Why You Go to Hell

If you think it comforts me that anyone goes to hell, you’re wrong. The issue is, without Christ’s righteousness, where will you go? You’ll go somewhere.

Sin is why there’s suffering. It’s why you suffer, it’s why the world suffers. And, if you are capable of sinning, you aren’t capable of being in heaven. Instead, you’ll go to a place where everyone, that’s all they have is sin, and no more love, joy, peace, or any of God’s Spirit or power to make you right. But, all you have to do, to have that righteousness, is to ask Jesus to give it to you, and start being empowered by His Spirit while on Earth, until the process is complete.

Sermon on the Mark of the Beast

[...][T]he Arabic name for Allah is a lot like the Greek Numeral xi, in its lower case form. The chi regards the mark, and the zeta the symbol for the currency. 666 is two thirds in Base Ten Math, so the Spirit divided from the Soul and Flesh. And of course the name of the Beast is Sin. And of course Hubal is derived from the ancient Babylonian Moon Goddess Sin.

Sermon on Epicurus

Ah, Epicurus was a genius. He’s one of my favorites. But this little quibble doesn’t matter. I’d just retort—with all the suffering in this world, there’d better be a better one.

I mean, the great philosophers have all agreed life’s pretty pointless, and some philosophers actually encourage bad behavior for its expedience.

Certainly, there’s an objective Ethics, which Epicurus is famous for quantifying the rational means to getting there, but then there’s people who don’t care about the collective, and only themselves, and there’s people who do care about the collective, but do all sorts of harm. It’s the fact that people are sinful, this world is cursed, but our hope should be to reach a better one through God’s power. As could heaven be heaven, if man had his original nature? That’s why we need Christ.

Love God’s Law

"Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'"

God's law is self evident. It's the best law, and that's what's going to convert the nations. It is the effects that God's law has on the heart, that's what causes the heathen to convert.

As it says, "The Law Converts the heart." Why? Because it's self evident. Not everything self evident can be understood by everyone. It's difficult. An element in Euclid isn't going to be understood by everyone, but we see the effects engineering has, by holding up bridges and building machines. The same thing with God's Law, it makes a better world for everyone.

But, again, you argue with me, I think that's because you don't understand what I'm saying.

If you don't realize Christ's law is self evident, and objectively better, and observably so, I don't think you can call yourself wise yet, and by contending with me, you strive with the wind to try to convince me of this vanity. As, the only apologetics that is going to work, is showing people the error in their way, and knowing why Sin causes suffering, and justifying God through the Holy Statutes of His Commandments.

As Paul said, "We minister through power." And that power is through the Law of God, and Grace, and its self evident nature, that NO ONE can say it is faulty. They do, you can still show them it's not, through ministering to them by exposing their sins, which they all know are wrong.

You're just wrong. If God's law isn't self evident, then there is no hope for anyone to come to Christ. None. If the Heathen do what's wrong, then you prove to the sheep that the heathen suffer for it, and that they have no love, peace or joy. That's what we minister with.

If the Law is not self evident, then there is certainly no way to convert anyone. The Gospel is to no effect, and is noisy cymbals. It's the fact that God's statutes are true, and everyone knows it, and they do create better people. That's what saves people. Nothing else.

On Mormonism

This is giving me flashbacks to my Messianic Jewish days. Christianity is a robust faith, because it has nothing to do with dietary restrictions, but simply doing what's right. It has nothing to do with Touch not, Taste Not, Do Not. It has everything to do with how you treat other people. It's a religion that encompasses love and compassion, but also discipline. Like Sin to a Christian has teeth. What Paul lists in his letters as sins, are to rational people,---not brainwashed by the culture,---common sense. I've always preferred the faith of Tchaikovsky,  Michelangelo, Tolstoy and Hans Christian, to the constipated faith found in Evangelical circles lately. Like this hearkens to Evangelicalism, when Jesus wasn't necessarily a prude at all. He drank wine at weddings, cussed once or twice, and taught His disciples to enjoy their life and one another's company. But there were clear boundaries. And I'm more of a Baptist, Lutheran Catholic than anything else. I learned my New Testament from Lutherans. My Old Testament from Baptists. And my aesthetic and moral judgment from Catholics. I'm not really a protestant or catholic, but a hybrid of the two. I think it's obvious what the faith is, and that's what made it so persuasive, but we've gotten a long way from that.

The Woman Who Cried Recently at JD Farag’s Church

This is literally everything I hate about church. Like, just this superficial authority, that sits there clothed in flannel, and shames someone for having an outburst of authentic emotions about something for all intents and purposes, we all should be a little worked up about. Israel and Iran are at war, America is getting ready to persecute the Saints. She wasn't demonically possessed. Or a lunatic. She's probably sick by heartbreak, and a Pastor's job is to balm the sick, not cast them out of their church. Literally, have you seen the world today? She's crying out about how evil the world is. Does a demon shout, "Every knee shall bow," obviously speaking about Jesus? Honestly, she's probably a woman who sees the state of the world, and this was her reaction. Just good old fashioned emotions getting the better of someone. Not Satan. If this pastor were mature, he wouldn't broadcast it to the whole world, he wouldn't try to say she's a demoniac because she's obviously not. He'd preach a sermon on the state of the world, and how we have to be vigilant for Christ, and accept that trials and persecutions may come in our lifetimes, and to be prepared for martyrdom, even if it doesn't happen.

Literally, we need more wailing and crying for the sins of these people, not to sit around and gossip about a woman who's distraught over the state of the world, and we ought not do that weird thing Christians do, that I hate. This is Pharisaicalism, not Christianity. You need to be worked up about this. Those at ease in Zion are sinning. Perhaps the LORD will repent, and show mercy to this generation.

He's even lying about her. She's not demonic. She said, and I quote, "Every knee shall bow. Liar." Because Jordan is allied with Israel. We need to be preparing ourselves for hard times, not waiting to go up in a blaze. The rapture may actually happen, but we need to be vigilant, and understand Christians can get persecuted. That's a fact. And Jordan is doing the right thing, but we need to understand, that if trials come, we need not have our roots in the rocky soil. We should be reading and preparing ourselves by studying the martyrs. Not blindly living on, eating and drinking, [marrying and giving into marriage] like nothing is going to happen to us at all. It may not turn out that way. Many in that church may fall. Maybe they won't. We need to repent, and not shame someone for crying out in anguish at the world we live in today. Because she may be trying to tell you, that hard times are a coming. Maybe they aren't, but she's worked up, that much is for sure. And a pastor's job is not to shame the woman for crying out for her LORD. Maybe she's overzealous? Maybe not? But this is not the way to handle this.

Is someone who's demon possessed, shout, "Every knee shall bow." She sounds like she's hurting over the world, and all its pain. I don't know if she's demon possessed, but probably someone who doesn't believe in a pre-tribulation rapture. You shouldn't go casting demons out of people, where there aren't any. Like honestly, I wish more people were this distraught over the current world. She's not demon possessed at all, just wailing over the evil in the world, and probably believes she's living through the tribulation. Is she? I don't think it's that time yet, but she's angry at the pastor's ease, when we shouldn't have such ease about us. We should be vigilant and prepared. And equally disturbed in our own way, about the current sin in the world.

and the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!

All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.

YouTube Comment on Why I Believe in Jesus

One of my favorite quotes from Men in Black is when he quotes an alien saying, "Some across in the other galaxies, find human language to be a disease." I feel that way when I listen to philosophy. It just turns my head in so many different directions, and I'm just like---none of that is why I believe in God. Although Soren Kierkegaard probably gave the best philosophical answer, that's still not why I believe. But it's getting closer.

I think Frank Herbert's Dune is why I believe. But it's an entirely different world of philosophy that people never encountered before. The Universal of the Ethics--which people know, don't kid yourself--seems to need substantiated on something. As without it, it becomes supplanted by the Moral Necessity, and that leads to suffering, chaos and malaise. And only Jesus seemed to teach an Ethics that parallels what actually describes human flourishing. I find Jesus--being a homeless poor carpenter, who never had an education---remarkable, that he could shut up men who were severely more educated than even our finest scholars today. These Pharisees knew a cross discipline of probably 12 different fields, ranging from the sciences, to language arts and the liberal arts, both Roman and Hebraic law, and Jesus would shut them up in a few phrases. Not only that, He was a master story teller. I see that as divine intelligence. And it's evidence for me He is truly the Son of God. Because we know He existed, and the Gospels are accurate accounts of His life and ministry. We have surviving records of who wrote them. It's just a matter of coming to reckon with Jesus, and that's the whole of why I believe. And no other reason.

Like, His philosophy is universally sound, and has strong echoes in Stoicism, Confucianism, Epicureanism, Pythagoreanism, Mozism, Daoism, Platonism, Aristotelianism, even American philosophies made by the Natives, Jesus seemed to have found parallels and universal truths. It's just the dynamic nature of His teachings, and the universality of it, and He by no wise was educated. He was very poor, and could barely have a place to rest his head. He probably slept on the floor of his little house there in Galilee. They've unearthed homes there, they were the size of a small living room. And He was quite a thinker, for not ever being educated. There's no way they could have afforded it back then, and He was also so isolated.

Moral Objectivity

Even with a materialistic world, you can derive concrete values and morality. That's the scary part.

God's not this ultimate being, that gives everything definition, that without we cannot have it.

It's like, you either know Him or you don't. Obviously, God exists because there is Good. Like, you can say "Good" doesn't exist apart from God. But, that's not to say that you can't qualify "Good" as "Beneficial" as in something that supplies emotional and physical needs. And when science does quantify that, it's going to be dangerous. Because obviously, what produces the most sound and beneficial society is the Old Testament. It's going to be confronted with the absolute depravity of man, and then possibly go one of two directions, or maybe both. It's going to understand that humans are depraved, and cannot sustain that perfect system, therefore it will make lawlessness. Or it will take it upon itself to force us into that Law. Which, either would be catastrophic, and probably hellish to live in.

Morality is very real. You can justify it with science. Because obviously love hormones create better looking and stronger people, and what creates love hormones is general piety and conservative values. That's just a fact, you can see it as plainly in Horace as you can Confucius. It's the fact that the argument is so stupid, that it's left Atheists dazzled by it, and Christians seem like they only know right from wrong because God tells them so.

Which, man has a conscience, and inherently understands God's law innately. That's what separates us from the beast. And if God exists, that conscience ought to be satisfied by evidence in the real world. And when they find that evidence, that's going to be a game changer, and it's going to create havoc. Because man won't know what to do with it, apart from God.

My Deconstruction from Atheism

I actually deconstructed from Atheism. Most people deconstruct from Christianity, but the one thing that makes it hard for me to be an atheist, is the fact that you have to accept the fact that there are no universal values. It's just a consequence of being an atheist. You can have preferences, but as soon as you come upon a person or society that doesn't, it challenges your claims to objective knowledge. But I don't observe ethics being that way, so it's hard for me to accept that antecedent that there are no objective truths about morality. As the saying goes, if you see the square has four equal sides, it's therefore a square. If I see objective knowledge about morality, but quantifiably, nobody can prove it, but it just is, then I have to assume there's a higher authority than man Who does.

Sure, you could build a perfect morality through Game Theory, and I'm sure it'll be done at some point, but I find that will ultimately reflect what's in the Old Testament, and therefore, be extremely harsh and cruel. Meaning people will ultimately reject it, and then there will be lawlessness. And say they do neither, you still rely on the fallibility of human judgment, and who knows what they'll get wrong.

So, Hume's argument is actually very flimsy--the argument used by most atheists--that milieu determines morality. I find that not to be possible. And I find whiffs in ancient philosophers of a divine order, that seems to make sense, and appeal to a greater sense of truth than simply human understanding. And that's generally God, or Elohim. Also called "The Way" or "The Word."

And simply put, the argument right now is that we have a better world than we did with religion--and I can quantifiably say that's unjustified. Religion made people compassionate, and taught people the right way, and tempered peoples licentiousness so they could all have a portion. Without it, it's a free for all, both sexually and materially--as is what my friend Jonathan would say, the Neo Liberal way--which isn't resulting in more compassion or human growth, but is actually having the opposite effect, and turning everyone into sociopaths, or at the very least borderline narcissists.

***

To make a perfect world would be a crime. Because humans are fallible. Hence, we need God to judge. And generally, we come prewired knowing right from wrong, and it's built in us, but we don't follow it. And that's why there's suffering in the world.

I mean, generally, the issue is ethics are universal, and there is a way to promote perfect peace. It's just humans cannot follow that way. But, we need to be encouraged to try, and that's why the Gospel is so important. The Old Testament condemns sin, while the New Testament forgives it. Justice needs to be a balance of both.

And you're never going to eliminate human greed or corruption, so basically there's always going to be injustice. And that's why God needs to make Heaven and Hell, so people's lives aren't all that matter. Cause at the end, if it were, it'd be the worst of all possible worlds, as everyone would strive against one another to get whatever they could.

But generally, the point of Confucianism is that there is a right way, that humans understand perfectly, and we're supposed to walk according to that way. It's kind of a relevant philosophy, and it's certainly not Western. And that's also the Bible's too, but it adds that we fail, so we need to be forgiven.

But do you understand what I mean? Of course people understand what's right from wrong. They always have. And they always will. It's just that we fail miserably at doing it, and that's why we need the Gospel. For no other reason. If it were just a matter of defining morality, we have 100 sages who do a great job at it. It's that we need to be forgiven, too. From Pythagoras, to Plato, to Aristotle, to Mencius, to Confucius, to Marcus Aurelius, to Lucretius and Ptahhotep. We have thousands of religions, too. It's that we need Christ's blood, to wash us. That's all it is. As far as human morality, it's been said the same way over a thousand times by a thousand philosophers. It's not that we need. You may, but that's the result of sin, having your conscience seared. It's not that way originally.

And then we have the psychos who do know it, and try to reshape the world through the sword. And those are probably the worst. Which I'm not trying to create a perfect world, just to help people understand that's not possible, and why we need to really pay attention to what our Sages in history had said. As the world we came from was better in many ways than the world we're going to.

Romans 9:16 and Some of Psalm 137:9

The word there is "Will" not "Desire". You're using a bad translation. Which, if you desire the LORD, and desire to fear His name, you'll be saved. Which, that desire is for righteousness, which God foreknew those Who'd desire His law, and predestined them with Grace.

O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.

Generally, most deconversions come from despising the Law. Which God foreknew who'd cherish it and who wouldn't. But, Jesus says, "Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied." If you hunger and thirst, that's not according to your will, is it? It's a bodily function, saying you hunger and thirst. Those who have hunger for righteousness and desire to be fed, will be. Those who have no hunger or thirst for righteousness will not be. They'll starve. Whom God foreknew these objects, and bore with them patiently.

"Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?"

Paul there is speaking of the desire for righteousness, which comes not from man's will or effort. Which you lost, that's why you deconverted. You hadn't the hunger or thirst. And I'm sorry for that, I truly am, but so many will perish for that reason. For a lack of desire for the LORD's commandments or true righteousness.

16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

G2309 means that you can't be saved by an active will, but rather a passive will only. That is Grace, is to rest on God's law. To have passive hunger for righteousness, rather than feigned hunger, where you force yourself to have it, like a Pharisee. It has to be real, and genuine from the heart, not like a hypocrite who only acts.

G2309 and G5143

I love that verse. God's going to repay those who broke Israel. Part of a healthy psychology is integrating the Shadow. The Bible does that, with verses like these. You have to understand the context to that verse. Like HAMAS is putting babies in ovens right now? Like, don't they deserve to be punished? God's not a wimp. And He fights dirty if you're a person who fears Him, He'll fight on your behalf. Like I said, the innate desire in a man to Fear and Honor God, and have righteousness, that is what saves him, and God foreknows who that will be, so He seals them with Grace. And we forfeit Judgment to God. It's not saying we should dash the babies on the rocks, only that the heathen nation who comes upon Babylon and does so, will be happy. In this case Medo Persia.

Why not think that way? There is evil in the world. And it needs to be dealt with some way or another. The fact is, war is sometimes necessary, and people do have to kill children. It's a hard message, but it's the truth. Otherwise, if you let it fester, it would metastasize and make everyone suffer.