An Allegory

A recent conversation on Facebook on the topic of "Calvinism" went like this:

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From an Arminian "friend" :)

A man having 100 dogs took them to the far end of a long driveway. Having placed 96 of them in a cage he attached a long rope to the remaining 4 and went to the opposite end of the driveway. Once there he called, with a general call, to all of them. None of them responded. The ones in the cage of course could not and the others could not understand the meaning of the call. Taking the rope in hand the man proceeded to force the 4 to come willingly. (force to come willingly, this is the exact statement used in the book “The Five Points of Calvinism to describe the actions of God the Holy Spirit.) The 4 the man now called elect and born again. These were to be showered with treats and happiness forever. On the remaining 96 he poured flammable liquid and set them afire with a flame that would burn forever because they had not responded to his call.
All of this was to demonstrate the love and mercy of the man and show forth his glory.
I much prefer the allegory of the man walking down a long road when on the side of the road he sees a door over which is a sigh which reads “Whosoever will may come”. He steps through the door into a glorious wonder world. Looking back at the door that he just came through he sees another sign that says, “Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world”.
If the allegory of the man and the dogs is not an accurate picture of Calvinism please correct me. If it is accurate then please join me by passing through the door, which is Christ, and receive Him by faith as the Lord of your life.

My reply:


Your allegory fails because all of the 100 dogs that are to represent all of mankind would have to be in the cage  because creation is less than perfect, only God is perfect, God had made all of creation good at creation however it isn't perfect because only God is perfect. To make your allegory line up with scripture, the dogs would have to ALL be in the cage, and then it is God who opens the cage door and drags a few of the dogs out that are actually content to remain in a cage that is destined for eternal fire...
....and to make your allegory even more correct with the Bible, the dogs have to be blind, lame, and actually in every way dead, and then God takes only some of them, according to His purpose, revives them back to life, gives them sight, and ability to walk as He drags them unwilling and unable to come by their own ability, He drags them out of their terrible situation, and only THEN do they realize with amazement (after they have been dragged out)  what  they have escaped.

Powerfully Saved

So much has been happening in the news lately, of course the much anticipated Supreme Court decision is being talked about everywhere, many on Facebook are altering their profile pictures to show their support of the same sex marriage decision...I was considering altering my profile picture on Facebook to have a Bible or a cross or perhaps an open tomb, but decided to keep my profile pic the way it is. I don't want to cause people to jump to conclusions from a picture before hearing me out, and it all seems like a childish "whose side is bigger" game to me. It doesn't matter what people (including Supreme court justices) decide or do, it is what God has done, does, and will do that matters most.

Looking around on youtube on the topic of LGBT I found a wonderful testimony by a former lesbian activist. She has many insights into the "lifestyle" and the LGBT movement, how they infiltrate, the truth about LGBT tactics, and the difficulties that plague those caught in this way of life from behind the scenes, and how the Lord saved her and changed her "ministry".

Charlene is not a pastor, but she does mention a woman pastor that spoke words of life to her. I hope you won't get sidetracked on the woman pastor issue.  True that the office of pastoral leadership should not be held by women, however I also know from scripture that God can even use a donkey to keep a person from heading for destruction.

Also she mentions that it was her choice to allow Jesus to save her, yet she mentions  that the Lord saved her when she was 12 years old...the Lord obviously had a plan for Charlene's life and He brought it to completion. It doesn't matter if we think we chose Him, what makes anything we do real or not is if God ignites and infuses His Spirit into whatever decisions we make. Many think man's power to decide is what saves us and of course we can do nothing unless the Lord first grants us the ability to see that choice and then give us His power to choose the right thing. She might be a bit confused about who chose whom, but I can see that she has been powerfully saved by the Lord truly intervening in her life.

This video is about 25  minutes in length. Please have a very uplifting and inspirational coffee break time out with Charlene:

Upsidedown

This life is topsy-turvey sometimes (often times?)...I've been posting about the gifts of the Spirit on my other blog, and it seems to me like the world is getting crazier and crazier...someone posted this on Facebook:

Interesting that when I first was saved it seemed my whole world turned upside-down and for a while I had a horrible time coping. One day I was doing a bit of gardening. The soil where I lived was hardened clay, it was as hard as concrete. I tried everything, soaking it for days on end, but I couldn't dig deeper than a few inches. The only things I could grow were my rosebushes and, well, weeds. Then, as the sweat poured from me, and covered in dirt, trying to get this little piece of ground to obey me, it dawned on me how upside-down everything is in this world is. The plants that are good and beautiful and for food, are so difficult to keep alive, and the brambles and weeds grow like, well, like weeds. It is just like we learn from the book of Genesis. The way the earth is isn't how God created this earth to be. It is upside-down and backwards.

After watching a few videos about how badly some (many?) people mangle the truth of God's word, which I post a little on at my Bible Treasures blog, I needed to get some air. It is such a beautiful day here, after all that snow and such a cold and long winter, it was good to get out for a stroll....

...just down the street...

...it almost seems like I can get away from it all....

...so close and yet so far away....

...it's hard to believe this is right by our home, 

it almost seems like another world from another time...

...truly I am blessed to have such beautiful and quiet neighbors (trees) ...well, it's time to start supper :)

Privacy? or Sneakiness?

There is a difference. I understand the desire for privacy. My dear hubby hates his photograph being taken, let alone having it published on the social media websites (!!!). His reasoning is somewhat unreasonable to me, but I respect it because I know it is not out of a sense of wanting to hide something.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, their first reaction was to cover themselves. They did not want what they did to be in full view. That is why they made fig leaved aprons for themselves. There was a slight difference between Adam and Eve's situation and our own situation today. Adam and Eve were not in the midst of a sinful (sin-filled) culture, but were alone with only animals and plants...and the Lord...I personally don't believe they were trying to hide their sin from the plants and animals, so the only One they were trying to keep from finding out about their sin was God. God did not accept THEIR MEANS of covering themselves but instead provided them with a skin of an animal (something had to die as a result of their sin) and HE PROVIDED the proper way to be covered.

Are we so different from our first parents? We too try to cover the wrongs that we do in ways that perhaps we think will make them appear less bad, or make ourselves look good (in our own eyes, at least). Is that the correct way? Of course not. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but THROUGH HIM. Those are not just pretty words. They are the truth that sets us free from having to cover ourselves with our own ways of trying to "look good", or hiding altogether from others. I have been to websites where the blogger cleverly hides everything about what they really are about. The website is pretty, pretty pictures, pretty (but empty) words, things that inspire others to want to know more about this family and this blogger, and this blogger always, ALWAYS, had me wondering about what they really stood for, and why it was not openly proclaimed. Why hide? Privacy? Then why blog? And if we truly are in Jesus, why not proclaim it in everything, truly showing that we have HIS covering over OUR SIN, which is something we as Christians are to proclaim, especially in a time such as this....

And yet, instead, there are excuses, and charming alternatives that Jesus "must also bless" because He is a loving God after all, isn't He? Yes. He is a loving God. And like a truly loving Parent, He won't allow for self-deception, especially self-deception in Christians (or those who when pressed will say they are) who have as their main self-interest the desire to gain other people's praise for themselves, instead of where it rightly belongs, with God alone. Then it is still our own works, fig-leaves, that we want others to be impressed with. When we truly love our loving God, we only find comfort in desiring that others know how Jesus alone gets all the glory..... if there is any good to be found in me, it is ONLY because of Him. Is that something that I should keep hidden? Will God be "ok" with my attempts at making Him a hidden "side-kick" of mine that I once in a while bring out so that I can show myself to be a "good Christian"? What can we learn from our first parents regarding such behavior?

This is something that I've been wondering about with all the "big brother surveillance" lately. Many want to do away with such surveillance and I agree in part that it is again the way this world operates, it wants to replace God, to make itself God, watching over us. But do we need to hide ourselves? Do we need fig leaves to make ourselves appear good to others? Or can our lights shine all the brighter when those in the world are calling evil "good" and calling good "evil"? Do we hide our light under a bushel when it is unpopular to be a Christian and only display it for self gratification? Or must we proclaim it even if it gets us, like the early disciples, killed?

Time will tell who the "real Christians" truly are. We have nothing to hide, because we have an Advocate to the Father. :)

Mass Murder Pills?

"Everybody" is talking about Alex Jones "rant" to Piers Morgan.... whether you like Alex Jones or hate him, it did have the benefit of looking deeper into the subject of guns and gun control. There was a little something that Alex managed to get in that has gotten little press before now...the connection between psychotropic drugs that are being prescribed to MANY AMERICANS today, and the rising violence that we see on the nightly news.

The Bible warned about witchcraft:

 Gal 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies...

I linked that word to the Blue Letter Bible explanation for it.

These are terrible times, and there is so much truth being suppressed and it is indeed killing people:

 Hos 4:1  Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
Hos 4:2  By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
Hos 4:3  Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
Hos 4:4  Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.
Hos 4:5  Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.
Hos 4:6  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
Hos 4:7  As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.
Hos 4:8  They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.
Hos 4:9  And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.
Hos 4:10  For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.
Hos 4:11  Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
Hos 4:12  My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.
Hos 4:13  They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.
Hos 4:14  I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.

This nation is reaping what it has sown...in pride, in arrogance, in self sufficiency, it boasts against the most high God and says "I will..." do whatever they want to do, and now we are seeing the fruit of it.

Keep oil in your lamps and your wicks trimmed, let your light shine brightly as in a very dark place. The truth needs to be known and held forth. The truth will set men free.

Halloween

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I am no fan of Halloween, but simultaneously I do not feel called to stand on a soapbox to denounce it either. I feel led to live my life as quietly as possible in thanksgiving to God. I have always struggled with whether I should still hand out candy even though I personally believe it is something I should not be involved in...but I live in an apartment complex and previous years here we have been rather untrafficked by little Halloweeners (Halloweenites?) . I think they tend to go to the neighborhoods where they think they will reap the most candy, which I suppose isn't here. It does help me with my avoidance of this issue of what to do or not do regarding this thing. If any Halloweeners do happen to show up, I have fiber/nutrition bars available to hand out. At least I can try to make it a bit healthier than a Snicker's bar. I have also seen it advocated to put Christian tracts into the little gremlins and witches bags. I'm not sure if that falls into the category of casting pearls to swine, because I'm certain the little "darlings" won't appreciate getting jipped out of some great treats...

What will you be doing for Halloween? What about "All Saints Day"? I have a friend whose birthday falls on "All Saints Day" (November 1st). I do say "Happy All Saints Day" at least a couple of times on November 1st and it usually gets a puzzled look in response.

Happy All Saints Day!!!

It Depends On How You Look At It

The last few weeks have been times to reflect what I think, how I perceive, and what I think the Lord wants me to consider valuable and important. I realize that often times what I think is most valuable and important really isn't anything special in "the grand scheme of things" and what truly is important often gets trampled underfoot, and thrown out. (I think this is why I am such a clutter bug/hoarder. I'm always afraid that what I throw out will be thing thing I will really regret throwing out and soon after throwing out discover that I really needed it, sigh) .

I've been trying to pay more attention to those things that speak huge truths quietly, to listen carefully to sermons, and not just throw a sermon out because I disagree on one point....and who knows? I might be off (probably am) on my full understanding of that one point and how I should actually deal with it. Instead, I want to really listen for the gems that are there, that the Lord knows I need to hear.

Lord open my ears that I might hear, and my eyes that I might see, those things that you see I truly have need of. Help me to not shut my ears to you because the bearer of your message to me disagrees with me on one point.

...and Romans 8:28 always comes to mind. :)

A wonderful sermon that truly blessed me:

Exercises in Missing the Point

Freedom of the Believer

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Does Jesus truly set us free? Free from what? What does that mean?

The whole thing about Christmas being completely pagan and the need to "throw the baby Jesus out with the bath water" as it is being discussed on Look Up Fellowship, is making me look at this topic once again.

This situation reminds me of the story of how circus people train elephants to remain on a chain. A very young elephant is chained with a  huge chain to a very large peg. He soon wearies himself trying to pull free from the chain. Eventually he resigns himself to the fact that he never will break free. Now the big chain can be replaced with a much smaller and weaker chain that will keep the elephant from breaking away, even though he has more than the needed strength to break free. When Jesus sets us free, we can be alot like that elephant that doesn't really believe that Jesus set us free. We still want to perform within the limitations that we have grown accustomed to. However, if my freedom causes weaker brethren and sisters to "sin" because they believe that living an extreme Puritan lifestyle is the only way Jesus will accept them, should I flaunt my freedom in their faces? The Apostle Paul said I shouldn't do that, but to have compassion for the weaker believers that feel that they must keep to rigid traditions (or a complete break with certain traditions) in order to keep themselves pure. I myself find I don't have to follow the traditions of my family, but can join with them and enjoy being with them in celebrations that I don't necessarily fully agree with, but do not feel condemned in being with them in the celebrating.

We are sanctified in Christ, by His blood, not by our doing or not doing, but "to them who think it is a sin, it is sin".... so should we cause them to sin by making them accept what they see as sin in us? The Apostle Paul said that was not a loving way to be towards others, so we should be mindful of their weak consciences. 

But then does that mean I should conform to their way so that their mind can be appeased? If I know it isn't true, then am I not a hypocrite? Shouldn't I be honest about it?

The way I see it (maybe I'm wrong) is if I am in their home, I would respect their way, and eat their food (if it's a food issue), and respect them if they feel unable to come to my home because I do things they see as abominable and my food and drink or habits are intolerable for them, and then not chide them for their weakness, neither let them judge me (Colossians 2:16) because we have one judge, and we all stand before Him.

We serve one God, He is over all. If one who serves Him wants to serve by not doing something, then that is how he will serve God. If another serves God by doing that which another man finds offensive, it is not for him to judge how another man serves God, but to pay attention to his own walk before the Lord.

We will each have to give an account for our own actions, and according to the scriptures love (poured out to us through the blood of Christ) covers a multitude of sins. (Proverbs 10:12)

He gives us His peace.

Edited to add:

A very nice link that has lots of verses which have to do with the freedom we have in Jesus:

http://www.nehemiahministries.ca/2009/the-believers-freedom-colossians-210-16/