I'm writing a Book!

I just began work on my book.

Book you say?

About 9 months ago, I was talking to a friend and it hit me, that people have a really hard time explaining God. I'm not kidding. And when I say people, I don't just mean your average Joe, I mean Pastors and Preachers alike. Sure, they know all the basics, all the characters and the plot, but they don't do a very good job of EXPLAINING GOD to people who have NO FOUNDATION at all. Trust me, there are more people without a foundation than there are people with one.

Anyway, I'll update on it's progress as I go...

I've been thinking a lot about publishing... I know some people from my CPE days, but if that doesn't work out, I don't mind going the self-publishing route. If anyone is interested, please give me a shout...

This Blog is PRO-ISRAEL

I just wanted to take a moment to mention that this Blog is 100% Pro-Israel!

I see 1,000's of Secular-Christians out there saying nasty things about Israel and for us to focus on the United States ONLY.

This makes me sad....

Why don't most Christians EVER take the time to READ their Bible?

God blesses Israel:
Genesis 12:2 - I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.

God says that all the people of the Earth shall be blessed BECAUSE of Israel:
Genesis 12:3 - I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

You'll be amazed what you can learn in the Bible...

Interesting conversation about Mormonism

This is a continued conversation from a discussion I was having with a wonderful gentleman from THIS blog. Please visit that Blog for the origin of the discussion. I needed to post my comments here, because blogspot.com has limitations as to length of comments.

Mr Faux,

I will try to answer each of your points in turn:

Well thank you so much for throwing me a curve ball! You chose the one Translation that I knew least about. I was so disturbed by that translation, I couldn't help but want to ensure that the Greek was sound. It is my belief that the only way one can truly listen to Gods Word, is to listen INTENTLY. How can one listen conceptually? Truly listening to His Word will reveal much to those who study much.

1 Corinthians 7:7 - For I wish that all men were even as I myself.....

As for Paul being a Prophet, there is no evidence that this is so. First of all, if he were a Prophet, the name of Acts would have been, "The Acts of the Prophets" and not "The Acts of the Apostles". Secondly, it is my understanding that the things Paul wrote about AND the visions were given to him by way of The Holy Spirit. To be frank, The Holy Spirit led me to your blog to start a dialogue with you, does that make me a Prophet? I don't believe so. Granted it certainly doesn't make me an Apostle either...lol Thirdly, Paul was NOT "authorized" by the Resurrected Jesus. Jesus has already ASCENDED to Heaven by the time Paul had his "conversation while on the road with his traveling companions. Are you testing me? lol...

God is NOT limited in ANY way, EXCEPT that he KEEPS HIS WORD. Since God can not lie, He is bound by Scripture to not "change His mind"...

Malachi 3:6 - "For I am the LORD, I do not change;..."

So based on Matthew 11:13, I say no, there can not be modern Paul's. That doesn't mean God is limited, it just means that God does not change his mind... I like that about God. I never have to GUESS what He Wills, I just KNOW....

Ahh... You bring up an excellent question regarding following a "Leaderless Christianity"... The answer is simple. If you want a "human" leader, that's one thing, but why bother with a fallible human leader when God already provided you The Holy Spirit as the ULTIMATE LEADER? Hmm? Having to choose between God Himself leading me or some "elected or appointed" official telling me his machinations based on books that are not Biblical, I would most certainly make the first!

You are right, Gods Word was not captured in a single book, it was captured in 66 BOOKS! A far cry from 1, yes? Additionally, we may all be "Gods Children", but we're not all part of Gods Family...

Mark 3:31-35 - Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You." But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?" And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother."

Now that's family!

As for leading yourself without a "Church Organization", how could you trust yourself indeed?

Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?"

God makes it clear that we can not trust our own feelings. Rely on Him alone and Trust in Him alone and you've got all you need! As for the Bible being challenging to understand, I would say this to you...

"If you approach the Bible as a book, then all it will ever be to you is a book. A book is filled with information, concepts, wonderings and such. If that's what you want, "information, concepts, wonderings and such", then you might as well check out any book from the library (or get a map at a gas station for that matter...lol). No one can know how to understand the things that are in the Bible without "The official Guide", The Holy Spirit. I am proof of that. I did not grow up Christian, I did not get Indoctrinated into Christianity, I did not "say a prayer" and by some magic I was then a Christian. Verily I say unto you, that if you pray for The Holy Spirit to guide you while you read, you WILL come to understand what is contained within that "More than a Book" indeed."

Feel free to read my Testimony in the right-hand pane on my Blog.

Ok, as for the comment about "already believing Jesus is deity, what else do you need", I say this: First, you do not need faith in RevKeith, that's just silly. Secondly, there are only 2 things you need to do..

1. You need to repent of your sins (repent - turn from)
2. You need to place ALL OF YOUR TRUST in Jesus

If you place all of your trust in Jesus, then you're not wasting any on a "Religion" or any man's interpretation within that religion as being accurate. Remember, where there's Religion, there's Opinion. If you take away the religion, all you have left is Gods Word. Think about it...

"Why do I need RevKeith, who contacts me out of the blue on the web?" A most excellent question. I have heard it said that Rabbi's say that, "coincidence is not a kosher word". I have also read that in the Ancient Hebrew, there IS NO WORD for Coincidence. As someone who trys to keep Gods Laws to the best of his ability, I shall not lie to you. I in no way shape or form sought you out, I in no way shape or form looked for any mormons to interact with and I most certainly do not make a living arguing with people. lol... As for me needing you, I would WHOLE-HEARTEDLY AGREE! I do need you! I need everyone whom God has brought into my life. I may not know why at the onset, but The Holy Spirit makes it clear soon enough...

The falling away is happening right under our noses Mr. Faux. It's not a matter of me "not liking" the New Century, it's a matter of this... When I choose a Bible to read I immediately know if I CAN HEAR GOD in the Words. I personally HEARD GOD in the NKJV, KJV, Geneva, ESV (to some degree) and even a dynamic translation like the GW, which I must admit is not very good for studying, but it's great for contrasting. The NKJV is MY favorite though. I've read the criticism regarding it from the "KJV Only" crowd and all I can say is the things they complain about do NOT effect it's authenticity. Any time devoted to reading the original Greek will PROVE to you that the over 600 changes that Mr. Smith made to the KJV Bible are not true OR accurate. The Bible explicitly warns against adding to or detracting from its teaching (Rev. 22:18; Deut. 4:2). The New Testament contains the inspired and totally accurate witness of contemporary disciples and followers of Jesus. It alone claims to be fully inspired by God and usable for the establishment of doctrine (2 Tim. 3:15–17; 2 Pet. 1:19–21)

Hebrews is most certainly Scripture. And you just used that verse WAAAY out of context. That verse was used to "Set the Qualifications for the High Priesthood". It was designed to help us IDENTIFY Christ as the High Priest. It was also written to help ensure that we understood that Aaron was appointed to the position of priest by God Himself! Those who challenged Aaron's appointing were put to death BY GOD... Again, there can be no more High-Priests, as Jesus is the last.

It is not Biblical for anyone to believe that there are "authorized Prophets and Apostles out there to be found". You are free to believe that, but it's not a Biblically accurate belief.

Being quirky doesn't concern me. Like I said in my previous post, either all of Scripture points to the same thing, or it's not Scripture. If Mr. Smith gave a Prophesy (which he did), that DID NOT HAPPEN and certainly CAN NOT happen now or ever (because he's already deceased), then by definition (not mine), that would qualify him as a "False Prophet".

Deuteronomy 13:1-5 - "If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, 'Let us follow other gods' (gods you have not known) 'and let us worship them,' you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you"

You may say the key to that verse is "follow other gods", but I say to you that anyone who would describe God or Jesus OR The Holy Ghost differently than what is contained within the OT & NT Canon is NOT the same God. Scripture backs this up, not me...

I agree with your last comment. I too am not in the same league with ANYONE listed above. I am a mere servant of God, doing my best to obey Him and His Word with every ounce of my being. God does speak in the fossil rocks, but just remember, fossils don't have offspring, nor can you prove a fossil had offspring either (but that is a whole different conversation).

Jesus did not leave anyone "hanging", he gave us The Holy Spirit to guide us, if we CHOOSE to follow...

I did not come here to "evangelize" you, that's not my intent. I just know right from wrong and accurate from deception, because The Holy Spirit has given it to me to know.

God Bless,
RevKeith

Belief in things you can't see is crazy, right?

You probably never think about it, but indulge me....

You can't SEE the wind, you can feel it, you know it's there....
You can't SEE gravity, you can CERTAINLY feel it, you know it's there...

You can't SEE God, but I can promise you, I know He's there...

Interesting article about "Catholic Fruits"

The Catholic Doctrine is a "works based" Religion.

What does this mean? It means the Catholics believe there are "things" you need to "do" in order to make it to Heaven. You know, there are these "specific works" you need to accomplish first...
Which of course IS NOT BIBLICAL...

Take a read HERE and look for my comment. (#51)

A New Take on the Homosexuality Issue

Over the past 5 eons, there's been an endless debate (more so over the past 60 years) as to whether or not Homosexuality is REALLY an "abomination" before God.

While doing some light reading today, something hit me that never really did before....

Let's start off with this verse:
Romans 12:2 - And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Ok, fine. Do not be conformed of this world, got it. Seems to be an easy enough rule for us.

But think of this regarding "sexuality". Sexuality is a CULTURAL ISSUE, true? Yes, it's the most common method of procreation, but throughout all of the world, with or without Christ, sexuality is a cultural issue, right?

Now let's add these verses:
1 Corinthians 5:9-11 - I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner --- not even to eat with such a person.

Ok, I get it. Keep away from people that will keep you further from your walk with Christ. That isn't to say "isolate" yourself from them, but not to "keep company" with.

Finally, let's consider this verse:
Matthew 22:30 - For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.

So let's see, in Heaven, there is no marriage because we are Holy. Got it.

Now let's put them together:
Do not concern yourself with the cultural issues of this world, don't be like or associate with immoral people, because if it's not good enough for Heaven, it's certainly not good enough for us here!

Truth be told, I started thinking about this while I was cooking today. When I finally got a chance to get this written, I may have lost what I was going for. If you found this confusing I apologize and will endeavor to improve it.

The New Ager Bible (or why Evolution is stupid)

"In the beginning there was an infinite expanse composed of nothing. And it came to pass accidentally and then began to form chemical elements. Then, accidentally, it decided to compress itself into a ping-pong ball. Having done thusly, it verily chose to collapse in on itself to form a pinhead of compact atoms weighing more than 900,000,000,000,000 tons. And then, behold! It decided to blow up, so it did."

"Thereupon it accidentally blew out, evenly, in all directions for 10,000,000 light years and formed a perfect set of several million galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters. All operating with enough precision to set your clock by. Fortunately, one set accidentally formed a solar system that had all of the necessary elements for producing the kind of life now writing this 'Bible.'"

"And it came to pass, after several billion years (give or take several hundred million), the sun decided to accidentally throw out Uranus, Pluto, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, etc., in different sizes at different distances with different atmospheres. In thus doing, it also accidentally threw out an Earth, which (accidentally) formed water and plants out of molten lava. After a few billion years (give or take several hundred million, either way), an accidental combination of elements got together and accidentally formed a genetic code chain that could dictate what kind of life would be produced. Whereupon this accidentally produced a one-celled animal which couldn't produce a two-celled animal (or a three, or four, or five, or six celled, etc., animal)."

"And thus it came to pass that over 20,000 species of animals were produced accidentally, to no purpose, and man was one of them. And evolution took the planaria that it had made from a paramecium, and created a jellyfish and brought it to a nonsexed, neuter, hermaphrodite and called it ~woman.~ (Or protozoa, coelenterata, platyhelminthes, or ctenophora: evolution only knows!) And evolution said, 'It is not good for the monkey to be alone. I will make a mate for him.' So it accidentally made 'Lucey' for 'Magic,' and he called her 'Baby' because she was taken out of a monkey."

"And after 6,000 years of killing, cannibalism, torture, murder, embezzlement, fraud, famine, lying, swearing, cheating, stealing, and killing the monkey (or femur, or tarsier, or whatever) accidentally decided he had 'rights' that came from the spermatophytes, thallophytes, bryophytes, and ptendophytes, so he gave himself the right to cheat, abort, swear, lie, misrepresent, steal, pervert, extort, defraud, torture, and kill and called these rights, 'Civil Rights.'"

"Today, at the very pinnacle of creation, the monkey (or 'great ape,' or 'hominoid,' or whatever) is 'the measure of all things.' He verily 'hash arrived.' He now knows why he came into being, accidentally; it was to please himself. At last he hath a goal: to make himself comfortable. In the next seven years, this will be done by perversion, extortion, rape, drug abuse, lying, swearing, embezzlement, cheating, cannibalism, terrorism, perversion and killing, evolution willing!"

"Even so, may the fittest survive! Amen!"

(The scholars who translated this new Bible version were: Albert Einstein, Max Plank, Heisenberg, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Dr. Libby, Harold Leakey, Medawar, Bergson, Lysenko, Mach, Max Born, and Stephen Hawking. Publishers: The National Education Association and the National Geographic Association, New York, 800 B.C.)

-Author Unknown

Proving Jesus is God - USING THE QUR'AN???

Seen everything yet?

How about a Muslim who can PROVE that Jesus is GOD by using The Qur'an!
You say it can't be?
It be...

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Just as an FYI, the Videographer has a thick accent, but it is 100% understandable.

What is a Christian?

Years ago, if someone said that they were a "Christian", you'd have a good idea of what that meant. Without someone explaining it to you, you knew that meant that they believed in the God of the Bible and that the Bible was the overriding authority used to determine what was "of God" and what was not.

Not any more.

Sadly, the "New-Agers", "Universalists" and the "Emergent Church" have "hijacked" the term "Christian" and have twisted and contorted it to mean whatever it is that makes them happy...

You see, the Bible wasn't written to make you happy... Really... The Bible was written so that you'd have Gods words to help you address HOW to worship Him and HOW to understand just who He is.

Now I understand there are those who don't believe in God, and I pray for those people. I also reach out to them with an ongoing Christian Outreach Ministry that I run for the Glory of God. So if you are one of those who hasn't yet figured out HOW to have a relationship with God yet, you're in the GREATEST DANGER of "False Christianity" I have ever seen.

If someone tells you that, "Jesus is love" or "You've got a God-Shaped hole in your heart that only Jesus can fill" or if they tell you, "God is totally forgiving and loving and there's nothing you need to do but trust in God" then all they're doing is the work of SATAN.

The bottom line, is none of that New-Age mumbo jumbo is IN THE BIBLE. Those people think they're doing Gods work, but they're only doing it for their own self-glorification OR unknowingly for Satan. There's no two ways about it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those "fire and brimstone" preachers, but the bottom line, is if the Bible says it, it's true. That doesn't mean you throw common sense away, it just means that MAYBE, JUST MAYBE you don't know everything and MAYBE you need to do some homework.

I've had people ask me, "Do you believe in Slavery? Because God sure does." That's just ridiculous. Yes, the Bible makes reference to slaves going all the way back to Genesis. It also says, "Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." In other words, don't worry about it, that's Gods job.

In the US today, too many people are worried about "worldly" things. And I understand why. People say, "Who's going to pay the bills? " or "Who's going to clean the house?" or "Who's going to do this or that, if I don't do it?" I agree. Some things require US to take care of certain things. Other things do NOT. Worrying about slavery or equal rights or homosexuality or any number of other worldly things is a waste of our time. We should each be taking care of OUR responsibilities and let God take care of His.

It says in, "Philippians 3:16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind." We can't all be right if we all have our own viewpoints about Christianity. In my opinion, Religion gets in the way of our relationship with God. In my lifetime, I have never seen religion UNIFY people, it only separates us further. (unless you're talking about terrorists. religion seems to unify them)

As I see it, Christianity is "Jewish Lite". Oh yeah, allow me to explain....

1. Jesus is Jewish, right? (yes)
2. Jesus said, "Matthew 5:18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.", right? (yes)
3. Jesus reminded us of the 10 Commandments from God, right? (yes)

If I stop at just those 3 examples, let's ask a question: Did Jesus come to teach us Christianity? No.... As a child, Jesus taught at the Temple. What did he teach? Scripture! What's "Scripture"? The same "Word of God" that ALL CHRISTIANS learn as part of the Old Testament AND the teachings that are in the New Testament. At the beginning of Jesus' Ministry, he goes into the Synagogue and reads from ISAIAH! Judaism and Christianity are NOT mutually exclusive of one another, they are EXACTLY the same. The only difference, is that the Jewish majority refuses to accept Yeshua as the Messiah. Who can blame them? To admit that Jesus is/was the Messiah would put them in a very bad position. Was it not the Pharisees who had Jesus (an innocent man) murdered by the Romans? (notice that I did not say "the Jews") The day that the Jewish majority stands up and admits their wrongdoing, for utterly failing to identify and worship the Messiah, THEN and only then, will Jesus return. The sad thing, is they don't really need to admit it, GOD TOLD THEM THAT THEY WOULD DO IT 3,000 years before it happened! But still, "not one jot or one tittle"...

But I digress, I'm somewhat off topic.

Some have told me that I have no compassion. HUH? Why? Oh yeah, because I remind people about the law. That makes me a "Legalist", right?

NO, it does not.

A legalist is someone who believes that, "they are saved BY the law". I don't believe that. I know better. All Christians should, but they don't. It's that pesky "religion-thing" getting in the way.

What did Paul say, "Romans 2:12 - For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law." So what does that say? It says, Whether or not you care about the law, if you sin (which you will), you're going to be judged by the law and you're going to PERISH. You know, die, cease to exist, move on, etc...

Well that stinks, right? But wait, what else did Paul say, "Romans 3:19 - Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." What does that mean? It means, God gave you a way to KNOW when you're sinning and if you'll just shut up for a minute, He'll explain it to you. Don't believe me? Read the next verse, "Romans 3:20 - Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin."
See?

So what does all of this mean? Paul says, "Romans 3:31 - Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law." Getting it yet? Ok, here's the bottom line, "Romans 7:7 - ...I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet."

Get it now? How can you possibly "know sin" without the law? YOU CAN'T! Man isn't wise enough to know sin with their mind or their heart, just look at what God said here, "Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?" Using your "feelings" to determine right and wrong can never work, because everybody has their own opinions at to what is right and wrong.

One of the greatest lines in the whole Bible is here, "2 Timothy 3:16 - All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

How much more simple could God have made it?

ALL SCRIPTURE, not some.
ALL SCRIPTURE, not just the parts you like.
ALL SCRIPTURE, not just the parts that don't convict.
ALL SCRIPTURE, not just the parts that don't judge.
ALL OF IT will, "thoroughly equip the man of God.

So back to my point.... As far as I'm concerned, you are free to believe whatever you want to believe. Free will is oft misunderstood as "the ability to choose whatever you want". But that isn't really what it means, it's "the ability to choose whether or not to believe in God".... God created us to worship Him. If he had created a bunch of people "pre-programmed" to love Him, what joy is there in that? He gave us the freedom to choose. How happy would you be if people CHOSE to love you, not because you made them, but because they had the freedom to choose?

In conclusion, if you don't believe that the Bible is the Inerrant Word of God, don't call yourself a Christian. If you don't believe that Jesus meant what he said, don't call yourself a Christian. If you don't like what the Bible says, don't call yourself a Christian. If you think you can "earn your way into Heaven", PLEASE don't call yourself a Christian.

As a Christian, you are saved by Grace alone, through faith alone. Yes, it is said that faith without works is dead, but someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works...

Paul summed it up here: Romans 11:6 - And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

Confused?
Don't be...

Paul was just saying that, "If you're saved by grace, then you're not saved by works; if you're saved by works, then grace is no longer grace. And if you're saved by works, then you're not saved by grace; because then Gods grace is no longer grace..."

Get it now?
If not, pray and the Holy Spirit will reveal it to you...
Without the Spirit, most of the Bible won't make sense...
Why do you think there's so much debate? lol...