Belief Equality..........

This one is a tough one to try and write out and even reason with people.  Especially when these people fight for equal rights, yet reject other people’s rights at the same time.  These people who I’ve come to call liberals.  Yes a liberal will fight for rights of others and rights for themselves even if it limits rights of a select few.  So when I use the term liberals throughout the rest of this blog – I’m referring to this definition of a liberal and not what most people use it as.

You see – liberals are so very easy to call people who disagree with their beliefs “bigots” – yet they do not try and understand why a person has such a belief, nor asks what they believe.  Simply because they disagree with them – they’re clearly deemed a “bigot”.  Isn’t there a saying that goes it takes one to know one?  Simply because one disagrees with your belief, and you’re not willing to hear them – does it not make you a “bigot” as well?

Or how about – you pointing the finger, yet three fingers are pointing right back at you.

Let’s talk about marriage equality for a moment.  Or for that matter, let’s talk about marriage period.  I’ve talked to some people I’d consider good friends over the years.  Some of them gay/homosexual, some of them atheist, and some of them a mix of the two(gay/homosexual and atheist).  What’s interesting about this – is the one thing I generally hear from them is “why would anyone want to get married?  It’s a religious thing.”

Ok – so marriage is a religious thing they say.  So – why are politics getting involved in a religious matter?

I’m a huge fan of separation of Church and State.  So – yes, I’m a Christian.  Why does one need to go to the state to get a license to get married?  Well everyone – it’s pretty clear.  It’s all about money.  You have to pay to go get the license.

So the bigger question is this:  If there was no recognition from the State that you are actually married, would you still want to go and get married?  What benefit would it have?

You see, I don’t want to go to the State and ask for a marriage license.  I simply want to go to a minister/pastor and ask him to simply marry me in an open area.  I want this marriage to be accepted in the eyes of God.  I could care less about whether the State approves or accepts this marriage.

So you see – if you eliminate the State from the subject of marriage, it solves a lot of problems that people always bring up.

People always point the finger at Christianity about marriage, saying they’re against same-sex marriage.  The issue is, for a millennia and even longer – marriage has been defined as a union between a man and a woman.  This isn’t only with Christianity, in fact Christianity is founded on Judaism, and this was a Jewish thing.  Now Jews and Christians aren’t the only ones with this meaning – but even Muslims have this same belief.

See how it was worded – marriage has been defined as a UNION between a man and a woman.

If the separation of Church and State were to become 100% real – maybe the State could offer ceremonies called “Unions” – while the religious establishments can continue to do what they’ve always done and continue to marry people without the need to seek approval from the state.

This IMO(in my opinion) would provide everything everyone is looking to do.  It would respect the religious establishments.  Let’s keep in mind I never mentioned religions like Mormons or others where they accept polygamy. 

Everyone is rooting and happy that the marriage equality thing has happened – but it still doesn’t accept polygamy.  While many people may feel polygamy is a whole other situation – people have those beliefs.  So, if a religious person is supposed to accept another one’s belief that it is acceptable to have same-sex marriages.  Should the person who accepts same-sex marriages not accept that others have a belief that polygamy is accepted within marriages?

May sound like 2 very different things – but in the end it’s simply accepting one’s beliefs.  So if we’re going to start accepting one’s beliefs – then we should be accepting everyone’s beliefs and not just one group of people’s beliefs – but all groups of people’s beliefs. 

You see – I accept that everyone has different beliefs.  I accept the fact that we do, while I may disagree with certain beliefs – I do my best that it doesn’t change how I act towards the person nor how I feel about them.  I do my best to treat everyone with the same amount of respect as the next person.  Love your neighbour as yourself, right?

If I have the right to believe something, another person has the right to believe something else.  Now it’s great to debate this in a healthy discussion, but it should be done in a way to better understand the other person, rather than calling them a “bigot” – because little do you know how complex the reason or reasons are for why a person believes what they do.

This blog, is only beginning to scratch at the surface as for how I believe about marriage-equality, which we can then start to call belief-equality.

Cheers Uncle Wayne!

Wow – who would’ve thought?!

Exactly one week ago – the real Tom Green aka my uncle Tom lost his battle with cancer.  Here it is a week later, and my great uncle, my mom’s uncle Wayne lost his life after a double bypass that seemed to have worked for a short time, but in the end his heart was too weak to make it through a 24 hour period after surgery.

You know – it’s interesting, as many may or may not know – we’ve been doing many renovations at the cottage, and this isn’t the first renovation or redo at the cottage.  When the cottage was initially bought back in the mid 80s, it wasn’t insulated among many other things.  What’s interesting is while we were working on this renovation – we had asked Tommy who insulated the floor with him down in the tight crawl space – and much to our surprise it was Wayne.

So here we are with these two people gone from our lives here forever.

Now – anyone who knew Wayne will say he was a kind hearted soul.  If he had a beer in his hand – you can be sure if you didn’t – he was definitely offering and more than willing to get one for you, and if you weren’t drinking beer he was getting you something else.

                        

Uncle Wayne was never one for motorized vehicles or tools of any sort.  While he may have never married or had kids of his own – I do know that at different times he looked after just about all his nephews and nieces.  Whether it be buying gifts for them at Christmas, or giving them their first beer(they were all of age of course), or even more simple just playing a game of cards or watching a Sports game on TV – he treated them to the best that he knew and could.

After retiring from Ontario Hydro approximately 15 years ago, he moved back to Pembroke and lived with his brother David and his oldest sister Marie.

While neither David or Marie were his kids or nephews, etc. He did make a claim in the house.  The claim was to be the cook of the house.  Thus finally allowing Marie after years and years of cooking for her sisters, children, etc. was able to receive a break from cooking in the kitchen.

You know – the Bible does teach a few things, but not limited to:

1 – God will write his laws on people’s hearts (Jeremiah 31:33)

2 – To look after widows and orphans (James 1:27)

Whether these are 2 things uncle Wayne ever read or not – it clear that God held up to his promise in Jeremiah 31:33.  Wayne looked after a widows, his oldest sister Marie after moving back home – and while his nephews or nieces may not have been orphans he definitely would look after them if needed.

While everyone may have their different memories of Wayne, we should simply be thankful to have been blessed to have had someone like Wayne in our lives.

For those of you who want Wayne’s Legend to carry on – if there’s one thing he did teach me – was he taught me how to mix Caesars(while I was of age of course).

Cheers uncle Wayne!

The Real Tom Green

I'm not even sure where to start in how I write this out.  This has been a difficult long start to a summer for me.  I started off on a stress leave, which then about 3 weeks into it, my appendix decided that it wanted to get removed(no it didn't burst) - to then find out I have a benign cyst on my adrenal gland, which may be the root cause of a few health problems I have.

Now - generally I write things out about things I've found and noticed, perhaps a life experience for me - but today I'm dedicating this to my uncle:  the real Tom Green.

When someone passes on - it's a period of mourning for those that are left behind.  When the mourners feel that their loved one has passed on prematurely - we generally start asking a whole bunch of questions.  When a loved one passes on prematurely due to cancer it's even more so.

Now - Tommy never really had an easy life.  He lost his dad at a young age, and this in itself would've been difficult.  Now - from that moment, yes he had good moments, but it always seemed that just when he was about to get the next lucky break in his life - BAM - something would go wrong.

All throughout this - he'd move on.  Yes he was blessed to have had a supporting cast around him along the way, and yes this supporting cast did help him move on, and yes the supporting cast does also deserve a round of applause.  The key thing here though is he did move on; he continued on and definitely an applause is also in order for Tom Green.

Perhaps there was something helping Tommy - perhaps he had a passion within him...

Anyone who knew Tommy - knew he was passionate about certain things - to the point that if you didn't believe those things you'd say he sounds crazy or "whacked in the head" - just to throw a few examples:  his talk about aliens or other "conspiracy theories", his talk about natural nutrition, alternative medicine or how the pharmaceutical companies are ripping you off because they want customers and not people to get better; how Big Brother is watching us, etc.

Yes - Tom Green - the Real Tom Green was passionate.  Some will also say compassionate - which while this is true with one of his favourite expressions being "warm hands means a warm heart" - but the purpose here is to also allow everyone to learn something through the word passion.

Everyone has clearly heard of "The Passion of Christ" - whether it be the movie or just the Passion that Jesus had in generally period.  For anyone who's seen the movie - you see the passion in the sense that Jesus is whipped, basically even died before making it to the cross that everyone is so familiar with.

Whether you believe or not - just to understand the psyche behind, Jesus did all that to save His people from the sin that was written in the law.  A sin could only be atoned for through a sacrifice and Jesus became that sacrifice.  All that suffering and pain.  He did it for us

Why do I bring that up?  Well passion - is derived from a greek word:  pathos.  The meaning of pathos is:  suffering, emotion, depraved passion.

In today's day - most people hear the word passion and think a deep love for someone, or a deep love for something.  While this may be true - when you look at the deeper meaning of it all, there is suffering.

The reality that we're getting back to is Tom Green was passionate.  Yes he had a deep love for people, he had a deep love for certain things.  While he did have this, his life did have suffering.

Now, while Tommy did have suffering in his life - yes we can get stuck in feeling how we feel bad for him because we wouldn't want such a thing.  This just shows the strength a person can have, and if we can't handle such a thing - shows how strong Tommy was.

Yes - we can feel bad about Tommy having gone through much suffering - even in his last few weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, there was much pain.  He continued on.  Finally in the early hours of July 10th, he lost his fight with cancer.

As much suffering that Tommy had, I believe that you should now rejoice.  Yes we can say he's no longer in pain, he's no longer suffering - but I see something far more beautiful than that.

If Jesus is the King of kings in heaven - I'm going to ask you to just think about Tommy while reading this Bible verse:

I Peter 4:13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

What is love?

I've been seeing a common theme lately coming up.  The theme is pertaining to one word:  love.

What is love? 

• ·         Unconditional
• ·         Baby don’t hurt me
• ·         Patient, kind, doesn’t envy, doesn’t boast, is not proud, doesn’t dishonor others, not self-seeking, not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs(aka forgives), doesn’t delight in evil, rejoices in truth, protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres.
• ·         Choice
• ·         Passion
• ·         Dedication

First off – lets analyze this.  Studies have shown over time that a majority of people hate their jobs – that’s right hate, they don’t love them.  So if you’re one of those “majority of people” – question for you… Are you passionate about your job?  The answer is most likely “no”.  Are you dedicated to your job?  You most likely are but also because of other reasons.  You’re dedicated because of an image you want to maintain.  You’re dedicated because you need that paycheck to pay your rent next month, you’re dedicated because you want to buy that TV after you get your next paycheck. 

So right off the bat – I can say that in a relationship, passion is more important than dedication.  If you’re passionate within the relationship, you will be dedicated; but the opposite is not true.  If you’re dedicated it does not mean you will be passionate.

From that – I can also tell CEO’s, shareholders, company owners, you want more out of your employees – provide them a work environment that they enjoy.  Provide them a way that they will love their job.  Being passionate will lead to dedication and this dedication is not simply I’m doing this to pay bills – it’s I’m doing this because I want to.

But what is dedication?  What does it look like in a relationship?  Within a relationship – love walks and talks.  Ever hear the actions speak louder than words expression?  This is it, this is what they’re talking about.  This is dedication.  Dedication when love is involved looks like this:

 Patient, kind, doesn’t envy, doesn’t boast, is not proud, doesn’t dishonor others, not self-seeking, not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs(aka forgives), doesn’t delight in evil, rejoices in truth, protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres.

Baby Don’t hurt me – a song brought to us by Haddaway.  While yes it is accurate to say “baby don’t hurt me, no more” – again, what’re signs of this?  Again – keep in mind, nobody wants to get hurt.  Nobody wants to be told certain things.  I think the big one though is the ultimate “what is love” question.

Love is a choice.  Love is a choice you make and basically you’re saying I love you as much as I love myself.  If you love yourself more than the other person – then I’d have to say you don’t love the person.  You may think you love them.  You may enjoy their company.  This person though is your cherry on top – rather than your everything.  If you’re thinking about entering a relationship with someone remember this.  Because trust me – if the person is solely your cherry on top – someone is going to get hurt real bad.  Somebody.  That somebody may not only be the other person but will also be you.

While this love is a choice – this choice is an unconditional choice.  You choose to love this person not because anything they have to offer you.  You choose to love this person for the purpose of you wanting someone to feel loved the way you want to feel loved.  That my friends is not conditional as we all want to be loved and that is truly unconditional.  If you love that person unconditionally - the "baby don't hurt me" portion will disappear.

To be or not to be, that is the question – but there is a even a greater question.  To Love – or not to Love, that is the question, that is the choice.

My Journey of Faith - Part V

Hey kids....did I ever tell you the story about the one year we renovated the cottage?  Oh, I know....we were in the midst of talking about the resurrection and death and stuff but, we needed to somewhat take a brief break from that.

While I may have started writing this blog after the renovations had begun - it doesn't mean the renovations are over yet...

Anyways - renovations....taking out the old and broken and bringing in the new and improved?  Sound familiar at all?

Well - this is still about Preterism and it still is about Jesus and so on, and as for the resurrection and death of Adam and so on - don't worry we'll get to that later.

I Corinthians 15:52-54

52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

While many believe this to mean that one day we will all rise up from our dead bodies and be transformed into these new beautiful physical bodies I don't believe this to be the case.  I believe it goes deeper than that - more spiritual if you will.

We're taught that God is spiritual and those who worship Him, will worship Him how?  In spirit and in truth. ;)  Kids - really?  You aren't reading your Bibles yet........so anyways, that's another talk we'll have another time...

So - worship God in truth - the Bible talks about Sin, how Sin is to be rid of and all these things.  Does this twinkling of an eye refer to our new physical bodies will be sinless or is it our mind, heart and soul that must become sinless?

Why did I mention the cottage?  ok ok......

Well the cottage, it was built probably back in the 1950's or 1960's.  Back in a time when it was deemed if you're building a cottage, it doesn't need to be built to the same standards as a house, this has all since changed, but you're with me so far?

So, I remember one year they put a new paint job on, a few years later they put siding on - but why didn't the floor stop bouncing?  Why were there electrical issue, why were their plumbing issues, etc?

Just because it had a new "physical outside" didn't mean the rest was taken care of.  The floor joists still weren't to code, the ceiling joists didn't meet code, and there were band-aids put over broken bones all over.  What can you do?

Well tear everything out, and put something new in it.  Yes kids - it has been a timely project.  Ripping out 3 layers of flooring, ripping out all the old floor joists, ripping out walls, ripping off the drywall, the list goes on.

BUT after this was done - we can now start to change the core of the building.  We're putting in new joists that will more than meet code.  Once done - we're going to properly insulate the floor, put the flooring overtop, build new walls, put in new beams and it goes on and on.

Once we're all done this, people will look at the place and won't notice much of a difference.  The same siding will be there, the same windows, the same everything for the most part minus a few layout changes inside here and there....The difference is, the floor won't bounce anymore, electrical issues will be fixed, plumbing issues will be fixed and simplified.

People may say not much has changed - but I tell you in the twinkling of an eye the building will be transformed.

This is the change that Paul is discussing in I Corinthians.  Does it not line up with what the prophet said?

Ezekiel 11:19-20
19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

While your outside may not have changed after God's work has been to transform who you are, but I can tell you that in the twinkling of the eye, everything about you has changed.  Everything you stand for, your beliefs, etc.

You see kids - it's not all about us dying and getting new bodies - it's about our old heart dying and getting a new one.....

Oh wait - I said I wasn't going to get to that yet........ok - brief spoilers!

My Journey of Faith - Part IV

Hey kids, you know, I’ve been saying so much and I’m sure you have questions, but don’t worry, I’m getting to them…..It was the summer of 2013 I believe, and I remember camping out at our cottage for the annual Horse shoe tournament, yes camping it out on my tent, and I saw a friend of mine post a video or two from a man named Don K Preston.

Well, let me tell you, that a lot of the stuff I’ve learned – a lot of the weird and hard questions has probably come from a Video or something that Don has spoken of.

So – the question comes that starts to come forward when we start understanding fulfilled or Covenant eschatology is: what happens when we die?

Now – I think before we get to that, we need to understand what the resurrection is, but also need to understand what death is.  Don said it so clearly in his tapes too.

What is death?  The resurrection is to bring us to life from death, right?

So here’s something to consider.

Genesis 2:16-17 says:

And the Lord God gave a charge to Adam, saying, Of every tree which is in the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil-of it you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.

Interesting what’s said here.  God told Adam that if he eats of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, that he will surely die – that same day.

Now – we know that they didn’t die that day because God kicked them out of Eden and here they went on to live and Adam went on to live to be over 900 years old.  Now, I know Adam isn’t a Time-Lord and his name isn’t “Doctor” – but something doesn’t make sense here.

Did they die that day or not?  God said they would.  If they didn’t die – then clearly, God lied.  Now the old serpent, the most crafty of the “beasts” that roamed the earth told Eve that they wouldn’t die.  Surely they didn’t die – so it would seem that the Serpent was telling the truth.  Yes?

Romans 5:12 says:

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Romans 6:23 says:

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So – we know that sin leads to death.  Sin is disobedience to God, or disobedience to God’s law.

Isaiah 59:2 says:

But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

James 2:26 says:

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Clearly it is revealed to us in Isaiah and confirmed in James that death is a separation from God and humans.

Notice now, how I’ve now come to see that the death that Adam died on that very day wasn’t a physical death – but on that same day he ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he was separated from God and thus died.

This is the death that would endure throughout all of time.  This was the death that Jesus came to save us from.  Now if Jesus is the resurrection – where does that leave us?

I’ll continue answering the questions as I continue through this journey I’ve been on – but if you’re really waiting and interested in knowing more.  Here’s the first segment of Don Preston’s video series about the Resurrection:

My Journey of Faith - Part III

Well kids, it was the summer of 2011 when I had a big shake up in my beliefs, this lead to the long journey that’s led us here.  While there have been questions upon questions I continued seeking answers to those questions….

Now I already told you about Jesus returning in 70 A.D. – now weren't we at a question about this making Jesus a liar because this would be the sign of the “End of the world”?

First off, we need to understand there are several references to the End of the World within the Bible

Matthew 24:3 ¶And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

Matthew 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Matthew 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

There are many more references – but here are a few key ones.  The KJV of the Bible while generally my preferred reading version states “world” – some other versions depending on the verse use the word “age”.

All 3 of these passages use the greek word “aion” which translates to the word “age”.  So there is definitely a difference between the end of the world and the end of the age. 

What age?  Is this a astrology type of age?  Well if this is coming from the Bible and the Bible teaches against astrology, astronomy or some of those things – we need to understand what age, and what the context of the Old Covenant and the New Covenant is.

So – again not all Bible versions are worded accurately – so it’s important to study and identify different versions.  The LXX of the Old Testament has something worded that is totally fantastic and highlights a prophecy that was to be fulfilled.

Daniel 9:27 And one week shall establish the covenant with many. And in the midst of the week my sacrifice and drink offering shall be taken away: and on the temple shall be the abomination of desolations; and at the end of the time an end shall be put to the desolation.

So – God’s sacrifice and drink would be taken away.  What was the sacrifice?  It was going to the Temple and there were many different sacrifices, Bulls, Lambs, specific birds, etc.

These sacrifices would come to an end.  When did these sacrifices stop?  When the temple was destroyed(70 A.D.).  Jewish people haven’t been able to fulfill that part of their Law since the destruction of the Temple.  Due to this, how can their sins be atoned for?  How can they be forgiven?

You can say “oh but God will forgive them” – but the thing is, they deny Jesus.  In doing so, they deny their salvation and thus are guilty of not following their laws to become right with God.  These are things mentioned in the Old Testament, but Paul does a good job at explaining this in Galatians within the new Testament.  If you want to follow those laws – follow them, but if you miss just one – you’re guilty.

The end of the age is not the end of the World.  The end of the age is the end of the Sacrifice, which was what defined the Jewish religion and thus the end of the age was the end of the Jewish Age.

Was Jesus there until the end of the age?  Did Jesus return at the end of the age?  This we can truly sit back and say yes He was or yes He did.  You see – Jesus didn’t lie – we just need to see Him through a different paradigm.

Again – this goes back to my belief, Fulfilled Eschatology, which some also refer to Covenant Eschatology.

The Covenant was with the Jewish people and only the Jewish people.  That age(Covenant) came to an end and I believe was extended to the Gentiles, but extended under new laws, new rules. 

Under this new Age there would be no more death for those who are seeking God.  Now, granted this meaning of death I just used is not physical death, but rather:  no more separation from God and His people.

 Now - definitely I'm sure questions will be flowing - I know, but at least we have the start of the foundation ground of understanding this under way - we can now move on to next things....

My Journey of Faith - Part II

Well Kids, you know it was that time when I was trying to continue to understand my beliefs.  Here I was somewhat new to Fulfilled Eschatology and I was still trying to find a balance while also still trying to understand what I was learning.

So here I was continuing on in my reading and came across another interesting verse.  Jesus himself said as written in Matthew 16:27-28:

²⁷ For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

²⁸ Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

Now - for those that still believe in a future return of Jesus.  Can you answer me what Jesus meant in Matthew 16:28?  How can some people standing there not taste of death until his return in his Kingdom?

Last I checked I don't know of anyone that's about 2000 years old.  But Jesus himself said that they wouldn't taste of death until His return and if He hasn't returned in His Kingdom, and all the people standing there died - well this would mean that Jesus is a liar.  So - the Jesus you believe in - the Son of God who is faithful, lied?

Again - these were questions I had while believing in a future coming of Jesus, and just couldn't be answered unless you go down a rabbit hole stating "well death is separation from God" - and people wouldn't go through that separation until His return.

Now - while that could be an interpretation - I do not believe that's what was implied.  I believe that some people standing there would not physically die until His return.

Ok then.  surely some questions are perhaps being asked.  Perhaps you want to understand when Jesus returned if all has been fulfilled/completed.  Right?

Let's see what Jesus said about his return - well perhaps let's see what his disciples asked him.

Matthew 24:1-3

1And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

So - we have a reference now - on the time of Jesus' return.  The time is at the Destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.  So - we see why so many people who believe in a future return of Jesus are in support of having a Temple rebuilt in Jerusalem, and it's so that it can then later be destroyed so that Jesus may return.  Trust me, I lived this.  I looked forward to this.

Now if Jesus was saying these things around 30AD.  He was telling everyone He would return in the future, and some would not taste of death until His return.  It's clear there was a Temple that existed in Jesus' day.  We know it's not there today (again, not one stone left standing upon another).  So - did Jesus say that "not one stone left of a future temple to be built won't have its stones left one upon another" or "not one stone left" of the current temple of His day?

Jesus never once said anything in His prophecies about a future Temple to be built.  He did mention the Temple of His day.  He did mention it would be destroyed.  He also mentioned that the Destruction of the Temple would be the sign of His return.

So - the question now becomes when was the destruction of the Temple?  Well, we live in a world of technology where we have tons and tons of information which we can seek out on the Internet and we can quickly use google to look up this information and will find that such a date goes back to 70 A.D.

So - let's go back a bit.  Jesus said that some people standing there would not taste of death until His return.  His disciples asked when the temple would be destroyed and his return and the end of the world?

Now - if 70 A.D. was the year of the destruction of the Temple - is it possible that some people standing there at that time, would not taste of death for about 40 years?  Totally - and absolutely.

So - then this leaves us with how can we still be here if it wasn't the end of the World?  That means Jesus lied, doesn't it?  No it doesn't - you're just looking at this from a paradigm where Jesus will return in the future.  You're looking at it from a paradigm where these events were all supposed to be for us.  Furthermore - if that's your argument to everything stated so far, can you start answering all the questions I've brought up about Jesus - because the Jesus you currently believe in from my perspective is a liar.

It's good to have questions.  The Bible even teaches to examine ourselves, test everything.  Like if this is all true - what about the judgement, what about Hell, where are we now?

While these are all valid questions - there are more important questions.  If this is true, how does this change how the world is run?  How does this change how we live our lives?

Again - this is where we end today, and will continue on next time.

My Journey of Faith - Part I

The Joshue journey....what would it be without explaining my journey, what I've gone through, or what I'm going through learning?  In all honesty, I haven't written a blog in quite some time now - but I think it might be a good thing to get back into it.

You see kids, this is the story about how...........naw - someone's already done that, besides I can do that - but perhaps having some reference material along the way can help tell that story too.

So - one of my last posts on Facebook(if the link doesn't work - scroll to the bottom to read what I wrote) was about some things I wanted people to understand about me when reading a something I'd post on Facebook.  One of the things mentioned was myself being a Preterist or someone following the fulfilled eschatology position of the Bible.  In simple terms for those who don't understand - I believe in the fulfilled eschatology(end times) position of the Bible.

What does this mean?  Well I'm sure that everyone has a core belief of a "end of the world".  When this is mentioned, different people will turn to the Bible to read things Jesus wrote in the Olivet discourse, some people will go and read Revelations, and some will even go and read of many plagues and curses mentioned in the Old Testament.

So - if I believe in the fulfilled end times position - that essentially means that everything from Genesis 1 through to Revelation 22 has been completed or fulfilled.

Now - to take on that belief isn't as simple as making the decision at that moment.  There were a lot of influences.  A lot of questions that couldn't be answered.  I still remember reading Jesus' sermon on the mount and just after the Beatitudes already having a question......now perhaps before getting to the question, I should explain what my beliefs and views were.

I grew up in family that did attend church - but I'll be honest when I say what I knew of Jesus or God was very little, in fact so minute, in fact I still don't know much, but I know tons more than I did back then if that says anything.  So one day I remember being at work, and someone introduced me to this doctrine of the Rapture.  I didn't know anything about this and I definitely didn't this was possible.  So this my friends brought me into the world of pre-millenialism, which is a belief that Jesus will return in the future at a unknown time, but those who believe in Him will be taken out of the world prior to the 7 year tribulation, prior to the great and terrible day of the Lord.  So I believed this, I knew just about every piece of biblical evidence to support this.

Now - to the question.......now this wasn't my only question - but this question was a key factor because it was something that Jesus himself said.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-18

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

¹⁸ For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Now - what did he mean by this?  I'll be honest - I had no idea how to answer this.  I asked different people what Jesus meant by that - and I'd get the common answers like "well Jesus spoke in parables for a reason" and stuff like that, which I thought was complete crap.  How can nobody answer this question for me?  Yes  Jesus spoke in parables for a reason

Matthew 13:10-13 says:

And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

¹¹ He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

¹² For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

¹³ Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

So it would seem that the people I were asking - themselves didn't understand.

So while I believed in Jesus and that He was the Son of God, and all those other Titles He has - I thought - How can I truly believe someone, or believe in someone I don't fully understand.

I remember the day like it was yesterday.  I was kneeling by my bedside praying - "God, I don't care whether the rapture is true, or whether it isn't - I just want to know the truth, I want to know you" - I remember praying this, and going to bed.  I was working overnights at the time and had a Facebook buddy who also worked overnights.  He sent me this link and asked what I thought about it.  So - I started reading......and while some of the stuff of what I was reading made sense, I was at a total loss of words.  I didn't know what to say.  Everything I believed was being ripped away from me.  I was like "what about the 1000 year reign with Christ?" - "what about going to heaven?" - "what about the judgement day?", and the list went on and on.

I don't think I read the Bible or did anything "religious" for a month or so.  I remember going back and at some point and started reading the Bible again, and for the first time ever got to Matthew 5:17-18 and it actually made sense.  Maybe because my faith in believing in an event had been shaken from me and taught me to seek God for who he is and not for what I would benefit out of it.  Now granted I did have some help with understanding this and it was taught to me like this....

Josh - do you believe we live under the Old Covenant or the New Covenant?  To which I answered the New.  He continued to state, well how can we live under the New if all isn't fulfilled until Heaven and Earth pass?

DING DING DING!  Bells going off for me here.

There is a mention of Heaven and Earth passing away and John seeing a New Heaven and a New Earth - but you almost need to be in Revelation 19-20-21 to get to that part.  So, unless all of that has happened - we're still under the old Covenant, which means we need to follow the old Covenant laws, and perform the sacrifices, and all that stuff....Stuff that as Christians we believe we don't have to do because we're in the New Covenant but somehow our New Covenant teaching includes a future return of Jesus and all of Revelation will only happen like 7 years prior to Jesus' return which is just OMG!

So - I know that taking this on, leads to other questions - trust me I've been there, and I'm still searching some of the questions.  Like what about Heaven and Hell?  What about the Antichrist?  What about all those things we believe if Jesus is returning in the future?  Exactly - as I said, my faith was shaken.  With that said, my faith was made stronger and I don't think there's much that could shake it at this point.

With all this said - I'm going to bring this message to an end - but be sure to know, I'll continue this journey and share some of the other questions that were answered through a fulfilled Eschatology viewpoint.