Lord Jesus

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The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Posted by whatyareckon on April 1, 2021
Posted in: Bible, Christ, Christian, Christian Testimony, Christianity, Christians, Death, Freedom, Liberty, Life, Religion, Religious, Religious Freedom, Religious News & Thoughts, Scripture, Sin. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

1Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

This video is a podcast from http://whatyareckon75447662.wordpress.com

Home Town Rejection

Posted by whatyareckon on March 2, 2021
Posted in: Bible, Christ, Religion, Religious, Religious News & Thoughts, Scripture. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

“But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.” (Mark 6:4)

‘A town will give great honor to a “hometown boy” if he makes good in athletics or the entertainment world. But if he becomes known as an influential Christian, the hometown folks usually are embarrassed about it.

Jesus Himself experienced this. He grew up in Nazareth, and it was there that He had “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Luke 2:52). When He returned to Nazareth, however, after the early days of His ministry, “as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read” (Luke 4:16). He was already recognized there as proficient in the Scriptures, and they had heard tales about His miracles, so the invitation to speak was natural, but there were certain mumbles. “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” they asked. “Whence then hath this man all these things?” (Matthew 13:55-56).

At first, “all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luke 4:22). But then, as He applied a key prophecy to Himself and rebuked them for their unbelief, they “were filled with wrath” and tried unsuccessfully to slay Him (Luke 4:28-29). “Neither did his brethren believe in him” (John 7:5), and only His mother was with Him when He was crucified (John 19:25). As David had written prophetically, “I am become a stranger unto my brethren….For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up” (Psalm 69:8-9).

Perhaps those Christians who have been rejected by their family and former friends can identify with Jesus when He said: “For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother” (Mark 3:35). We still have a family—an eternal one!’https://www.icr.org/article/12615/?utm_source=phplist9276&utm_medium=email&utm_content=HTML&utm_campaign=February+28+-+Rejection+at+Home

Straining at Gnats, Rearranging Deck Chairs, Fiddling While Rome Burns, and Trading Your Birthright for a Mess of Pottage

Posted by whatyareckon on February 6, 2021
Posted in: Bible, Christ, Christian, Christian Testimony, Christianity, Christians, Churches. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

‘Can you agree that life is seventy to a hundred years, sometime less and very seldom more, and it goes by fast?  We know it goes by exactly sixty seconds a minute, but the point is what James wrote:  life is a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.  On the other hand, eternity is forever.  Even in a lesser, albeit significant way, the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a thousand years.

The title brings two biblical metaphors and two secular ones.  Let’s go through them.  They relate to the first paragraph.  Please think about it.

The first one says, you “strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel” (Matthew 23:24).  It’s from Jesus.  The gnat was the smallest unclean animal in the Old Testament dietary restrictions, and the largest was the camel (Leviticus 11:4, 42).  Straining something was the use of a filter.  When you went to drink something sweet that attracted gnats, you made sure you got your gnats out with a filter in order to eliminate the unclean thing.  There’s obviously hyperbole here, because the filter should get a camel too, but in this metaphor, it doesn’t.

The gnat metaphor compares to Paul’s teaching to Timothy that bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is great gain.  Everyone on earth has to focus on physical things, living in a physical world, but these physical things are temporal things, like bodily exercise is.  I watch people, who call themselves Christians and they take care of the gnat, but they miss the camel.  Their focus is on this life, on temporal things, even when it comes to the problems in this world.  How do you see it?

You can see the wrong emphasis on social media.  It’s all about this life, and it isn’t important.  What are you eating?  What car are you driving?  What kind of fashion are you wearing?  All of this is less than gnats.  They are nothing.  They are the dung, the Paul uses for a kind of temporal things in Philippians 3:8.

Let’s move on.  The phrase, “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic,” describes a futile, meaningless activity in the face of doom or catastrophe.  The Titanic compares to the real catastrophe, lost souls going to Hell.  Most of mankind missing Paradise, the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and heaven.  Greater than that, men please themselves and not God, because they do not receive His Word.

Rearranging deck chairs brings some temporal order and symmetry perhaps, better than what it might for the next cold few hours before the ship disappears in the icy ocean.  Imagine while the ship is sinking, the person taking charge of deck chairs announces to signal his virtue, that “he’s going to rearrange the chairs” messed up maybe from the new tilt of the deck.  This is the kind of virtue being signaled today.   Look at me, I’m tithing of mint and cummin, my little garden herbs (Matthew 23:23), while souls all around are going to Hell, and not once is the gospel ever mentioned, let alone preached.

Nero apparently fiddled while Rome burned.  Shame on Nero.  It reminds me of Jesus’ allusion in the Sermon on the Mount, not casting pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6).  Pigs can’t appreciate the beauty and significance of pearls.  Appreciating pearls takes a minimal level of discernment.  A particular brand of baseball cap or footwear supercedes eternal life for a lost soul.  Is my hair in style?  Did I purchase the appropriate brand name of trousers?  Are they ripped enough?  Can you see the right amount of skin?  Rome is burning, and you’re talking about your play list of pop rock tunes, sensual and  worldly.  This is insane like Nero.  There was a reason he was fiddling.  You’re fiddling too.  Think about it.

Esau famously in Genesis 25 sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, essentially some lentil stew.  Sure, he was hungry.  Sure, he wanted to tour Europe. Sure, he wanted to fill his bucket list. Sure, he wanted more instagram followers.  What about God?  What about his parents?  Obedience to them?  Honoring them?  What about the Word of God?  What about the work of the church?  What about the things that God loves and He wants you to value?  This is where the terminology arises, throwing your life away.  Esau threw his life away.  You are throwing your life away, but posing like your mess of pottage matters.

The Apostle Paul instructed (Ephesians 5:16), “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”  What are you doing with your time?  Are you just straining at gnats, rearranging deck chairs, fiddling while Rome burns, and trading your birthright for a mess of pottage?  You don’t have to.  Turn to the Lord now.  Like Paul, count these other things as dung for the knowledge of Christ Jesus.’https://kentbrandenburg.com/2021/02/03/straining-at-gnats-rearranging-deck-chairs-fiddling-while-rome-burns-and-trading-your-birthright-for-a-mess-of-pottage/

The Amazing Snow Buttercup

Posted by whatyareckon on January 30, 2021
Posted in: Bible. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Psalm 103:15-17 “As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children.”

‘Wikipedia has very little to say about the Snow buttercup – Ranunculus nivalis. This is what it says:

“It displays prevalent heliotropism, thus gaining an advantage in its harsh, cold environment through capturing more solar energy by following the sun.”

Heliotropism is a fascinating property. It means that the flower tracks the position of the sun during the day, moving its little yellow parabolic flowers by using special motor cells so that it is constantly pointing towards the sun, as if it were a little radio telescope. The plant grows to about 6 inches high, and its flower is between half and one inch across. As it is the shape of a parabolic dish, it reflects the heat from the sun to a focal point, which is just about where the anther and stamens are positioned. Now, this flower grows in very cold environments so this small amount of extra warmth is very welcome – especially to pollinating insects. Such insects are attracted to the warm spot and are, therefore, more likely to collect or distribute pollen than with a regular-temperature flower. It is undeniable that this gives the snow buttercup an advantage in the competition for pollinators. But I am using evolutionary language. Why is there a competition? How did this flower achieve such an advantage? This property could not have evolved, as the pre-evolved plants would have died in the cold. This is a feature which could only have been designed by God.’ https://creationmoments.com/sermons/the-snow-buttercup/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-snow-buttercup&mc_cid=c0df45bff0&mc_eid=00c1dcff3c

The Father of Believers

Posted by whatyareckon on January 17, 2021
Posted in: Bible, Christ, Christian, Christianity. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

“And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)

‘The key New Testament doctrine of imputed righteousness, received through saving faith in the Word of God, is foreshadowed beautifully in the life of Abraham. Because of his strong faith, demonstrated again and again in difficult acts of obedience, Abraham has been called “the father of all them that believe” (Romans 4:11). Our text verse is quoted four times in the New Testament (Romans 4:3, 22; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23) and is made the basis of the great gospel theme of salvation and righteousness. This is obtained not by one’s good works but by imputation, and is received through faith in the gracious promises of God through Jesus Christ. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

“Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure…to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all” (Romans 4:16). Just as “Jerusalem which is above…is the mother of us all” (Galatians 4:26), so faithful Abraham is “the father of us all.” Spiritual Jerusalem speaks of salvation by grace rather than by law, and Abraham testifies of righteousness through faith rather than by works. And yet, 12 of the 40 verses of Hebrews 11, the great “faith chapter,” deal with the outward evidences of Abraham’s inner faith.

There is still another reference to Abraham’s spiritual seed: “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7). As Abraham’s spiritual children, therefore, we also ought to believe God’s Word at whatever cost, demonstrating the reality of our faith to the world—as did father Abraham—by obeying God.’https://www.icr.org/article/12546/?utm_source=phplist9228&utm_medium=email&utm_content=HTML&utm_campaign=January+16+-+Father+of+Believers

David Hyles & Sex Abuse Lawsuit

Posted by whatyareckon on December 8, 2020
Posted in: America, Bible, Christ, Christian. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I heard Jack Hyles once speak on leadership at a pastor’s conference in a Des Moines, Iowa church and he said something like, “If I told my deacons we were going to become an Episcopal Church, they would agree”. That may not bother some but as an independent Baptist that’s all I needed and I never went to hear Jack Hyles again. Therefore, when I began to hear rumors not only of Jack Hyles but then of his son, David, I wasn’t totally surprised. Now, ‘A former parishioner has filed a class action lawsuit in federal court alleging she was repeatedly raped as a child by the former youth director of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, and that officials at First Baptist and the affiliated Hyles-Anderson College covered up the abuse. 

Nanette Miles alleges she was sexually assaulted over a period of several years by David Hyles, the son of Hyles-Anderson College founder and longtime First Baptist pastor Jack Hyles, starting when she was 13 years old in 1976.

The civil complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois seeks undisclosed damages on behalf of Miles and other individuals who allegedly were harmed by Hyles, other First Baptist leaders and officials of the college. 

“Nanette is seeking justice against David Hyles for his reprehensible behavior for herself and many others,” said attorney Ashley Pileika in a statement. “She is friends with at least two other women who were raped by David Hyles and struggle with severe health complications today. Nanette is courageously stepping forward to be their voices as well.”

The lawsuit says that in addition to Miles, at least 10 others “have credibly accused D. Hyles of using his position of power to sexually prey on them” when they were minors, and that “First Baptist and the College staff members were aware of his reprehensible conduct for years and remained silent.”

The suit also said there are “likely hundreds of other survivors that were sexually abused at First Baptist and/or Hyles-Anderson College.”https://julieroys.com/class-action-lawsuit-filed-youth-director-first-baptist-hammond/?mc_cid=1fbb829451&mc_eid=b13d34ad49

Narcissistic Church Leaders; Really?

Posted by whatyareckon on December 6, 2020
Posted in: Bible, Christ, Christian. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Are all those institutions that call themselves a ‘church’ really a church? Are some ‘church’ leaders Biblically qualified to lead? It’s interesting that ‘In a leaked audio call obtained by The Daily Mail, the founder and senior pastor of Hillsong Global, Brian Houston, described the events that led up to the firing of the lead pastor of the church’s New York City congregation, Carl Lentz.

Houston said difficulties with Lentz’s leadership emerged long before the recent revelations about the Hillsong East Coast pastor’s affair with Ranin Karim, a 34-year-old designer he met in Brooklyn, New York.

“I was already at the point, at the end of the summer, that I felt like Carl and Laura’s time in New York was coming to an end,” Houston said of Lentz and his wife, who also worked for the church. 

Brian and Bobbie Houston founded the original Hillsong Church in 1983 in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia. It now has locations in 28 countries and, pre-pandemic, saw an average 150,000 attenders each week, according to its website. 

Houston accused Lentz in the Daily Mail recording of “general narcissistic behavior. Manipulating, mistreating people. Breaches of trust. Constantly lying.” Houston went on to describe the global megachurch network as “one house with many rooms,” but he said Lentz always seemed to be doing his own thing with Hillsong East Coast.

“If it was just about a moral failure, perhaps it would have been possible to work with Carl and Laura and work their way through it and have a period of restoration,” Houston said on the call that took place the week before Thanksgiving with global church leadership and top donors.

“But the nature of where my relationship with Carl already was, then add the significant nature and the serious nature of the moral issues, just meant that I believed, and the board believed, the only way to go was to terminate Carl and to start with a fresh start in New York,” Houston said.

The Daily Mail’s report quoted anonymous sources alleging that Lentz had multiple affairs during his tenure at Hillsong, and that Houston implied the same in the recording the newspaper obtained. But while Houston talks about “affairs” in the plural, the recording is not entirely clear.’https://julieroys.com/leaked-call-houston-details-narcissistic-lentzs-firing/?mc_cid=fdfa821960&mc_eid=b13d34ad49

Is the Cell Truly Simple?

Posted by whatyareckon on December 5, 2020
Posted in: Bible, Biology, Christian. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

‘The New Scientist for April 2nd announced the design and making of a bacterium with the smallest ever set of genes. Some will infer that life-in-a-test-tube is possible.

Life forms are too complex for life to arise spontaneously, with interdependent systems just springing forth unaided. How simple a living thing is it possible to get? Certainly it would need to be a single-celled creature such as a small bacterium.

In April 2016, The Venter Institute published details of the smallest genome that would support life under ideal conditions. First Craig Venter’s team designed a basic set of genes on a computer. Then they took a small bacterium and painstakingly removed single genes, one at a time. Where the bacterium survived such a removal, that gene could safely be discarded from the genome. They finished up with a tiny genome of only 473 genes. They removed its own genome from a bacterium and replaced it by this minimal genome, nurturing it in a dish of easy-to-process glucose for energy. The synthetic genome then used the machinery of the cell to grow and divide like any living cell.
This remarkable piece of genetic research is very different from making life from scratch, and only serves to highlight the problems involved. The team used naturally occurring genes – they are far and away too complex to design and form from scratch. Moreover, these leading geneticists had no idea what was the function of a third of the genes found to be indispensable to life. The rest of the genes coded for proteins vital to life and checked the fidelity of genome duplication when the cell divides, or made the machinery for turning nutrients into energy. The nutrient rich environment enabled the minimal genome to survive without other genes needed in a harsher situation. The rest of the cell was a ready-made bacterium with all its natural components.

Far from shedding light on how life arose without a designer, the exercise highlighted our lack of knowledge of many cell functions. How could even a genome of less than 500 genes spring from non-living material? Venter’s team have demonstrated that life needs a living Maker.’https://www.truthinscience.org.uk/content.cfm?id=3172

Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

The UN’s UNDRIP Divides

Posted by whatyareckon on December 2, 2020
Posted in: America, Australia, Bible, Biology, BLM, China, Christian. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

The United Nations is an Islamic/Communist institution and as such is a DIVIDER of Nations rather than UNITER! In 2007 the United Nations adopted the ‘Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)‘. What does the Declaration emphasize? ‘The document emphasizes the rights of indigenous peoples to live in dignity, to maintain and strengthen their own institutions, cultures and traditions and to pursue their self-determined development, in keeping with their own needs and aspirations.’https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/faq_drips_en.pdf

Here in Australia Islam has sought to make itself look like a friend of indigenous people even having on one Muslim web site the following logo of the Islamic Crescent and an Aboriginal boomerang.

A quick study of Islam will show that other cultures are always subordinate to Islam.

Now, staying with Australia and the UN’s promotion of Indigenous Peoples there is each year here in Australia what is called NAIDOC week. ‘NAIDOC stands for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’ and this year’s theme is: “Always Was, Always Will Be”. This statement recognises that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years and were the first explorers, navigators, engineers, farmers, botanists, scientists, diplomats, astronomers and artists.

NAIDOC has grown from one day to a full week of celebrations (from the 8-15 of November) and is not just for our Indigenous communities but a celebration for all Australians. 

This year’s theme celebrates Indigenous tradition and spiritual connection to the land whilst facing catastrophic droughts and rising sea levels by the enduring threat of climate change, demonstrating that knowledge of Country, is more important than ever before.’https://www.amust.com.au/2020/11/always-was-always-will-be-2020-naidoc-week-celebrations/

Note the highlighted eight words above. The first is 65,00 years. That is an evolutionary thesis but not a factual known number. That number of 65,000 is based on assumption and guess work! The second two words are Indigenous tradition. Traditions are good depending on the tradition but does one really believe most indigenous people wish to go back to how they once lived!?

The third is spiritual connection. Now, that is a drawback to paganism and animism. This is clearly not good in that the Creator Himself said I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. It is brutal to tell a people anything else. Thirdly note the ever present promotion of climate change. These six words are used to promote a bias against Europeans, the Christian faith and true science.

The United Nations’ UNDRIP is de-visive, deceiving, destructive and devilish.

What Really Occurred @ Harvest Bible Chapel?

Posted by whatyareckon on November 27, 2020
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‘What really caused Harvest Bible Chapel to fire James MacDonald? And what happened in all the backroom meetings, private conversations, and phone calls leading up to that fateful event?

In this episode of The Roys Report, former Harvest elder, Dan George, joins Julie to tell the real story of MacDonald’s firing.

This is a story that directly contradicts what MacDonald published in recent videos and statements on his webpage. But it’s a story that needs to be told—and remembered—given that MacDonald is trying to relaunch his ministry in Chicago.

Hear the dramatic and sovereignly orchestrated story of how MacDonald’s actions finally came to light at Harvest. And learn how MacDonald almost escaped being exposed—and how six scathing letters that revealed MacDonald’s true nature almost failed to reach the elder board.’