Today, Wednesday, June 22, 2011, at about 3:20 PM PST, my dearest friend and life-long mate, Rosemary DeBrunner, shed this vale of tears that was so much suffering and hardship for her in recent years.  She has gone on to the glorious next life.  She will never come to me again, but I will go to her, one way or another, sooner or later.

Here is what I know she would want you to know:

She is a saved sinner, a blood-bought, redeemed, justified child of The King, and she knew exactly what awaited her at the end of this life: life more abundantly.

This is something she KNEW.

And she would want you to know that you can KNOW your fate as well, just as surely as you can know that the day brings the sun.

She had this great assurance because she believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, born of a virgin, heir to the throne of David and the kingdoms of God and heaven, a sinless sacrifice offered for our offenses, crucified, dead, buried three days, and resurrected to life, ascended to Heaven, and Who will return soon with ten thousands of His saints, including her.

For that belief, God took away her sins and gave her instead the righteousness of His Blessed Son that she might stand in His presence fully justified.

She would want you to know that, and to do that.  To know that all it takes is to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” (Acts 16:31)

I prayed for a miracle to restore her health complete and whole here in this world, that she would live and not die and declare the works of the Lord.

Father doesn’t not always agree with me, and I know He knows best.

I imagine she is enjoying being young again, no pain, able to breathe deeply and easily, to run and laugh and thoroughly enjoy the presence and blessing of her Savior.  I look forward to the same someday.

Many of you have lifted us up in prayer, and I thank you for your vigilance in prayer with me these many months.  There were real episodes of despair, and real episodes of wonderful progress and happiness.  In it all, I know you were there with us.

Now I ask of every believer reading this, pray yet again with me that this life and this testimony touch every nonbeliever reading it, that has yet to understand their desperate peril and need of Christ, and that they too can have Rosemary’s profound and blessed assurance.

That is a request I know pleases Rosemary greatly.

 

This I Believe

 

There is a file linked below.  It is a gift for you.   Don’t miss it…

“Good Friday” I listened to Glenn Beck mangle the crucifixion story on his radio program.  Actually, I listened to only a few minutes.  I couldn’t take much more than that.  It was pretty disgusting.

That falls on my observations over the last couple of weeks of the run up to Easter, with ads for Easter Trees (no kidding), costumes, and sundry other new ways to create some commercial traction along with all the standard junk—chocolate bunnies, colored eggs, baskets, bonnets, etc.

It seems that the most important event in history, commemorated by the most important Christian holiday (Holy Day), just doesn’t have the appeal of even Valentines Day, let alone Christmas.

Why?

Because nobody wants to talk about what really happened.

But I do.

So, I decided not to just refresh the Resurrection messages I published the last couple of years.  Last year’s is still here on the blog and I encourage you to read it again and get everyone you know to read it.  It won’t let any of us dodge what this day really means.

This year I decided I really wanted to give something to everybody that I find blesses me tremendously.  It is a harmony of the Gospel accounts of the death and resurrection and when these scriptures are put together this way and read as the simple, powerful accounting of the facts of those forty-four days in 33 AD, I find it hard not to fall on my knees in utter conviction, gratitude and praise.

I find it an thrilling story.  I hope you will, too.  I suggest you read it out loud, perhaps with your family.  I had hoped to provide a recording of it for those that may find it hard to read and enjoy my scripture readings, but I could not get that together this year.

Just in case you or anybody you know thinks this is just a myth, or a mangled, untrustworthy history at best, here is some information for you:

The New Testament is the most trustworthy document of antiquity in all of history across the world.  There is nothing else that comes close.  It has been attacked by critics for centuries, but the critics ultimate end up shamefully embarrassed and one criticism after another falls to new manuscript or archeological evidence.

And the evidence is massive.

Let’s start with the second most trustworthy document of antiquity, Homer’s Iliad.  In the minds of scholars, there is no doubt that we have today an accurate copy of the Iliad from all the various manuscript evidence.

It was written in 900 BC, and the earliest evidence is from 400 BC, a 500 year gap.

There are 543 copies in various forms.

Now compared to other works, for example, the writings of Caesar that has only 53 copies and a time span of 1000 years, or Cattullus with 3 copies and a time span of 1,600 years, both works that scholars believe are reliable…

It seems we should have high confidence that we really do have the Iliad that Homer wrote, and scholars believe we do.

So if the Iliad is the second best, just how much more reliable is the New Testament?

The New Testament is supported by…

Over 24,000 copies…

With the earliest evidence at just 60 AD, a time span of not even 30 years after the events.

By 325 AD, less than 300 years, the evidence is overwhelming in the form of manuscripts, quotations by the fathers (over 32,000) , and versions (translations).

Luke is called by expert historians one of the greatest historians the world has seen.  His accounts in the Gospel of Luke and the book of The Acts of the Apostles have been slammed by the critiques many times in many ways, and Luke is always vindicated.

The archeological evidence is just as strong and has overthrown one critical blunder after another.

In short, the New Testament is the most reliable document of antiquity known to man, supported by tremendously more evidence than any other ancient document.  Whether or not he or she believes it, no competent scholar has any doubt that we have the New Testament that was written in the first century AD.

The entire Bible is similarly witnessed to by evidence and history.  The Bible is unique and supernatural.  It is an impossible book that does impossible things.  Impossible, that is, if it is not the work of God Himself.  It is undeniably precisely accurate history, written by over 40 people from all walks of life, over 1,400 years, yet with obviously one Author, one plan, one principle theme, a progressive revelation of impossible depth and breadth.  It supernaturally authenticates and witnesses to itself with hundreds of prophecies that become history, exactly, phenomenally, and at the same time claims all authority and truth in the realm of the spiritual and the nature of God, man, angels, demons and many, many other things that can be known only by the direct revelation of the Creator.

The King James Bible has never, ever, been shown to be in error in any way under the assault of thousands of critics and enemies.  On the contrary, over the centuries it has broken all of its critics and been proven right time after time after time by new evidence from history and archeology.

You can absolutely trust the Bible.  If this quality of evidence was brought before our courts today it would stand all tests of jurisprudence.

If you want more on the overwhelming evidence of the accuracy of the New Testament and the Bible, there are many books available.  One I have used for decades is Josh McDowell’s “Evidence That Demands A Verdict”.

And of course the evidence of history itself is undeniable.  Something absolutely amazing and fantastic happened in April, 33 AD, and it turned the world on its head.  Something happened that could not be denied, that started changing people and spoiling principalities and powers.

The same thing can change you, too.

That something is the Resurrection.

This I believe.  Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah and fulfilled dozens of prophesies, and he was crucified, buried, and, just as He said He would, rose from the dead after three days and nights in the grave.  He ascended into Heaven and will return soon.

This was witnessed to by direct eye witnesses, numbering over 500, and recorded by faithful followers, some very well educated and very thorough in their accounting.  It was all inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit and is without proven error, without doubt absolutely true.

This I believe.

I now have perfect assurance of the restoration of my standing with my Creator, and I have this same Creator, the Perfect Man, God manifest in the flesh, as my savior, king, advocate, high priest, helper and friend, because I have believed.

Please enjoy this story as it was written by those that were there and those very close to them, as inspired by the Holy Spirit Himself.  My prayer is that it blesses you as much as it has me, and that you, too, will believe.

Here is the document:  Resurrection Harmony

Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain  others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the
dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
(Luke 24:1-7)

Yesterday, Saturday, the evening of which saw the most important event in the history of the universe, the resurrection of The Lord Jesus Christ, after having spent three days and three nights in the tomb, since Wednesday, with no corruption, while the spirit of Jesus preached to the spirits in prison, and spoiled the territory of the enemy, having made a full triumph in the spiritual realm, returning to raise His physical body in transformed, incorruptible form, the same form promised to me…

I was pondering the events of that week in 33 AD as I listened to the fools and liars spouting nonsense about the “historical Jesus” and the real meaning of the resurrection, while denying both, blasphemers and idiots with far too much education and pride to simply believe God and the multitude of witnesses and I was struck especially by a politicaly correct quote.

Faux Christian Barak Obama remarked that his family would join other Christians in marking the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and exhorted us to:

“…remember the shared spirit of humanity that inhabits us all.”

That is excellent advice!

Let us remember well and indeed the “shared spirit of humanity”. Here is the “spirit of humanity” in all its glory:

And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, Said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him: No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. I will therefore chastise him, and release him. (For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.) And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas: (Who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison.) Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them. But they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go. And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed.
(Luke 23:13-23)

Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.
(Matthew 27:17-23)

And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.
(Matthew 27:28-30)

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
(Romans 1:17-23)

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
(Romans 1:28-32)

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.
(Romans 3:10-18)

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
(2Timothy 3:1-8)

 

So, I think that is enough, though I could bring many more Scriptures to reinforce the Godly view of “the spirit of humanity”:

It is vanity. It is filthy rags. It is a bent spirit, a rebellious spirit, a perverse spirit, a sinful, depraved, unholy, wicked spirit.

Think that isn’t talking about you?

Have you ever told a lie?

Have you ever stolen anything? Even a small thing, or cheated on your taxes, or not returned something you knew wasn’t yours?

Ever looked on a really attractive person that wasn’t your mate with sexual thoughts, that is, lust? Really? Not even in a Calvin Klein ad?

Yes?

I mean, who would believe you if you said “No” to all of these? I know ONE who certainly would know better…

So,  YES. You have.

Then you are guilty of transgression of the real Law of the Universe, not the silly, narcissistic, monistic Hindu claptrap called the Law of Attraction.

The REAL LAW.

The Law of your Creator, the most terrible Being you cannot imagine. You do not want to be found guilty in His court. And you will be if you don’t accept His remedy for your situation.

The Bible asks you this:

How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
(Hebrews 2:3)

You are absolutely free to neglect that salvation, but don’t think you will  escape if you do…

The freedom we talk about has everything to do with the Biblical God and His answer to the problem of our natures.  C. S. Lewis stated this rather profound truth well:

“The very idea of freedom presupposes some objective moral law which overarches rulers and ruled alike. Subjectivism about values is eternally incompatible with democracy. We and our rulers are of one kind only so long as we are subject to one law. But if there is no Law of Nature, the ethos of any society is the creation of its rulers, educators and conditioners; and every creator stands above and outside his own creation.” —C.S. Lewis

 It is God’s Law, of course, that is absolute, immutable, eternal, and judges us all.  Ah, that judgment thing….  There’s the rub, eh?

Many think that they should not “inflict” their Christian view on others.  What nonsense.  If you know the Truth, do you not owe the Truth to everyone you meet?

But, it is not just a matter of conscience and reason.  I am commanded to witness to the Truth, so I will.  Not only that, but it is very important that you comprehend these things.  You may not be a Christian, but then you must get very serious with yourself as you face these facts:

The central tenant of Christianity is an empty tomb.  Buddha is dead. Brahma is dead.  Zoroaster is dead.  Mohamed is dead.  Marx is dead.  And if anyone produced the body of any of these men, the “faiths” they founded would be unperturbed.  But if anyone produced a single bone of Jesus, Christianity would be a fraud.  The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ proves the existence of God, the Deity of Jesus Christ, validates all of His teaching and that of His apostles that would evangelize their world, validates all of His other prophecies, for he prophesied His death and resurrection many times, including the Old and New Testament statements that ALL shall rise again.

But some will rise to eternal shame.

The Resurrection is the central event and tenet that distinguishes Christianity from all other faiths. Only God Himself could ransom us from our sin-slavery through His sacrifice on the cross, fulfilling the requirements of the Law—we can do nothing to accomplish that for ourselves. All other faiths add human works into the equation. Our Risen Lord then returned to deliver unto His followers the very freedom He’d paid His life to secure.

We may prefer to allow others “their views” and not “inflict our views” upon them, but that is not Biblical and it certainly is not what Jesus would do. He had no problem with exclusivity at all.

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
(John 3:5)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent
not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
(John 3:16-19)

Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
(John 11:23-26)

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

 

You can’t escape this.

The Lord Jesus Christ, the one that said he would be three days and nights in the belly of the earth and would rise again, and then did exactly that, has said that He is the only answer. If the resurrection is true, every other religion and worldview must be judged by this one, and every one will be found in error, wanting, or outright deception to snare the soul.

Read that again and let it sink in…

Why did Jesus sacrifice Himself?

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him,  there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
(Isaiah 53:2-6)

The Messiah, the Promised One, had first to deal with Adam’s curse, SIN. That is the offense of the cross.  Nothing you do or say can justify you before your Creator. You are found wanting. You are bent, broken, flawed and God’s standard is absolute righteousness, perfection and holiness.  Nothing short of His Holiness will do, and there is nothing anyone could do for you to reconcile you to God except God Himself provides a sacrifice for you of Infinite Value.

You cannot earn this. It is a gift, freely given, and it is the only thing that will allow you to stand with confidence before the most terrifying prospect of your existence: Judgment by God, “great and terrible”, a “consuming fire”, so Holy that the cherubim that circle His throne cover their faces and cry “Holy, Holy, Holy!” day and night. Those that have had an “encounter of the third kind” with the Lord of Hosts always react the same way:

I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
(Job 42:5-6)

Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
(Isaiah 6:5)

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
(Luke 5:8)

Here is where everyone stands with the Almighty God on their own merit:

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
(Isaiah 64:6)

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of
asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way
of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.
(Romans 3:10-18)

Now, do you really want to stand before God and fill your mouth with arguments about your worthiness, when you could have imputed to you the Perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ?

But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
(Romans 3:21-26)

[Abraham] staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
(Romans 4:20-25)

To believe, means that we acknowledge that the tortuous death of the completely innocent, righteous, sinless Son of God was the only thing that could be done for us. And that is a big problem for many. It is  offensive that their righteousness, their good deeds and efforts are just so many “filthy rags”. And that  empty tomb proclaims the truth of what happened on that dreadful cross, and stands witness against all who reject the Lord Jesus Christ as God manifest in the flesh and our Savior.

We can have the righteousness of Christ Himself imputed to us, with our sins an iniquities imputed to Him, our Lamb, if we just BELIEVE this truth! Glory to God, what amazing grace!

And why would any reject the evidence of this event?

The resurrection of Christ would stand up to the standards of jurisprudence in any court in this land today. When eyewitnesses have given their testimony, and agreed in their testimony and reduced their testimony to writing (a deposition) and no incontrovertible evidence or no final evidence has been produced to overthrow the written testimony, that written testimony stands and cannot be disannulled or abrogated. There has never been any evidence since the resurrection of Christ that He did not rise from the dead. He was seen by over 500 people, and He walked, talked and ate with his followers, was handled by them, and taught them for over a month.

To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
(Acts 1:3)

His followers turned the world on its head with their message, and the Jews and Romans, both highly motivated to shut the entire thing down, were never able to discredit this, though all they had to do was produce the body.  There was no body to produce.

And these followers, almost all of them going to horrible deaths as martyrs, never wavering in their testimony, brought thousands, then tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands to know personally the  real power of the resurrection.  The reasons this “movement” did nothing but swell and grow go much beyond evidence and testimony.

Those of us who have met Jesus Christ and have encountered Him and embraced Him as our personal Savior have no problem believing in the resurrection at all. Not only does the external, objective evidence abound with “many infallible proofs”, but we know Him to be with us daily, empowering us, changing us, conforming us to His image, growing us daily in grace and knowledge of Him.

That is the real power of the resurrection; the ability to produce a new creature in everyone that obeys the Gospel, that is, everyone that believes on the Lord Jesus Christ and trusts Him to save their soul.

Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there
salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
(Acts 4:10-12)

You cannot have Jesus as a “good teacher”, or “one of the Masters”, or just “a prophet”. He proclaimed:

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM.
(John 8:58)

Make no mistake: Jesus proclaimed Himself to be God. His life was not taken from Him. It was freely given up for our sakes. As C. S. Lewis so elegantly paints your choice:

“It costs God nothing, so far as we know, to create nice things: but to convert rebellious wills cost Him crucifixion… You must make your choice.  Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God.”

Please think very hard about to Whom you will account for your life and, if you have not accepted the Gift of His righteousness to replace your “filthy rags” with a robe of spotless white linen, how you will “explain” yourself? How exactly do you think you will fare before the Judge of all the earth? And it is so easy to accept this gift!

But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
(Romans 10:8-11)

No person can have real peace, joy or freedom apart from restoration to a right relationship with their Creator, the King of the Universe. The Lord Jesus Christ is indeed “the way”, and the only way, provided.

He is Risen Indeed!

Keith DeBrunner
805-581-4458
____________________________

I hope you will rejoice in these things today if you are Christ’s.

If you are not Christ’s, if you do not know Him as Savior and know without doubt that your soul is saved by His power, my prayer for you is not that you have joy and peace, but great unrest in your soul, that you realize your extreme danger and act immediately. If it is not apparent what you should do, please call.

 

Brit Hume did something very good, especially for Tiger if he will listen.  This is from Tim Wildmon, President American Family Association.  Check it out:

Please take a moment to watch the video of Brit’s interview with Bill O’Reilly about the commentary. You need to watch it. Hume works for the Fox News Channel.

I encourage you to send Brit a note of support. We have provided an e-mail address to do so.

—————————————————-

 Brit had trouble articulating why his remarks drew such fire.  As he said it, when you mention “Jesus Christ”,  “all hell breaks loose”.  Pretty apt, but there is an underlying reason he probably doesn’t understand.  Paul talks about it here:

And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.
(Gal 5:11) 

You see, Brit’s remarks are offensive.  The name Jesus Christ is offensive.  The Christian faith is offensive.  Because the CROSS if offensive.  It is a bloody insult and stain on everyone that really understands it.  The offense of the cross is simply this:

The best you can be, the most you can do, the finest you can muster, your respect for your traditions, your rituals and other balms for your haunted conscience, your reverence of false gods and false values…

is only good enough to land you flat on your back in Hell.

Paul here says that even a God-ordained ritual from before the cross, such as circumcision, is not to be mistaken for what is really required.

All paths do not lead to the mountain top.  Truth is narrow, and Jesus is the truth, the way and the light, and no man comes to God except by Him.  I didn’t say that, He did.

There is no “divine light” in you unless you are saved.  In your flesh, you are fallen.  You are not a god, let alone God, as most LOA/New Age/Hindu/Tao liars like Deepak Chopra or Abraham-Hicks will vomit on you.  You are not even “good” in any sense that God respects.  You are bent, flawed flesh, and whither away in a moment like the grass, and you are under judgment even now, and condemned, even now, if you are not covered in the blood of Jesus Christ and redeemed, which is to say, bought with a price you cannot even begin to muster.

See?  Man, that is offensive.  You don’t measure up, even a little.  What you are is so far below the standard it doesn’t matter what you do.  So your religion of works, and your rituals, your incense, your repeating prayers, your meditations, and your magnificently distorted views of the truth and your puffed-up imaginations about yourself are, well…exactly what God says they are: filthy rags.  You are clothed in what disgusts God.

Really.  Think about that.

You need to stand before God clothed in righteousness that meets His standard, and you will get that in only one way:

But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
(Rom 10:8-11)

 Brit’s right: Tiger needs Christ.  So do you.  If you haven’t availed yourself of the gift of God because it is so onerous to you that the only way for you to meet the standard is for God to kill His own Son in your place…

You’re a fool.

I didn’t say that.  God did.

I hope you are not, or, if you are, that you will figure this out in a hurry and address your most pressing need.  You have no idea when God may require your soul of you.

If this offends you in any way, good.  That means it has hit the mark.

Contrary to vegan silliness, killing animals is not “outright murder” and anybody with compunctions about killing and eating animals is misguided and deceived.  Think that is just unsupportable provocation?  Read on…

Vegetarians challenge themselves daily to get the nutrients they need because an omnivorous diet is more complete.  Is that behavior odd?

Well, sort of, but not completely.  Many object to the practices of food industry and distrust the quality and purity of meats, but that would be remedied with ensuring they are buying organic meat raised on sustainable farms.  Food, Inc., has a great example of that in the Polyface Farms featured in the flick.

But vegans, along with some vegetarians, many times claim to be “spiritually” motivated out of respect for life.  Some are so misguided they think a human life is no more significant than that of any other animal.  Really thick brain fog there.

So, here is an interesting article citing varying degrees of “ethical” eating, but primarily a wake up call that even plants strive to survive, so how are they different from animals?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/science/22angi.html?_r=1&ref=science

Interestingly, they aren’t much different in fundamental ways.  DNA is DNA, and cell biology is undeniably incomprehensibly complex in both flora and fauna, so why would you expect a plant to be “simple”?  They strive with apparent cunning to survive and compete.

And the answer is just as obvious for them as it is in the animal kingdom:  They are designed to do so.  Life is fantastic because it is just that: Organized negentropy flowing from the physical manifestation and expression of a magnificently complex program in response to, and cooperation with, the environment.

Plants are alive.  And their genetic programming, behavior (yes, they have behaviors), adaptations and variations all result from the fact they are DESIGNED LIFE.

To eat a plant is to destroy life just as sure as it is to kill and eat a cow or pig or fish or bird or insect or bivalve, or any other beast or creeping thing.

So, where does that leave you if you are “moral” or “ethical” and want to respect your fellow creatures?  The same place you must always come to.  Who says it’s wrong to eat meat?  The same goofball that thinks he is the result of a cosmic accident?  He has no business saying anything about ethics or morality.  If it’s all just an accident, then it is just as “moral” for me to survive by cannibalism as it is by veganism.

Or the person that, without any basis for such a faith, thinks the Universe is keeping track of their Karma, but has never revealed to them just exactly how that works or what they should do about it?

What’s missing in both cases is authoritative information, from a completely trustworthy authority.  A moral authority.

To pass the judgment that killing and eating animals is immoral requires a moral authority.  Got one?

I know the Moral Authority of the Universe, it’s CREATOR.  I spoke with Him this morning, and I have His Book on my table and in my bag and on my computer.  And in that infallible revelation of the Creator I find the moral authority to eat pretty much whatever you can get your hands on, barring blood and strangling and situations where I would make another stumble.

God has not left us in the dark on the topic of what we should eat.  Of course, it does require that you know what He said about it (that excludes about 70% of the population) and believe He said what He meant and meant what He said (that excludes about another 25% of the population).

But, if you do think the Bible might say some trustworthy things about this…

At first, everything was vegetarian, and plants were always the form of life that would transform the inorganic to organic to give life to other things:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
(Genesis 1:27-30)

Then God cursed the earth.  I can hear it spewing from seared consciences even as I write, “Oh, no, here comes that again.  Because of what?  SIN?”

Yep.  And apparently, that is when predation began.  Man may still have been only “authorized” to be a vegetarian, but offering animals as offerings for sin (because without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin).

After the flood, God clearly condones carnivorism, and some think He commands it for some dark reasons I won’t go into here (it has to do with pollution of the race):

And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
(Genesis 9:1-4)

 With the Mosaic law, carnivorism is reinforced, but certain animals are considered “clean” while others are not.  There does not appear to be any health-related correlations, but mostly matters of types and symbolism, despite apologists desires to make Kosher and Seven-day Adventist practices seem scientific.

In the New Testament, God reinforces the freedom from dietary law with a vision to Peter, and the writings of Paul stating clearly that all things are clean that God has blessed.  As a matter of witness, Christians are admonished to avoid eating blood and things that have been strangled.

On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.
(Acts 10:9-16)

Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
(Romans 14:1-3)

I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
(Romans 14:14)

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
(Colossians 2:16)

Now, that is the Moral Authority stating clearly what I opened with–that, contrary to vegan silliness, killing animals is not “outright murder” and anybody with compunctions about killing and eating animals is misguided and deceived.

That’s clear, isn’t it?  If you believe The Book, you should never have an issue with the “ethical” or “moral” claptrap spouted by those that think they are just a few randomized steps up the ladder from a flatworm (by evolution, transmigration, both, or some other lie from the pit).  Their thinking has fallen back to primitive moral anxiety and superstition because they have rejected the Creator’s clear directives and permissions, and substituted their own puffed-up imagination.

Go have a burger (organic, grass-fed if you can get it, and not from a fast-food chain).  They’re really good, and God thinks so too (he loves the savour of meat smoke, didn’t you know?)  Give thanks for it and ask God to bless it.  That’s what really makes a difference.

Wow.  It’s been a long time since I posted.  The times are much too interesting.

Some have asked that I post the monograph “Nutrition Cures–Thoughtcrime!” here instead of circulating it “underground”.  OK.  Here it is, at the link below.  It seems especially appropriate in light of some recent developments with one of my favorite enterprises.

nutrition-cures-thoughtcrime

Let me know what you think.  If it gets you thinking at all, it will have done its job.

What did you think of Michael Moore’s distorted propaganda piece “SickO”?  (I’ve just given away what I think of it).

Our healthcare system is broken and tanking, and the desperation people are feeling now will only deepen if we let the government take even more control.  Have you heard of “single payer” systems?  They are completely socialistic and disastrous, yet seriously being advocated by the same crowd that always wants more of Big Brother watching over you, by well-meaning, but deluded fools that just don’t see the whys and wherefores of the real problems, and the simply greedy politicians that will endorse anything they think will get them elected.

View this short but poignant independent film on government sponsored healthcare systems.  Everyone needs to understand this.  Don’t be fooled by the fair speeches and seeming compassion of anyone who wants more government interference in healthcare.  Watch this to see what happens when you really embrace socialized medicine:

http://www.freemarketcure.com/brainsurgery.php

If that upset you, good!  There is a lot more to learn here about the dangers of socialized medicine and the superiority of free-market systems here:

http://www.freemarketcure.com/videos.php

There is a way out of this mess.  Insist on taking more responsibility for your health, not less.  There is a growing gap in responsibility that culminates in the travesty like this Canadian case where a man will die before he can get treatment because all responsibility has been given to the government, and there no worse place to put your trust.

As treatment costs rise because of increased costs of malpractice insurance and, mostly, because of the continued failure to see that allopathic methods do not create or maintain health, the coverage will decrease.

As the lifestyles of people continue to disable them rather than enabling them, their disease processes will naturally increase.

Did you know that if things go the way Nicholas Webb predicts, soon you will have a “health score” that will be more important to you than your credit score and that your health care will be like your retirement plan?  Your employer may contribute to it, but you decide what investment vehicles you use.  And, the point is, this is a good thing.  We cannot continue to rob people that take responsibility for themselves to pay the medical bills of the fast-food, junk-food, couch potato mentality that breeds obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

With freedom comes responsibility.  Always.  Choose freedom if you want a longer, healthier life.  Accept the responsibility that goes with it, and start on a wellness program today.

I also implore you to get involved with your government, and keep it at bay.  Insist on being allowed to make choices regarding your health.  Support all efforts to pass the Health Freedom Protection Act, and let your representatives know you want:

• Your choices increased, not decreased
• DSHEA reinforced and upheld
• The FDA cleaned out and slapped back to their correct roll to eliminate the Gestapo tactics to suppress natural cures and treatments and to get pharmaceutical costs back down to merely stratopheric levels
• Torte law reform to eliminate the insane costs of malpractice insurance
• “Managed care” abolished and physicians put back in charge of what treatments are appropriate
• Consumer-directed healthcare and real “disaster” insurance
• Real “health” costs reimbursements  for your choices based on how healthy you are.

This is where free enterprise and the insurance companies will go, if they are able.  They actually do want you to be healthy, not sick, and they are motivated to define benefits in terms of those that promote health.

Please forward this to post everyone you can think of as soon as you can.

Unless, of course, you disagree and actually believe the lies of people like Moore and think Cuba and Canada are good places to be when you are sick.

Today I put into limited circulation a little essay on exactly how Orwellian the world of the FDA and nutrition doublespeak has become.  If you are one of those that has seen this and would like to provide some feedback, please leave your comments to this post.

 Thanks!

When I was doing the Tuesday night Global Wellness Network calls, one of my favorite topics to bring to listeners was the complexity of our bodies.  It seems obvious that every human body is more complex than the Milky Way galaxy.  We are formed of somewhere between 60 and 100 trillion cells, about the same number as the stars in our galaxy, but each of those cells is a world in itself.  We host more bacteria in our intestines than we have cells, but they are simple creatures compared to your cells.  Your cells make up thousands of different kinds of tissues in hundreds of structures and organs.  These all interrelate in amazing major systems that perform tremendous tasks, such as respiration and digestion.

I would also point out that every one of those 60-100 trillion cells is a complex as an aircraft carrier, or a large factory, or even a small town.  The things going on inside your cell 300,000 times per second would blow your mind.  It is very hard to convey.

But, now there is a Harvard video that will help.

Here is a fun activity for you that I hope will bless you tremendously:  Watch these videos called “The Inner Life of the Cell”.

There are two versions, a short one with music and a longer one with narration.  I recommend you watch them both, and view the short one first.  Keep telling yourself that you are not watching a fantasy or science fiction world.  Then please watch the longer version and note how important glycoproteins are in the process being shown, the emphasis on the need for fully glycosylated proteins manufactured in the Golgi Apparatus, and the mind boggling structure and complexity you are witnessing.

Everything being shown is accurate and occurring at such a microscopic level the actual shapes of molecules are shown (and critical to their function).  As you might guess, I also want you to appreciate that all of this complexity is at risk of incorrect operations when health is threatened by toxic load and lousy nutrition.  You will be seeing where critical and essential nutrients are actually employed to signal, control, construct, and regulate the very processes of life.

The basic processes being shown are going on in most of the cells in your body, and this particular example shows how a leukocyte (white blood cell) is signaled, inside an artery, that there is inflammation in the tissues outside the artery, and how it ultimately moves out of the blood stream and into the tissues.  The operations being shown are the glycoprotein-triggered communications between the leukocyte as it rolls along the arterial wall reading the molecular messages, and some of the interior operations of the cell.

To see the shorter version with beautiful music behind it, you have to go here:

http://multimedia.mcb.harvard.edu/

Here is the narrated version explaining it all, about 8 min.

more about “Inner Life with narration“, posted with vodpod

 

 

If you want to learn about how the film was made, go here:

http://www.studiodaily.com/main/technique/tprojects/6850.html

What the film does not convey is just how much of this is in one cell.  Here is a snapshot from a tomogram that shows just a portion of a cell, but the number and kinds of internal structures are obvious.  The tomogram was created by Kathryn E. Howell of the University of Colorado School of Medicine and may be veiwed in full 3-D at http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/insidethecell/extras/Fig2C.mov.  This tomogram conveys how packed cells are.  The chunk of a insulin-secreting cell shown here is crammed with Golgi compartments (long, multi-colored curves in center), endoplasmic reticulum (yellow structures), ribosomes (tiny orange dots), microtubules (thin green strands), mitochondria (green globs), and various kinds of vesicles (small white spheres, larger blue spheres, and irregularly shaped structures in red and purple).

How complex do you think a cell really is?

The deeper we peer into the creation, the more fantastic and irreducible complexity we find.  According to the Bible, “we are fearfully and wonderfully made”, and God’s designs always make sense; and you are a design.  If you haven’t figured that out, trust me.  You are so fantastically complex it is a trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion times more likely that a tornado would plow through a junk yard and assemble a space shuttle than that you are not the most complex, most amazing CREATURE in the universe.

Learn more here:  http://www.intelligentdesign.org/

Enjoy!