Rom 3

Date: 10 February 2009, D – 11 days

Events:

No, I didn’t go wakeboarding (that was back in october) but thought a lot about it. Kinda, "California Dreaming on such a winter day." I’m in fact not doing much these days, just studying medicine (to stay sharp), writing and working out. That’s about it for yesterday. Deployment did get changed again to 20 Feb.

Bible:

Rom 3

God's Righteousness Upheld
3 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written,
"That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged."
5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? ( I speak in a human way.) 6 By no means! For then how could God judge the world? 7 But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8 And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.
No One Is Righteous
9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:
"None is righteous, no, not one;11 no one understands;no one seeks for God.12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good,not even one."13 "Their throat is an open grave;they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips."14 "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood;16 in their paths are ruin and misery,17 and the way of peace they have not known."18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
The Righteousness of God Through Faith
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one. He will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Bible Thoughts:

1. “3 Then what advantage has the Jew?... Much in every way…” As we discussed yesterday, the Jews who were given the full Old Testament law, tradition and Prophets had a great advantage over the Gentile who had not such privilege. The advantage was limited though to what should have been an easier recognition and belief in the coming Messiah. The Old Testament Law, tradition and Prophets conferred no benefit without Christ, as faith in God’s “Right Hand” for redemption is the heart of the Old Testament and Jewish faith.

2. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! Paul pre-empts the Jews argument that God is not faithful to his covenant if the entire people is not saved. Again, the Jews misunderstood then and misunderstand now their salvation to be secondary to their inheritance (DNA). The Jews were a proud people who thought that they were saved by the DNA and Law of their Father Abraham apart from the Faith from their Father Abraham. Paul will later make the point that all “True Israel” will be, not may be, but will be saved (Romans 11). Thus, God has been faithful to his covenant as savior of “True Israel.” The difficulty then was much the same as the difficulty today, as a majority of church-goers are not true Christians. God who looks upon the “circumcision of the heart” (see yesterday) knows those who were and are relying on him (not themselves) for their salvation. These few represent the true Israel/Christians.

3. 5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? Just as the police and courts are praised today for bringing criminals to justice, so too is God magnified when those who sin against him and trash his name are punished. Though our blackness makes his purity shine all the more, this in no justification or excuse for lawlessness. The vary argument shows the futility of human reason as we attempt to justify our sins apart from the blood of Christ.

4. And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just. A wise man once said, “if you are not occasionally charged with antinomianism, you are not sharing the gospel enough.” Paul faced the same slander in his day. Antinomianism is a heresy that the Christian is no longer obligated to follow the law. It is true that the Christian is no longer under the punishment of the law but this in no way excused the Christian from doing the right thing. Finally understanding the full wrath and eternal consequence that our sin’s brought in the punishment of our Loving King Jesus Christ how can we go on sinning? I have said it before but it bears reiteration, though the punishment of our sins has been dealt and we are no longer under the condemnation our sins deserve, the offense of our sins to our heavenly Father is no less. Further, when we, God’s adopted children sin against our Father, how much greater is God’s pain than when a stranger commits the same sin?

5. 9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. While the Jews who knew the whole law, tradition and prophets had a distinct advantage, without faith in Christ (the direct object of the law, tradition and prophets), they were indeed no better off. Mere knowledge of the law does not save; mere knowledge of the prophets confers no blessing without their direct object that is Christ.

6. … all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin… Though the law, as a gift of God was good, what the law demonstrated… the sin of man was not. Here, Paul brings the charge of Sinner against all mankind, by Jew Paul means those with the law, by Greek he means those without the law. Regardless both, indeed “all,” are sinners. The Apostle John later says…"8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” 1 John 1:8-10. Fundamental to our acceptance of the Gospel is our understanding of our own sinfulness. Without owning our sin, we will never realize our need for the gospel. The world can attempt to deny man’s innate sinfulness all they want, saying…”you’re good enough, you deserve this.” But there is something inside every man that screams the contrary. If not, why the amazing market for worldly self-help books that continue to propagate the lies? No, truth and peace are not found in the denial of our sin but in the acceptance of our sin and the acceptance of an adequate atonement for that sin. Marla can testify that I freak out every time I see a depressed/anxious person reading a secular self-help book. Reason being, the majority of these books are written from a false perspective (human goodness) that does not recognize the reality of the human state (sinful), what can they possibly teach us? If anything, they drive us further into a denial of the reality that exists inside of us and cause a greater and greater inner tension between our “ID”, “ego” and “superego,” resulting in the full spectrum of physiatric pathology from depression to anxiety.

7. "None is righteous, no, not one… Romans 3 is one of the best commentaries on man’s “radical/total depravity.” The doctrine of “Total Depravity” states that Man, as inheriting the original sin passed on from Adam is born unable to follow or choose God, instead every inclination is towards the self and world. As Paul later says in 1 Cor 2:14-15, “14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” Christ himself declares in John 6:44, “44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” Sin’s systemic effect has rendered natural humans dead to the gospel, “Eph 2:1-5. 2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— too often, our salvation is made analogous to a man drowning in the ocean who has but to swim to God’s “life preserver” in order to be saved. This analogy is far from biblical and steals the credit God deserves in order to preserve man’s autonomy. The bible does not refer to unsaved man as drowning but as dead. How is a dead man to save himself? A more biblical analogy is a child who falls into a frozen lake; EMS pulls the child, now dead and stiff, out of the water after a 2 hour submersion. The child is then transported to my ER where I (not the child) take the pulseless, apnic, blue, dead child in my arms place him on a bypass machine to warm him then shock the cold dead heart back to life. You see in this example, the responsibility and thus the glory goes to the rescuer and not the rescued. Though all men are “free” to follow their will, their will is never “free.” Thus, men may “freely” choose to follow God but only after God acts first to shock their cold, dead heart back to life. Like it or not, this is a biblical view of salvation. If you do not like it, I challenge you to get to the root of why you don’t like it. Could it be that you want for Man’s glory, autonomy and freedom over God’s glory, autonomy and freedom? The question, I guess is irrelevant, as we are still forced to make a choice between knowing and following the Biblical God that exists or creating for ourselves an Idol God that we wish existed.

8. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. What may have been unclear in Romans 2 becomes crystal clear in Romans 3. The Old Testament Law and regulations were never meant to Justify anyone. Righteousness was never meant to be earned through the law; rather, the law was meant to point to it’s direct object…Jesus Christ. The Law is to be used much as I use a CT Scan, to diagnose an illness that needs treatment. The CT never cured anyone but through diagnosis, I am now able to target a disease and prescribe a treatment. God’s CT machine (the law) reveals a disease within all of us that we are unable to treat by our own strength. Instead, we need Christ’s external, given treatment.

9. Intro to vs. 21-31: In his first 3 chapters or Romans, Paul has declared the entire world both responsible and accountable for denying the creator and breaking the law. This condemnation culminates in Chapter 3 which may be better titled, “surrender hope all, ye who enter” whereby the reader is so battered as to surrender nearly all hope of atoning for so great a fall, what follows thought is one of the most comprehensive and precise presentations of the Gospel in the entire bible. If you ever need a quick reference, a “Gospel for dummies,” flip to Romans 3 and read and own it.

10. …righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law... “righteousness of God” i.e. Christ’s righteousness, not my self-righteousness as earned my obedience to the law but a foreign righteousness earned by Christ by his perfect obedience to the law.

11. the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. This is an Imputed, infused, external, and foreign righteousness, not inherent, earned, self righteousness. This was perhaps the greatest debate of the reformation, and a debate worth separating over as it is fundamental to our view of salvation. The question posed was…are we saved by our own righteousness as achieved with Christ’s assistance enabling us to pay our own debt through pious activity? OR, Are we graciously given Christ’s righteousness once and for all through faith? This verse (and the rest of the bible for that matter) supports the reformers and first 1000 years of Church history that maintain we are forensically (as if in court) declared righteous through Christ’s infused work the moment we truly believe.

12. all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, As above, the use of “all” demonstrates the universality of need. Not Paul, not Peter, not John, not Mary, and not Mother Teresa in all their greatness, in all their good works were able to cosmically right all their sins. They were unable canceled their own debt or earn their own salvation apart from Christ. I feel they would be rightly infuriated if they heard of such lies. Thus, there is no “treasury of merit,” as when Paul and John (arguably the best Christians to ever live) evaluated their own lives, they realized they too were likewise condemned by the law with nothing to offer for their own salvation, nor the salvation of others, but a bunch of “dirty rags”.

13. Justified Christians (like the military and doctors) have many terms we throw around and expect people to understand. So that we are all on the same page, the definition of justification is made righteousness…declared innocent. Justification is used in a “forensic” sense, meaning-- as if in a court of law. To be justified means to be once and for all declared Righteous before God. It is true the Justified may still sin but this never takes us out of a saving relationship as salvation is not granted or withdrawn based on my daily works/sins but is granted by my faith (which itself is a gift) in Christ’s completed work on the Cross.

14. Justified by his grace as a gift…(ESV) other translations “Justified, freely” (NKJV, NIV). I included the most common English translation “freely” as it more clearly demonstrates the point. We were not given salvation because we swam to God’s “life preserver.” We were not given salvation because we were wise enough to chose God or because we were righteousness enough in our works to deserve God. But we were justified “freely.” Our “no free lunch” culture makes it difficult for us to understand such a gift. We are accustomed to earning our way, never asking for help, “you get yours and I’m gonna get mine.” In this culture, it has become difficult to humble ourselves to admit that salvation is not something that we can achieve on our own “will or effort” (Romans 9:16); but humble ourselves we must, or there is no salvation.

15. through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Note what is not included, charity, trips, going to church, taking communion, having children etc. Christ alone give redemption from sin. Don’t get me wrong, all of the above activities are good but they effect sanctification (spiritual maturity) not salvation. Salvation is based on Solo Christos (Christ’s work alone).

16. whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, Note, propitiation not the softer expiation. Propitiation depicts not only the expiation-payment, but also a turning or satisfaction of God’s wrath.

17. propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. Again, note what is not included, charity, trips, going to church, taking communion, having children, not drinking/dancing and all the other thousand things Christians imply are necessary for salvation. Again, if we’re talking maturity fine but please never confuse sanctification with justification or you will quickly lose both your joy and thankfulness. Justification is base on Solo Fide (faith alone). Everything we choose to “do” past justification is merely as a grateful response to our ransom being paid.

18. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. And why was humanity saved and God’s wrath satisfied in such a draumatic mannor as the crusifiction of Christ and ensuing eclipse, earthquakes and miraculous resurrections? Sole Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone). Just as the Karate Kid was glorified when he finally crane kicked that bully in the head, so too is God to be glorified for conquering death and rescuing his children from their sin. It is for God’s glory that we have been saved and not our own. It is that we may praise God all the louder that he dragged our will kicking and screaming from sin to righteousness.

19. that he might be just and the justifier God is entirely responsible for our salvation from first to last. Let me illustrate this with an Old Testament passage that I hope to do justice. 7 And he (God) said to him (Abraham), "I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess." 8 But Abraham said, "O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?" 9 He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other..17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. Gen 15:7-10,17,18 What is depicted here is an Old Testament Covenant making ceremony. There are two parties, Abraham and God. Animals are cut up into bloody messes separated one half from the other leaving narrow, bloody pathway between them. Abraham would have recognized ceremony in which both parties would be expected to make promises to each other and then walk in between the animals signifying that if they did not fulfill their commitment, then like the animals they too would be cut into pieces. But, instead of each party committing some good or service, we see an entirely one sided covenant (hardly could be called a covenant) as God promises to bless Abraham and his descendents with the promise land but all Abraham bring to the equation is faithlessness and adultery then in an amazing twist, God walks between the animals. God says to Abraham, If I do not fulfill my promise to you and your offspring then like these animals I will be cut to pieces. In true dramatic irony, God did indeed fulfill his promise but the fulfillment itself required God’s own blood, In Christ’s bloody death. God is in the habit of one-sided covenants (as what could we bring that God needs?). Our covenant with Christ too is entirely one sided, he has been crucified for our transgression; all we bring to the equation is faithlessness and adultery (forsaking our first love and following Idols). In this way God get’s all the glory for the rescue of his Children. He is truly both the just and justifier. God instituted a covenant of works and then fulfilled its requirements with his own blood.

20. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. If we did swim to the Life Vest or were smart enough to choose God on our own accord then we would deserve the lion’s share of the credit for our own salvation as we would then be the responsible party, the effective element driving the equation. If our salvation were dependent on our “free choice” then Christ did not actually accomplish anything on the Cross. Christ’s blood would have only opened the door for our salvation but we were the ones who walked through it. I prefer to believe (and the bible supports) that God cares more for me eternal salvation than for my autonomy. Please look very, very closely at Eph 2:8-10: “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. In this verse we see the interplay of faith, grace and works. Notice we are saved by Grace- the gift not only of Christ’s life and blood but also of our faith. Notice how Paul qualifies “faith. And this is not of your own doing.” Our faith is not something we can drum up or create on our own (remember the discussion of Total Depravity) No, the very faith that secures our Justification is also the gift of God. And why? That no one may boast. God is entirely responsible for our salvation and far from robots, we praise God as those helpless dead, frozen children made alive only by the very breath of God.

21. He will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. This is occasionally referred to as the “new covenant,” I prefer to instead call it the “full revelation of the Old Covenant,” as even Old Testament Jews were ultimately saved by Christ’s blood through a primitive faith that God in his mercy would somehow atone for their law breaking. Thus, in Christ’s sacrifice, the law is upheld like never before because the Justice of God has finally (after 2000 yrs of prophesy) been finally (once and for all) satisfied.


Sun Tzu:

“Therefore a wise general strives to feed off the enemy. Each Pound of food taken from the enemy is equivalent to twenty pounds you provide by yourself.”

“Transportation of provision itself consumes twenty times the amount transported.”

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

Sarah. Sarah was the wife of Abraham and matriarch of the Jewish people. Sarah was so beautiful that when she and Abraham fled to Egypt during a famine, her beauty caused Abraham to fear for their safety. Concerned that Pharaoh would take Sarah and kill him, Abraham pretended that Sarah was his sister. Pharaoh did take Sarah, but God punished Pharaoh, allowing Sarah and Abraham to escape to Egypt together. Sarah was infertile for the majority of her life. Thus, as was the custom, she gave her handmaiden, Hagar to Abraham so that he could continue his lineage. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael (Muslim’s claim him as their patriarch). After Ishmael’s birth, Sarah became jealous and Abraham banished Hagar and Ishmael. When Sarah was 99 years old, through divine intervention, she bore Isaac the father of Jacob (Israel). Sarah died at 127 and was buried in the Hebron Valley where, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are also buried.

Rom 2

Date: 9 February 2009 D – 13 Days

Events:

7 Feb: Easy day, Marla and I laid around the house most of the day, recovering from our huge meal Friday night. We watched Run Fat Boy, Run catchy title, right? Good movie. Otherwise we just spent quality time together.

8 Feb: Got up and went to Church. We got to be greeters and help collect the offering both of which went fine. Our Church was full because 3 kids got baptized and our pastor gave a great sermon, the sermon was based on the text of Numbers 11 and focused on our responsibility to heed the Bible as the written will of God, the Church as God’s most immediate earthly institution responsible for teaching, encouraging and disciplining the Christian and our brothers/sisters as God’s chosen vessel to give us an outsiders perspective on how the Bibles text may be applied to our specific circumstance. While I am pretty good at Listening to God’s written word, I have not capitalized on the opportunity to seek instruction from the Church or my fellow Christians as I should have while in San Antonio. Most of the reason that I remember Ft Worth so fondly is that I was deeply involved at Christ Chapel and surround by a great group of believers. I deeply regret not getting more involved with our church or friends and look forward to a new start this summer when we move to a new city. We went to yoga last night and came home and watched the Grammy’s.

Bible:

Rom 2

God's Righteous Judgment

2 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who do such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.

God's Judgment and the Law

12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."

25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.


Bible Thoughts:

1. When I picked up my bible for the first time that pivotal August day (see yesterdays post) and was supernaturally guided to and through Romans, there were two things that brought the letter to life for me, the first was my newly regenerated soul that was now able to understand the bible as interpreted through the viewing box of the gospel, and the second was that I read through the letter in its entirety in one setting as opposed to the choppy way we typically read the bible. Remember, all verse and chapter delineations were placed in the bible not by the original authors, but years later to enable easier location and discussion of the text. The punch of the letter is lost as we pick it up one day, read a few sentences, then put it down not to be thought about again for at least another 24 hrs when we try to pick up right where we left off. We complain that the bible is difficult to understand and granted it can be, but it is not made any easier by reading one piece at a time then flipping mid-thought to another section and reading a letter from a different author, addressed to a different audience, written for a different purpose. We would not attempt to read a piece of literature this way so why do we read the bible this way? I am victim in my daily life to the same trap as it is difficult to find time to read each book in the bible as it is written, but my point is that if we get frustrated by a particularly difficult verse, the answer to it’s interpretation likely lies either just before or after it. So, before throwing your bible and having a fit (as I have before) take a second and consider the context. As we move on to “Chapter 2” of Romans, we must therefore consider it in light of what we have just read in chapter 1 and what we are about to read in chapter 3. Romans like no other book in the bible moves systematically through the doctrine of salvation (soteriology). Paul is writing to Romans “Christians” that he has never met and does not know where they stand in doctrinal knowledge or maturity. Thus each book builds upon the last and is incredibly difficult (even dangerous) to interpret alone. In light of this, I will attempt to place each verse in the context of the chapter and each chapter in the context of the letter and each letter in the context of the gospel in order to more fully illuminate Paul’s points. . Paul, in “Chapter 1” begins by describing what we learned about yesterday, the “General Revelation” whereby, because of the majesty of creation, man is without excuse if he/she denies an intelligent creator. Paul will, in “chapter 2”, take it one step further demonstrating the despite the Jews having both the law (Old Testament) and their precious traditions (demonstrated by the ritual of circumcision), they were under no special protection for the coming judgment. God’s righteous judgment was promised and would come and, the Jews would be unable to fall back on their ancestry, their law or their rituals to save them from the wrath of God due their sin. In Chapter 2 Paul will, many times hold the law up as good (which it is) and, taken out of context, people may use this as a support of law based righteousness. However, when taken in the context of Chapter 3 (perhaps the greatest discourse on the depravity of man in the bible) we see that Paul is not saying that anyone (except Christ) is declared righteous by the law, only that the law, as God’s gift, is good.

2. …For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things… Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? As Jesus criticized hypocrites, so will Paul. In the context of the beginning of Romans chapter 2, as Paul moves from his discussion of the “General Revelation” of creation to the “specific revelation” of the old testament and newly revealed gospel, he moves on from criticizing the unbelieving world for ignoring the testimony of the creation to criticizing the Jews for their judgment and condemnation of the world. Paul may not know the Romans he is writing to but he surely knows the soul of man. Paul knows that as soon as comparison starts, pride swells. Paul pre-empts this spiritual pride with a hammer. As Paul will soon make clear, “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). It was made clear by Jesus that sins external action is merely the tip of the iceberg. “21 You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder’…. 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire...27 “You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matt 5:21-23,27-29. Far from sitting in a “special” position to judge the world, the Jews and church privileged with the full revelation of grace, mercy and salvation are now without excuse when we heap judgment and insult upon the unbelieving world. The Parable of the unmerciful servant comes to mind,

“23 "Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, 'Pay what you owe.' 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." Matt 18:23-35

Before any spiritual pride wells up in my heart, I must remember the quote, “But for the grace of God, there go I.” I was not smart enough to choose Christ, nore good enough to deserve salvation. Without God’s intervention I would never have willingly chosen Christ and without Christ’s imputed righteousness there is no true good in me. In remembering this, far from pridefully condemning the world, I can identify with the world; understanding that without the grace of God, I would be committing the exact same worldly sins (if I’m not already). if I am in anyway better than the world, all I can do is humbly thank God for his grace and if I fall short of the world, I must rely still greater on the cross because, as one who now understands the full revelation of scripture, one given the holy spirit to lead me from sin, when I fall into sin, how much greater should my condemnation be?

3. 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Thanks be to God that he did not pull the plug when Adam disobeyed; thanks be to God that he did not toss me to the wolves at my first sin or the thousands that followed each insulting glory and dishonoring his name. May I never “presume” upon God’s love like a child that has gotten away with breaking curfew so frequently that I think of my Father as a softy. God deserves, no…demands respect and promises that every word will be accounted for at Judgment and all that I will be able to do is cry out for Christ’s help.

4. …God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance… I discuss a lot of wrath and as I first mulled over this verse felt a bit convicted, I thought maybe all that lovey-dovey stuff preached in the liberal church was worthwhile. Praise the Lord for bringing me back to my senses…how are people to know the love of God without first realizing the wrath of God? How are people to be thankful for their rescue when they have no idea what they have been rescued from? A verse that has recently come alive to me like never before is Matt 11:16-17 "But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, 17 "'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.' A generation that has lost consequence has no need for a savior; a generation that has lost their need has no love of a savior. Truly, “he who is forgiven much, loves much” (Luke 7) and how are we to rejoice in our great forgiveness without first realizing what we have been forgiven for. I preach a wrathful God firstly because He is the biblical God and secondly because the never-ending preaching of God’s love has so diluted God’s justice in our culture that we are no longer able to dance for our great salvation.

5. 6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; This is one of those tough verses that I spoke of earlier, one that requires looking forward to the next chapter to determine exactly what Paul means. The question is, how do we marry this verse with what Paul’s later point in Roman’s 3, “all have sinned,” Romans 6, “the wages of sin are death,” and later in Galatians 3:11, “11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.” The key is to realize where our righteousness comes from. The law as impartial and just truly does offer salvation (eternal life) to any/all who can keep it. The problem as Paul is about to explain in Roman’s 3 is that no naturally born human can actually keep it. There was only one, born not with the taint of original sin, born not with the inclination away from God towards sin who was actually able to keep the whole law and earn for himself and the human race salvation (Romans 5, coming up) that one was Jesus Christ. Truly we do have a merit/works based religion, the works that merit our salvation are just not our own but Christ’s accounted to us through faith. Christ’s sinless life (2 Cor 5:22, and Hebrews 4:15) is called his “active obedience” by which he earned not only his own salvation but also the salvation of all who would honor him by trusting in his person and work.

6. 11 For God shows no partiality. This statement has been unnaturally separated from the paragraphs that follow it. Far from completing the prior paragraph, actually seems to serve as a topic sentence for the next few paragraphs. As we look at the next two paragraphs Paul demonstrates that the Jews and Christians are in no way preferred to the gentile simply in title, law or tradition.

7. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts... There is little doubt that even unbelievers can do good. This good is called “civic good” or “common good” because it is not true good (motivated for God’s glory), but it is still good as defined by the law. The gift of the conscience screams against “natural selection” and for a work of art, made in the image of a compassionate, loving creator. What evolutionary advantage does is confer to help others at the risk of self? No, the conscience is God’s law written on the world’s heart. Though all societies do not poses the Old Testament 613 laws, all societies do poses a conscience, an internal “moral law.” This ‘Moral law’ both testifies to a creator and against the righteousness of the self. It is the gift of the conscience that will ultimately condemn those far off nations when they deny their creator and having knowingly violated their conscience make no adequate atonement (blood) for such violation. It is horrifying to me when the Oprah’s of society falsely reassure felons that their trespass is forgiven simply because they are “sorry”, or that by some act of kindness that they may somehow atone for their evil, equaled the cosmic right/wrong scale, thus no longer need to feel guilt. Ask the guilty if this false reassurance has ever truly cleansed their consciousness? Nearly all suicidal patients that I have talked to (and I’ve talked to hundreds) have at their root excessive guilt felt over transgressions that has thus far been entirely resistant to treatment by all worldly counseling and psychiatry. We are setting people up for failure when take their justly felt guilt and tell them is has been cosmically righted because they are “sorry”, we both know that it hasn’t; our collective conscience testifies against it. You will find that the most joyful persons in the Church are those who remember the guilt they lived in (like myself) before claiming Christ’s adequate sacrifice as an atonement. As the author of Hebrews puts it, “19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” Heb 10:19-24

8. 21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? A scary admonition that reminds me of James 3:1 “ Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”

9. 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." An even scarier statement when I consider how often my life may be use by the unbelieving world to blaspheme God. When I am branded with the title of Christian, people watch my life more closely. Perhaps it’s that inner evil within all of us that enjoys seeing people trip as they walk up stairs, crashes their stock cars and enjoys the fights at hockey games more than the goals, but the fact is that the world loves to see professing Christian’s fall. It is likely that most of this attitude stems from the Holier-than-Thou position Christians justly or unjustly are charged with. It is true, many Christians (I’m sure myself at times) may appear Holier-than-thou but this is the very attitude that this chapter argues so strongly against. That as Christians, far from being smarter or more righteous than our unbelieving neighbors, we must remember that without the external, undeserved righteousness of Christ we are no better than our neighbors and in many instances much worse than our neighbors, not only before we became Christians but even as professing Christians. Though I know the law and its consequence, and understand the full revelation of the Gospel in scripture, I am constantly contending with the “plank in my own eye,” far from being concerned with my neighbors actions or my plans for tomorrow, I should be fully occupied with sanctifying the next thought through my head, the next glance of my eyes, and the next action of my hand. Not because these actions justify me but because I realize the extreme pain to God, Christ, my earthly relationships and myself that my sins cause. The thought that I am branded with the name of Christ and the world considers my actions a reflection upon Him while humbling and terrifying is something I must never forget.

10. 25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision…28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter… Beautiful reiteration of 1 Sam 16:7-8, “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." Misunderstanding their own salvation, many Jews relied upon their lineage depicted in the sign of circumcision for their salvation. Circumcision was given as a sign of the Faith of Abraham, not the line of Abraham. The bible often speaks of the “Remnant” or the “True Israel”, the fraction of Israel that was truly saved by faith in God’s promise, not by external action or ritual. Even today, the majority of the Jewish faithful rely on external obedience to the law and ritual for their salvation, while there is a “remnant” that are truly saved by continued reliance on the promised Gospel of God, these are the so called Messianic Jews. The Jewish people received a special grace from God when they were given the Law, as they now had a much better understanding of God’s standards than their fellow gentiles but, as they found themselves breaking this law (as all inevitably did) they were not to rely on their ritual circumcision for their salvation but the actual covenant that their circumcision represented. The covenant that God would somehow rescue his faithful people. A salvation that ultimately was found in Christ not circumcision. As Paul later says in Gal 5:2-5 “…if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace." Paul is, of course, not saying that the Circumcised are unable to be saved, what he means is that those reliant on circumcision and law (instead of Christ) are unable to be saved. While the Jews were privileged with the Law and the sign of circumcision, neither were given to grant salvation, but to point to the one from whom salvation would ultimately come, The Christ.

Sun Tzu:

“The common people provide goods, food, and labor for the use of the military, thus losing most of their own sustenance, while the government provides equipment for the use of the military, thus losing more than half of its budget. Therefore taxes are used up, the army is worn out, and the populace is exhausted. When levies are oppressive and the people are impoverished, the country is drained.”

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

“Plato’s Cave Allegory,” In Plato’s Republic he describes a scenario in which men, trapped in a cave, can see only the shadows of objects projected on the wall. They are forced to face forward while a fire burns behind them. Objects are held up in front of the fire, projecting images the men identify. For instance, the men in the cave may think they see a book, but what they see is only the book’s shadow as it is held up behind them. When a man escapes the cave to witness the true nature of things, he is at first pained by the brilliance of the sun and confused by the physical objects. But when he eventually understands the true nature of the world, he pities the masses who know only shadows. Of course, the men in the cave resist learning the truth and think their escaped friend is crazy when he tries to describe it. In the allegory, the men trapped in the cave represent the world’s ignorant masses. They see only representations of objects, the sights and sounds that can be discerned by our physical senses. To Plato the man who escapes the cave to witness the true nature of things is the philosopher.

Rom 1

Date: 7 February 2009

Events:

Slept in (still on leave), read, wrote, played with Sadie and by the time I had finished, Marla was home and we watched a great show on the History Channel called Bible Battles. In Bible Battles, the commentators are all military historians and they follow Israel from the Joshua through the Judges and into Saul’s reign discussing the tactic’s Israel used in each significant battle. The show had great graphic depictions of the battles, knowledgeable commentary and a good bit of theatrics during the battles. It gave a good impression of how bloody war was back then. The Military historians, of course, interpret all campaigns strictly from a tactical standpoint, often butchering the theology but it was a very good show overall and I would highly recommend it. Marla and I went out to a Brazilian Steakhouse last night with some great friends and it was amazing!

Bible:

ROMANS

Greeting

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which

he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Longing to Go to Rome

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 13 I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

God's Wrath on Unrighteousness

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Bible Thoughts:

1. By way of an introduction to Romans, let me first say this is my favorite book in the bible. Romans was written to Christians in Rome that Paul had never met. Therefore, instead of dealing with specific issues as we will see in most of his other epistles, Paul moves systematically through the doctrines of the faith. My love for this book, however is far deeper than simply as a great doctrinal work as this book was instrumental in my final conversion to Christianity. Though for years, I had gone to Church and considered myself a Christian, in the summer of 1999 I went off to ROTC Advanced Camp in Fort Lewis Washington. My battle buddy for the 8 weeks was a solid Christian guy and though we never discussed theology he would often sing or hum as we trekked through the woods. It was at Advanced Camp that I felt an inner change occur that I was unable to describe until years later. Barely aware of the change at the time, I never mentioned it and probably wrote it off as sleep deprivation. When I returned to Fort Worth, however, the change was more evident. I no longer wanted to hang out with my girlfriend of 3 years and had a great urge to read a bible. I finally stopped one day, randomly opened the bible to a book and started reading. And what book did I randomly open to but Romans. I had likely seen or at least heard some verses from Romans prior to this experience but for the first time, I understood what I was reading. Through sort of a Never Ending Story experience, as I moved through Paul’s exposition of the universality of sin, the fall of man, the origin of my faith and my necessary response, I found myself and my faith in the text. In my opinion, my heart was regenerated, “reborn” (not by my own will/desire) that summer at Advanced Camp and I repented and believed that August back in Fort Worth. God may correct me when I get to heaven but that’s my testimony. The Lord must hold Romans in high esteem as He used it to awaken not only my soul, but Luther’s as well (comment 11).

2. “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle” If asked, I feel that Paul would echo my own experience of contributing nothing to salvation. Instead of an actor’s/effectors our conversions we were, instead, acted upon. Far from weighing the cost/benefit of the gospel and deciding to internally muster a belief, quite the contrary, one day a belief was given to us by external, irresistible force. Paul’s conversion experience in which was called to apostleship and became a servant of Christ was, however, a bit more dramatic than my own. As a Jewish Pharisee from birth, Paul (Saul at that point) had spent his life zealously studying the scriptures. Paul was passionate for his Jewish faith as demonstrated by how aggressively he persecuted the Christians even condoning the killing of our first martyr Stephen (Acts 7). This, however, changed in an instant (and quite contrary to his will I might add) when Christ appeared to Paul and irresistibly drew him to apostleship. The story is awesome and classic please enjoy it again:

Acts 9:1-19

9 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" 5 And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." 11 And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." 13 But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name." 15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened.
From this point onward Saul’s (Paul) life was irresistibly altered. There would be no more sleeping in a comfortable bed, no more life with his immediate family, no more standing in a place of honor as a Pharisee. Instead Paul was conscripted to become, in my opinion, the most influential of all the apostles. Paul left his life of comfort and accolade to become a missionary to the gentiles, despised by his own people. The life Paul found in Christ, however, was more full of love, grace, peace and contentment than any he could of dreamt of as a Pharisee (see the last chapter of any of his epistles or Philippians). His eternal reward was secured, Paul embarked on his exciting and eternally fulfilling journey.

3. …gospel of God… And, why was Paul willing to forsake all becoming a slave to Christ and apostle to the Gentiles? The Gospel, the “good news” to the world that whereas the Law that Paul knew so well promised only condemnation and death, Christ, living a perfect life earned for us all of the reward of heaven and in his death paid the final sentence due the law. Now through belief (honoring) Christ’s historic person and work we can be imputed (given) his merit unto heaven and his death can be our paid debt.

4. …promised beforehand through his prophets… who was descended from David… Why had Paul and the other Pharisee’s not recognized Jesus as the promised messiah? They had misinterpreted the Old Testament prophesies. The Jews were looking for a king in the worldly sense who would save them from their worldly oppressors forever. The Jews expected the messiah to be a militant king like David who would lead them in conquering the world. Thus, when Christ died there hope was lost. As grand as their expectations for the prophesied messiah were, they were none-the-less far too small. Far greater than rescuing the Jews to a worldly comfort and security, in Christ’s death, He has rescued them to an eternal comfort and security; and, far greater than a militant conquer of the gentiles, he has conquered without weapons but with an offered assimilation into the promises of the Jews. The Prophesy concerning the messiah is extensive and all points accurately to the life and work of Jesus Christ.

5. …declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead… As discussed yesterday in Matthew 28, our best evidence that Christ truly was the son of God, lived without sin, and paid our debt was death’s inability to hold him. Likewise, our hope rests solidly in the fact that as Christ conquered death, through his completed work, so shall we.

6. 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, Paul could mean one of two things here, if Paul speaks to the “general call” (as this is prior to addressing the saints) then it is true, the whole world is called to belong to Christ, some of course will not heed this call. On the other hand Paul may be speaking of the "effectual call" meaning that if people are reading his letter and professing to be believers we can make the safe’ish assumption that they have been effectively called (given faith). The point worth making is that Human’s are free to follow their will, their will however is never neutral. Without Gods supernatural intervention (effectual call) people will invariably follow their own selfish desires not submitting to Christ’s lordship. It is only through God’s regeneration of the person that they are then able to respond affirmatively to the gospel and submit to Christ’s lordship.

7. 7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Always important to recognize who the letter is addressing many a theological argument can be resolved by simply determining who the author is talking to. For instance, I would discuss different issues in different ways with my wife, vs. my Christian friends, vs. my non-Christian friends. I might write a love letter to my wife, addressed to my wife, that taken out of context and applied to my friend Joel would look quite inappropriate

8. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. My question to the Arminean (free-willer’s) is… if faith is entirely something that you internally drum up and you are not influenced by God in any external way, so as to impede your freedom, then why does Paul thank God for the disciple’s faith at the beginning of every one of his letters??? Paul does not thank God for simply opening the way to salvation but for their faith. If God has nothing to do in influencing or giving with your “freely” self-created faith then why thank God? Further, why would we pray for an unbeliever’s faith if we did not believe God to work in regeneration prior to the unbeliever’s repentance. It is horribly inconsistent to fight so hard for Free-will and then all of a sudden turn around and pray that God would give your mother faith. In the end which is more important that the almighty free-will is not encroached upon or that your mother is saved? What God would you rather serve, a deity that stays at a distance so as not to disrupt free-will, throwing the flotation devise but waiting for you to swim to it or a God that performs CPR on your dead soul, who is responsible for your salvation from beginning to end? Which God deserves more Glory? Which God is more powerful? Forget all those questions and ask yourself the only important one, which God is described in the bible?

9. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. As I said earlier, Jesus is techniquley the Jewish Messiah. Romans 11 is a beautiful commentary as to how we gentiles, out of love, have been incorporated into God’s plan for the Redemption of True Israel.

10. "The righteous shall live by faith." It was Luther’s intense study of Romans, Galatians and in particular this verse that sparked the reformation. Luther, a monk in the Catholic Church in the 16th century was deeply troubled by this verse as he witnessed righteousness being promised not by faith but by pious acts, rituals and at its worst being sold. Luther’s intent was never to split the Church but to reform the church, to take the Church back to what it had been just a few years earlier. Luther, having studied church history and as a student of Saint Augustus came to realize that the bible (and Catholic Church up until the 15th century) promises righteousness as based on internal faith not on external action. A righteousness based on the finished work of Christ, not the continued “righteous” activity of the individual. The bible promises an imputed (external) righteousness (Christ’s) that through faith is gifted to the believer completely separate from good works. The bible further says that attempts to achieve salvation based on this self-righteousness is insulting to Christ and makes void his sacrifice (Galatians 2). Luther noticed the gross deviation of his Church from this concept that had occurred during his life; righteousness was not earned by Christ’s work on the Cross but sold at a cost. Righteousness in the catholic church of the 16th century was granted by endless rituals, long journeys to the holy land and at its worst actually sold. If the individual 16th century catholic was deemed righteous by these pious activities and did not need any further “indulgence” then they could always make a financial or action-based donation toward their dead relatives righteousness. Understand that there were many in the Church that also attempted to stop these abuses, these debates culminated in the Council of Trent where the opposition (not just from Luther) from within the Catholic Church was quenched and the doctrines that defined the 16th Century Church were institutionalized. There were then and continue to be amazing believers in the catholic church but this new 16th Century Catholic Church’s refusal to rely on the tenets of the Reformation (what had been the tenets of their own church) led to the split. Do not be deceived, it is the Church that changed not the reformers. As their name implies, the reformers tried to bring the Church back to the doctrine it was founded upon, Righteous based on Faith alone in Christ alone given by Grace alone for the Glory of God alone as described in the only authoritative text, the Bible.

11. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Here we see the concept of “General Revelation.” The world around us testifies to a creator. People have recognized the presence of a creator based on the world around them since the beginning. Modern man’s denial of a creator is in no way a more sophisticated or intellectual opinion than the caveman’s acceptance of a creator; in-fact, quite the contrary, it cry’s of the ignorance of modern man as to the true purpose of science. Science merely describes the world around us it has never created anything. The fact that we can now explain how things work through science in no way voids the need for a creator as we have never and will never, threw science uncover history. We may see how things mechanically work but we cannot understand what put them together, nor can we understand why they were put together. Far from contradicting each other, science and religion complement each other as each seeks to answer a completely different question. As we let the bible answer questions it address, let’s confine science to the questions it address, the mechanisms not the creation or the why’s.

12. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, It seems to me that people have lost their amazement for the general revelation as described above, instead they seem content to believe that somewhere there is some scientist standing in a long white coat that can explain the existence of a universe without the need for a God. As one who wears a long white coat and studies the human body let me be the first to say that we cannot explain even the most basic functions of the human body; a body that we can touch and experiment on let alone the mysteries of a vast universe that we have only scraped the surface of. There are molecules (not cells, molecules…strings of carbon) in your body that do more complex tasks than any human could dream of accomplishing. Tirelessly these molecules check each of the 3 billion different proteins created in the nucleus of a cell to ensure each of its thousand constituent amino acids is in exactly the right place so that the protein will function as intended, one mistake could cost not just the cell but your life. There is no human with a brain, hands, feet and a library of knowledge that could accomplish this task and are we so silly as to believe that science can apart from a God created the universe and bank our eternal life on it? Talk about futile.

13. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator You may be tempted to think only of the Golden Calf, but I feel that many people are worshiping a “God” and “Christ” that I submit are actually creatures and not the ultimate Creators. I went out to lunch recently with an interesting man that new a great deal of church history and on the surface said all the right things but under the surface denied the need for nearly all creeds. Therein is a huge problem, without creeds (definitions) my Christ and the true biblical Christ may be entirely different entities. I may worship with name “Christ” but if I mean Raingod, then I am worshiping an idol. Granted the difference is not generally this great, just an example. Many of us however, worship God as our teddy bear in the sky, a god that is all love and devoid of any of his other characteristics such as Justice, Holiness etc… I would again submit that far from worshiping the Biblical God they are worshiping an Idol god as their God does not approximate the God of the Bible. 22 On that day many will say to me (Christ), 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' Matt 7:22-23. This is why Creeds and Doctrine are essential, without them we have nothing to define the God that Rules, we have no common language or understanding and are at constant risk of worshiping an Idol.

14. ...men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. This begs, can a homosexual be a Christian...to which I would answer, Yes. With the reservation that a person that is actively participating in homosexuality (like any sin) without any remorse, without any felt need for repentance is not demonstrating the “fruit” that would say they are a Christian. Homosexual guys are some of the coolest and nicest that I know. Like me, they have sin in their life. By definition however, a Christian is no longer slave to such sin but desires righteousness. Thus, I would say that the sin in their life is no worse than the sin in my life and as long as we both desire true, godly repentance (not living in and loving sin) then there is hope for both of our souls. If, however, I am talking with a homosexual who feels no remorse and no need for repentance but gladly touts his life as ok and the bibles teachings as outdated, then I would have to assume him not to be a Christian. The beauty of the Gospel is that while we are all sinners, Christ’s blood is able to cover that sin, whatever it is. And, the Holy Spirit is promised to pull us out of our sin.

15. 32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. This speaks past “General Revelation” displayed to all by the creation, to a “Special Revelation” given through the Bible. Paul implies a deeper knowledge of the consequence of sin but a willing desire to continue unrepentantly in this sin. As above, the one who feels no remorse/repentance for whatever the sin is likely not a Christian.

Sun Tzu:

“Those who are near the army sell at high prices. Because of high prices, the wealth of the common people is exhausted.”

“Also because there are extraordinary levies, those with something to sell demand the highest prices they can get.”

Sun Tzu Thoughts:

Economics from the military stratigest! Sun Tzu describes something lost on the American people today, that businesses don’t pay taxes. Businesses simply pass the tax on to the consumer as increased price or go out of business these days with such a low profit margin. Thus, a tax cut for business is a tax cut for the people.

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

Instruments and Ensembles: Not including the human voice, there are five categories of musical instrument: 1) Strings (plucked or played with a bow), 2) Winds (played by blowing air), 3) Percussion (played with stick), 4) Keyboards, and 5) Electronic instruments

In 1750, the Baroque orchestra was established with a wind section, percussion, continuo (keyboard) and a string section. The Violin was the dominant voice of the baroque period.
With the advent of the Classical Period, the winds were increasingly used. Franz Joseph Haydn and Mozart are good examples.

In the 19th and 20th centuries composers such as Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schoenberg have written pieces for very large orchestras and incorporated instruments from popular culture such as saxophones, synthesizers and other electronic devices.

Matt 28

Date: 6 February 2009 D – 15 days

Events:

Yesterday I read, wrote and worked on securing the house for Marla. I put more secure locks on all entry doors and made a block for our bedroom door, the bad guys will have to literally tear the doors down to get into our bedroom! Plenty of time for Marla to put some Buck Shot into um :). Thanks for all the concern about Sadie, she is doing much better, check out the pictures back to her old playful self.

Bible (NT/OT):

Matt 28

The Resurrection

28 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you." 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me."

The Report of the Guard

11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, "Tell people, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.' 14 And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

The Great Commission

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."


Bible Thoughts:

1. Finally a shorter chapter!

2. “angel of the Lord descended… His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.” The New Testament mentions angels and demons more frequently than it does God/Christ’s love. The secularization of the Church has led to a people who do not believe in a spiritual realm. A people shocked and fearful of movies such as Max Payne, The Exorcist, Emily Rose, that depict spiritual warfare likely representing a far more realistic view of “The Real” (Matrix quote) than the world that we choose to see every day. Even as Christians, our default is to fall onto Science to explain the unexplainable. If I am unable to explain something, there must be someone in a long white coat that can. We daily write off miraculous occurrences to luck, chance, good fortune or karma. We are a people unable to believe in spiritual beings that we cannot touch or see, that have no mass but are who are great in effect. I challenge all who profess to hold the bible as the infallible word of God, to attribute less to secular ‘luck’ and more to a spiritual reality that while beyond our senses is no less reality. Oh, the insult the heavenly beings must feel when we attribute their work to luck, and these guys are not ones to mock. Oh, the cursing we must heap upon people by bidding them “good luck.” Praise God for his mercy to such ungrateful, miss guided creatures.

3. 6 “He is not here, for he has risen…” As Christ was raised from the dead so will we. Christ’s body though mutilated, cut and bleeding was raised beautiful and healed. In the death of our “imperfect” bodies we are “baptized” into Christ’s death that we will be raised as Christ in our “perfect” bodies. Christ’s resurrection reassures us that at death we will not become eternal spiritual beings (like the angles) without mass, we will not die and enter into an impersonal nirvana, nor will our death be our utter annihilation. Instead, at the end of the age we will again inherit physical bodies, walk physical streets and have fellowship with tangible brothers and sisters. This time though, as opposed to bodies born in sin and imperfect we will be born as Christ and Adam without sin and without sins systemic effect on our health, our relationships, or our new world. The following passages are the best biblical descriptions of our new body and our eternal heaven. Please take a moment to examine each passage as it constitutes the majority of what we know of our eternal resting place.

1 Cor 15:42-55

42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body….50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." 55 "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"

Rev 21:1-22:5

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." 6 And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son… 16 The city lies foursquare; its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. 18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel…each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass. 22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations…22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Notice that the bible does not speak of our life in the clouds or earning our wings but of perfect, eternal physical bodies and a perfect, eternal physical city. This is a biblical view of heaven.

4. “…he is going before you to Galilee…” Jesus got his people out of Jerusalem prior to its utter destruction in 70 AD.

5. "Greetings!" ESV other translations… “Rejoice!” NKJ. Though I typically use the ESV translation in my writing, I included New King James translation “Rejoice” because..well, I like it more. I’m no scholar and I don’t know which English word better depicts the Greek word, “chaírete,” Jesus first words to his disciples but I like to think it was something a bit better than “greetings.” As defined by The New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006, “Chaírete” is a primary verb; to be "cheerful", i.e. calmly happy or well-off; impersonally, especially as salutation (on meeting or parting), be well… so “Rejoice” seems to fit right? Christ has just risen from the dead and in doing so ransomed billions of souls from the grips of eternal punishment ending death’s grip on humanity, thus I like “Rejoice.” Although The Matrix was an exciting movie with amazing special effects and a great twist, although Top Gun has inspired millions of young men to be fighter pilots, although Shakespeare’s timeless plays still bring tears to the eye, by far the greatest story ever told is the true story of Christ’s perfect life, tragic death and triumphant resurrection. Christ’s defeat of death, his defeat of sin, his defeat of Satan, and his victory over the souls that hung him on the cross, indeed his victory over my soul. This is the most exciting, redeeming, and triumphant story ever told with the greatest surprise ending that anyone could ever imagine. As my parents can attest, I have no use for a minister who when handed the most exciting story ever told decides on Easter to instead preach about Christ’s resurrection as merely a symbolic representation of the positive changes that we could decide to make in our life on Monday. Please forget life application for 1 day and tell history’s greatest story. If people leave the church because they want less Christ and more life application, show them the door, in fact, pick them up and throw them out. They do not belong. “Open hearts and open minds,” right? Phooey, I vote for tough love any day.

6. "Tell people, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.” It is sad that the unbelieving world no longer even has to bring up this lie, as most “believers” in the American Church today don’t believe in the resurrection. The bible, as just a story book with helpful life lessons, can’t mean that Jesus literally raised from the dead, can it? Come on, there are lots of other controversial topics in the bible that we don’t bring up (all the un-PC stuff “against” women) why can’t we just ignore the resurrection too? Besides, we all know it’s scientifically impossible and makes Christians look dumb for believing in such a unlikely miracle, does it not? Well, I guess, if this is how you treat the gospel, then you better hope Christ’s body was stolen. I guess you had better hope, with the culture, that there is no bodily resurrection and that at the end of your life, you move with the rest of modern culture into a land of eternal Ice Cream and clouds or perhaps just join the atheists in annihilation. I guess we can all continue to sing with lukewarm voices during the Easter service, treating Easter as a time of symbolic “new beginnings” as opposed our Lords triumph over death and salvation of the world. No, if Christ is not raised from the dead, there are far better things we should do on Easter morning (in fact, every Sunday morning). What can we really learn from this liar, Christ? Why would we worship a lunatic who preached his own resurrection on so many occasions? With Paul, I affirm, “17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 1 Cor 15:17-19. Christ’s only credibility is in the fact that his body has never been found. His miraculous stories can be written off as just that, stories; we have no lasting proof. His “great teachings…” not so great if he claimed to be God and was not. This Easter, let’s not continue to sing as lukewarm “believers” who have bought the cultures lie of the impossibility of the resurrection, let’s instead sing of the most amazing story ever told, sing so loud and hard the unbelieving world has no choice but to rehash its lies about what actually happened to Jesus’ body.

7. "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” After Christ’s humiliation (life and death) came his exaltation. Christ now sits at the right hand of God and rules both heaven and earth. Failure to submit to his Lordship in no way voids it’s truth. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, “At the House of Prayer, Jesus is Lord.” I later approached the member and explained (nicely) how stupid the bumper sticker was as Christ is Lord of all heaven and earth not just his church and not just because they ‘choose’ to submit; how egocentric are we to feel that we somehow ‘allow’ Christ’s lordship. We can no more ‘allow’ Christ’s lordship than we can allow the dawn to break. Christ, the redeemer of earth has been given His rightful reign over the earth. The good news is that Christ rules the earth in love, grace and mercy. The mercies may not always be obvious as such mercies sometimes take the form of loss, inconvenience, changed plans, illness, close calls even physical death but when we are kingdom minded and remember that Christ at all times desires our “good” (growth in love and trust), then we can then see Christ’s goodness and praise God that He governs my life and I do not.

8. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, In interpreting the bible, when we come across the word “therefore” we must ask the question, what’s the ‘therefore’ there for? (John Dansby taught me that). In this instance, it clearly modifies Jesus prior statement…"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” This begs the question, if all authority (other translations use sovereignty) belongs to Christ, does he need our help? Further, if he doesn’t need our help (the last question should have been easy) why does he enlist our help? And, how should we evangelize in light of Christ’s sovereign authority? While we indeed evangelize for our neighbor’s salvation, our neighbor’s spiritual conversion cannot be our ultimate goal. If it were, we would have forgotten our first love and greatest commandment, “love the Lord, your God with all of your heart, mind, body and strength” and superimposed our neighbor as an idol confusing the second greatest commandment, “love your neighbor as yourself” with the first. No, we evangelize not for the glory of our neighbor, but for the glory of God. We evangelize that there be one more voice beside us singing praise to our God in heaven. So, if the Glory of God is the reason for evangelism (not the glory of man), then how is God glorified in his ultimate, sovereign authority over those who believe or deny the Gospel. Simple, if it was my convincing argument, my persuasive speech, my incredible relationship with my neighbor that ultimately lead to his conversion (or lack of conversion) then I would steal the glory for my neighbors salvation from God, as my neighbor would not be in heaven praising God were it not for my intervention, my skill, my work. Likewise, if my neighbor were not converted perhaps due to my lack of biblical knowledge or lack of effort then I would stand rightly condemned as allowing my neighbors eternal punishment in hell. This is not a thought I could easily bear. The brilliant news is that Christ has “all authority” that, while I am responsible for sharing the Gospel, I am not accountable for my neighbor’s response. I will not be praised for the effect only the effort, likewise, I will not be judged by the effect only the lack of effort. The question frequently asked the Calvinist’s then is, why evangelize? The answer, again, is simple, because Christ commands it; how can we help but to tell history’s greatest story? “18 So they (the Jews) called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot help but speak of what we have seen and heard." Acts 4:18-21. Make no mistake, the victory has been won, the General does not need my help; but, oh, to be a private in such a great army! It is as if Patton himself approached, clad you in mighty armor assuring your safety and asked you to march with his Armies in their final victorious blow to Hitler and resultant liberation of those suffering in concentration camps. Would the mission be accomplished without me, yes…but who would ever say “no”??? Far greater than our victory in WWII is Christ’s victory on Calvary over the sting of death, how could we ever say no? How can we not lead the charge for the souls of man? The victory is certain and battle won! Evangelism flows from our love of Christ not our love of man. Thus, my goal is not man’s salvation but telling of Christ’s victorious story to “all nations,” that they may know it, whether they believe it or not. In this the Calvinist has even greater reason to evangelize because far greater is Christ’s victory on Calvary as he has saved (from beginning to end) not only my neighbor but also myself. If victory was not won on the Cross but won every day in evangelism what did Christ accomplish? Effectively nothing, the accomplishment was then only theoretical until enacted by human will/effort in evangelism and free choice. This is not a Biblical view of God, Christ or Calvary. The God of the Bible is victorious, Christ’s is sovereign and Calvary effective (beginning to end).

9. I guess the short chapter thing just let me devote more time to a fewer verses.


Sun Tzu:

“When a country is impoverished by military operations, it is because of transporting supplies to a distant place. Transport supplies to a distant place, and the populace will be impoverished.”

“When seven hundred thousand families have to support an army of one hundred thousand on a distant expedition, the common peoples cannot avoid impoverishment.”

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

Black holes result when a massive star dies out. The dying star collapses into itself, becoming smaller and smaller, denser and denser, until it compresses into a single point with no radius and infinite density. The point, called a singularity, is so dense that nearby light cannot escape its gravitational pull. Escape speed is the speed that an object must reach to escape the gravitational pull of an object. The Escape speed of Earth is 11.2 Km/sec (25,950 mph or 7 miles/sec) and Jupiter’s is 59Km/sec, while by definition the Escape speed of a Black Hole is the Speed of light (thus the blackness) 300,000,000 m/sec (670,000,000 miles/hour or 186,000 miles/sec). So for a space shuttle to make it into space from earth it must exceed 25,000 mph, otherwise it will fall back to earth. The Event Horizon is the boundary surrounding the singularity (black hole) where the escape speed equals the speed of light. Anything that falls into the Event Horizon gets sucked into the center. Interesting as the object moves toward the Event horizon it would appear to the outside observer to be moving slower and slower as the immense gravity slows the light exiting the Black Hole. Once the object crosses the Event horizon however, it will disappear as all light is directed towards the singularity. Of course, this is all theoretical. We can’t actually see a black hole because they don’t allow anything (even light) to escape. We know of their existence only because other objects in space interact with their mass. A large number of stars orbiting a black center indicates the likelihood of a black hole. Also, as light (that has not crossed the event horizon) is bent, the black hole theory has also accounted for the fact that when we look upon the night sky many of the stars (as seen through a telescope) are duplicates.