I often wonder whether people are really interested in the truth about God. It seems we would rather create our own God with a form and nature that WE find suitable.
It makes me think about Mr Potato Head, a plastic toy with interchangeable parts that can be used to create a “person” with facial characteristics of our own choosing.
Instead of selecting from a choice of different facial features, we can choose from a selection of scripture verses to build our own preferred image of God. But just like the toys, we don’t need to stick with the basic package of original parts. We are also offered supplementary features through countless extra-biblical texts and teachings. There are accessories we can add to “improve” our chosen Divine image – until all authenticity has been either replaced or obscured.
Maybe we would benefit significantly from time spent reassessing our motives and desires. Do we genuinely want GOD’s Truth; do we want GOD as HE really is? – Or do we want to follow a "plastic" God we have created for ourselves?
Showing posts with label False gods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label False gods. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Thursday, January 07, 2010
2010: A Race Idiocy
Some thoughts about the last decade and the "millennial" year that started it.
2010.
I recall a film of that title, the sequel to 2001 A Space Odyssey. I think it was made in the mid 1980s and it gave a very “optimistic” outlook for man’s progress as a space travelling species. But then again, in the world Arthur C Clarke created for that series of novels and films, mankind was being helped along by a mysterious alien race represented by a large matte black monolith.
Is it mere irony that a similar featureless block is the focal point of the prayer room in the United Nations building? As members pray to their various gods they kneel or sit facing the block and are able to use it as a representation of the god to whom they are praying. A featureless block intended to be inoffensive to the variety of religions followed by the diverse membership of the UN. In other words it was a compromise solution which showed no favouritism to any of the millions of gods worshipped by man.
2010. A year that was given little if any thought for most of my life. It lacks the mystique of the year 2000, that false millennial year (A C Clarke got the timing right with 2001).
2000 was a year I dreamt of as a child. A year so far away I couldn’t imagine reaching it. After all I would be 42 if the world (and I) survived that long. Be aware that my childhood saw the Vietnam War, the threat of nuclear annihilation, the first seeds of terrorism, with both Islamic groups and the IRA starting their campaigns…
The world didn’t seem such a friendly place and the future seemed… well, unlikely.
But that most anticipated “millennial” year did arrive and I was here to see it. A year celebrated with the Olympic Games literally on my doorstep, the Stadium visible from the street outside my home. People stood in the streets to watch one of the firework displays that have become part of Sydney’s identity. It was the cities second major celebration for that year.
The first was to openly welcome the "millennium".
A whole decade has now passed. 10 years more than my childhood imagination could reach and what has the world learned?
Well, it has learned to change fiction into fact, taking the example of Clarke’s fictional world the leaders of the “real” world also turn to a featureless block for enlightenment. And while their representaives pray to that idol, visitors to the building containing it can see another monument at its entrance. One that speaks of beating swords into ploughshares and about man learning war no more… surely an admirable goal to work towards.
Except: that monument promoting peace has taken its motto from scripture, and it omits the most important part of the scriptural statement. It ignores the ONE responsible for that promised peace and that ONE is NOT an impersonal man-made block.
The One who will bring peace is revealed in the full text that SHOULD have been included on that monument at the UN building. And that peace will only occur when the TRUE “millennium” is established. The only one who will bring peace to this world is Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace and He will do it when His earthly reign of 1000 years is established from His throne in Jerusalem.
Many peoples will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths."
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore
Now THAT is a millennium to get excited about – but the best news is that it will be only a foretaste of even better things to come.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
2010.
I recall a film of that title, the sequel to 2001 A Space Odyssey. I think it was made in the mid 1980s and it gave a very “optimistic” outlook for man’s progress as a space travelling species. But then again, in the world Arthur C Clarke created for that series of novels and films, mankind was being helped along by a mysterious alien race represented by a large matte black monolith.
Is it mere irony that a similar featureless block is the focal point of the prayer room in the United Nations building? As members pray to their various gods they kneel or sit facing the block and are able to use it as a representation of the god to whom they are praying. A featureless block intended to be inoffensive to the variety of religions followed by the diverse membership of the UN. In other words it was a compromise solution which showed no favouritism to any of the millions of gods worshipped by man.2010. A year that was given little if any thought for most of my life. It lacks the mystique of the year 2000, that false millennial year (A C Clarke got the timing right with 2001).
2000 was a year I dreamt of as a child. A year so far away I couldn’t imagine reaching it. After all I would be 42 if the world (and I) survived that long. Be aware that my childhood saw the Vietnam War, the threat of nuclear annihilation, the first seeds of terrorism, with both Islamic groups and the IRA starting their campaigns…
The world didn’t seem such a friendly place and the future seemed… well, unlikely.
But that most anticipated “millennial” year did arrive and I was here to see it. A year celebrated with the Olympic Games literally on my doorstep, the Stadium visible from the street outside my home. People stood in the streets to watch one of the firework displays that have become part of Sydney’s identity. It was the cities second major celebration for that year.
The first was to openly welcome the "millennium".
A whole decade has now passed. 10 years more than my childhood imagination could reach and what has the world learned?
Well, it has learned to change fiction into fact, taking the example of Clarke’s fictional world the leaders of the “real” world also turn to a featureless block for enlightenment. And while their representaives pray to that idol, visitors to the building containing it can see another monument at its entrance. One that speaks of beating swords into ploughshares and about man learning war no more… surely an admirable goal to work towards.
Except: that monument promoting peace has taken its motto from scripture, and it omits the most important part of the scriptural statement. It ignores the ONE responsible for that promised peace and that ONE is NOT an impersonal man-made block.
The One who will bring peace is revealed in the full text that SHOULD have been included on that monument at the UN building. And that peace will only occur when the TRUE “millennium” is established. The only one who will bring peace to this world is Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace and He will do it when His earthly reign of 1000 years is established from His throne in Jerusalem.
Many peoples will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths."
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore
Now THAT is a millennium to get excited about – but the best news is that it will be only a foretaste of even better things to come.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
Thursday, March 26, 2009
TOLERATING FALSE GODS
When the Israelites made the golden calf, they referred to it as the God who had brought them out of Egypt. In one sense it was the RIGHT God they were worshipping, but instead of recognising Him for who He REALLY is they created their own image of Him.
At that time most of their knowledge of God was based on the spoken word of Moses and upon a few personal experiences as interpreted by Moses. They had no written scriptures and the Holy Spirit was not given to them in the way he has been given to believers today.
When Moses departed their camp, leaving them without their primary link to God, they reverted to the ideas of divinity they’d absorbed in Egypt over the previous 400 years. And God did not take it lightly when they created the false image and worshipped it.
Today Christians have the written scriptures and the Holy Spirit has been sent to lead us into all truth. Therefore there is no excuse for any major misunderstanding of God. Yet His character, His ways, His purposes and His method of salvation are viewed differently across various “Christian” camps.
At what point does a God cease to be the God of the Bible and become a false God?
Most Christians would have no hesitation in recognising that Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons have departed from the truth, but what have those groups got wrong?
Their beliefs promote a different understanding of God’s character, God’s ways, God’s purposes and God’s method of salvation.
If we recognise the error within these groups and see them as false; why are we more tolerant of other “Christian” doctrines that like wise distort the character of God and His means of providing salvation?
At that time most of their knowledge of God was based on the spoken word of Moses and upon a few personal experiences as interpreted by Moses. They had no written scriptures and the Holy Spirit was not given to them in the way he has been given to believers today.
When Moses departed their camp, leaving them without their primary link to God, they reverted to the ideas of divinity they’d absorbed in Egypt over the previous 400 years. And God did not take it lightly when they created the false image and worshipped it.
Today Christians have the written scriptures and the Holy Spirit has been sent to lead us into all truth. Therefore there is no excuse for any major misunderstanding of God. Yet His character, His ways, His purposes and His method of salvation are viewed differently across various “Christian” camps.
At what point does a God cease to be the God of the Bible and become a false God?
Most Christians would have no hesitation in recognising that Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons have departed from the truth, but what have those groups got wrong?
Their beliefs promote a different understanding of God’s character, God’s ways, God’s purposes and God’s method of salvation.
If we recognise the error within these groups and see them as false; why are we more tolerant of other “Christian” doctrines that like wise distort the character of God and His means of providing salvation?
Monday, December 15, 2008
WHO IS THE GOD YOU WERE TAUGHT TO FOLLOW?
Forget the hyped up superstar preachers.
Forget the overbearing, authority-claiming “anointed” celebrities.
Even forget the local “pastor”.
Take the time to know God for yourself. Get to know God FIRST through the scriptures, allowing the Holy Spirit to be your teacher.
The MAJORITY of what we have learned about God from others is wrong. They are not bringing us to the God revealed in scripture, but to a God created in man’s imagination.Be HONEST and don’t try to twist, change or ignore those “difficult” verses that portray a God that makes our theology uncomfortable.
The God of the bible is NOT the God of comfortable, westernized Christianity. And He definitely is NOT the God of the superstar celebrity preacher.Unfortunately most of us are too lazy and too disinterested to seek Him for ourselves and we find the entertainment we get from the celebrities preferable to any thought of Holiness.
Forget the overbearing, authority-claiming “anointed” celebrities.
Even forget the local “pastor”.
Take the time to know God for yourself. Get to know God FIRST through the scriptures, allowing the Holy Spirit to be your teacher.
The MAJORITY of what we have learned about God from others is wrong. They are not bringing us to the God revealed in scripture, but to a God created in man’s imagination.Be HONEST and don’t try to twist, change or ignore those “difficult” verses that portray a God that makes our theology uncomfortable.
The God of the bible is NOT the God of comfortable, westernized Christianity. And He definitely is NOT the God of the superstar celebrity preacher.Unfortunately most of us are too lazy and too disinterested to seek Him for ourselves and we find the entertainment we get from the celebrities preferable to any thought of Holiness.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
CALVINISM'S FALSE GOD
The god that Calvinism portrays creates billions of people for the sole purpose of torturing them for eternity in hell. This he did before the foundation of the earth – even prior to Adam and Eve and their sin! In fact Calvin himself stated that his god preordained that Adam should sin – therefore sin and its presence in the world and within mankind is due solely to Calvin’s god’s choice. He preordained man’s fall – and then punishes mankind for falling? Is that a righteous and holy God of justice? (see quotes at end)
The Calvinist god has produced a creation with no reason or meaning. He will eventually destroy it and create a new heaven and earth populated with the predestined robots from this current creation. This god either didn’t have the intelligence to realise he could have created earth and populated it ONLY with his chosen people, or this god is sadistic and malevolent, purposely creating a lost majority he has specifically and personally predestined to eternal torment.
This is NOT the God of scripture and this is NOT the God I follow.
My God is the one who approached Adam and Eve after they has sinned and covered their nakedness. My God is the God that Abel approached with an acceptable offering. The God whose name men were able to call upon (Gen 4:26) after the fall. My God is the God Enoch was able to walk with (Gen 5:24). These are all examples from the very beginning of man’s history in which men WERE able to seek God despite their fallen state, proving the lie of Calvin’s “Total Depravity” doctrine. They were able to seek Him because HE first sought man immediately after the fall and provided a way.
My God is the God who did NOT create this world as a meaningless, cruel farce. My God created a world in which there was (and still is) free will, so that people have responsibility for their destiny. They can repent and turn to God and His provision of redemption or they can continue on their own path to destruction. My God is looking for a willing people, who through faith can be made holy and fit for the new creation that has always been His ultimate intention. This willing people are able to truly love God of their free will – Jesus isn’t getting a Stepford Bride.
My God is the God who shows mercy - to those who fear Him, to those who are merciful, and to those who love and obey Him. My God gives grace to those who are humble and receive His (resistible) gift of grace through faith.
My God is not the false god of Calvinism. The Calvinist god is a cruel counterfeit.
-------
quotes from Calvin:
“God not only foresaw that Adam would fall, but also ordained that he should….I
confess it is a horrible decree; yet no one can deny but God foreknew Adam’s fall,
and therefore foreknew it, because he had ordained it so by his own decree” (Cal. Inst.,
b. 3, c. 23, sec. 7).
All men are not created for the same end; but some are fore-ordained to eternal life,
others to eternal damnation. So according as every man was created for the one end or
the other, we say, he was elected, that is, predestined to life, or reprobated, that is,
predestined to damnation (Calv. Inst., book 3, chapter 21, section 1).
The Calvinist god has produced a creation with no reason or meaning. He will eventually destroy it and create a new heaven and earth populated with the predestined robots from this current creation. This god either didn’t have the intelligence to realise he could have created earth and populated it ONLY with his chosen people, or this god is sadistic and malevolent, purposely creating a lost majority he has specifically and personally predestined to eternal torment.
This is NOT the God of scripture and this is NOT the God I follow.
My God is the one who approached Adam and Eve after they has sinned and covered their nakedness. My God is the God that Abel approached with an acceptable offering. The God whose name men were able to call upon (Gen 4:26) after the fall. My God is the God Enoch was able to walk with (Gen 5:24). These are all examples from the very beginning of man’s history in which men WERE able to seek God despite their fallen state, proving the lie of Calvin’s “Total Depravity” doctrine. They were able to seek Him because HE first sought man immediately after the fall and provided a way.
My God is the God who did NOT create this world as a meaningless, cruel farce. My God created a world in which there was (and still is) free will, so that people have responsibility for their destiny. They can repent and turn to God and His provision of redemption or they can continue on their own path to destruction. My God is looking for a willing people, who through faith can be made holy and fit for the new creation that has always been His ultimate intention. This willing people are able to truly love God of their free will – Jesus isn’t getting a Stepford Bride.
My God is the God who shows mercy - to those who fear Him, to those who are merciful, and to those who love and obey Him. My God gives grace to those who are humble and receive His (resistible) gift of grace through faith.
My God is not the false god of Calvinism. The Calvinist god is a cruel counterfeit.
-------
quotes from Calvin:
“God not only foresaw that Adam would fall, but also ordained that he should….I
confess it is a horrible decree; yet no one can deny but God foreknew Adam’s fall,
and therefore foreknew it, because he had ordained it so by his own decree” (Cal. Inst.,
b. 3, c. 23, sec. 7).
All men are not created for the same end; but some are fore-ordained to eternal life,
others to eternal damnation. So according as every man was created for the one end or
the other, we say, he was elected, that is, predestined to life, or reprobated, that is,
predestined to damnation (Calv. Inst., book 3, chapter 21, section 1).
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