I decided to publish this large comment from Jay with my response on the main section since it would be incongruent on the comment section.
Hi jc
Your comment "Here is the punch line: The ONLY reason for God to create a physical universe was so that throughout ALL ETERNITY, He would continue to reproduce Himself through willing, intelligent, physical beings." What scripture did you read to draw you to this conclusion ? I have read that He has created us to live lives filled with good works that He has prepared for us to do. Eph 2:10. That everything has been created through him and for him. Col 1:16. He created us to praise Him. Ps 102:18. He has created us for His Glory. Isa 43:7
Al I have to thank you because when you come up with opinions like this one , it causes me to jump into the scriptures and see why comments like this jump out at me. So I need to prove them right or wrong. I couldn’t find one to prove your point. So help me out please. God does not keeps reproducing himself through us. There is only one God. It sounds like you are saying we become Gods. (I know you don’t but that’s how it sounds)
Also will you tell me how you determine what parts of the bible you choose to believe and what parts are just a simpler way of explaining things for the simple man. I’m talking about how you think the world and man came about.(evolution) You talk about faith in the last part of this post. I like what it says in Hebrews 11;3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. I like taking the things out of the bible with a simple childlike faith. God said it. I believe it. You may think you can win people to Christ by science and logic but the scriptures say it is by faith. Read the rest Hebrew 11. It list a few simple men that I will enjoy spending some time with.
Luke 6:20 or Mat5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The question remains, why is a person who is poor in spirit, instead of rich in spirit, blessed by God? Answer: a person becomes poor in spirit when their desire and need for God is unceasing. God makes His people rich by making their needs, wants and desires few. (you jumped from spiritually poor to worldly poor)
The first part is right but the second part is misleading. I think if we have the same desires that God has he is not going to make those wants and desires few. He will give these wants with abundance. If they are the same wants as His. This scripture is telling me we have to empty ourselves of any worth. Being poor, not worthy, not able to please God, without accepting the sacrifice Christ did for us. There is nothing we can do on are own efforts, it his divine power that gives us the power to obey his commands and his holy word that gives us his desires. Any other way we are just fooling ourselves.
Last point, you make a lot of true statements (about the church) but you mix a lot thing in your post that are not true.( my opinion ) I say this not to make you angry but because you post this for others to read and you are looking for comments. I hope you are not just looking for people who only agree with you. We all need checks now and then.
My opinion is that God can and sometime he makes us rich enough (worldly) when he wants to. 2 Co 9:11. So who are we to pass judgment. Jam 2:3 "Suppose you give special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say to him, "Please have a seat." But you say to the poor man, "Stand over there," or "Sit on the floor at my feet." This scripture can go both ways . We are to treat all people equally.
Rich or poor. Gods blessing. Simple Jay
Posted by Jay to Religion's Crime Against God at 10:01 PM
4/20/2007: Response to Jay’s comment
Jay, thanks much for your engaging comments. I praise and thank my God for you and other Christians like you. You really made my day. I am surprised I don’t receive more comments like yours from the several thousand bloggers who subscribe to this blog. And I agree, “Iron sharpens iron.” Even though every true believer is perfect in God’s sight (we are given Christ’s perfection) by grace, it does not mean we may not inadvertently be in error at times; and I am no exception. That is why this blog needs to be checked by people like you, when I write off-the-wall stuff; even though when I write that way, I truly believe I use Divine logic.
The same is true of Holy Scripture, which has many inconsistencies and outright mistakes. The more I study the Bible, the more I become aware of the mistakes. Most of the time I make little or no fuss about them because I know those writers, especially of the New Testament, were human like me, and mistakes are inevitable. Still, the Holy Bible is the absolute best source of what God and His Son are like and what They expect from us, (life at it best).
As to your first comment for the existence of our universe . . . this is where Divine logic comes into play. According to our latest astronomical figures, our Milky Way galaxy is comprised of approximately 200 billion stars (other solar systems). The universe, God’s universe, has about 50 billion galaxies. What does scripture say, since you want Scriptural proof? Ephesians 4:10. "He who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heaven, in order to FILL the universe." Our God is a logical God. Do you think He created the gigantic, infinite universe just for the heck of it? How can an eternal God be content with numbers or space? (I am referring to the number of earthlings, etc. that will be with Him). I am aware we mortals are unaware of what it means to live in eternity, but eternity and infinity are synonymous. Therefore, how can God, who lives in infinity, be content with a set number of fellow gods?
I am again thankful to God for your jumping into Scripture when you believe I am in error. I wish more bloggers would do the same. If nothing else, my "errors" encourage Bible reading.
Concerning the statement that all God’s people will also be gods: It couldn’t be any other way. That is not taking anything away from God, since He will always be Almighty. Listen to Scripture: John 10:35-36. "Jesus answered them, ‘Is it not written in your law, “I have said you are gods”? If he called them “gods” to whom the word of God came–and Scripture cannot be broken. . . . Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, “I am God’s Son”?’” Does Jesus call us brothers while on earth? Will we be any less when with Him in heaven? Yes, we will; be gods—with a lower- case “g”—along with Him. Also remember, we were created in God’s image. A female dog begets puppies; as they mature, they later will also be dogs, and so on. Every living entity, begets like kind. Did I make my point?
Concerning evolution, as I mentioned, in eternity, time and space do not exist. Science confirms that there is logic in God’s Word. When I mention eternity, time is not in the equation. Yes, it takes child-like faith to believe the gospel. But it takes naiveté to believe that the universe is only 6,000 years old when there is unequivocal, empirical, scientific evidence as to the age of the earth and the universe.
There are millions of intelligent, educated people who would now be Christians if the Christian community would believe that science is a reliable source of knowledge. If these millions have to revert to a belief held before modern science existed—as it does in its present-day form—to become Christians, as is evident, they would reject all the rest of Scripture where science is not necessary. Just because many of them are eggheads (super intelligent), they should not be excluded from believing in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, just because, as I already said, some hard-headed Christian clergy believe the Bible is without error. All I did was to expand the time frame of the first chapter of Genesis to 13- and-a-half billion years. That is one of the greatest revelations I receive from God’s Spirit. And I will never let that go. I don’t like to mention revelations because that seems to put me above others, although I believe that because I am less than others, this is why I receive them.
As to the poor in spirit being blessed, that has been a mystery in the Christian community since who knows when. I will not tell you where I receive it; you have to guess.
You are correct; I did jump from the spiritual to the physical, and I should have been more descriptive.
When I said that God makes His people rich by making their needs few, what I meant is this: Once anyone starts to enjoy all the spiritual riches given to them by God’s grace, all the material things that previously brought happiness, security, etc. will, without us even trying, become of little value. I have less materials things now than the vast majority of Americans have, and I guarantee I am ten times more content now than when I was wealthy. You know how God and I feel about wealth in the hands of His chosen, so I won’t go there except to say that the comfort and security that wealth gives become the biggest competitors to God, and when it comes to wealth versus God as to who is the most important/valuable, guess who always wins? Check out Luke 16:13. "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."
You said, "There is nothing we can do on our own effort, it is his divine power that gives us the power to obey his commands and his holy word that gives us his desire." That is partially correct, but basically incorrect. This is what I mean: With all the power God has, He cannot—I should say, “does not”—violate our free will. We must make EVERY EFFORT by our own free will to do exactly what God commands. God does not tamper with our freedom of choice. The reason I say this is that if someone is waiting for God to inspire him/her, to do His will, that time will never come, because that inspiration has always been there. Remember, God has always desired the whole world to do His will, so everyone can be saved, but only a few will listen to Him.
Concerning what I write about the organized church, you said it "is not true," and I can understand why you said that. You must, one way or another, be/have been part of it. There are not enough descriptive words in the English language for me to tell what damage that church—I do not mean all of them—has done to America and the world. I will say no more than that. I think you know what I mean.
Concerning the idea that I want comments in which readers agree with me,. I don’t need those types of comments just to make me feel as if God is accomplishing something worthy through this blog. I need and desire comments like yours, since they invoke a detailed response. Of all the loyal readers of this blog, I am surprised I don’t receive more comments. So I ask everyone to send me comments or questions of any sort, even those that have no apparent answers.
And your last few words, concerning God’s people having wealth:. I will say this: When anyone attempts to justify wealth of any sort, that tells God that something substantial is missing in one’s spiritual life.
jc
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