.If we were already in our destinations why the need for one?!I've heard it all..EXAMINE ALL THINGS.

James White's finest moments.

This video was uploaded by a youtube user named ivandefendingtruth..

Listen as White dances all over the place trying to imply Jesus didn't mean what he said when he said his father was the ONLY TRUE GOD.Obviously,White cannnot believe Jesus here or he wouldn't be a trinitarian..so he tries to pull something from his bum.AS IF John 17:5 proves a trinity!lol..I guess he threw John 17:22 out the window in his exegesis of John 17:5 ..otherwise,the trinity would ONCE again be exposed as hot air,as John 17:22 tells us the KIND of glory he shared with his father?(which in my understanding was a DECREED glory to come)..the same kind the disciples will!!



And here watch James White give us all a lesson in eisegesis!Eisegesis 101 supremo.

Scriptural comfort for the anxious.

Who is Jesus?(by Patrick Navas)

This is a portion of an essay written by Patrick Navas,author of "Divine Truth or Human Tradition"..just wanted to share.He isn't a Jehovah's Witness.



Jesus of Nazareth, the promised Messiah

Although controversy still rages in religious circles regarding the true identity of Jesus, in the first century, the original, foundational truth of the gospel was that Jesus of Nazareth was the long-awaited “Christ” or “Messiah”—God’s “beloved” and “anointed” Son. The sense of the term Messiah (‘anointed one’) is brought out in Jesus’ own words regarding himself as “the one whom the Father consecrated and sent forth into the world,” and when God himself testified of Jesus during his baptism, “this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” He is, according to Scripture, the one whom God “sent” and the one on whom God, the Father, has “set his seal.” —John 10:36; Matt. 3:16; John 3:34; 5:30; 7:29; 6:27

Faith in, and confession of, Jesus as “the Christ” is essential, the true foundation of Christian faith; so much that the faith itself was, in the minds’ of the apostles, directly tied to one’s being “born of God”—a truth delivered by way of direct revelation from the Father. This was demonstrated in Matthew’s Gospel, when Jesus pointedly asked his disciples, “who do you say that I am?”—to which the disciple Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In turn, Jesus responded, “Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” —Matt. 16:13-18

In perfect harmony, at the end of his Gospel account, the apostle John summarized the purpose of his own writings in this way:

“These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life in his name.” —John 20:31

Unlike the doctrinal formulations of the historic “creeds,” the disclosure of Jesus’ identity as “the Christ” and “Son of God” is neither an interpretation nor a theological inference, but a divinely-revealed truth upon which the gospel stands. This is the true article of the Christian faith, resting not on the traditions of men but on the testimony of God Himself. As the apostle John wrote in his first epistle:

“If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is surely greater; for this is the testimony of God, that He has borne witness to His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne to His Son.” —1 John 5:9-10

The apostle likewise assured those whom he was writing to in the first century:

“…everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.” —1 John 5:1-5

The children of God are not identified by conformity to a man-made tradition, but, as the apostle wrote, by believing that Jesus is “the Christ” and because they “practice righteousness” (1 John 3:4-10). And because “the righteousness of God is revealed” in the gospel, those “who hunger and thirst after righteousness” find their fill in the words of “the righteous one,” God’s Son (Rom. 1:17; Matt. 5:6; Acts 3:14; 1 John 2:1), who imparts in believers confidence that his message was truly from God, as he made clear:

“My teaching is not mine, but His who sent me. If anyone's will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.” —John 7:16-17

That is to say, the words of the Messiah are trustworthy and righteous, for he has “not spoken on [his] own authority, but the Father who sent [him] has Himself given [him] a commandment—what to say and what to speak,” the commandment that leads to “eternal life.” —John 12:49, 50

The apostle John bore witness to the same hope, based on the same sure foundation:

“And we ourselves have seen and do testify that the Father has sent His Son as the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God” —1 John 4:14, 15

In spite of the theological formulations of early “church” councils and traditional creeds, the life that Jesus has in himself, as God’s Son, was “granted” to him by one who is “greater” than himself—his Father—and he himself lives “because of” Him (John 5:36; 6:57; 14:28). He is, as Scripture says, “the image of the invisible God,” “the reflection of [God’s] glory” and “the exact representation of His very being” (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:2, 3). He is “the apostle and high priest of our confession”—the “one mediator between God and men” (Heb. 3:1; 1 Tim. 2:5).

These are descriptions that reflect the true, divinely-revealed role and identity of Jesus, the Messiah. Unfortunately the so-called “orthodox” or “mainline” church institutions have, in a multitude of ways, defected from the original letter, and spirit, of Scripture—requiring the confession of doctrine and language that go beyond what is revealed there. As pervasive as they have proven to be historically, however, institution-based creedal formulas that go beyond the Scripture’s own language are unnecessary and often misleading. Because the Scriptures themselves are “able to make [one] wise unto salvation,” and because they spell the truth out with sufficient clarity on these matters, “the man of God” is under no obligation to recognize the authority of any other source (See for example: 1 Cor. 8:6; John 17:3; 1 Tim. 2:5; Deut. 6:4; 2 Tim. 3:14-18).

The Lordship of Jesus Christ

In the Christian Scriptures Jesus is dignified with the status of “Lord” because of the all-encompassing authority given to him by God; as Jesus declared to his disciples after the resurrection: “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18; Psalm 110:1). Jesus was a faithful servant of God who lived a perfectly obedient life to the point of an agonizing death—“for this reason God has so highly exalted him and given him the name that is above every name…” (Acts 3:26; Isaiah 52:13; Phil. 2:8-11). Because of his enduring faithfulness as “the only begotten of the Father,” God has not only “seated him at His right hand” but “has placed all things under his feet,” appointing him “to be head over everything for the congregation” of God’s people (John 1:14; Eph. 1:20-22); as Peter gave assurance to the house of Israel:

“God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ” —Acts 2:36

This is the testimony of the apostles, who, throughout their public ministry, continually drew attention to the Messiah’s resurrection and God-given Lordship as essential to the good news of salvation:

“…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” —Rom. 10:9

Scripturally, however, to honor Jesus as “Lord” is not to conflate him with the “one God, the Father,” who is “one,” but to recognize the authority that his Father, God, has vested in him. That is why our obedience to, and confession of, Jesus as the exalted “Lord” always resounds “to the glory of God the Father.” —Phil. 2:11; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; Deut. 6:4; Compare John 5:22, 23; 12:26

The dangers of “another gospel”

“…the good news that was proclaimed by me was not of human origin; for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”
—The apostle Paul, Galatians 1:11, NRSV

The good news preached by Jesus and his apostles is the same one Christians accept and live by today—requiring no additions, refinements, or alterations (Gal. 1:6-9). As it was in the first century, Christians today continue “devoting themselves to the apostles’ doctrine”—“sound doctrine” that is, thankfully, preserved for us in scriptural form to this day. —Tit. 1:9; 2:1; Acts 2:42; 2 Tim. 3:14-18
The apostles were well aware of the human tendency to corrupt and suppress the truth of the message they were entrusted with (Acts 20:29-32). They knew that, through various agencies, Satan falsely presented himself as “an angel of light,” and that his servants would “disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness.” They knew that the enemy deliberately worked to “blind the minds of unbelievers,” and of false teachers who would “secretly bring in destructive divisions” just as they would “distort the gospel of Christ.” That is why the apostles wrote much to address the threat of a “different gospel,” admonishing Christians to “examine everything carefully,” and to “not believe every spirit” but to “test the spirits to see whether they are of God,” since “many false prophets” and “deceivers have gone out into the world.” —2 Cor. 4:4; 11:14; 2 Pet. 2:1;1 John 4:1; 2 John 7; 1 Thess. 5:21; Gal. 1:7; 2 Cor. 11:4; Gal. 1:6