A time of war, And a time of peace.

Everything Has Its Time

To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born,
    And a time to die;
A time to plant,
    And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill,
    And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
    And a time to build up;
A time to weep,
    And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
    And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones,
    And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
     And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.

As written in this wise set of verses in Ecclesiastes, “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven…” Everything has a season & a purpose to occur. There is a time for everything under the sun and under heaven. It was once explained to me that without having infinite knowledge, we cannot know everything; hence, there may be a reason for everything and every occurrence but because of our lack of knowledge and inability to see the future and the past – the true reason for something happening might not be known or knowable for 10 years, 100 or even 1000 years, from now. Is this to mean that we are to understand that a person died for a reason that we cannot possibly know for 10, 100, or 1000 years from now? Not necessarily, but God does desire that each and every one of His creation be saved  and know the truth!

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ~1Timothy 2:3-4 NKJV

We see  throughout the biblical text that there are times for everything to happen, war, peach, birth, death, suffering joy, anger, forgiveness, etc. Each and everything occurs in it’s appropriate time. God uses man’s fellow man to chastise him or his enemy (i.e., war.) At other times we are called to protect or defend the weak (also a form of military action.) However, these actions can be personal, or individual. Meaning You, or I, may be called to defend someone who is weaker than we.

Defend the poor and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and needy.
Deliver the poor and needy;
Free them from the hand of the wicked.

~Psalm 82:3-4 NKJV

We can also see it this way as described by Paul, the Apostle:

And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.~1 Thessalonians 5:12-15 NKJV

We are called to aid those who cannot help themselves. Sometimes we are the only one available to help a person. Help with a word of caution, or a word to build them up; admonish them, or guide them. We sometimes can help with but a word. Be wise in how you speak to others. This is why we study the bible and the doctrines within. Because with those words we speak we can be either the starter of war, or we can be the diffuser of chaos and calm things down. Words have started many a war in days long gone by. Now-a-days, that is not as big of a problem. Although, on a more individual level a word can be the difference between a friendship or a fight. There is a time for such things and we each learn from our misguided steps in any direction. At least we hope to learn from our mistakes and misguided notions, but that is not always the case!

He who has knowledge spares his words,
And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.

~Proverbs 17:27 NKJV

It pays to be a man of wisdom and of great learning; however, the greatest of learning comes from our experiences from our past actions, both good and bad. Often we learn good decision making skills from the bad decisions from our past. It is quite the conundrum.

Often, our warriors have a battle waged within their hearts and minds, which is called PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) or with a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury.) Each possess it’s own problems and their individual discussions are best left to those who are either those who have experienced the problems or are medical persons with the technical learning and expertise with those injuries. There are a great many other problems out there which touch on these subjects, but for brevity I will leave it there.

While there is a time for all things, that does not necessarily mean that those things are good for all that are involved. It has been said that if everyone in the world saw the true cost of war, there would be no more war.

War is hell and those that must bear the brunt of the loss, are often not seen and not always acknowledged. We send our sons and daughters off to war and those that return as cargo destroy us; but there are those who return less than what they were, because they cannot come to terms with the fact that they survived and their buddies did not…many of whom, sadly, commit suicide.

War is a terrible thing, but do we have the infinite knowledge required to truly and definitively say that it was an unjust war? We must take solace in the knowledge that God used our children for some greater purpose. That our sons and daughters are in a better place that no longer has sorrow or pain. And that all their tears have been wiped away.

It is my belief that so long as man populates this world, there will be war and killing. Man, while he has the desire for peace, he also has the affinity for troubles and problems. As we grow older, hopefully wiser, we seek something better. We will always need someone to go in and keep the peace or finish the war, internationally or domestically. So, support your troops and military, support your police (state, county, & city). There are bad people, but remember not all are bad!

We all need support from others at any given point in time, they need it always! God uses all of us and God uses them for His divine purpose and plan.

May God Richly Bless You, My Beloved!

MK Murphy, PhD, DD

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Fearfully & Wonderfully Made

Is abortion the wrath of God realized in the reality of today, or is it the wrath of man for the unborn? After all, we each have our own perspective on this rather controversial subject. There is literally no one out in the world today who has absolutely no opinion on this subject, even if they were to defer it as a women’s subject for discussion. A non-opinion is an opinion! (A bad opinion, I might add, but it is an opinion!)

We have been fearfully and wonderfully made by the very hand of God who created each and every one of us. Whether you choose to believe this, or not. Each of us is created in such a way that we are similar, but we are unique in comparison. Yet, we are created in God’s image:

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ~Genesis 1:27 NKJV

So, do we infer from this that God makes mistakes? No, not at all! Each of us is the way we are suppose to be, barring any decisions that we ourselves make during the course of our lives…which can be and tend to be the mistakes which we will generally blame on God. Also, we have numerous assaults upon our person while we are growing up, which can also mold our psyche as we mature & develop. Consider the transgenderism dilemma today, the gay issues, the man’s mind in a woman’s body, the “non-binary” and gender fluidity mentality, etc.

Those of us who believe in God, the One True God and Creator of all things, hold to the belief that Moses put forth in the Book of Genesis:

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.  ~Genesis 2:7 NKJV

And the words that King David put forth in order to explain to the reader of his Psalm or to clarify to himself:

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You. ~Psalm 139:13-18 NKJV 

And the words that described how God formed us by the Prophet Jeremiah:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” ~Jeremiah 1:5 NKJV

We were created for a specific purpose! What was that purpose? Good question, although it is a different answer for each person; however, we each have something in common and that is to glorify God! However, we are also given gifts by God in order to a great number of other things. Sing in order to entertain, play an instrument to entertain, the ability to act, the ability to teach or research in order to transpire information or educate others, and so much more…all to the end of glorifying God. Some are doctors and others are nurses. Some are policemen, others are firemen, and still others are EMTs as first responders in order to aid the public and each to the end result of glorifying God. God places at our fingertips a number of qualities in order to aid those around us, both to help them and to glorify God in the long run! Of course, with others it is a long road to find those specific traits and qualities in order to aid others and glorify God. Sometimes it is a short path and other times it is a very long arduous trek, but in the scheme of things it is all well worth it. Moses spoke of such things, at least inferred it in the Book of Exodus:

And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship ~Exodus 31:3 NKJV

We are each promised, in essence, that we will be given the wisdom, understanding, knowledge, or abilities of workmanship through the Spirit of God in order to carry our our abilities to Glorify God and aid those around us.

So as we move onward, to understand we are fearfully and wonderfully made which infers we have been created for a specific reason. Abortion, on the other hand, is simply, in my opinion, a vehicle for eradicating a perceived mistake. With the advent of removing God from our schools and society, prayer and blessings from our everyday actions and furthermore the destruction of the atomic family (the central core of the American dream, if you will) YOU steer man away from his very central purpose of pleasing and glorifying God and replacing such with the pleasing and feeding the new god of men, government and big business. Now your purpose is to consume (making business happy by buying and spending the money you do not have) and to work hard in order to pay your taxes (thereby, feeding the new god, government, with your money. This blog post, as many others are never meant or intended to be or get political. BUT they are intended to make you think about what you do…to please God or self? How you spend your time…for God or self?

We truly need to get back to focusing on God in our lives, spending our time pleasing and glorifying HIM and not ourselves. Teaching others to do the same. Steering our society into doing the very same in order to get us, as a society, community, and as a country, back on track in order to bring this country back to serving the God that formed it and ourselves, as well!

 

 

As Liz Wheeler mentioned in the video above, where will it end? There is some point in time, or so I hope and pray, where common sense will take hold in the minds of those at the helm. If not, perhaps you or I should become those leaders that refuse to actually lead, if it be God’s will. I tend to be of the mind that if we are to lead that God would place a passion, a desire, or a burden on our heart to do something…despite the fear that we have for doing so. The urge will become far stronger than the fear that is ever-present.

May God Richly Bless You, My Beloved!

MK Murphy, PhD, DD

 

Pre-judgement, Judgement, & Post-judgement

Have you ever said something, or made judgement upon another, and then thought yourself to be the fool? YEAH, that is me, I am guilty! Go ahead, throw your stones…I did it!

Man is the only animal who seems to be able to judge others and clear themselves of any wrong doing, even though it be the same exact crime against God!

Yeah, go ahead…raise your hands in agreement to that one, too! Man is, by his nature sinful and therefore, hypocritical! We talk out of both sides of our mouths and skirt the truth with ourselves, all of the time! Don’t worry about a thing, if any of you won’t raise your hands in agreement over this…there are plenty who will gladly chastise me, while at the same time they are doing the same things as I.

Let us look into the past week with Joel Osteen and the Hurricane Harvey debacle.

While there are plenty of videos of news, and others, tearing at Joel Osteen’s church and ministry; many are failing to realize that Lakewood Church had rising waters in the basement. Also, I watched several videos defending Joel Osteen because what would happen if someone was injured on their way to get to Lakewood Church, or died? Or perhaps, if they got to the church and they closed the doors as they got there? What would the ramifications of that be.

We all, each and every one of us, has a problem with judgement of others. Just nod your heads in agreement! Especially without all of the facts at hand. And in this day and age of half truths, and partial sporadic news reports…thereby, coining the phrase “fake news.” We tend to be quite a bit more outraged at those with all the money and power. Now I don’t necessarily agree with Joel Osteen, nor his methods of preaching, but his judgement in THIS case happens to be spot on. Tyler Perry, a man for whom I have  a great respect for, has gone to Joel Osteen’s defense.

While we each, and yes I do mean all of you as well as I, tend to judge others based upon the perception of evidence at hand. However, if you will pay close attention, most of the perceived evidence out there is truly just an accusation or an assertion that is without any proof or evidence, at all! Sadly, but that is how this whole victimhood thing works. We, the species of man, are a sad creature. As we tend to do all we can to demean our fellow man in order for us to feel better about ourselves!

There are a number of scripture passages which target the fool and the wise, with respect to our speech. However, this one seems to hit home for me:

Proverbs 29:20

Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Yeah, that is me…the man who is hasty in his words. Yeah, that is right…fools will have a better time than I! I work on it daily, but I also fail God daily in both little an great ways!

The only thing that keeps me going is the fact that King David who was “Apple of God’s eye.” King David requested and prayed to God to aid him to be maintained in such a status in Psalm 17:8 where he wrote:

Keep me as the apple of Your eye;
Hide me under the shadow of Your wings

We must remember that King David, despite his sinfulness and behavior, he was always contrite before God when he was called out on the carpet by his prophet. He sought God’s forgiveness and always sought his Lord’s guidance to be healed from his haughtiness and sinfulness and sinful ways. God chastised him, as any father would do to his own son. And then he was back to a clean slate, once again. What we see here is that God is the God of the second chances, as coined by Dr. J. Vernon McGee. Where God will use us after redeeming us from our sin(s). And more importantly, He will use us as well as the Gentiles, because Jesus paved the way for them also!

…the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time… ~Jonah 3:1 NKJV

Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also… ~Romans 3:29 NKJV

God has given me far more than 2 chances, I would submit to everyone out there that each of us have been given dozens of chances. And we will receive many more chance before we draw our final breath.

Let’s face it, we all judge others. Whether in our minds and thoughts, outwardly in our reactions or in our verbiage toward them, or perhaps we show our disdain toward others in our posts on social media or other opinionated sites.  Consider the people of WalMart on Facebook, or other demeaning sites. We should treat everyone with a certain modicum of respect as well as understanding. We are called to be patient with all people! To treat the lowly with respect, as though they were rich…give no one an overtly specialized attention.

As I have said all throughout this post, I am as guilty, if not more so, than any. But by God’s grace I will overcome my lowly actions and rule over my sinful desires and urges to judge others, to gossip (which is a form of judgemental speech toward another.)

Just remembering that in order to change something in your life, you must become aware of your wrong actions. This is your warning…pay attention and change your ways, my friends!

May God Richly Bless You, My Beloved!

MK Murphy, PhD, DD

 

 

Salt is Good

“Everyone will be salted with fire. “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”” ~Mark 9:49-50 NIV

WE, as Christians, are the salt for the lost souls within this world to help them find their way back to God, through Christ! We are their light just as Jesus is our light; much like the lighthouse is the aid to the ships of the sea, so they can find their way…we too are the exact same for the lost souls within this world of ours.

A Chinese girl said, “Salt makes you thirsty.” DO stop and think that over. “Ye are the salt of the earth.” Do YOU make anyone thirsty for Christ? You never will be merely separating from something. But you will be separating unto Christ. ~Expositions of Bible Doctrines Taking the Epistle to the Romans as a Point of Departure, Volume 1, page 16, by Donald Grey Barnhouse (emphasis mine)

This is precisely what we are to do, make people thirst for God’s life giving and eternal life word! We can do this through passion and desire, it can be done through will but not through sheer will, as we must be able to show a caring, love, and compassion in our message(s) toward those with whom we speak the message of Christ.

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. ~Colossians 4:2-4 NKJV

If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. ~1 Peter 4:11 NKJV

We are, in essence, slaves to Christ. Like it, or not, it is by our choice. Why? (You ask) Well, we have chosen to believe (through reason, wisdom, research, study, etc.) that Christ truly is “…the way, the truth, and the life…”  We did not make this decision flippantly, nor without forethought, this decision was truly one of the greatest decisions in our lives. And without a doubt was the greatest decision that weighed on our minds and hearts! Are we promised to be wealthy? Have an easy life? Have a gorgeous wife? A husband that has the physique of Adonis? No, on all accounts. We are promised eternal life. We are promised trials and tribulations. We are promised rain and shine like everyone else. We are promised both good and adversity, just like everyone else, as well. So, why did we make such a decision? Because in all of the religions out there, one must be right and the others must be wrong. By reason and logic, this must be true. That religion or faith which is true deserves my allegiance!

Check out the Grids and Charts at CARM.org

This is the greatest reason why we, as Christians, must understand why we believe that which we believe. And not only must we understand why we believe what we believe, but what other faiths believe. It is at that point that we can have a discussion, thereby defending our position.

And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt. ~Leviticus 2:3 NKJV

Every time we speak to someone about Christ and the words of God toward another, we too must season with salt. We must flavor our words that are more palpable for others to digest. The words we speak are of God, but others must gain help in understanding them. That is the flavoring we give to other. Consider when Jesus was asked about why he spoke to the people in parables:

He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ~Matthew 13:11-13 NKJV

This was the salt that Jesus added. You either got it or you did not. On the other hand, if you did not get it, did you seek to understand it? The salt is the flavoring that makes you desire or passionate for more and to understand. That is why we walk the earth, to be used as servants of the Most High God and Creator of All. We speak His words and help others understand. That is one of our purposes; the other purpose is to glorify our Creator in all we do!

May God Richly Bless You, My Beloved!

MK Murphy, PhD, DD

What If We Lived In A World Without Law & Order?

We could do what we wanted? It would be fun? No limits on what you do? And the list goes on and on, but one thing remains true…it would be utter chaos!

While it is true that it would be absolute chaos, as there would be no moral standard that all would follow. Even those that believe there is no God hold to the tenet “if there is no God, then all things are permissible!” (Father  Zosima, Brother Krazminov by Fydor Dostyevsky) In a world without law and order, then there would be no actual standard to follow and therefore each and everyone would do as they pleased. Gangs would be running rampant and destroying those who desired to have some semblance of morality in their lives. Of course, to no avail. Rape, pillaging, pedophilia, theft, murder, etc. would be the rule of the day. Without limits, the most evil beliefs of the possibilities of man would come to bear. There would be constant warfare going on in the life of everyone that lived. There would be no rest for the weary or the wicked. Each would have to stand guard over their lives and those of their fellow clansmen at all times. And would have to place their lives on the line in order to defend their family…at all times!

For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just. ~Romans 3:7-8 NKJV

We would have a difficult time of it, proving our point that God’s will is furthered and better served by lying, and other sins (any for of evil that would be be espoused). Consider the fact that in the Muslim faith of Islam, it is specifically stated that:

Qur’an 3:54—And they (the unbelievers) planned to deceive, and Allah planned to deceive (the unbelievers), and Allah is the best of deceivers.

Qur’an 7:99—Are they then safe from Allah’s deception? No one feels safe from Allah’s deception except those that shall perish.

Qur’an 8:30—And (remember) when the unbelievers plotted deception against you (O Muhammad), to imprison you, or kill you, or expel you. They plotted deception, but Allah also plotted deception; and Allah is the best of deceivers.

If we are to feel safe with our Creator, should not our creator be honorable and trustworthy in His word to us, His promises, His historical recounting of the past and the foretelling of the future? In the above passages from the Qur’an, in my opinion, NO ONE is able to trust Allah’s word or promises. As Allah is the best of deceivers (they’re words not mine) and therefore (One can reasonably infer) can lie and be deceitful to even those that follow him. This of course ties in to the doctrine of al Taqiyya

(Arabic: تقیة‎‎ taqiyyah, literally “prudence, fear”) is an Islamic term which refers to precautionary dissimulation or denial of religious belief and practice in the face of persecution. Another term for this concept, kitmān (lit. “action of covering, dissimulation”), has a more specific meaning of dissimulation by silence or omission.

This practice is emphasized in Shia Islam whereby adherents are permitted to conceal their religion when under threat of persecution or compulsion. However, it is also permitted in Sunni Islam under certain circumstances. (see reference)

This being said, the Muslim who follows Islam cannot be trusted, even those who are moderates. The reason being that they could be “concealing their religion” due to a real or perceived threat of persecution. This is the perfect religious guise to follow for such a lawless society; in that, you hide your religious belief and (as Mohammad had done in the 620s AD) built up his following of Islam. Made a treaty (10 year promissory) with those in Mecca to prevent their annihilation, upon the building up of a sizable force, four years later attacked Mecca under the guise of being a friend and non-aggressor and conquered the city of Mecca. Dishonorable of anyone to not honor their peace treaty…if not trustworthy under a peace treaty, how can they be trusted at any point in time?? Islam is a religious belief, a militaristic mindset, and a political governing ideology. And at no point in time can it’s leadership be trusted to keep their word, as they will seek to conquer all who do not believe in Allah.

Am I saying that the Islamic faith will be paramount in this lawless and chaotic environment? No, but they are very well organized and will run in the background while they are ruled by others until they make their move. They have a purpose for which they live and an ultimate purpose to attain and goal to achieve, similarly to communism…utter domination. They are very well organized. It is quite probable that they will be a super power of sorts during a time of such chaos. The unfortunate truth is that Christians have a tendency to veer away from violence and war. Does Jesus promote war? No, He does not, but where man is in existence war is inevitable. God desires us to live in peace and to live and walk, and talk, and act as Jesus did while here on this blue marble. But until the love of God, the One True God who Created all things (seen and unseen), we will live as the sinful, conquering, & warring species that we are.

Things will not be pleasant, to say the very least. God has called forth warriors throughout the Old Testament. However, even in the New Testament Jesus spoke of much division, which could be likened to war in a general sense. Although, these are more so concerning those who follow Jesus and the angst against (or from) those who do not.

Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” ~Luke 12:53 NKJV

For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’ ~Matthew 10:35 NKJV

Of course, Revelation 12 deals quite a bit with warfare in the last days. We will be fighting, in my humble opinion, and we will be either martyrs for Christ or we will be those who protect those who are weaker that ourselves. Of course my opinion can change, with the advent of other understanding and knowledge. We are all warriors for Christ, since our adoption into the family of God! Whether you carry a sword to do battle or a bible which is the two edged sword of the word of God…each has the ability to cut to the chase, so-to-say! (No pun intended, it just worked out that way!) Will we physically war and fight in defense of the faith and our lives, I don’t know <specifically>, but it is in the nature of man to defend and fight for what he believes in. We were told by the Apostle Paul:

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.~2 Corinthians 10:3-6 NKJV

From this, one can infer, that our primary weapons are those of prayer and faith. Do not forget the history throughout the Old Testament where men and women were called to arms to defend the faith and annihilate the perpetrators of evil and sin.

I would urge all my fellow Christians to study the Bible, learn it, understand it, study apologetics, study evangelism, and use every opportunity that God presents you to accomplish His will in your life! God has a plan for each of us and has promised and given us all the tools we need to accomplish that, or those, task(s) that He has planned and purposed you for.

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After writing this blog post I came across a podcast of Ravi Zacharias entitled, “A NATION IN DECAY” (a 2 part series [Sept. 10 & 17, 2016]; 8 Parts on YouTube). In this series, at least in the beginning, he spoke of the infiltration of Communism into our society.  He spoke of Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn (who wrote GULAG ARCHIPELAGO) who gave a speech before a large audience of Harvard graduates. He told them how it would infiltrate these United States (entering into the schools, judicial branch, the laws created, etc.) and he was booed and jeered as though he were talking crazy. And now look, he was proven to be exactly right with the liberal & progressive mind hard at work in our society. The liberal belief that teaches our children, the liberal mind that progresses and becomes a professional and thereby forces itself upon our society through it’s laws and legal decisions. THIS is how Islam is forcing itself into our society. Yes, by force! Using our laws against us with those liberal minds to their advantage. These ideas are so good that they must be forced down the throats of the American people. And one day if we fail to fight back, there will be no churches to go to, nor any bibles to read. There will be no freedom to speak because there will be one thought. However, utter chaos will be the initial step and then moving on to another agenda.

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The socialist thought (both progressive and Godless) has been forced upon us since the 1930s, perhaps earlier; the Gay agenda has been forced on us since about the 1950s or 1960s; and now, another agenda to send us into chaos is that of the Islamic & Shariah Law agenda. Each agenda continues on and takes another chunk out of our rights and ability to think freely for ourselves. Beware my brothers and sisters…BEWARE!

While reading the book, They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It by Brigitte Gabriel

it was brought to my attention of many incidents where we (America and the rights we possess kowtowed down to Islamic pressure.) The evil perpetrator of the terroristic attack in the movie the Sum of All Fears was changed to Neo-Nazis from Radical Muslims, A valued analyst was fired, as a contractor, from the State Department because he refused to change to wording of his report concerning Radical Muslims and Islamic Jihadists. (The request or demand came from a Muslim head in the department.

While this is not my normal blathering and not intended to be a bashing, but rather a call to arms that each and every one of you arm yourselves with the knowledge in this situation. Many liberal progressive believers without any knowledge of the contents of the Hadith or the Qur’an will make statements that Islam is a religion of peace…but that is just not the case.

As I spoke with a co-worker last night, I have no problem that anyone practices their religion in peace [of course, I would prefer that all believed as I believe – that is my hope that one day they will, but I do not force them to do so.] However, Islam is a quasi religious, political, and military mandate from one author. The belief is pushed from the time one can comprehend until adulthood. Women have rights – the right to be raped – the right to be honor killed for being raped – the right to be stoned in public – etc. Women are the reason and focal point for all sin in the Islamic world.

READ AND BE INFORMED MY FRIENDS!

May God Richly Bless You, My Beloved!

MK Murphy, PhD, DD

 

Our lackadaisical attitude toward heretical teachings

I have found myself over the course of time, as I am certain many of you have, leaning away from biblical doctrine toward other ideologies that are not held or taught within the bible or it’s text. Usually, this happens while one is younger and less mature, less seasoned, or in the mind and heart of a wayward child. But it can happen later in life as well. We all have our problems and misguided thought processes. This is where one truly MUST delve into the bible through avid reading, research, study…which is a definite push toward studies into the art of Christian Apologetics. I am a firm believer in such things, as this (in my opinion) is the, or one of the, greatest reasons why a child when entering into a secular university setting tends to leave their faith…because they simply do not understand why they believe what they believe!

So, let us address the elephant in the room (no offense intended to any elephants within any rooms…): WHY DO YOU BELIEVE THE CHRISTIAN FAITH? WHY DO YOU BELIEVE WHAT YOU BELIEVE? Were we not told, warned if not commanded to:

…always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you… ~1 Peter 3:15 NKJV

I was speaking with a co-worker at work, during a lull, about church, biblical doctrine, and Christianity. He is a non-practicing Catholic who has not been to church for years and our conversation just went deeper and deeper. Just in the course of our discussions I could pick out numerous heresies within his thoughts and beliefs. We carried on our talks for a bit until the workload grew to a point which needed to be taken care of. In either case, we all have to be ready not just to discuss our reasons for what we believe, but also to discuss a defense as to why we believe. And it need not be brash or defensive in nature, but truthful and loving in such a way to make the person think. You have to be willing not to go overboard, which in many cases will cause the person to steer clear of you for any possible future discussions. You want them to think and you want them to come back to you for further talks to delve deeper into an evangelizing experience. This is how people are drawn toward God. God will give you the words and the reactions you need in order to be a beacon for that person, as well as, others that He desires you to lead toward the heavenly realm.

…the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. ~Luke 12:8-12 NKJV

Don’t sweat it, it is all small stuff, God will aid you through the Holy Spirit! God has our backs in the form of the Holy Spirit working through us, guiding us, and aiding in our wisdom. This is what we pray for and ask for through Jesus the Christ who is our mediator to God the Father.

Although, as much wisdom as we seek, often times we find ourselves drawn toward many other teachers of the word, so-called. Not because we are careless, but we are attracted to what they have to say. To one degree that could be deemed as carelessness on our part, but it can also be seen as misguidance on the part of the teacher we are following. You must keep in mind that teachers are, in fact, held to a higher standard in God’s eyes and will be held accountable for our misguidance and the blood of our heads because they misrepresented God’s word and teaching.

My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. ~James 3:1 NKJV

But that does not let any of us off the hook for being mislead, by any stretch of the imagination. We are held accountable because we are to ensure that which we hear is according to God’s word.

“And now, O priests, this commandment is for you. If you will not hear, And if you will not take it to heart, To give glory to My name,” Says the Lord of hosts, “I will send a curse upon you, And I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, Because you do not take it to heart. “Behold, I will rebuke your descendants And spread refuse on your faces, The refuse of your solemn feasts; And one will take you away with it. Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, That My covenant with Levi may continue,” Says the Lord of hosts. “My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, And I gave them to him that he might fear Me; So he feared Me And was reverent before My name. The law of truth was in his mouth, And injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and equity, And turned many away from iniquity. “For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But you have departed from the way; You have caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” Says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore I also have made you contemptible and base Before all the people, Because you have not kept My ways But have shown partiality in the law.”  ~Malachi 2:1-9 NKJV

Malachi speaks primarily toward the Levi Priests, and after all we are all called to the priesthood to share God’s word with all those we come in contact with, but it does infer to those being taught. We must be ever so careful of what we listen to and what we read that we should compare what we are taught, instructed, and suggested to do with the very word of the biblical text.

We all tend to fall for many of these televangelists and radio ministers because what they say is so appealing to our ears. But be aware, my friends, there is always a catch. We have been forewarned:

Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. ~Romans 16:17 NKJV

But there comes a time, while listening to these “hucksters” that your ears should star burning (proverbially) and something just does not seem right…that is the Holy Spirit telling you…WARNING you to check things out for yourself! You have access to God’s word (The Bible) READ IT!!!

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. ~2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV

You have been forewarned, my brothers and sisters in Christ, you have been warned! You must be the crutch to aid your fellow brothers in getting back up and to help your fellow sisters to steer clear of certain teachers of false doctrine.

I recall, many years ago, while in church a Priest stated that, “You are too stupid to understand the bible. I will tell you what the bible says.” That is arrogant even for a man of God to say such. A good man of God would relish the challenge (a good challenge, not one based on foolhardy ideologies.) The wise accept chastisement and challenges…FYI: I still have a long way to go, but I am working on that! Although, there are many resources out there, one of my other blogs has a resource page, check it out.

May God Richly Bless You, My Beloved!

MK Murphy, PhD, DD

The Conceptual Possibility of the Trinity

Like the blog writer, I too am reading the book Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi…fascinating at the very least. But I had to steal this blog writer’s concept of what was written in the book concerning the Trinity which he grasped the perfect concept in nature of the Trinity from his Organic Chemistry class…here it is:

 

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Monday, January 5, 2015

Is the Trinity conceptually possible?

The Trinity is one of the most confusing concepts in Christian theology.
How can God be three persons [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] yet one?
Non-Christians sometimes say it is illogical and nonsense.
This is particularly true of Muslims who consider it offends the unity of Allah.
[Aside: It also seems that most Muslims think Christians believe the Trinity is God, Mary, and Jesus.]I am currently reading the fascinating book Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity by Nabeel Qureshi.
I will write more about it later. Here I just want to highlight one small part of the story I found fascinating because of my interest in the relationship between science and theology.

Like most Muslims, Qureshi thought the Trinity made no sense.
But he became open to it in a completely unexpected circumstance. In an organic chemistry class (!) he learnt about the resonance structures of the nitrate ion [shown above]. This molecule does not have a single structure. Rather, it simultaneously has the three structures above. It is not one or the other, but all three of them. This is a result of [the bizarre properties of] quantum physics, it is the same as Schrodingers cat, being both dead and alive at the same time.

Learning about resonance structures did not lead Qureshi to believe the Trinity was true. It just made him open to the idea that it was conceptually possible that it could be true. He could no longer dismiss it out of hand.

Posted by Ross H. McKenzie at 9:21 PM

Labels: islam, quantum physics, Trinity

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The Trinitarian belief is difficult to believe, let alone understand; but in time it will make sense. Numerous people have argued with me over this particular subject and have pushed their belief that it was nothing more than a polytheistic argument. While I appreciate their position on the matter, and at the time was in a position of ignorance on the matter but yet continued to believe it. Some remained friends and others did not.

I have said this numerous times within & throughout my blog postings that we each are obligated to understand WHY we believe what we believe and be able to explain such things to others. This, in and of itself, does not guarantee that you or I will be able to woo unbelievers over to our position on God…we each just simply plant the seed of faith and the Holy Spirit does the rest! We are just tools; sometimes we are used as hammers, other times as nails, and other times we are simply either a tack or a water balloon. Not much pow or wow, but just enough to get their attention.

Also consider reading this document: The Trinity

While everything here cannot possibly explain for each and every person, these are simple beginnings for research on the subject of the Trinity and it’s understanding. But know this: God leaves us bread crumbs in order to explain all things spiritual within the natural world He has given us!

This was a short one tonight, but a ton to ponder on…so, just think on this for a little while!

May God Richly Bless You, My Beloved!

MK Murphy, PhD, DD