Tag: Bible

The Start of a Relationship with God

I’ve recently been wondering how I can become closer to God and the Lord Jesus. I research near-death experiences (NDEs) and visions including both Heaven and Hell. I have seen Bill Wiese’s “23 Minutes in Hell” twice and recently watched Mary K. Baxter and her incredibly descriptive vision of Hell. As I finished watching the latter video, I was pondering what I just saw and the Lord started to play a song to me describing how I can dive deeper into a relationship with Him. The song is Take Me There by Rascal Flatts and the lyrics only scratch the surface of the depth of relationship God wants to have with you!

In full disclosure I was writing this post from the vantage point of someone who has told everything about his life to God in prayer and I got the small feeling I should stop because I was a hypocrite if I posted from that point-of-view. So I am taking a different approach, posting as someone who’s steadily growing in his walk with the Lord and sharing what I’m discovering along the way. With that being said, there’s some good advice on prayer and meditation in Richard J. Foster’s book “Celebration of Discipline” which also inspired the tip below, and what I’m just beginning to practice.

Find (or even better, create) time to be with the Lord in prayer; whatever comes to mind about absolutely anything in your life, tell Him about it. You may be thinking , “He already knows” (and you’d be right), but He wants to hear it from you. He wants you to trust Him to share everything about your life, past and present! How you present what you remember about your life is up to you. For me, I started telling Him about every girl I’ve ever had a crush on, then I moved on to the deepest desires of my heart as a kid.

To cement the importance of a relationship I refer you to what Bill Wiese said at the 53 minute mark of his testimony above, “You have no right [to move into God’s Kingdom with no relationship].” Also from John Bevere’s book Killing Kryptonite, “‘Then what is the thing I should seek for the most? What is first in importance?’ I heard the answer so clearly, ‘To know Me intimately.'” (251)

Homosexuality vs. God’s Word

The Canadian Parliament recently passed a law that nullifies the statute of criminalizing gay sex and homosexuality and reverses all convictions therein. While I do not believe that criminalizing such acts is the right course of action, I cannot and will not support gay sex or homosexuality. Today’s societal norms are far more accepting of homosexuals as equals under the law than in previous generations. They go so far as to convince churches that gay behavior is acceptable.

Homosexual attraction—a feeling of attraction toward a person of the same gender—is not a sin because we are not held responsible for our feelings or desires; we are held responsible for acting on those desires. While lust (mentally embracing and meditating on those desires for sin), pornography, and sexual actions outside marriage are sinful, the attraction, desire, or feeling is not. When I was in high school, and even up until a few years ago, I was also in favor of homosexuality because of my politically based belief in our country’s freedoms.

Recently, however, I have come to change my beliefs. I have come to a point in my life where my internal standards have shifted such that I no longer live for anything of this world, but rather for God’s eternal Kingdom of righteousness. I have even heard many believers cite Scripture of the Old Testament, using it to justify to others that homosexuality is now okay because that was a different era. The reason I am changing my decision is because of what is clearly stated in the Old and New Testaments, with supporting evidence found within current testimonies of visions of hell given by the Lord Jesus Christ.

1st Scripture: “26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.”-Romans 1:26-27

2nd Scripture: “8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality…”-1 Timothy 1:8-10

3rd Scripture: “9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men”-1 Corinthians 6:9

4th Scripture: “22 “‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.”-Leviticus 18:22

5th Scripture: “13 “‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”-Leviticus 20:13

The Church is to love as Christ loves, therefore, we are to love the sinner but hate the sin. That being said the Lord Jesus Christ is not coming back for a financially prosperous church or a compromising church, as are many churches in America which condone homosexuality, He is coming back for an obedient and Holy (which means “sacred, divine, like God”) church, one that keeps His commandments and endures to the end.

Is Life Vanity?

I’ve lived in College Station over four and a half years now. From the time I got here, I’ve been attending Breakaway Ministries, a weekly non-denominational Bible study that meets on the campus of Texas A&M. Breakaway brings in about 3,000–5,000 students each week during the fall and spring semesters for worship and study of the Scripture. Opening night each semester brings in on average 10,000–12,000 students. Breakaway also has a large online audience each week.

In spring 2017, we studied the book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament. It was likely written by King Solomon, who is considered to be one of the wisest men to ever live. He examines in-depth everything that the common person believes will bring lasting meaning, satisfaction, and fulfillment to our lives… and then flips it on its head!

There are two big truths that I have discovered in my study of this book: 1) God is good, perfect, and infinitely loving. As a specific example, I believe God allowed the Preacher to experience all the challenges of his life so that he could be an example to us. The Preacher’s example would help us steer clear of having to go through the same difficult experiences—or at the very least, that we would recognize the pointlessness of such endeavors.

The fact that God not only guided him through his travails, but also inspired him to become a preacher on our behalf, confirms to me just how loving and all-knowing He is.

2) This book has a hidden blessing: To show the reader what the wants and desires of this world bring us, and where they lead us in the end.

A perfect metaphor that illustrates where the desire for worldly things will lead us is the Dead Sea, which borders Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan. Just as there are no natural outlets there, the blind pursuit of worldly things leads to a dead end where there is no free and healthy circulation of life. This is what happens when we live primarily to consume the things of this world and never give back.

This book could also be appropriately titled “Vanity” since the word is mentioned thirty-eight times. So, there must be some part of life that is utter vanity—but what?

In complete honesty, I was about to write out every instance where a vain feat had been set out, but I thought twice about it. So what I will do is give you a brief summary of the theme of each feat. Each vain task was rooted in selfishness or want in one form or another, and the author expounded on everything one could conceive of to an exponential degree.

What’s even more fascinating about Ecclesiastes is the author’s conclusion in chapter 12, verses 13 through 14:

13 Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.

So back to the title question, is life vanity? If you only live for yourself and the pleasures of this world, yes. If you love and serve the Lord and your fellow neighbor, give to the poor, live for His coming Kingdom, and obey His commandments… then the answer is unequivocally, no!

Scripture, NDEs, and Christian Apologetics

Whether I’m working, in class, or doing other activities, my mind is constantly at work. In this blog, we’ll explore life lessons from Biblical stories, the coherence of Christianity and why it’s crucial to society and mankind’s salvation, and God’s Kingdom in NDEs.

This is my first post. Whether I’m working, in class, or doing other activities, my mind is constantly at work—hence my blog title. Before I started really getting into online Bible studies, Christian apologetics, and near-death experiences (NDEs), I was mainly interested in politics and a future in law enforcement.

A couple of years ago, I started inquiring more and more about the Christian faith, the Spirit of Scripture, and NDEs. I’ve realized the more I’ve prayed and read His Word, the more my heart has been inclining towards God’s Heart, and through this He has shown me what really matters through His eyes.

I say this because ever since middle school, becoming an FBI Special Agent was an absolute dream of mine. But recently, I’ve really started to question the reasons I wanted to join the Bureau. I wanted to wear a badge, carry a gun and most of all, uphold justice. I hate it when people abuse and corrupt the law, other people, or the earnings of people and businesses.

That’s a noble dream and goal, but God has gradually shown me His Heart and the three things that really endure to the end… faith, hope, and love—the latter being the greatest! With that being said, I now just want to raise a family with a Godly wife and serve the Lord wherever He leads me.

Now that you know a little about me, here’s what to expect from this blog: life lessons from Biblical stories, the coherence of Christianity and why it’s crucial to society and mankind’s salvation, and God’s Kingdom in NDEs. I may add other topics and sections as time goes on.

Thanks for reading!