William Alston and mystical experience

Alston begins his argument by making the case that even our basic sense perceptions have no epistemological basis.  He argues that the only way to prove sense perceptions reliable is by arguing in a circular manner in which the premise is justified by itself.  Alston refers to this as “epistemic circularity” and claims that since something as trusted as sense perceptions can be shown to be logically unreliable; it cannot be argued that mystical perceptions are unreliable on the same grounds. 

In rejecting sense perception as a reliable means for drawing conclusions, Alston instead proposes a doxastic approach in which one builds on his/her beliefs through a combination of perceptual inputs and belief outputs.  As one experiences new things they perceive (inputs) events and things which translate into beliefs (outputs).  By holding to this epistemological view, Alston is logically justified in claiming no difference between the perception of a tree and a mystical perception.  If one accepts doxastic practices as the most effective means of obtaining reliable beliefs than there is no logical reason to value one perception over another.

This idea that all perceptions are equally valuable is also the main flaw in this argument.  If one accepts that all perceptions are equally reliable then we have no reason to value one belief over another.  In tangible terms, there is no reason to accept Islam as more true than Christianity based on mystical experience.  Furthermore, based on this reasoning, there is no way to determine truth when two mystical experiences contradict one another as most all do.  Various religions worldwide offer vastly different experiences, each equally established in their societies.  If these experiences represented objective truth it would reason that the majority would agree with one another; this is not the case. 

The most rational way to deal with this apparent discrepancy is to assume that these experiences (perceptions) are nothing more than products of the minds of those who experience them.  This would account for both the variety and quantity of mystical experiences.  Alston offers a less than satisfactory answer here suggesting that since one has no logical reason to change beliefs, one should continue in whatever tradition they were first introduced to.  This is as if to say since you first believed in Santa, it is necessary to continue in this belief despite evidence to the contrary.  Such evidence includes science, historical record, and philosophical reasoning.  Alston’s argument fails to provide a rational basis for the reliability of mystical experience in providing answers to the Ultimate.

Genesis 1

So here it goes, this will be the first group of questions and reponses:

Question: How do you understand the creation story in Genesis 1?  Who wrote it?  Where was it written?  Date?

Response: I see the creation story in Genesis 1, first and foremost, as being written for the glory of God.  Very often today men of science have criticized the Genesis account as being inaccurate or incomplete.  Much of this discussion can be resolved when we realize that Genesis is not interested in giving a detailed account of how and when everything was created but rather why and by who.  There are however several important details that surround the account. We have a God that created everything ex nihilo (out of nothing).  Although it is often overlooked, this fact is crucial.  Unlike the other gods of the East, Yahweh created outside of Himself.  This draws a distinct line between God and His creation.  God transcends His creation.  This separates the God of Israel from the gods of the pagan in several distinct ways. First, unlike the idols who only controlled small domains of the universe, Yahweh reigns sovereignly over all creation.  He is the King over all of creation.  Secondly, our God is a God who creates not out of necessity but out of the good pleasure of His perfect will.  Within the Trinity, God had perfect fellowship and communion.  Humans, along with the rest of creation, were created for God's pleasure.  This is an incredibly humbling realization and it makes us ask, along with the Psalmist; "What is man that you are mindful of him?" 

The account in Genesis describes God's, initially perfect creation. God, in accord with His divine purpose, created a perfect cosmos.  After each day of creation is capped with God looking at His creation and saying that it was good.  Then on the sixth day God created the first humans in His image (Imago Dei).  This is the first time we see this in the creation story and this major difference separates us from the rest of creation.  All of creation is fallen (Romans 8) but only humans have the ability to be redeemed.  Also God commanded man to go out and subdue the rest of creation, to act as a steward over the earth.

Next I see the Genesis account as taking place in a literal six days.  On the seventh day God rested or ceased(to create). By the power of His word Yahweh created all things(Gen. 1:3,6,9,11, etc) and by His will He holds all things together(Col. 1:17)

Finally I see the account in Genesis 1 as being written sometime in the 15 century B.C.  Although before Exodus in the canon it was written after.  It is also important to note that the grammar of the Pentateuch was updated at a later date.  As I talked about earlier, I see Moses as the author of this book and the other 4 books of the Law.

Conversation

Over the next few weeks I will be having a correspondence with my grandfather about several topics ranging from philosophy to theology and other Biblical issues.  I will post the questions and then my responses and update it with his responses.  I hope this will be both enjoyable and beneficial to all who read.

The Death of Truth

Our generation is one devoid of moral absolutes, where truth is nothing more than a personal preference or opinion.  Truth is what is true for you and my truth may be different.  Moral relativism reigns supreme.  All views are accepted as being equal with each other, as long as you don't claim to know THE truth.  Moral right and wrong has disappeared.  For the true adherent to the postmodern worldview, there is no difference between human sacrifice and selfless love.  Although they might agree with human sacrifice, they dare not declare it to be morally wrong.  Aristotelian logic has been thrown out the window and replaced by 'tolerance'. "Right" is no longer right and "wrong" has ceased to be wrong. How have we gotten here? How does this effect everyday life?  Can Western culture survive this fundamental change in thinking?  Let's take a look.

In order to understand the concept of truth, we must look at where it got its start.  In the history of Western culture we see this origin in two worldviews.  The first is that of the ancient Greek philosophers.  The big three of Greek philosophy, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, were truly lovers of wisdom.  Starting with Socrates, these men yearned all their lives to understand the world around them more fully. Socrates, who's teachings were recorded by his pupil Plato, learned by asking questions, i.e the Socratic method.  In, possibly, his most famous dialogue Socrates questions a young priest named Euthypro on the issues of justice and holiness.  In this dialogue it is easy to see Socrates devotion to reason and logic as he methodically picks away at the Euthypro's argument. In doing so Socrates assumed that the universe was a rational place, and that there was such a thing as justice (right and wrong).  The next philosopher in this sequence was Plato.  Plato did away with the Greek gods in favor of the 'philosopher king'.  By rejecting the polytheism of his fellow Grecians, Plato, in the process, did away with a fixed Truth.  Instead of devoting our lives to gods, Plato believed the goal of man was to serve the State.  This defines Platonic logic.  The individual is destroyed, in favor of the 'common good'.  In Plato's utopia, the philosophers ruled and had the power to determine the value of human life.  This meant that the elderly, infants,  the mentally handicapped, and the weak were tossed to the outskirts since they could not add to society.  This resulted in euthanasia, infanticide, and abortion.  Once fixed truth was removed, whoever was in power made the moral code.  The final person in 'the big three' of Greek philosophers was Aristotle.  Unlike the Plato and Socrates, Aristotle found truth in the physical world.  This can be clearly seen in Raphael's famous painting The School of Athens where Aristotle and Plato walk side-by-side; Plato pointing up and Aristotle pointing down to the physical earth.  Aristotle presupposed a rational universe.  This is a very important point.  Aristotle, found his fixed truth in the logical and rational universe that surrounded him.

The second worldview was a Judea-Christian one.  In this worldview, a rational, personal, omniscient Supreme being created the entire universe.  He created a perfect universe, free of defect. He created the physical world and all that inhabits it.  Then he created man and woman in His image, Imago Dei.  Then man sinned and sin entered and corrupted the once perfect universe.  In this worldview there was a fixed Truth.  God determined what was "right" and "wrong".  Also, since men were created in the image of God, they had inherent value and meaning.  Man's purpose was to glorify God and enjoy Him forever(Westminster Confession).  Although man was fallen, both physically(death and disease had entered the world) and intellectually, they could still know God.  Their knowledge of God, although incomplete, was true.  This is a drastic change from the world of Plato.  God was king and no matter who was in power, the fixed moral truths of God still reigned supreme.  This gave men value and purpose and is the cornerstone of Western Culture.

The next great man in this battle to find Truth was Saint Thomas Aquinas.  Aquinas was born in 1225 and became a Dominican friar.  A genius from a young age, Aquinas hid his talent and secluded himself.  But in the words of C.L Gray, "Aquinas served as a hinge upon which the door of history swung." So why is this man so important?  Aquinas is so important because he brought back into light the teachings of Aristotle and once again observed nature.  Aquinas set out to bring into harmony Aristotle's nature and Christianities supernatural.  Simply put, Aquinas reconciled religion with reason.  In the context of his time, this was a massive feat.  In the 13th century, nature took a back seat to images of the divine.  Paintings depicted gods and goddesses, with humans and nature taking a back seat.  Even in the real world, the church ruled.  All scientific discovery and innovation, was achieved under the watchful eye of the church.  The Inquisition was at its height, and anyone who dared to question the authority of the church was persecuted.  Yet, Aquinas did not desire to destroy the Church, but rather reveal the glory of God through nature and reason; believing a rational God created a rational universe.  Before we move on from Aquinas, we must look at one key interaction that Aquinas had with Siger of Brabant.  Unlike Aquinas, who believed that religion and science were one Truth, Siger considered the truth found in science to be different then that found in religion.  Siger saw the supernatural as irrational, but still adhered to it as truth.  In doing this, logic was thrown out of the window, and the double-minded man was born.  After this confrontation, Aquinas never debated again, fearing the consequences of this new found illogical.  This is a precursor of the battle of worldviews we see today.

In our journey through history in search of Truth, our next stop is with the great thinkers of the Enlightenment.  As we approach this period of time, we must first understand the backdrop of this exciting period in history.  Europe had just begun to rise from the ashes of the devastation brought on by the Crusades and the crippling Bubonic Plague.  As society began to rebuild and change, the church remained supreme.  In Spain, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castille united there empires to form a powerful, Catholic monarchy.  What followed were the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition.  Although it is not my intention to describe the travesties that took place during these dark times, a study on this subject will help in understanding the complexity of this period.  In addition to the supremacy of the church, science also began to grow in popularity and valor.  Thinkers like Galileo, Newton, and Copernicus changed the history of science more than any other group of thinkers in history.  It is important to note that all these thinkers searched the cosmos for the glory of God.  This society of chaos and unrest brought for a new group of thinkers who asked possibly the most important philosophical question, 'What do I know?'.   This question would forever revolutionize the search for truth.  No longer were certain suppositions, like the existence of God or inerrancy of Scripture, assumed.  In philosophy we call the study of what we know, epistemology.  We must recognized this key shift in philosophy as it allowed thinkers the room to question everything; nothing was off limits.  In Northern Europe this led to the Reformation, that challenged long held truths of the church.  In Southern Europe this led to the Enlightenment, that set out to find knowledge through science

The first great thinker to ask this all important question was Descartes.  Before we examine Descartes, we must note that he was a devout Christian and sought to bring light to the  glory of God through his philosophy.  Descartes determined that the one thing he could presuppose, was his own existence with his, now famous, quote, "I think, therefore I am". Descartes reasoned that the doubt(of ones own existence) necessitated a doubter(a person), therefore, since he doubted, he was.  From there he branched out, discovering new things in both the fields of philosophy and math, but for our sake we only need mention him for the fact that he is first.

After Descartes, our story becomes very difficult.  Although Descartes is considered by most to be the first great thinker of the Enlightenment, he differs greatly from those to follow.  Starting with Voltaire we find ourselves on a very slippery slope heading straight downhill.  We quickly find ourselves in a downward spiral toward existentialism and determinism, but lest we get ahead of ourselves, let us start with the famed French philosopher Voltaire.  Born in 1694, he spent much of his early years battling against the evils of Papal tyranny, leading to his atheism as an adult.  Although Voltaire did not believe in a god, he found its existence necessary to control the people.  This all changed after a natural disaster hit Lisbon in 1755, destroying the city.  Voltaire then began to rant against, ironically, a god he didn't believe in.  Greatly influenced by this disaster, Voltaire adapted a humanistic worldview.  Voltaire's philosophy swept over France like wildfire, serving as a spark for the French Revolution.  In the process, Voltaire destroyed the value of the common man.  Since God was removed from the picture, man no longer held any intrinsic value.  To Voltaire the common man were barely decipherable from the beasts of the field.  Man's only value was found in what he could do to better serve the State. It should also be noted here that this is the philosophical basis for socialism; that a certain group of elites know better how to run society then the people.  With the concept of human worth and dignity destroyed, man soon became a machine.  This worldview is called determinism.  With humanism taking over, a permanent line was drawn separating the areas of purpose and meaning from reason.  In doing so, "a compassionless, purposeless, mechanical universe relentlessly moving toward a determined end", was created.  Man truly was a machine, imprisoned by a inescapable sense of impending doom.

Next comes Rousseau.  Unlike Voltaire, Rousseau sought to find meaning and purpose, through living without boundaries.  Rousseau desired, above all, autonomous freedom.  Throughout his life Rousseau tried, unsuccessfully, to find a rational basis for his autonomous freedom, but failed when it came to the area of metaphysics.  Having lived before the era of Darwin, Rousseau had no logical alternative to the theistic view on the existence of life.  However, with Darwin, one could be in the words of Richard Dawkins, "a intellectually fulfilled atheist."  The fundamental flaw in Rousseau's autonomous freedom, is that without restraints, people are bound to trespass on another's freedom, limiting it.  It is very important to understand Rousseau if we are to be able to understand the postmodern thinkers of our day.  In this world of total freedom, nothing is off limits.

Then came Immanuel Kant, and with Kant the end of the Enlightenment.  Immanuel Kant again asked the all important question, what do I know?  Kant's main goal was to try and reconcile the rationalist and empiricist worldviews of his day.  Kant argued that if a man could neither prove something to be true or false, then he should choose to believe whatever was in his best interest.  With Kant we also see a rebirth of the "double-minded" way of thinking.  Kant believed that there were certain things, i.e the supernatural, that we could not access with our minds.  Kant also believed that we could not know the true essence of an object or person.  He called this "the thing itself".  Kant argued that we cannot transcend our own mind, thus reinforcing the 'line' between man and God.

We will now conclude with the most famous and important of the philosophers of the era; Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche.  He was born in 1844 in a small town near Leipzig, Germany.  Through out the course of his relatively short life, 55 years, Nietzsche was an acclaimed philosopher, poet, cultural critic, and classical philologist.  We must stop here and focus on this monumental man in history for his declaration that God was dead.  This was more than an individual proclamation, it was a cultural explosion.  Before we can fully dive into this fascinating man we must first make a quick stop at the man who forever changed the history of culture, science, and the understanding of truth; Charles Darwin.  In 1848 (coincidentally one of the most important years in history; Seneca Falls Convention, the publication of the Communist Manifesto, and the start of the Meixan American War) Charles Darwin published his magnum opem "The Origin of Species through the means of Natural Selection".  In doing so Darwin created "the intellectually fulfilled atheist".  For the first time ever the atheist could fall back on a rational theory of the existence of life on earth.  Now the atheist could not only deny the existence of god on the basis on reason, but they now had a valid explanation for the existence of life.  Having stopped there breifly to set the stage, we can now focus on Nietzsche.  To truly understand the last century we must understand Nietzsche and how he changed the way the modern world thought.  Nietzsche's philosophy centered around his Übermensch or "superhuman".  We will focus more on this "Ubermensch" later.  We will begin with the basics of his philosophy.  First Nietzsche claimed to hate morality and attacked it in many of his writings.  By doing this, Nietzsche attacked our most basic concept of truth, the truth of 'right and wrong'.  He questioned the most  basic principles of life including the basic principles of Judeo-Christian teaching.  In possibly his most famous work, "Beyond Good and Evil", Nietzsche urges his fellow man to move on past the ritualistic restraints of morality into a new horizon of autonomous freedom.  In Nietzsche's worldview morality was but a societal restraint that kept culture from progressing.  This attacked truth at its core.  In doing this Nietzsche was returning to the days of Plato where the individual held little value in light of the greater "State".  With the absence of morality so came the disappearance of the inherent worth of man.  Like Plato, Nietzsche also saw the physically and mentally handicapped as a strain on society and therefore worthless.  This is a very interesting fact since he was later died in a asylum, suffering from the crippling effects of Syphillis  We must stop here and note that this worldview was shared by the Nazi's who also believed in an Ubermensch.  Justifying their brutal war crimes behind the philosophy where society is king the Nazis preformed horrifying experiments and executions.  This is the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche and this is truly the death of truth.

So where do we find ourselves now?  How do we overcome?  We must realize that the postmodern worldview with its dichotomy is prevelant throught out our society, especially amongst the intellectual elites.  The only way we can once again establish truth is to educate ourselves.  We must understand that this battle is fought on a daily basis and can be seen through even the most trivial conversations.  This battle permeates every aspect of our lives from politics to religion to every social commentary including sports and news.  Truth must not be sacrificed as it it is only with the firm foundation of Truth that we can truly glorify God and make choices that will improve our society.  When Hippocratic thinking is replaced by that of a Platonic worldview, the weak in society suffer.  Those who are physically and mentally handicapped, infants, and the elderly must suffer and die in the name of the 'greater good'.  This is the philosophy of the atrocities of Communism.  We must fight for the truth, standing firm on the knowledge of Christ revealed to us in the divine words of Scripture.

Leviticus 10:1-3

Read Leviticus 10:1-3

And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.  The fire of the Lord consumed them. And they died.  This is one of those passages in Scripture that doesn’t seem to fit in our image of who our God is.  Nowhere in this passage do we see a God ready and willing to pardon the sinner.  We do not see the long haired hippy version of Jesus skipping through the flowers with His disciples that is so often portrayed today in the church.  Where is the God who is love?  Where is His grace and His forgiveness? The fire of the Lord consumed them and they died. There was no second chance, no slap on the wrist, no mercy.

So let us now examine these verses more intently.  We are immediately introduced to two men, Nadab and Abihu.  However this is not the first time we meet them in the Words of Sacred Scripture.  We first learn of them in Exodus 6:23.  They are introduced as the two oldest sons of Moses brother Aaron.  As the sons of Aaron, they were part of the Levitical priesthood and were trained as such. Exodus 24:1-3 says: Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.” Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.”  These men were trained from their birth on how to serve the Lord, keeping His ordinances. From a young age, a Levite would have known how to serve YAHWEH as was demanded.  The Levites ministered to God day and night.  They administered all the sacrifices and kept the Tabernacle, even keeping watch over it during the night. Deuteronomy 18:1 tells us this, the Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the LORD’s food offerings as their inheritance.  These men were not allowed to own land.  They had NO inheritance with Israel.  They also could not hunt or gather food on their own.  They instead relied solely on the left over food from the sacrifices made to God. Let us make no mistake about it, the only job these men had was to minister before the throne of El Shaddai.

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it. The story now opens with the sons of Aaron approaching the throne of the Almighty.  They approached the throne of the Living God.  Revelation 4 sets the scene: After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.  This is the throne YAHWEH, the Sovereign Lord.  But the Bible describes it elsewhere;  In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”  Oh what a scene!  Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of hosts; the WHOLE earth is filled with His glory.  In the presence of the Shekinah glory of God, Isaiah cries out in agony, and condemns himself.  In the Old Testament, there are two kinds of statements that a prophet would bring to Israel; either one of weal, which meant good news or one of woe which symbolized condemnation.  As a prophet, Isaiah knew this full well, and yet he calls condemnation on himself when he is brought face to face with the glory of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  In His presence before His thrown Isaiah is broken hearted and dejected.  He falls down and cries out in agony as the Seraphim fly above the Master’s throne calling out praises to the Ancient of Days.  The temple shook and the robe of the Lord filled the temple.  Even the Seraphim, who minister to God’s throne day and night, still must cover their eyes in His presence.  This is the picture of the throne of Jehovah that the sons of Aaron were approaching.  Woe to us if we do not recognize the glory of God seated on the throne.  Let us understand that as the sons of Aaron entered the Holy of Holies, they came face to face with the same God we see in Isaiah, this fierce God of power and might. 

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them.  The sons of Aaron now approached the throne of the Almighty and offered up a fire not authorized.  In order to truly understand this grievous violation of the law of God, we must look at it in context.  We have already established that the Nadab and Abihu were in no way strangers to the law, or the proper way of worship.  For years they had been trained in the proper way of worship.  From a young age, they were trained to reverence the Lord.  They were not ignorant in the way the Lord had commanded to be worshipped.  But they approached the throne of the Sovereign boldly, and did what they were deliberately told not to.  They offered an improper sacrifice, not only on behalf of themselves, but on behalf of all of Israel.  The Levitical priests were given the gargantuan task of interceding before the Lord on behalf of all the Israelites.  When Israel transgressed, the priest would go into the Tabernacle and offer a sacrifice to atone for the sins of Israel.  This was no small task, and by going before the Lord and offering a strange fire the sons of Aaron were sinning before the Lord not only on behalf of themselves but also on behalf of the whole nation.

And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.  Fire came out before the LORD and consumed them.  Oh what a description!  Our God is an all consuming fire.  When Nadab and Abihu approached the throne of God and offered a mysterious fire, they felt the full wrath of the Lord poured out on them.  The Lord’s anger burns fierce against the sin of unrepentant sinners.  How dare anyone approach the Lord of Hosts and deliberately disobey Him.  When the sons of Aaron approached the throne Yahweh, before Him and all the nation of Israel, and offered an unknown fire, they felt the full ferocity of his wrath.  He did not hold back.  The same fury He poured out onto the wicked city of Sodom was felt by Nadab and Abihu. Nowhere in the text do we read that God only poured out as much rage as the sons of Aaron could stand, or what seemed reasonable to them.  No! He poured out His full and unabridged anger.  We must be careful not to remove ourselves from this fierce some story.  For those of us who are apart of Christ this is our fate, but not only until we are killed, our torture will last forever.  Revelation 14:11 tells us  "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." Forever will they be tortured, forever will they feel his wrath and anger poured out on them.  The same anger and fury poured out on Nadab and Abihu will be felt by those unrepentant sinners for all of eternity.  There will be no rest, no relief from this torture, ever.  Death stands ready to pounce on you at any second, and is only held back by the pleasure of God.  If you were given what you deserve, if I was given what I deserve, we would be burning in hell right now and for forever more.  God’s divine wrath would burn against us without ceasing.  We would cry out in great anxiety to the Lord begging like the rich man for even a drop of water on our tongue, but never receiving it.  Just as the smoke of Gethsemane burned without end, so shall our torment be. 

We must understand that we are born radically depraved and God hating.  The issue for those of you apart from Christ is not that you have sinned; it’s that you have done nothing but sin!  Those apart from Christ are described in Romans 5 as God haters.  All your life you have transgressed against a holy God and a just God cannot let sin go unpunished.  He must punish sin with the full fury of His wrath, and He will.  The fate of those apart from Christ is darker and more painful than anyone can begin to imagine.  You can do nothing to keep yourself from this fate.  The Scriptures tell us that our greatest works are like filthy menstrual rags.  There is nothing under the cosmos that we can do to work our way out of our fate.  All are lost and all deserve condemnation for their sin against the perfect holy God.  All of us live on the brink of this condemnation and if God but blink His eye we will be caught up and forever thrown into this pit of eternal despair

And yet there is hope.  There is one all encompassing hope.   One way to escape this condemnation and it is through the sacrifice of the Son of God.  God has given us, the most undeserving of sinners, a way to escape this condemnation.  He has sent His Son to die on the cross and take the full fury of God’s wrath, so that we do not have to suffer.  Christ came to earth and lived the perfect life to die for sin and save us from the fury of the Lord.  Christ has called us to come to Him, repent and be saved.  He is our only hope in this dark world, but be aware that following after God is not an easy path.  Christ calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow after Him. Today in our nation we are told that if we prayer a prayer and ask Jesus into our hearts, we will be saved and all our problems will be fixed.  This is the biggest lie in Christianity today.  Nowhere in Scripture do we see a command to pray a prayer.  Nowhere in Scripture are we told to ask Jesus into our hearts.  It breaks my heart to think about how many people who have prayed that prayer, will stand before the throne of God on judgment day and hear Him say depart from me for I never knew you.  Those people like Nadab and Abihu offer and improper sacrifice and will feel the fury of the wrath of God.  The message of Christ is much different.  He tells us to leave everything, die to ourselves and follow after Him.  We are called to lay everything down before him.  Everything.  Christ is not an add on to our lives.  He is not something to make our lives better.  NO! He is everything we have and everything we can possibly need.  Christ does not want to be first among many; He wants to be the only thing.  He is not just a way for us to escape hell.  If I knew that God was going to send all of you to hell, I would still tell you to glorify Him because He deserves it!  We were created with the sole purpose of glorifying God.  The Westminster confession tells us that: “Mans chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” To bring glory to Him!

So now the time has come.  We must now decide what to do.  We have been given today.  What a gift today is!  We have been given this second.  Those of you that are outside of Christ repent of your sins leave everything behind and follow after Christ. And know that the sign of your conversion is not that you prayed a prayer, but rather a fundamental change in your life.  The evidence of saving faith is not today, but in the days that follow. To those of you that are in Christ do what Paul has commanded you and examine yourself.  The mark of a believer is the fruits of the spirit.  Not one fruit, or two, or eight, but all of the fruits.  Those of you that are in Christ are a new creation, the old is gone and behold the new is here.  But be fully aware that not only is the gate narrow, but so is the road.  Our road is a lonely one, full of bumps and potholes, but it is the path of Truth! And of peace!  So seize this day for Christ, die to self and live in the splendor of His love and grace.

Let us close with the third verse of this story.  Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” And Aaron held his peace. Aaron broken hearted comes before Moses and pleads for an answer, and Moses in what is a seemingly cold-hearted response reiterates what the Lord has spoken; ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’  God will be glorified one way or another, through life or through death.  And Aaron held his peace.  Aaron shut up.  He had seen the Lord, and offered worship before His throne and now submitted Himself before the Almighty.  Aaron knew the Holiness of the God He worshipped.  He had died to himself and was following after the Ancient of Days.  May we follow in his example.  May we give it all to Him and gain more than we can possibly understand.  

The truth regarding the sinking of the Lusitania and the U.S involvement in WW1

As I explained in my last post about the Bilderberg group, now is the time for the truth to be told.  I hope this post will help to inform those who read it about the truth behind the U.S entering what has been known as the 'Great War'.  In this issue, as is usually the case, all one has to do to find the truth is follow the trail of money.


In order to truly understand what happened in WW1, we must understand all angles of the conflict.  The war broke out on July 28, 1914, after a continued building up of arms and increased hostilities between the Central Powers of Germany and the Allied forces of France and Britain.  The war escalated and the U.S was determined to remain neutral in 'Europe's war'.  Immediately the Allied powers began to turn to the U.S banks to help fund the war effort.  The banks, led by the Morgan brothers, were eager to grant huge loans, in hope of making huge sums of cash off interest.  This is exactly what happened.  During the early part of the war, U.S banks were raking in millions of dollars a day.


Then, halfway through the war, everything changed. France was quickly being overrun, and Germany had launched all out submarine warfare on Britain, hoping to starve the island country.  The Allied powers were in grave danger.  This had a huge effect on the banks.  Having lent out billions of dollars, if the allied powers lost the war, the banks would have to eat all the losses.  This could potentially cause a collapse of the most powerful banks in the world.  This could not happen; so a plan was formed.


It started with, then First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill making a shoot on sight order for all German U-boats. This hostile approach to naval warfare escalated German attacks on British ships. Churchill's thought behind this was if violence was increased, America might be coerced into joining the war. At the same time, America continued shipping goods and war supplies to Allied powers. On May 6, 1915 an British ship headed for America called the Lusitania was hit by a German submarine, and sunk. 128 Americans were killed. This was all the American people needed to declare war.


This is where most history books end the story. However, in truth, the story is much more complicated. Days before the ship was sunk, the German embassy in the U.S released a statement warning Americans to stay of cargo ships heading to Britain. They warned these ships would be sunk. The article was withheld and never reached the public. The ship itself was not a simple passenger ship. The truth is, the Lusitania was a war ship and contained illegal and smuggled goods headed toward the Allied powers. The stage was now set; Churchill sent the Lusitania directly into the territory controlled by German U-boats and gave orders to slow the ship to half speed. For the Germans, it was now as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. The ship was sunk, and over a thousand innocent lives were lost. But the banks and Britain got their wish, America joined forces with the Allied powers and won the war.

If this is true, the implications are massive.  It would mean that the banks have control over our foreign affairs.  That they encourage war and even create it, as a means of generating revenue.  This is the sad truth.  Since the creation of the Bank of England, one of the first examples of a powerful bank, there have been 9 global conflicts.  To give further evidence that the banks had a major role in getting America into WW1, we need to look no further than the U.S Neutrality Acts of the 1930's.  The U.S gov't deemed it illegal to grant money to either side of the conflict in WW2.  This was in response to the common knowledge that the banks contributed heavily into getting the U.S into Europe's conflict

Phillipians 4:9

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

            This is amazing verse in and of itself, but it becomes even more fascinating when studied in light of the verses prior to it. Verses 6 and 7 say “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  God tells us that when we are anxious we should turn to Him and He will give us His peace.  Now only two verses later, Paul is saying do as I do and again peace will be with you.  This is truly amazing.  Just two verses earlier Paul says turn to God and be at peace and now he’s saying follow after what I do and be at peace.  So which is it?  It is both.  Paul is saying follow after me as I follow after Christ.  When Paul was anxious he quieted his soul before the Almighty and was at peace.  He is telling us to do the same.  This, again, is a massive challenge.  We should be able to look at those around us and say do as I do. Not do as I say, but do as I do.  This means in all circumstances and at all times.  What a seemingly impossible burden, and yet it is what God calls us to.  But it is not a burden at all.  It is a gift!  How great of a gift is it that the God of all the universe, would say you get to be my image bearers.  That he would say to me, a lowly sinner, you go out and be my ambassador.  He doesn’t need me, at all.  In the words of Spurgeon, if He but stamps his foot He can convert all the world, and yet He allows me to preach His word.  What joy! What a gift!  May we never take it for granted.  Let us go out to the whole world and say look at what Christ has done in me!  Look who He is and what He is still doing!  Look at how great my God is!  This is the cry of my heart.