Treasure In Clay Jars

In the Book of Revelation, we marvel at the implication of taking the mark (666) as seen in Revelation 14:9-11 , where such a person is condemned to eternal damnation unable to ever turn to the Lord as is available to most people still alive. However in Romans Chapter 1, the Bible also discusses the condition of people today, where as the scripture says three times because of their behavior, "The Lord game them over..." Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. Romans 1:24 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Romans 1:26-27 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not ...

The lottery fever comes around a few times a year when the nation’s Powerball lottery swells into the hundreds of millions of dollars. This was the case previously when a group of eight ‘ordinary’ people who worked for the same company in Nebraska won $365 million dollars by selecting the winning lottery numbers. Each person in the group ended up with approximately $15 million dollars each. This is generally the dream of the millions of people who buy lottery tickets each week. The chance to instantly become millionaires with all the ‘benefits’ that it supposedly brings. To be certain, there are many who don’t play the lottery “religiously” (a curiously common term used here purposefully), but who can’t resist the lure of the big jackpot. Most of these probably invest a relatively small sum, proportion to their income (say less than $20), for the chance at millions. Others however are probably a lot more liberal in their pursuit investing hundreds or thousands of dollars each year. ...

Psalm 14:1 - The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile...

It was with sadness that I read about the death of famed atheist Christopher Hitchens who died after a battle with cancer on Thursday December 15 th . As a Christian and a very flawed one at that, my “natural” instinct was to muse about how Mr. Hitchens is now face to face with the test of his theory of atheism. However I find myself praying for him and what he actually did with his waning days than anything else. Not many people are given an opportunity by God to basically know for some time that they are about to die before the actual moment of death. For most, death comes unexpectedly i.e. accidents, violence etc. rather than via protracted illness the latter stages of which are spent in Hospice care. According to the Bible, for those who die with minimal or little warning, a life lived apart from accepting salvation through Christ is followed in rapid fashion by death and then judgment from God on that life: …as man is destined to die once, and after that to face...

For those inclined to chuckle or otherwise enjoy the “failings” of yet another so-called Christian prophecy about the end of the world (which did not occur on 5/21/11), I will caution you to read what the Christ actually does say about His promised return: Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear. “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself.* Only the Father knows. “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes. (Matthew 24:35-39 NLT) The incorrect prediction by Harold Camping of Family Radio is simply the latest in a long list of “false prophecies” as pointed out by the Lord in the Bi...

(Isaiah 8:19-22 NLT): Someone may say to you, “Let’s ask the mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead. With their whisperings and mutterings, they will tell us what to do.” But shouldn’t people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead? Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark. They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness.

Recently my wife and I were discussing the issue of people's perpetual search for happiness. Here in the western world, from the time we are small we are constantly bombarded with so-called enablers to happiness: toys, clothes, a beautiful mate, money, cars, houses, vacations, status etc. The result is oftentimes the perpetual pursuit of one or more of these "tangible" rewards towards our satisfaction. Sound familiar? The all too common result however is that the achievement of one or more of these and other goals or pursuits never really brings the so-called happiness that one is often seeking. Oh it may be satisfying for a time, but the pursuit usually picks up again for the next accomplishment towards that elusive happiness goal. The parallel universe of this happiness axiom also is the failure to achieve your pursuit. Also perhaps the loss of the pursuit. The loss of a mate (married or not); the job loss; the reduction in earning power etc. These outcomes oftenti...

So it is with no surprise that I greet the news that the lies of the Global Warming crowd have been uncovered. This has occurred by way of a hacking of the computers of an organization in England which contains the central data repository used by proponents of this “religion”. It is clear from the information revealed that data has been manipulated and a full effort organized to suppress all dissent by those who have been skeptical of the claims that the Earth’s temperature is rising, caused by man-made events. What a shock! Another man-made religion discovered to be held together by fraud, deceit, manipulation and willful ignorance on the part of a world of people who simply “want a better planet” in which to live. Newsflash: the world is not going to get better because of man-made effort. As the Bible states “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:8 NIV). It is admirable to want to see the evil of this world at an end, but it...

Such is the undercurrent of a very telling article written on the USA Today website in which the specter of the exclusivist “evangelical” Christianity movement is suspiciously evaluated within the context of big time American sports. To be sure, the author is clearly not being objective in his representation. Despite his “credentials” as a presumably objective journalist, the fact of the matter is that Jesus’ claim that "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NIV) leaves no room for objectivity. Either you believe what Jesus says or you don’t. Of course you could try to avoid having to choose by “believing” that Jesus never uttered this declaration. However, at least for the USA Today writer, he decides not to try to be evasive or "clever" on the issue. He clearly feels that if Jesus made the statement, then He must have been wrong. The author writes: These sports stars, like all Americans, have a right to ...

An interesting area of concern raised by this so-called Healthcare Bill being promoted by President Obama and Liberals throughout the country is that of the elderly and the not so hidden reality that the bill will likely lead to the rationing and ultimately withholding of medical treatment from the elderly because in reality it is not “cost effective” to continue extending their lives. Picture an 80-something grandmother who requires more chemotherapy or Alzheimer’s treatments or additional MRIs to try and diagnose her persistent fainting spells. To the liberals (translation: ungodly) proponents of the so-called healthcare bill, it is impractical to spend “scarce resources” on this life that is going to end shortly anyway. Sure it sounds insidious, but think about it: it is no different than the already raging reality of ending the life of the child unborn, because it will be impractical to spend “money or emotional energy we don’t have” to raise it to adulthood. Make no mistake about ...

With the question of governmental funding of stem cell reasearch the specter of support for this program casts a spotlight on an issue that forces people, Republican and Democrat to display their true feelings on the "value of life". The abortion issue is somewhat easier for people to take one side or another, particularly if you have never been touched by it personally. This post however takes issue with those who scream "protect the unborn" on the issue of abortion, but who also says that stem-cell research is OK because of the "hope that it gives to save millions of lives". The sanctity of the unborn’s life seems awfully relative in this position. It seems that for these stem-cell supporters, the unborn who can "help save the born" are discardable. The paradox of former President Bush's position was that he took a supposedly "moral stand" by refusing to use federal money to fund stem-cell research, but appeared publicly ambivalen...

One of the many ‘creepy’ things about the Obama cult following is how much it would appear to mirror that type of sycophantic response we Christians expect from the world populace when the Anti-Christ appears on the scene. Now before readers start screaming at me, please note that I am NOT calling President Obama the Anti-Christ. I would not do so without what I would consider ironclad biblical evidence. What I am saying though is that the way people have evidently en-masses agreed that this man is worthy of the type of hyperbole that I have not witnessed ever being afforded to another human being is quite astonishing and to me very revealing about the readiness of our world for the character that the Bible predicts will deceive many, so much so that they will swear their eternal allegiance to him. Here are a few items of scripture to illustrate the point: Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive man...

I must state up front that I am not a believer in the Global Warming hysteria. Honestly, I don’t believe in Global Warming primarily because of the make-up of the crowd who do. I am not a scientist, so I have no idea whether or not the earth is truly warming beyond dangerous levels caused by “human activity”. There is however an irony at work in the global warming headlines that I know points to a truth that most of the global warming worshippers WILL miss. With so called global warming, the effects of the sun is coming closer to us and will eventually cause the demise of many IF we don’t change our behavior; IF we don’t stop polluting our world with our filth. This may or may not be true. However this much I know is certain: the effects of the Son (Jesus the Christ) is coming closer to us and will eventually cause the demise of many IF we don’t change our behavior; IF we don’t repent (individually) for polluting the world with our filthy behavior and acknowledge the Son who’s ret...

Should we say “Merry Christmas” or just “happy holidays”? This issue has grown in intensity in recent years as our culture has simply become more godless… in the name of so-called “inclusion”. The saying goes: there are so many different kinds of people in our culture that it is offensive to wish others a “Merry Christmas”. What if they are not Christian? It has gotten to the point that at my daughter’s school, the kids have become so programmed that it was rare that anyone wished each other a “Merry Christmas” as they left for the “winter break”. What a shame. I was thinking the other day…are they going to start calling December 25th “Winter Day” or some such nonsense? All I will point out is that Jesus himself said in the Bible: "I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. (Luke 12:8 NIV); elsewhere Jesus also said: If anyone is as...

I was watching a television commercial the other night and the thought occurred to me how similar this world is to a television commercial. I was thinking specifically about the image that the commercial producers want you to see versus the information that they don’t want you to focus on. I have a tendency to focus on the small print that appears on most TV commercials just to be humored by the true costs, disclaimers and other very pertinent negative pieces of information that accompanies the “glitzy” and “eye-catching” product that usually draws many people to the stores. You should try it once. You might find that when you do, the product doesn’t seem as attractive any longer. The Bible states very clearly that for His purposes, God has given control of this world over to Satan (but only for a time): Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message ...

This post is an open letter to James Carroll (Op-Ed writer for the Boston Globe) on his article which appeared previously on the Globe's website. Mr. Carroll...I admire your piece as ostensibly a Christmas Day tribute to Jesus Christ, however as I see it, yours is an example of the misunderstanding (or understatement) of the true message left by Jesus and now carried out today by His Holy Spirit in the lives of common people. To illustrate my point, I have taken the liberty to excerpt a few points taken directly from quotes throughout your piece. My point here is not to deride for the sake of being contrarian or argumentative, but to perhaps provide some sharper points of clarity on the Jesus about which you write. Your quotes are in bold below: "Those who in the first place had come to love him did not give up their affection for him." It was in that "not giving up affection" for the dead Jesus that the Jesus movement was born. Jesus' followers do ...

Recently I wrote about the controversy spawned by airliner British Airways over its decision to force an employee to discontinue wearing a cross around her neck because they felt that it was offensive to others. The ridiculous decision created a firestorm of protests from all around the world, and in a predictably financially motivated reversal, British Airways has now relented on the policy, and “…have decided to allow some flexibility for individuals to wear a symbol of faith on a chain.” So states airline Chairman Willie Walsh. However listen to this additional statement on the part of the Chairman: "Our uniform is one of the most powerful symbols of our company and heritage. Our staff wear it with pride and our customers recognize and value it. "This modification will enable staff to wear symbols of faith openly without detracting from the uniform." So, it seems Mr. Walsh is making things perfectly clear where British Airways stands. In the pecking order of important...

I know I may be beating a dead horse (unfortunate pun not intended), but as I read the following headline this morning, the incredible absurdity of a world in denial and ignorance was too powerful to gloss over. The headline read: "Blair Urges Vatican to Face Reality on Condoms" . This wonderful piece of “pragmatic” philosophy was spoken by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, regarding the discussion of “effective” ways at fighting the spread of AIDS. The headline’s article goes on to say incredulously: In a television interview on World AIDS Day Friday, Mr. Blair criticized the Vatican’s longstanding opposition to the use of condoms, as he argued that preaching abstinence was not enough… Speaking to MTV, Mr. Blair, Anglican, said: "The danger is if we have a sort of blanket ban from religious hierarchy saying it's wrong to do it (using condoms), then you discourage people from doing it in circumstances where they need to protect their lives." – Christian Today....

A few years ago in England there was an object lesson on the perversion with which some people have come to view Christianity and Christ in the enlightened world of the 21st Century. The case surrounded the issue of global airline British Airways (BA) who had recently suspended one of their check-in workers Nadia Eweida, from wearing her cross around her neck because it is too visible to the traveling public and is therefore offensive to others. All this while at the same time, British Airways as a matter of policy allows other “religious” adornment such as turbans and veils to be worn by employees because in doing so they demonstrate the “tolerance” that should be the hallmark of a sophisticated society. In the words of BA CEO Willie Walsh “…I am proud to lead an airline that has a track record on diversity and inclusion which is second to none.” There is that diversity word again. In the interest of diversity, various religious symbols and creeds ought to be encouraged in our multi-c...

I just read a very revealing report done by The Barna Group on the shifting moral attitudes when comparing self-professed Christians over the age of 40 versus those below the age of 40. The general conclusion of a survey of these two groups showed a significantly looser attitude towards Biblical Christianity and how it should be manifested in everyday living among the younger crowd. There is a certain predictability to such results, given that young people especially those who are single and without children are usually far more liberally minded due to less appreciation for the negative consequences of their behaviors on themselves and others. There is however some pause that must be given to this study as the Barna report rightfully points out, because the society in which our 21st century young people are living in has become far more perverse and insidious in championing the devil’s agenda. As a result, the embracing of or minimal resistant against the popular culture by today’s C...