Sin caused a breach in the perfect relationship between Adam and his Creator. Abraham, the descendant of Adam pleased God because of his faith. Faith is the "holy grail," the "rites of passage." Do anything you want but without FAITH it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6)
Man before the breach, or separation, was immortal, but because of a Law of God which made sin punishable by death, mankind lost his immortality. God is Life and separation from God who is Life causes Death - it is a principle as sure as the Law of Gravity.
Since Death was not God's intention for man, God had prepared a plan to repair the breach and restore man so that men could live forever as God had intended. Following God's instructions, men in Israel began to sacrifice lambs and other animals who symbolically took on the sins of the people and paid the "wages of death."
This pleased God, but only temporarily. And so the animal sacrifices had to be made continually because Israel sinned continually. Besides, the sacrifices were officiated by priests who were themselves sinners who also needed to be forgiven. Where it may seem that an animal's death could not adequately achieve full satisfaction of God's Law, all we know from the bible is that "blood" is required for the remission of sin; it does not necessarily say that it has to be human blood!
Nevertheless, it seems logical to me that the "perfect" fulfillment of the legal requirement would be that the "soul that sins shall die."
Jesus Christ, the descendant of Abraham pleased God and was the perfect sacrifice; the "Lamb of God." He is "The Way" to God because He is God.
- Jerome Bogan
The next excerpt is credited to an author I found on line who calls himself "Spirit Word."
"During the Old Testament times God commanded Israel to offer animal sacrifices for sin in order to establish symbols pointing to the true and ultimate sacrifice for sins, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. Just as animals, typically a lamb without blemish (Exodus 12:5) was offered as a sin offering in order to appease God's wrath upon man, in the fullness of time Jesus Christ Himself came as the true sacrifice for mankind. Jesus is the lamb without blemish because he was the only man who has ever lived without sin, He was indeed perfect and thus was also the perfect sacrifice. The blood of bulls, goats and rams were shadows and symbols pointing to the reality that was to come, they in themselves *cannot* take away sin. (Hebrews 10:1-4) God used animals as symbols for a short period in history in order to demonstrate to mankind what His salvation plan would be.
In the book of Exodus chapter 12 we read about the Jewish Passover. In order for the Israelites to escape the last plague God would send upon Egypt they needed to sacrifice a lamb and put the lamb's blood on the doorposts of their homes. When the angel of death would come and kill every first born in Egypt, anyone who had the lamb's blood on their houses was spared from the calamity. After this final plague, Israel was released from Egypt and freed from their bondage to Pharaoh. God commanded Israel to remember that day and so this became the celebration of the Jewish Passover which the Jews have celebrated for many many centuries.
Christ came as the true Lamb of God, the true sacrifice in order that mankind might be spared from eternal death and released from their bondage to sin and to Satan. Notice also that Christ was crucified on the exact day of the Jewish Passover celebration! What beautiful fulfillment of the scriptures we have here!
Ultimately Jesus Christ is called the Lamb of God because He was crucified on the cross so that all mankind may be free from bondage to sin and Satan. He is the only one we can put our trust in for our eternal salvation and the only one that can forgive us of our sins. The payment for sin is eternal death which means that in order for Christ to save anyone and be the perfect sacrifice He Himself would have to pay the price... No animal sacrifice can do what is equivalent to the work Christ has done on the cross which is why Jesus is called the Lamb of God."
If we have not been forgiven by God through the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb, we will have to pay the punishment for our sins in an eternity of suffering and torment. (Romans 6:23) All those that believe and trust on Jesus will be saved from the last and final plague to hit mankind, eternal death.
Romans 10:9 "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
Joh 5:24 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."
God calls out to each one of us to believe on the Lamb that was crucified and to put our faith and trust in Him and in the Word of God for our salvation. If we will acknowledge our sins, believe on Christ and the Word and repent of our sins God will save us!
John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
- Spirit Word
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
The Secret
I'm so completely overwhelmed! So many great things have happened already and I haven't even gotten to Orlando yet! First my nephew Thurman drove me to Terminal 3 in my car and took the car back to the house for me...no cab fare and I was early for my flight! Next I didn't get a seat assigned until Delta started boarding. I wound up with a window seat and nobody next to me! Now as I began to think about that, the Erikah Badu song "Window Seat" started playing in my head.
I had been playing the YouTube video for weeks so that I could learn how to play the song on my Yamaha Motif8 keyboard (and not so I could see Erikah naked like you're probably thinking!) The lyrics had become so profoundly engraved in my subconscious mind. Because of how I've been feeling about my job lately and with all of the stress and drama that my life has gone through recently I can certainly relate to Erikah's plea for a " window seat, don't want nobody next to me I just want a ticket outta town to look around in a safer town..." This was exactly how I felt! (Except for the line "if anybody seen Scotty tell him beam me up..." I did enough of that in the early 90's).
When the plane took off this time I didn't have the usual butterflies and nervous anticipation. I simply bowed my head and said a quick prayer. When I looked up again I realized that the plane was nothing more than an overgrown kite! It glided along the runway for a few minutes and then... whoosh! We were on a big kite 25,000 feet in the air. Thinking of the plane as a kite really helped me overcome whatever fear of flying or altophobia that may have been secretly lingering in my heart. I'm certainly not ready to skydive like my co-worker Shirley but I'm having fun right now with this whole kite concept.
One of the fondest memories I have of the short time I spent being a father to my son U.S. Army Captain Kumalo Bogan is the time I bought a kite and took him to an open grassy area near where we lived in Flushing. I had taken a 1000 foot roll of string from the toy factory where I worked and I remembered that Kumalo was in his stroller crying as I finally got the kite going. Eventually the wind took that kite up so far I used every inch of that 1000 foot string. I could no longer see the kite as it blended into the sky. I am imagining that right now I am on that kite; completely safe in the arms of the wind, high above the clouds at the mercy of the Lord!
Another great thing happened on this flight. I brought Rhonda Byrne's book "The Secret" with me! It had been sitting in the outer pocket of my laptop case, hardly touched since the last time I read up to page 45. I always loved this book and ever since I opened to the first few pages I knew that this was another great holy book taking its rightful place as one of the greatest inspirational books of all time. Clearly this book is correlated to the Holy Bible with its simple believe and receive message. Quoting Matthew 21:22 on page 54 it says "whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." And Mark 11:24 "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that you receive them, and ye shall have them."
The message of "The Secret" seems oversimplified, almost too good to be true at first. But then I consider the simplicity of Salvation which begins with a few earnest words of repentance; acknowledging the need for a Savior and recognizing and confessing (and BELIEVING) that Jesus Christ is that one and only true Savior. I ask myself, how many people overcomplicate this simple plan and nearly miss out on their blessing because it just seems too easy and too good to be true?
Anyway, back to the Secret. As I continued reading and the amazing "kite" gained altitude and as soon as the French-speaking white man stopped complaining because his non-English speaking Black children were not allowed to sit at the emergency window because if an emergency did happen they wouldn't be able to understand the flight attendant's instructions, I began to experience a heightened sense of exhiliration, an almost euphoric state. I know that the altitude and surroundings played a part, but the words in the book were the primary catalyst and they became immediately empowering. I decided right then and there that I was going to take the author's advice and implement positive thinking and unrelenting faith immediately. Realizing that it would take time to convert from discouraged to courageous and from retired to inspired I began to search for a starting point.
I began thinking about the test that I had coming up to remain certified for the X-ray at work. After failing twice, I would need a lot of faith in order to battle the aching sense of failure and the low self-esteem that usually goes with it. But the book expressed little tolerance for weak, wavering faith; the author made it clear that the Secret only works when the believer behaves as though he has already received the thing requested. Clearly Matthew and Mark concur. God knowing that I wasn't ready for such a great leap of faith so soon prepared a little step of faith for me instead.
Here is how it played out, and to me it reveals how great and compassionate God is and how He operates on us on so many levels and peels back so many layers at the same time. When I first took the book out of the laptop case I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a bookmark indicating the last page read previously. But now somehow the bookmark was gone! I used the missing bookmark as an excuse to not panic and to put the principles of faith from the book to work. I began to look for the bookmark in the seat beneath me and next to me, but not frantically. I kept quoting from the book in my mind while at the same time fighting rationalizing that the bookmark was not that important. The bookmark had to be important enough to me to generate enough faith to accomplish the task I hand. I had to be absolutely sure that I would find that bookmark! The unwavering faith that it would be found made me happier than I had ever been over a bookmark.
I didn't understand why my feelings were so strong at that time, but I was about to find out. I got up to go to the bathroom and I had to wait for a while because the flight attendant was blocking the bathroom with a beverage cart. When I got back to my seat the bookmark was on the floor under the seat! When I picked the bookmark up it was turned over from the way it was when I first saw it. Now I could see the full glossy design of the front of the bookmark. It was a bookmark from my 10-year-old daughter's elementary school P.S.90. At the top of the bookmark was a picture of my daughter from when she was 5 or 6. I kept staring at my daughter's photo and a wave of emotion passed over me. I could sense the very deep love that I feel for my daughter and at that moment I was surrounded by benevolence. The euphoria increased and a great lesson learned. Keep on searching, keep on believing until you find what you've been searching for. The least of things have incredible value. Hold on to them, treasure them. Hold on to your faith and your dreams and the people and things that are important to you! Don't let anyone talk you out of it! Better that you die believing and never receive than never to have believed at all!
Now I've got to start getting happy about passing the next test!
I had been playing the YouTube video for weeks so that I could learn how to play the song on my Yamaha Motif8 keyboard (and not so I could see Erikah naked like you're probably thinking!) The lyrics had become so profoundly engraved in my subconscious mind. Because of how I've been feeling about my job lately and with all of the stress and drama that my life has gone through recently I can certainly relate to Erikah's plea for a " window seat, don't want nobody next to me I just want a ticket outta town to look around in a safer town..." This was exactly how I felt! (Except for the line "if anybody seen Scotty tell him beam me up..." I did enough of that in the early 90's).
When the plane took off this time I didn't have the usual butterflies and nervous anticipation. I simply bowed my head and said a quick prayer. When I looked up again I realized that the plane was nothing more than an overgrown kite! It glided along the runway for a few minutes and then... whoosh! We were on a big kite 25,000 feet in the air. Thinking of the plane as a kite really helped me overcome whatever fear of flying or altophobia that may have been secretly lingering in my heart. I'm certainly not ready to skydive like my co-worker Shirley but I'm having fun right now with this whole kite concept.
One of the fondest memories I have of the short time I spent being a father to my son U.S. Army Captain Kumalo Bogan is the time I bought a kite and took him to an open grassy area near where we lived in Flushing. I had taken a 1000 foot roll of string from the toy factory where I worked and I remembered that Kumalo was in his stroller crying as I finally got the kite going. Eventually the wind took that kite up so far I used every inch of that 1000 foot string. I could no longer see the kite as it blended into the sky. I am imagining that right now I am on that kite; completely safe in the arms of the wind, high above the clouds at the mercy of the Lord!
Another great thing happened on this flight. I brought Rhonda Byrne's book "The Secret" with me! It had been sitting in the outer pocket of my laptop case, hardly touched since the last time I read up to page 45. I always loved this book and ever since I opened to the first few pages I knew that this was another great holy book taking its rightful place as one of the greatest inspirational books of all time. Clearly this book is correlated to the Holy Bible with its simple believe and receive message. Quoting Matthew 21:22 on page 54 it says "whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." And Mark 11:24 "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that you receive them, and ye shall have them."
The message of "The Secret" seems oversimplified, almost too good to be true at first. But then I consider the simplicity of Salvation which begins with a few earnest words of repentance; acknowledging the need for a Savior and recognizing and confessing (and BELIEVING) that Jesus Christ is that one and only true Savior. I ask myself, how many people overcomplicate this simple plan and nearly miss out on their blessing because it just seems too easy and too good to be true?
Anyway, back to the Secret. As I continued reading and the amazing "kite" gained altitude and as soon as the French-speaking white man stopped complaining because his non-English speaking Black children were not allowed to sit at the emergency window because if an emergency did happen they wouldn't be able to understand the flight attendant's instructions, I began to experience a heightened sense of exhiliration, an almost euphoric state. I know that the altitude and surroundings played a part, but the words in the book were the primary catalyst and they became immediately empowering. I decided right then and there that I was going to take the author's advice and implement positive thinking and unrelenting faith immediately. Realizing that it would take time to convert from discouraged to courageous and from retired to inspired I began to search for a starting point.
I began thinking about the test that I had coming up to remain certified for the X-ray at work. After failing twice, I would need a lot of faith in order to battle the aching sense of failure and the low self-esteem that usually goes with it. But the book expressed little tolerance for weak, wavering faith; the author made it clear that the Secret only works when the believer behaves as though he has already received the thing requested. Clearly Matthew and Mark concur. God knowing that I wasn't ready for such a great leap of faith so soon prepared a little step of faith for me instead.
Here is how it played out, and to me it reveals how great and compassionate God is and how He operates on us on so many levels and peels back so many layers at the same time. When I first took the book out of the laptop case I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a bookmark indicating the last page read previously. But now somehow the bookmark was gone! I used the missing bookmark as an excuse to not panic and to put the principles of faith from the book to work. I began to look for the bookmark in the seat beneath me and next to me, but not frantically. I kept quoting from the book in my mind while at the same time fighting rationalizing that the bookmark was not that important. The bookmark had to be important enough to me to generate enough faith to accomplish the task I hand. I had to be absolutely sure that I would find that bookmark! The unwavering faith that it would be found made me happier than I had ever been over a bookmark.
I didn't understand why my feelings were so strong at that time, but I was about to find out. I got up to go to the bathroom and I had to wait for a while because the flight attendant was blocking the bathroom with a beverage cart. When I got back to my seat the bookmark was on the floor under the seat! When I picked the bookmark up it was turned over from the way it was when I first saw it. Now I could see the full glossy design of the front of the bookmark. It was a bookmark from my 10-year-old daughter's elementary school P.S.90. At the top of the bookmark was a picture of my daughter from when she was 5 or 6. I kept staring at my daughter's photo and a wave of emotion passed over me. I could sense the very deep love that I feel for my daughter and at that moment I was surrounded by benevolence. The euphoria increased and a great lesson learned. Keep on searching, keep on believing until you find what you've been searching for. The least of things have incredible value. Hold on to them, treasure them. Hold on to your faith and your dreams and the people and things that are important to you! Don't let anyone talk you out of it! Better that you die believing and never receive than never to have believed at all!
Now I've got to start getting happy about passing the next test!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Should The "Ground Zero" Mosque Be Allowed?
I usually don't get too involved with politics, but religion I find extremely interesting and my years as a paralegal student peaked my interest in law. The case to build or not to build a Mosque at Ground Zero is an interesting mix incorporating all of these elements. Since a friend of mine, Olu Teague brought up the topic, I've decided to blog my opinion on the subject.
Personal beliefs and feelings aside, the short answer is yes, the mosque should be permitted to be built. Unless there are issues with zoning or building codes and if there are no other financial or legal restraints, the Mosque should be permitted to be built wherever they want. If lawmakers intended for Ground Zero to be off limits to certain groups interested in the real estate there then they should have taken action early on. The site could have been declared "holy ground" or a national landmark or perhaps some other legal term that would limit the sale and purchase of real estate on the site. Then, the lawmakers and the victims families could possibly decide what can be built there. Without the legal rights to do so we cannot prevent anyone from purchasing a lot and building property on it. And certainly, we cannot in good conscience profess to be Americans and deny someone real estate based on religion.
Unfortunately, when the evil actions of "a few" are done in the name of a particular religion, as with the Crusaders, the religion becomes associated with the evil actions of the few. Few people talk about the tremendous acts of charity by the Catholic church, but mention a Catholic priest and many people think about the sexual abuse committed by a small minority of Catholic priests.
The building of the mosque at ground zero may not be the most sensitive decision that can be made in terms of honoring the WTC victims and their families. But the American ideal of freedom of religion requires us to respect the Moslems right to build it there. If it was a Baptist church would there be so much controversy?
On the other hand, Islamic religious leaders who fail to denounce and disassociate themselves from terrorist Islamic extremists and their ideologies are in part to blame for the paranoia. Horror stories like 19-year-old Bibi Aisha, whose nose and ears were cut off by Islamic extremists only add to the hysteria. (Copy the link and read the following article for the full story):
http://afghanistan.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/18/shaming-her-in-laws-costs-19-year-old-her-nose-ears/
The U.S. has an open door policy but we have to draw the line and throw people out when they support or promote militant extremism, and acts of cruelty such as in the case of Bibi Aisha, regardless of what their religion is. Anyone whose ideology is totally contrary to the American ideals as expressed in the Bill of Rights should not be permitted to live here. If we had enforced this principle effectively there would be no tolerance for the Ku Klux Klan or any other "hate-based" ideology. Freedom of speech or not - some folks just need to get the heck out of the United States.
Personal beliefs and feelings aside, the short answer is yes, the mosque should be permitted to be built. Unless there are issues with zoning or building codes and if there are no other financial or legal restraints, the Mosque should be permitted to be built wherever they want. If lawmakers intended for Ground Zero to be off limits to certain groups interested in the real estate there then they should have taken action early on. The site could have been declared "holy ground" or a national landmark or perhaps some other legal term that would limit the sale and purchase of real estate on the site. Then, the lawmakers and the victims families could possibly decide what can be built there. Without the legal rights to do so we cannot prevent anyone from purchasing a lot and building property on it. And certainly, we cannot in good conscience profess to be Americans and deny someone real estate based on religion.
Unfortunately, when the evil actions of "a few" are done in the name of a particular religion, as with the Crusaders, the religion becomes associated with the evil actions of the few. Few people talk about the tremendous acts of charity by the Catholic church, but mention a Catholic priest and many people think about the sexual abuse committed by a small minority of Catholic priests.
The building of the mosque at ground zero may not be the most sensitive decision that can be made in terms of honoring the WTC victims and their families. But the American ideal of freedom of religion requires us to respect the Moslems right to build it there. If it was a Baptist church would there be so much controversy?
On the other hand, Islamic religious leaders who fail to denounce and disassociate themselves from terrorist Islamic extremists and their ideologies are in part to blame for the paranoia. Horror stories like 19-year-old Bibi Aisha, whose nose and ears were cut off by Islamic extremists only add to the hysteria. (Copy the link and read the following article for the full story):
http://afghanistan.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/18/shaming-her-in-laws-costs-19-year-old-her-nose-ears/
The U.S. has an open door policy but we have to draw the line and throw people out when they support or promote militant extremism, and acts of cruelty such as in the case of Bibi Aisha, regardless of what their religion is. Anyone whose ideology is totally contrary to the American ideals as expressed in the Bill of Rights should not be permitted to live here. If we had enforced this principle effectively there would be no tolerance for the Ku Klux Klan or any other "hate-based" ideology. Freedom of speech or not - some folks just need to get the heck out of the United States.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Are Men Ever Satisfied?
Men are NEVER satisfied with anything the earth has to offer.
Neither can a man find complete satisfaction in a woman. The original man (Adam) was designed by God and had a relationship with God. Although it would seem that the relationship with GOD ALONE should be enough to satisfy Adam, God said "it is not good that man should be alone!" That was just before he made WOMAN.
So now everything was perfect with Adam and he was probably the first man in history to have complete satisfaction. But then along comes the first "indecent proposal" from a serpent and everything in the perfect world became chaotic. Satisfaction was no more. Man had been tricked out of the perfect order that God had created for him. And what is the perfect order that has to be present in a man's life in order for him to have complete satisfaction?
Here is the formula - MAN + WOMAN + GOD = SATISFACTION.
Whenever any part of that formula is missing there is no satisfaction; neither for man or woman. So if anyone, male or female is not completely satisfied there is something lacking; maybe they have a good man or woman but they don't have God or maybe they have God in their life but don't have a good woman or man. Out of that fruitful union there will probably be seed (children). Children are the physical manifestation of the union between man, woman and God.
The other part of the innate lack of satisfaction stems from the fact that we are creatures created from a perfect, orderly God and yet we are still living in a world where there is imperfection and disorder. We are in a spiritual and psychological conflict with our world. We will not truly have COMPLETE satisfaction until we are citizens of the new world order which can only take place when the kingdoms of this world have become the Kingdoms of Our Lord, Jesus Christ! When he returns he will set everything straight and we will have total satisfaction once again.
But can we at least experience SOME of that satisfaction right now?
YES WE CAN!
IT IS BECAUSE OF THE HOPE THAT IS IN US THAT WE HAVE SATISFACTION IN OUR SOULS. OUR SOULS ARE SATISFIED NOT BECAUSE THE WORLD IS IN ORDER BUT BECAUSE OUR HEARTS, SPIRIT AND SOULS ARE IN SYNC WITH CHRIST! BECAUSE WE ARE SAVED WE ARE IN THIS WORLD BUT NOT OF IT - There lies the conflict!
BUT WE HAVE THE HOPE OF SALVATION IN US WHICH GIVES US PEACE IN THE MIDST OF THE CONFLICT IN AND AROUND US! OUR SATISFACTION IS IN JESUS CHRIST!
GRACE AND PEACE!
Neither can a man find complete satisfaction in a woman. The original man (Adam) was designed by God and had a relationship with God. Although it would seem that the relationship with GOD ALONE should be enough to satisfy Adam, God said "it is not good that man should be alone!" That was just before he made WOMAN.
So now everything was perfect with Adam and he was probably the first man in history to have complete satisfaction. But then along comes the first "indecent proposal" from a serpent and everything in the perfect world became chaotic. Satisfaction was no more. Man had been tricked out of the perfect order that God had created for him. And what is the perfect order that has to be present in a man's life in order for him to have complete satisfaction?
Here is the formula - MAN + WOMAN + GOD = SATISFACTION.
Whenever any part of that formula is missing there is no satisfaction; neither for man or woman. So if anyone, male or female is not completely satisfied there is something lacking; maybe they have a good man or woman but they don't have God or maybe they have God in their life but don't have a good woman or man. Out of that fruitful union there will probably be seed (children). Children are the physical manifestation of the union between man, woman and God.
The other part of the innate lack of satisfaction stems from the fact that we are creatures created from a perfect, orderly God and yet we are still living in a world where there is imperfection and disorder. We are in a spiritual and psychological conflict with our world. We will not truly have COMPLETE satisfaction until we are citizens of the new world order which can only take place when the kingdoms of this world have become the Kingdoms of Our Lord, Jesus Christ! When he returns he will set everything straight and we will have total satisfaction once again.
But can we at least experience SOME of that satisfaction right now?
YES WE CAN!
IT IS BECAUSE OF THE HOPE THAT IS IN US THAT WE HAVE SATISFACTION IN OUR SOULS. OUR SOULS ARE SATISFIED NOT BECAUSE THE WORLD IS IN ORDER BUT BECAUSE OUR HEARTS, SPIRIT AND SOULS ARE IN SYNC WITH CHRIST! BECAUSE WE ARE SAVED WE ARE IN THIS WORLD BUT NOT OF IT - There lies the conflict!
BUT WE HAVE THE HOPE OF SALVATION IN US WHICH GIVES US PEACE IN THE MIDST OF THE CONFLICT IN AND AROUND US! OUR SATISFACTION IS IN JESUS CHRIST!
GRACE AND PEACE!
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