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Winning & Losing

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When I was a lad, I played a lot of chess. I was pretty good, though I’m pretty rusty today. Okay. I am very rusty today.

Back in the day, I did play a lot, I really liked it when I won, as I did frequently. You might find this odd, but also felt badly when I won. Okay. That doesn’t make an ounce of sense.

Let me explain. Mostly, when I played, my opponent, was a relative or friend. I knew how it made me feel when I lost so I hated to see my opponent lose. I never threw a game. It would not be right to do that. It would be disrespectful. Still, especially as I grew older, it did kind of spoil the win.

Then they came out with computers and they came out with computer chess. I didn’t have to feel bad about beating the computer. It has no feelings. Besides, unless I kept it on he lowest level, I usually lost. What an ego buster.

I watched the professional sports, in which of course, there were also winners and losers. I really liked it when the Dodgers won. When the Rams lost won, I was unhappy, for a while anyway.

And so it is, there seems to always be those who win. Then too, there is also a loser. The winners always loves it. The losers always feel dejected. I think that was true more at the college level than at the pros. Think about it. Loyalty really isn’t so important in the pros. While it is always still good to win. While it always feels bad to lose. The player might actually end up playing for that team they just beat so greatly last season.

If we go back to the chess for a while. The loyalty thing isn’t an aspect there. I don’t know of too many cases where chess is a teem event, though I suppose it is possible. It might even make things interesting.

I think most realize that chess is actually a game based on real war. If nothing else, the names of the pieces makes that plain, right? Actually, many board games are base on wars, though I guess one of the most popular is based on business and real estate.

In chess, each player sets his pieces in array. Then while following the rules, the player tries to capture the opponents king. In many ways, it is the way battles of old were fought.

You wonder why the soldiers back then wore bright uniforms. It was so the officer, the one moving the pieces, could tell his men from his enemy’s soldiers. While the men charged each other, the officers sat on their horses on a high place so they could see what was happening and issue their commands.

When it comes to real war, for sure, no one wanted to lose. All the soldiers, from the private to the generals wanted to win. Rarely did they feel bad for the loser. Those that might, often lost. To be sure, if it is decided that war is a must, then it is imperative that you fight all out to win. As loose quote- it is not good to give your life for your country. It is far better that you make sure the enemy soldier gives his life for his. (Thank you General Patton for making sure we get the right perspective.)

I was a marine. I never faced an enemy face-to-face. Though I hate killing, if I were ever put in the position where I were on a battlefield, I would not hesitate to pull the trigger, over and over. I wouldn’t like it but I would.

Sargent York didn’t want to go to war during the first big war. He tried to be a coconscious objector. Yet, when it came down to it, he killed several Germans and took many more captive. When his CO asked why? York basically said it was to protect those he was fighting with.

In most cases, soldiers don’t fight against men but monsters. During their training they are taught those that they are fighting are subhuman. It helps to avoid feeling bad about pulling the trigger. Truth be told, I don’t think York ever thought as his enemy sub-human. He might not have ever shot at the Germans if it were just him. However, they were killing his friends and fellow soldiers. He felt he had to stop them. Moreover, he never felt like a hero for doing it.

Not all wars are fought on the battle field. Some would say we are in a battle of ideas. A few decades ago, maybe I would agree. Nowadays, it is a battle of deception. I am convinced that if people really knew Trump they would vote for him. If people really knew Kamala and her liberal friends, very few would vote for her.

And so it is, Trump is trying to expose the truth. He knows if he does, he will win. On the other hand, Kamala is trying to hide the truth. She knows if you learn who she is, she will lose. Personalities aside, if you vote for someone that is two bits different than a communist, you are helping the deceit. The hitch is that this is real. If the dems win this battle, all future votes will likely be nothing more, nothing less than a show. The outcome will always be predetermined as it was in the Soviet Union. It will be as it today in China. And our Constitution will become nothing more than old paper and ink. No one will respect it. Actually, not many respect it now. Many have no idea what it means.

I found it thoughtful that Jesus said that wars must be. He said there will be wars and rumors of wars. No atheist will ever be able to deny this little bit of prophecy. Speaking of wars, he said that these must be. He could see the end from the beginning. He knew what would happen.

But why did he say that about wars, as something of an afterthought, that the wars must be? I know it is not because He liked war. It is simply because, Jesus, knowing what He knew, saw that there would be wars, not in general, but specifically. He knew every man that would die and how.

Occasionally, He would intervene. Had he not helped us during the Revolutionary war, our primary monetary amount would be the pound. Hitler slept through the landing at Normandy and the Nazi’s reserve tanks could not be used to repulse the allied troops. By the way, even the weather helped. It was stormy before the landing, but cleared just in time for the successful landing.

Millions of Arabs surrounded Israel with their planes and tanks. Yet, greatly outnumbered, the Israelis sent them all running. God has his hand on the Jews. Better all take note. I can’t speak for God, as I am not a prophet. But this one thing I know for sure. No mater your weapons. No matter the size of your army. Unless God permits it, no foreigner will put one foot in Israel. If you decide to attack Israel, you might as well figure on being on the losing side.

Then too, I know I am on the victorious side. It has been foretold. It is there for all to read. I am not talking about chess or Monopoly. When it is time, Jesus will ride His white horse and he will destroy evil, all of it.

All battles on earth are temporary at best. When Jesus comes, the outcome will be permanent and complete. Jesus and those He has saved will will live with Him forever. Those that refuse to take Jesus as their savior will spend eternity in hell. They will be the losers.

For sure, I will feel bad for those losers, but I assure you, I don’t want to have any part with them. Those who fight against God, deceive themselves. They will be on the wrong side.

Remember these two things. If you do become one of those on the losing team, it will be permanent and it will be horrid. No one is going to be trading you to another team, unless it is before you die. Up until that point, there will always be room on on

God’s team. It just is, you must accept His payment in full. You cannot make any effort to pay in full or even in part. You must have faith in Jesus as your savior. If you take any other stance, you will spend eternity on the wrong side. You will be the eternal loser.

His Master’s Voice

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Most of us older folks grew up seeing the logo, a picture of a dog looking into a an old wax cylinder recording machine. I wanted to use it as a springboard into this current post. However, I figured I should at least make half an effort to get things right. So I looked it up and must admit, I found out a lot.

First of all, let me say I love the logo. I think it is among the best ever made. Not only was it interesting but it had a story behind it, though I had no idea how much until a short time ago. It is an interesting story and I would encourage y’ll to read about it. Just look up “his master’s voice” on the internet. You’ll have to dig through some of the more modern stuff, but the original art was in the late 1800s by Frances Barraud and was later picked up by other recording companies through the years, finally with RCA.

The story, briefly is that Mark, Frances’ brother, died and left many things to Frances. Among those things: a fox terrier named Nipper, a grammar phone that used wax cylinders and a number of wax cylinders with Mark’s voice on them. Frances noticed that that nipper always stationed himself where he could hear the recording and looked down the cone, possibly curious.

So Francis, being an artist, decided to paint it. The rest is, as they say history. The trademark has changed many times over the century but it remained basically the same. Moreover, most of them have the words, his master’s voice.

The truth of the matter is, dogs in general, don’t take long to learn their master’s voice, especially when the dog and the master become very close. It is just the way things are and no one doubts it. In this case, however, the dog is deceived. It is not his master’s voice but a man made copy.

If we look at John 10:27, we find something remotely parallel. Jesus said “My sheep hear My voice, I know them and they follow me. “

It was a long time before recording machines. Yet we learn that the sheep learn the sound of their master’s voice and they learn to follow their master. It does go without saying, if the sheep does not follow the shepherd, it probably is not the master of the sheep. The sheep likely belongs to someone else and follows him.

We modern folk might have a little problem with this. Most of us have little or nothing to do with sheep. However, we do know a thing or two about dogs. If ten men call a dog, it will likely only go to his master. The dog knows his master’s voice and he is obedient to his master.

It is a poor example. A dog is a poor example to a sheep. However, the principle is the same. Jesus has His sheep and He knows them all by name. Moreover, his sheep are obedient to Him. He watches over them and protects them. He makes sure they have food and water.

It is probably a good idea for us to become one of His sheep. Most people chose not to. So, they never know his voice and they go off somewhere else. They have no protection from the wolves and they may or may not get water and food.

Nipper listened to a dead man’s voice. We sheep who are of Jesus’ fold, know our master’s voice and we know He lives. We know He has given his life for us, and yet He lives. And we live, because He lives. And though we die, we will live forever. It is what the master said. And we believe it because He said it. We have no need to know anything else.

However, Jesus is the Good shepherd that cares for His sheep. He provides, protects and leads us as only He can do. Might I remind you of the twenty-third psalm, which is a picture us His sheep and him the Shepherd.

The story of Nipper is a story that pulls at our heart strings. Moreover, it is true. Unfortunately, Nipper today has died. The story of Christ is true. Fortunately, Jesus also died. By doing so, He died for us, paying for all the wrongs we ever did or thought of doing. Then the Good Shepherd rose from the grave to lead his sheep. Most important, the voice we hear is not a recording of dead man, but the living savior.

It is your choice. God has given us the chance to chose Him or death. Those who do not chose Him have chosen death. Those of us who chose Him and accept his Son as our savior, are the sheep of the 23 psalm. For those who are not his sheep, the 23rd Psalm does apply to them. The words provide comfort only to the saved.

Just a Little Speculation

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We are cautioned about speculation. If it isn’t in the Bible, we shouldn’t try to answer the question. So, we are left hanging without answers. I certainly don’t have the answers. The fact is, I don’t even have all the questions. Nonetheless, lets look at a few questions and some facts associated them.

Perhaps the two most asked questions are interrelated. Why did God permits someone like Hitler to live while he He permits the death of some innocent two or three year old? You might want to remember, Hitler and all those like him were at one time innocent one-year-olds.

Yeah. That one causes me confusion too. I have seen many wonderful men die in the prime of their life. On the other hand, I have seen some survive well into old age that should have never survived their teens. We are given something of a peek into this. The king of the Jews was going to die and God told him he would. The king pointed out all the good that he did and asked to live a little while longer. God granted his prayer and he lived longer. During this time, in his pride the king showed the treasures of silver and gold to the king of Babylon. God’s judgment was that Judah would be captured by Babylon.

The Bible makes it reasonably clear that if the king had died when he was originally going to die, he would have not shown the treasures to the king of Babylon and Judah would not have had the judgment pronounced on them.

Sometimes, people are taken early to keep them from doing something bad. Don’t jump to conclusions. I am not saying if someone dies early, he or she was going to do something bad. If God always took people early before they did bad things, Hitler would not have ever started WW II. God would have taken him 6 or 7 years earlier. The irony, several attempts were made to kill Hitler and failed.

However, let’s speculate what might have happened if God caused the death of Hitler, perhaps right after WW I? Hitler would have never started WW II and the world would have been far better off, or at least that is the way it appears. That is only speculation and we need to be careful about speculating.

However, we can look at a fact. If Hitler died 20 years earlier, he would have been thought of as, perhaps a good man. Then they would have wondered why God permitted the death of such a good man. If I might, sometimes the difference between a man being good or bad is a matter of time, perhaps just a few years.

It can happen the other way. Paul, in the Bible, was a murderer. He coordinated the murders of many Christians to the point that the Christians were very much afraid of him. Then, Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus and we benefited with one of the great writers of the Bible.

God knew He did not want to kill Paul for his sin. He had plans for him. If you had asked the Christians of the time, they would have likely wanted to say God made really bad mistake.

I don’t know why God takes those he takes early. I don’t know why he allows others to live into old age. There are many that I wish God had let them live. My mother died at 49. Three of my brothers died while in their early forties. Two died of brain cancer. Certainly, why cancer. I don’t have a clue. I don’t even have a speculation.

If it had been my decision, they would have lived much longer.

About ten or twelve years after we moved in here, a couple moved in next door. They seemed the ideal young couple. They had a baby that appeared to be walking in a month or so. One day I heard some yelling and screaming out front. I went out and looked and the woman was in the street yelling. Her baby died, a crib death.

Do I go to her and tell her that God had a good reason to take him? The question is ludicrous. So much, I wished I could say or do something to comfort her. I just stood there helpless. Anything I did or said would just make things worse.

A short time later, the couple moved out. I hated to see that but I could understand. She was asking why? and she was finding no answer. I didn’t see the man much, but I’m sure he was hurting too.

Invariably, people go to preachers thinking they can say the right things. They can’t. I was five when my mother died and the only thing I heard from everyone was, I’m so sorry. I really wished they would stop it. It just made it worse.

The thing about death is that it doesn’t just hurt the dying, but the living too.

It makes me wonder. If Hitler had died as a two or three year old, do you suppose his mother would have understood it was for the good of the world?

I don’t think I answered any questions. Maybe I raised some new ones. These two things I do know though. The only thing we can take with us to heaven is our children. It would be a good idea to make sure they know they are saved. By the way, it would be a good idea to know you are saved too. How horrible would it be for them to go to heaven and find out their mother or father isn’t there.

Some Folks Want What They Want, Even When They Know It Is Wrong

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In a way, I wish I were more as a reporter. I guess that if I had taken the right classes in college, I might have learned how to do research better. Mostly, if I can’t find it on the internet, I’m sunk. Moreover, what they put on the internet isn’t always true. Like the fella said, you can’t believe half of what you read or anything you hear. So it is that in order to write something and be believable, I have to find it in at least three places, better if it’s five.

Well, there is one thing I can write about… that which I have seen or experienced. For instance, I do have considerable knowledge on the gas shortages of the seventies. I was there. I saw it and I experienced it. If someone tried to tell me it didn’t happen, I would know the person either lacked the knowledge or was lying. Oddly, there are people who do that sort of thing. Perhaps I might one day write a book on such things. There would be but two problems. The book would be very thick and I’d never finish it. As soon as I thought I was done, I’d have ten more things to add to it.

You see, I don’t write so fast. Moreover, before I could release it, I would have to proof read it three times to make sure I didn’t have a bunch of stupid grammar mistakes. There are people in this world that could likely write something like that but I’m afraid no one would read it. One dem intentionally tells something I know is false. Before I can get my computer turned on, ten more repeat the lie, which, of course makes it true, even though it’s not.

Moreover, people do like to believe the lie. In some regards, it is called gossip and the only place you would see something like it printed were in the tabloids like The National Inquirer. Nowadays, I am more prone to believe The National Inquirer than something like the New York Times.

So, let me explain something I saw on TV. Some of it I suppose you can take with a grain of salt. However, it is what I saw and it is what I heard, maybe 15 or 20 years ago. My memory is not so good, but I do remember enough to make it an effective true story.

Sorry, can’t remember, but I think it was on Sixty Minutes. To be sure it was one of those TV magazines and it includes my thoughts and emotions as I heard it.

At any rate, they were interviewing a chaplain of either Yale or Harvard. They said which one, I forgot, sorry. The point is, it caught my attention. Why…why, would they be interviewing a chaplain. I figured they would never interview any kind of a preacher on any major network TV, let alone on prime time. I had to stop and see what my ears would not believe.

Actually, something else surprised me. I didn’t know they had chaplains at those colleges. I sort of wanted to find out about that too.

So the interview began. They introduced the man and immediately got down to the reason they decided to interview him. He was homosexual. I guess it is one of those man bites dog stories. I mean, if the man taught against homosexuality, no one would want to give him a second on TV let alone one of the expensive minutes.

So now I’m thinking the commentator will never bring up the point that the Bible does speak against homosexuality. I mean, 15 years earlier, they would have. Certainly not in the here and now. Surprised me! He did. He had the nerve to ask about it.

Here’s the thing. It was arranged. Now the so called chaplain was given a soapbox and he was not going to pass up the chance to use it for spreading his guile and deceit. You see, he explained that God meant it only for the Jews. You see, he wanted the Jews to become a large nation. If they were a bunch of homosexuals, they would not increase in population.

Okay. After I reached up and put my jaw back in place and I listened to his logic, weak as it was. Still, I had to admit that I could not sit down with anyone and explain his error. Nonetheless, I knew the reason for the logic. He wanted to believe the lie, possibly suggested to him by someone else, so he did.

Afterword, I went to my Bible and read the passage he quoted, Leviticus 18:22-23 and quite frankly, as far as it went, I had to agree with the man. But then I read on. Verses 24 & 25 makes it obvious that the man was in error. Perhaps he stopped reading before he got there.

Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.

It is plain that the reason God has given the Hebrews the land is that God is also punishing those who were in the land. They had there chance to repent and didn’t. If you look at the larger picture, you will see they were given 440 years. And, because they were defiling the land, God has given the Hebrews instructions to utterly kill everyone there. It was Gods way of pronouncing judgement on those who lived in the land, same as He can pronounce judgement on the US if we don’t repent. If the US continues to defile this land with, among other things, homosexuality, He would be completely righteous to destroy us and remove us from this rich and bountiful land just as he did those in the land given to the Hebrews.

This tells me that God simply does not like homosexuality, regardless of who is doing it. Moreover, it speaks of them defiling themselves, which tells me that it is not only wrong but deviant. You see, of all the sins, homosexuality is the only one that is not natural. I guess you could say, it was man made. In Romans, Paul calls it unnatural.

How-some-ever the man did have something of a point. When God gave the law to the Israel, He gave it to Israel as a gift. If they obeyed the law, God promised to bless them and keep them in the land. If they disobeyed the law, God told them that he would punish them and drive them out of the land, which He eventually did.

Nonetheless, I do not see that it would cause any harm to any nation to collectively follow God’s law to the best of our ability, or at least the 10 Commandments. Murder, stealing, lying and even jealousy can spell doom for any country. Certainly, idolatry will do it no good.

There are two more things I need to say about homosexuality specifically. Regardless of the law, disease has a habit of following the practice. It may be why God wanted both man and animals killed. It was an effort to control the disease that had become common in the area. Can’t say for sure but I have heard the theory from those that know more than me, a lot more.

Besides, it is logical. It’s not just the disease that destroys the cities it abounds in but the immorality as well.

Secondly, what ever it is called, it is outside of marriage as God defines marriage. That, in itself makes it wrong, even if there were no passages at all directly concerning the practice.

Now, going back to that TV magazine, I wonder just what the motive was for them to conduct the interview. I wonder just how the interviewer is explaining it to God. For that matter, I wonder how that So-called chaplain is explaining his actions to God. As a leader, he will have far more to answer for.

However, I’m sure it was what the guy wanted. Otherwise, how in the world would he have talked himself into it, and then try to justify it with God’s word. Some folks want what they want, even when they know it’s wrong. Even when they know it leads to destruction.

Incidentally, what God put in his word is true and you can believe 100% of it.

Now I wonder. Do they even still have chaplains at colleges these days. We might be better off if we don’t, considering what this guy called truth.

Sometimes, There Are Real Benefits to Surrendering

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Strange as it might seem, sometimes defeat has its advantages. Consider Nazi Germany’s defeat. While for the short time, Germany suffered badly after WWII, it was not long before they benefited greatly. The German nation is now a great nation and the people greatly benefited from their loss. Naturally, this is even more so since it was reunified. As a side note, the east side ruled under did not truly benefit until it shook the shackles of evil communism.

If Japan had won its battle in WWII, it would be far worse today. It is only after their surrender that they began enjoying the life of liberty and freedom.

North Korea did not surrender and look where they are now.

By now, isn’t it obvious that when the nations remain under communism suffer until they surrender to us capitalists. So why is that that people in this very country try to bring us under communism. I will answer in one word, power.

Indeed, it is not truly communism they want but a dictatorship and they are not shy about the loss of life to get there. Communism is simply the carrot they dangle in front of us in hopes we don’t see the deceit and distractions.

So, after looking at the past, doesn’t it become obvious about the future. If HAMUS were to surrender to Israel, don’t you think it would be better for Gaza to have peace for a change. Will not be better than living in world of physical shambles. All they need do is put down their guns and surrender. In less than a year, the people would be far better off. They would wonder why they ever listened to those who gain their power from lies and the deaths of others. However, instead, they prefer to fight. Why? Is it truly because they hate Jews?

Partly. However, if you take the time to really study it and look at the real leaders, they seek power and they don’t care how many Palestinians suffer or die paying for it. Take away the chances of gaining power, the desire to fight would quickly go away.

Thinking back over it, there is one more place where surrender is greatly to our benefit. We as humans have a natural adversarial tendency with God. It is only when we surrender and make him Lord over our lives that we are truly free. Until then, we are enslaved to sin and Satan.

Again, it is about power. The question is, do we let Satan or God rule over us? When we Surrender to to God, we win and Satan loses.

Let’s not permit evil to rule over us, neither physically under tyrants nor spiritually under Satan.

It Would Seem God Is Inconvenient

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And so it is that when a person wants to do this, or he wants to do that, he is hindered from doing it because God does not want him to do that. “It seems God keeps me from doing what I like to do.”

I suppose that it sounds ridiculous, maybe a little sacrilegious. And yet most have had such thoughts. I heard a pastor say it a little different way. He was talking about how hard it is to make decisions. He said that it is easy to know what the right decision is. It’s doing it that is so difficult.

You think, I know this is right, but I really, really want to do that. It is inconvenient to tell this truth to my best friend, but…. The teen says “I really would like to go to that big party. That new girl in town will be there, but I don’t think God wants me to go there. There will be drinking and maybe drugs. And now I might not ever get to meet that girl.”

There was a certain dem, a liar, that produced a movie, “The Inconvenient Truth.” The hitch, history has proven that he lied. It was a prophecy that never came true. He said that Florida would be covered by the ocean. He said that most of Washington DC would be under water. It would appear that the inconvenient truth was really a big lie that made a bundle, not only for the producer of the movie but also for many of his cohorts.

Now if he had been a real Christian man, he might have had to think about producing that movie. He would have wanted to produce “The Inconvenient Truth,” but he’d have known it to be a lie from the beginning. God would have been an inconvenience to his desire to make the movie. Then again, knowing it was wrong, maybe as a Christian, it does make me wonder if the man had some incredible way of justifying it. Maybe, when he went to confession, he told the priest, “Well, how was I to know. I thought it was going to rain, a lot.”

The fact is, there are many others who would have us believe the lie of the going green outfit. They are able to make money from it. They are able to gain power from it. However, to borrow the title of the movie, There is an inconvenient truth. It’s all part of a big lie. And, by the way, here is another inconvenient truth. There is a God. We all shall one day meet him face to face. Those who love the lie will realize they got it wrong. Those who love the abortions, will realize, they were on the wrong side of that idea. Those who love to call good evil and evil good, will realize they really got that wrong. Moreover, they will have eternity to think about it all.

Blaise Pascal’s Wager

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Among other things, Pascal has lent his name to perhaps the best high level programming language ever. I have become pretty good at it, which is easy. It is so similar to English that it is easy to pick up in an afternoon.

Moreover, it is very modular. I can write a module for one program and use it with any other program it is useful for. It sort of means I don’t have to keep re-inventing the wheel every time I write a program. Another benefit is that the programs can be very easy to read and or modify. That becomes important when modifications need to be made 3 or 4 years later, after the guy who wrote it has moved out of the state.

If I had to say it lacked one thing, it is an interface to audio, especially text-to-speech and speech-to-text. That aspect of it did cause me a little frustration. It would have been nice to write programs that would be able respond to voice commands and or provide audio alerts.

I am sure there are such interfaces that are available for a price. Given I am living on Social Security, I figured I’d not have the asking price. Still, it would have been nice to make a spreadsheet that would not require a mouse or keyboard.

Actually, I started this post completely on a rabbit trail. I didn’t get off on one. What I wanted to write about is something called Pascal’s Wager.

First, a short word about Pascal. He was a mathematician and theologian who lived during the 1600s. Also, he was a pretty a confirmed Catholic, and pretty much believed that Catholicism was the one true way to God, which is one of the things he and I would have disagreed with, should we speak face-to-face.

Nonetheless, he did come up with an interesting concept, which is called Pascal’s Wager. Hopefully, at the least will cause the atheist to reconsider his position a little. It is a very long article and it is worth a person’s time to take a look at it. However, I will attempt to give you the short version with some of my own personal views.

Let’s consider the flip of a coin. When it comes down, it will either land on heads or tails. I have heard of cases where they come down on their edge but let’s ignore that. Before the coin is flipped, we have three choices, heads, tails or no choice at all. We have the option of not participating.

Let’s change the rules. You must participate. We have just taken that choice away from you. You must chose heads or tails. If you are right, you live forever. If you’re wrong you die, though maybe not immediately.

Such is the way it is in real life, with a few variations. The Christian has chosen the one way. By choice or by default, the atheist has chosen, no God. The choices are exclusive. At least one of the choices has to be wrong. If there is no God, the Christian is wrong. If there is a God, the atheist must be wrong.

So, it would appear we are looking at the proverbial coin toss, right. Wrong. According to Blaise Pascal, the Christian has the least to lose. He will have given up smoking drinking and wild women. He might even lose that fortune that he gave to that church. Then look at all the time and work he provided for the church. Nonetheless, it is finite. The losses are tolerable.

On the other hand, if the atheist is wrong, he will lose everything, throughout infinity. There would be no do overs, no Mulligans. Invariably, there would be pleas for a second chance but there would be none. The punishment for not accepting Jesus doesn’t last just a lifetime, but forever.

So, that is the thumb-nail sketch of Pascal’s wager, based loosely on the toss of a coin. I’m just trying to get you to think about it. We are talking eternity here, not just flip of a coin. As I’ve said many times. I cannot ever make the decision for anyone. All I can present is the truth. Everyone must make their own choice.

I’d like to add just one more little thing. Maybe Bill Cosby has fallen from the graces of most, but he did say something that is very likely true, though it is not exactly biblical. The Bible does say that when Jesus returns, every eye will see Him and every knee shall bow. (Philippians 2:10)

Bill Cosby said there ain’t no such thing as an atheist. On my copy of the routine, he repeated it 4 or 5 times, each time more emphatically. Then, finally he said, “The difference between the Christian and the so-called atheist is that the atheist will be the first ones on their knees when Jesus returns.”

I think maybe Mr. Cosby is right.

Define Religion

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Not a fan of even the word religion. I am a Christian. That is to say, I have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Religion is for people who like to follow rituals. Many times, God has scolded the Israelite people for mindlessly following rituals, for being religious while leaving God out of it.

When Jesus set up His church, He left but two rituals, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Even so, people have made this into a ritual and they leave Jesus out of it. Many of those who go through the ritual have no relation with God. They do not love Jesus nor do they desire to do his his will.

They call themselves religious but they love not his children, but rather kill them before they are born. Some would go so far as to kill them after they are born. They look at God’s children as an inconvenience to be gotten rid of as a wart or something cancerous. However, many show up on Sunday and chant the words without even considering them.

Old Joe calls himself a Catholic, but he has intentionally said and done things that result in the deaths of thousands. Truth be told, I don’t think the man has any relationship with Jesus. He might call himself Catholic but I can’t see any proof of him being a Christian.

Such can be said of many. They have their faith in their church, their religion and or their preacher. When they see Jesus face-to-face, they will realize they should have had their faith in Jesus. Only, it will be too late. Some with have decades to accept Jesus as their Savior. They will have no excuse. There is simply no religion that will save them and it will be too late for any extensions or revisions of their remarks.

Daily writing prompt
Do you practice religion?
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I Had a Dream

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I knew it had to be a dream, cause I was doing things I knew I couldn’t do. I dreamed I was playing baseball as well as I ever did.

I was running and jumping, throwing and catching, and I was hitting the ball like a pro. Now let me tell you, that is one of those dreams that I would just as soon never end.

It does make me wish I had some control over my dreaming. Maybe before going to sleep I could set my mind on what I want to dream and I would dream it.

I suppose it is a good thing I can’t. I would likely sleep as much as I could. I guess I would spend entirely too much time dreaming that I was playing first base professionally.

It does cause me to speculate. Could it possibly be better in heaven than my little dream? I mean I did so love to play baseball. I wonder how it could possibly be better in heaven. I have not the answer but the Bible does. And God does assure me that it is better than my dream. Even better, I’ll never have to wake up.

As a side note, I will have something to say about it. Because I have accepted Jesus as my savior I will spend eternity with him. It is far better than what the alternative would have been.

And here’s the neat part. There will be no pain, no suffering, and I will be able to run better than my high school days. That, in itself would make it heaven. However, it is just a small part of it.

What Do You Want to Believe?

Posted in Christian values, Important things, Lawyers and Representation, Religion by

I am something of an observer. Over the past few years it has occurred to me, maybe most people believe what they want to believe, regardless.

In spite of any proof otherwise, they hold steadfast to that which suits him or her. I find it utterly amazing the hopeless things that folks will hang onto, simply because they want to.

It does help to understand why the theory of evolution caught on, even though not one person has ever come up with one fact to back it up, only speculations, suppositions and more theory.

I am convinced Darwin, himself, tried to prove that which he knew to be true wasn’t, even to the day he died. It was as if, if he could prove evolution, it would disprove God and the Bible.

He never proved evolution. It is still only a theory, but one presented everywhere as fact. I suspect as Darwin’s death grew near, he feared he was going to be facing real judgment from God.

Even so, he never had any idea how he had set the world upside down. And now, very much of the world believes his theory, not because of any proof but because it is what the world wants to believe.

For if evolution is true, then there is no God, there is no 10 Commandments, and mankind is just another animal. It becomes a world where the laws are all from man and murder is the same as killing any other animal.

Indeed, the scopes monkey trial was the next step in proving we all came from the apes. And they have tossed God out of our classrooms, not because of what is believed, but because of what they want to believe.

It does make evolution something to believe in. That is to say, because there is no proof, it’s not science but religion.