Today's bloggie is the written part of an audio
sermon I'm doing on the network in a day or
so,
entitled
"Q and A Session"
"Q and A" meaning "Questions & Answers" of course.
Not that I'm God's "Bible Answer Man"
or some sorta stodgy moniker like that.
I just thot it would be very cool if I could
answer some of the questions that have
been sent my way, the past several weeks.
And that is what lies 'down undah' this line:
(TONY'S) Q and A Session
We will start our session out with 10 questions, and try
to answer each as briefly
and sensibly as possible.
*Note: These answers are the results of years
of study, prayer and research. I myself having to
ask "the hard questions" behind the questions,
and meditate and pray and consult God and even others
for TRUE answers, not from the mind of men,
but from the Holy Spirit. Thus I will proceed now.
Q1. Why do women never get enough credit for
being just as powerful in their beliefs?
A. Whoa. I believe in "powerful women" lol.
No, really I do! And I think it's important to mention
that in the "olden days" amongst the Jews, women
were regarded as a "lower species" as it were.
As a matter of fact, there is this fable that
Jewish men
prayed this way (often): "God I thank you, that You did not
make me a dog, a gentile, or a woman!"
Jesus Christ came, and He totally elevated the status of
women, everywhere! Just read the gospel accounts!
And, in the book of Acts, it mentions some "leading women"
of the city ... sounds like there were some "high-powered"
business babes back then!
Jesus boasted about the woman who anointed his feet.
Jesus commended the foreign lady who wanted her child to be healed.
Jesus praised the woman who practically crawled up to Him,
just to grab a corner of his dangling prayer shawl, to obtain her healing!
So ... Know This, Jesus notices!!
Q2. How come God was mean in the Old Testament?
He had people slaughtered including babies.
A. Thanks for this one. Just discussed this the other night
with a family member. God's character cannot be "wrapped
up" or explained by a few random acts of vengeance in
the OT. One has to see the "bigger picture", and God
always does that before the rest of us!
Let's look at it this way.
You have invested a LOT of time in your family.
A lot of money, time, love, teaching, instruction
training, etc etc etc.
Along comes this enemy to threaten your family,
not physically, mind you, but to "poison" their beliefs,
their inner core beliefs.
What would you do? You would get rid of those
enemies and make sure your family was safe.
God saw that those rascals would
never change and He eliminated them. He also knew
that even their very babies were gonna "carry on the tradition"
of wickedness, and spread their poison abroad. They're all dead,
that's all. Probably had to go through some "remedial purging"
of being stupid dummy-head idiots, but just the same.
GOD PROTECTS HIS OWN.
After all, God had to have a "pure" nation, through
which to bring forth the Messiah.
And The Rebels???
He knows how to take care of them too.
So don't get too hung up on it, God knows what
He's doing ... "His judgments are true and righteous altogether".
Q3.
God knows the beginning from the end. So how come he created satan
and the garden of Eden, really because of his temptation was gone and
now we have so many trials and hardships and have to work with the sweat
on our brow or
something like that?
something like that?
A. Long question. OK. One point at a time.
Yes, God knows
all. He created "the evil one" for the day of evil,
and I believe that God knew full well that man would sin and
everything He did according to plan and was never caught off guard.
Some say man was "a perfect being", but he most likely would not
have sinned if he was perfect! So the potential was there, and
God already had planned the Savior to come, before the foundation
of the world. Now trials, suffering and hardships is almost a different
subject. SIN caused a LOT of pain and suffering, but Jesus took
care of ALL SIN on the cross!
"Eating your bread by the sweat of your brow" was part of the CURSE,
but we are freed from The Curse of the Law, when we accept Jesus
as our Lord and come into the Kingdom of God, and stop living under the Law!!
Q4. Can satan be forgiven?
A. Oooooh, good question. Most of religion out there will tell you emphatically,
NO. But the question should really be this:
Did not Jesus destroy the evil one? Yes.
But ... if he does still exist, is anything too hard for God?
There are many in the body of Christ today that believe
that "satan" is not a title or a name of a person, but
a description ... i.e. the word means "adversary".
And thus, it could refer to a lot of people, or entities.
Let's just remember this:
If you believe that satan is a 'real person', that
Jesus says that he was "the father of lies, a murderer, a thief"
from THE BEGINNING.
He wasn't some fallen angel who had a magic mirror.
Don't call him Lucifer ... he does not deserve that title!
So ... answer? God has already forgiven the jerk.
Q5. Since Jesus had to die was Judas predestined to do that job of betrayal?
A.
God foreknew what was gonna go down, and He had the OT prophets write
about it and all, and Judas didn't have to die, he chose to. Jesus was
constantly reaching out to the Dude, but Judas was preoccupied with his
Zionist Mindset. He just couldn't make the puzzle pieces fit. So he
decided to off himself instead.
Q6. Can we fellowship with gays, etc. and does God
condemn them for being ‘strange’ the way they
are (different sexual orientation)?
A. Wow. I'm so glad this one came up, and I'm not afraid to take it on.
So glad you brought it. Jesus ate with "sinners and tax collectors"
and sometimes it seems he did things to literally piss off the religious
characters of his day. We are in the world. We are ambassadors.
All kinds of people need love. Gays are people.
Oh yes, they are. Their main need is LOVE.
If you don't realize that, you need your spiritual heart checked.
We are NOT to condemn them, Jesus does not.
Jesus
did NOT curse the gay population with AIDS or HIV.
That's cruel and ludicrous.
There's a whole lot I can say ... remember the lepers??
How did people treat them?
Didn't Jesus "touch" them?
Hmmmm. Have you ever prayed for one who did have
the plague, and he or she got healed??
If the thought of all this repulses you or makes you uncomfortable,
then pray for the Love of God to overwhelm you. Pray for
the wisdom of God to know how to handle it, er I mean, THEM.
Q7. How should we conduct ourselves around people who are gay, etc.??
A. Like the answer above, with THE LOVE OF GOD.
We should never be phony, hypocritical or pretend to be something we ain't.
Gays will see right through you, because many of them have fine-tuned
senses and can smell a fake a mile away. So, my advice?
Just be yourself. IN Christ. And be loving.
Who knows? They might even listen to you.
Q8. Creatures such as Gargoyles have adorned many churches...
why is this and where did they come from? Are they ‘Alien’ too ??
A. Being an artist myself, I have to appreciate many types of art and artforms.
Now that doesn't mean I "like it all" and have some in my house!
The Gargoyles were depictions of early demonic beasts or entities
that represent dark forces that many true believers had to fight,
resist, endure or stave off in some way. Yes, they look fierce
and mean, but so do "religious spirits". So in that sense,
I'm not surprised that they're on the tops of church buildings ;)
Aliens? Maybe ... been told that there are friendly ones and scary ones ... ;)
Q9. Was Japan being judged by God??
A. I actually blogged about this recently, and my answer is a resounding NO.
God doesn't judge the innocent for just
being there. The USA and other
countries have bombed 'the innocents' before in the past, until we discovered
'smart bomb' technology, and we are a little less haphazard about it.
But God ... who is RICH in mercy ... He doesn't have a beef with Japan.
The fact that He allowed the earthquake and tsunami does NOT mean
He sent it!! It means that the earth is still groaning, and the sons of
God have not all yet been revealed to the point that the groaning
can stop. Maybe the worldwide "bitching" that goes on between
nations can stop, and that would help a lot. But that's my opinion ;)
***And Lastly, those of you who don't like controversy, you
can skip this next and last question***
Q10. Is Jesus really coming back the 2nd time?
A. This is and has been a very difficult question to
answer, as much of the church believes that Jesus
said
He was coming back, and "angels" said He was coming back,
and people say they have plenty of scriptures to support their view.
IT IS THE VIEW of this writer that Jesus has indeed come back already,
just as He predicted ... but one must follow the Greek languages
discovering that the word we translate as "coming" is really
"presence"; and that Jesus did come back to do exactly
what He said would be done in Matthew 24. Students of the
scriptures should realize the concept of "audience relevance"
and much that Jesus said in those days applied only to
those people standing there and listening. Also, in the book
of Revelation, the writer stresses repeatedly the concepts
of "what shortly must take place" or "soon to happen"
or "very soon" and other words to that effect. If
the events that were prophesied were 1st and foremost
dictated to these first listeners and recipients, but the
same words would not be fulfilled for many centuries later,
then the prophecies make little sense.
Also, one must also know, that in apocalyptic literature,
"clouds" almost always refer to judgment. Jesus returned
through the judgment of God, and the old temple was destroyed,
the priesthood and
sacrifices were ended, and the whole OLD
system was abolished and done away with.
When I read about "The Parousia" (His Coming/Presence),
I see that there are many! He comes to all those who believe.
He makes His home inside of them through the Holy Spirit.
He promised in John 14-16 that we would not be as orphans,
He would "come to us". And He did. Pentecost.
Then, let's read the end of Revelation with the mind of
the Spirit,
and KNOW that the Revelator is talking about "God dwelling
amongst men" ... and that WE are that Great City, the New Jerusalem.
Now ... I realize that many will disagree with this premise and have
a different view. But I would ask you to re-consider what the scriptures
actually say, and leave Schofield and other so-called commentators
out of the mix. There is a whole LOT more to expound upon, regarding
this question. There is a whole LOT more to prove.
Get rid of the carnal reasoning, open up to the Spirit.
*************************
OK. I probably made someone mad just then, but
remember The Tony Blog isn't about getting everybody
to agree with me, or I with them. And not afraid
to be radical
and different, and controversial.
So, for those who are still with me, love me and/or tolerate me (lol)
I will continue on. And hope to see you too!
*Next Time: Continued study on Judging & Judgment*
STAY TUNED.
OVER but NOT Out!
TONY ;)
