Reading Corner

Comforter

These are the days of endless atrocities – random stabbings, shootings, cars driving into crowds of pedestrians and tourists. We are often on the scene, thanks to surveillance cameras and smartphones, and can watch how life is snuffed out over and over again. This brings on an overflow of ungodly fear, which tears down and is not to be confused with godly fear, which builds up and has a positive impact on our lives:
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding" (Proverbs 9:10).
High time for some comfort. "Waiter! Make mine a double!" Nothing like "Southern Comfort" to deaden your mind and kill off some brain cells southern style. Addictions do provide comfort and escape, at least for a while, with a whole lot of discomfort on down the road. The pharmaceutical industry is having a heyday and provides doping for the world! Most people are walking medicine cabinets, filled with pills for high performance throughout the day, pills to keep the blood pressure in the safety zone, pills to sleep tight at night. Where do you find comfort? In your family? That's nice, as long as it's not a dysfunctional family.
Internet and television are top runners in the area of comfort, and watching TV is still the most popular inactivity worldwide. After a stressful day at work or school, they gather around the altar at home known as "the family entertainment center". Grab some chips, a cold beer, whatever. Get all comfy on couch or recliner, turn on fantasy and shut out reality, for the Prince of Darkness has promised:
"This is good stuff, you’re going to love it. Sit back, put your feet up and relax, turn off what’s left of your brain and enjoy my own creation of reality! Come unto me, one and all, and find comfort for your weary souls. Let’s reshape this world together, the way I want it." Typical Satan.
Talk shows are popular nowadays, giving the viewers a feeling of comfort and security that something is being done while the “experts” discuss the serious issues. Surfing the Internet can make you feel like you are a part of the solution, that you just might be doing something useful. So many alternative realities are offered, like never before. Could be they’re so popular because genuine reality is too hard to bear. Problem is, just as the rich man can’t take his money with him when he dies, neither can that alternative reality join us on our walk through the valley of death. In view of lying politicians, hate between nations and looming war, those preferred daily comforters just aren't doing the job. People try everything – from pills to religion – only to remain uncomforted in the end. It's time to get a grip by grabbing hold of the real Comforter:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and all comfort, Who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are afflicted, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Cor. 1)
“God shall send you the Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He is with you and shall be in you.”
JESUS promised:
“I will not leave you comfortless: I WILL COME TO YOU.” (John 14) and "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrew 13).
Promises to rely on, a Comfort that's a constant, not a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. Not like drinking with friends and getting high as a kite at night, only to come down to a horrific hangover the next morning. In my long gone hippie & army days, we thought we had beat the game by consuming ever-increasing amounts of uppers and downers at the right times to keep from crashing. Such "comfort" takes its toll on your health and is nearly impossible to maintain as the body quickly grows older.
Those idols will neither comfort nor protect you in the end. Your god of steel offers no protection when it crashes into another car or wraps around a tree, and a god of stone can fall and crush you during an earthquake. They're dead gods which can never offer you a safe haven:
“The Lord is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Whom I will trust.” (Psalm 91:2).
Jesus is the real Comforter, He is not a religion. Religion kills, but Jesus gives life and comforts all those who trust and believe in Him and call upon His name. He gives hope in this life and in the life to come. Real relief, genuine rest. "Lord, make mine a double!" A double portion of His glorious Spirit. As the storms of this world grow worse, with increasing unrest, riots, war, violence, disease, perversions and all sorts of ungodliness, seek refuge and snuggle down in comfort under the wings of the Almighty God:
"Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers and under His wings you shall take refuge. His truth shall be your shield and safeguard. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the plague that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that devastates at midday" (Psalm 91:3-6).
Fred

"Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of devils" (1 Timothy 4:1).
These days all kinds of people are seeking spirituality, they're looking to enter the spirit realm, to advance to a "higher level". The religious – from Catholic to Muslim to Buddhism – or the New Agers – from Reiki to Esotericism, they all come into contact with spirits. However, there is only one Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, sought and found by the true born-again followers of Yeshua:
"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Ephesians 4:4-6).
People bow to Buddha, the Hindu elephant god Ganesha, the statue of Mary and even to a cross with a weird-looking personage hanging on it who looks nothing like Yeshua, the King of glory. Satan has truly succeeded in "capturing the moment" without a camera! There are such crucifixes standing or hanging here, there and everywhere, depicting a moment in time which the powers of darkness thought was their greatest triumph. Little did they realize that the Lord would rise from the tomb three days later! It's crucial to distinguish between faith and religion, between the Holy Spirit and the Kundalini spirit of Hinduism, between the genuine Power that comes from God or pseudo power from within oneself, which leads to demonic bondage. While "faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1), religion is kneeling down and praying to Allah five times a day or reciting Ave Marias while holding rosary beads in a death grip. Only faith can save:
"By grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works lest anyone should boast" (Eph. 2: 8-9).
Are you a real believer or just plain religious? The religious person hangs on tight to the [church] doctrine he's been taught and accepts what his leader says as the truth, without checking the Bible to see if it's true. Even the New Age guru doesn't mind if you "believe in Jesus", just so you don't read too much of the Bible. The religious has a must-do list, whereas the born-again believer enjoys his want-to-do list. There's also a major difference between "mustn't do" and "don't want to do". The Q & A sessions after a "charismatic church event" were quite disturbing, with people asking: "Can I still do this or that as a Christian?" The New Age Christian wanted to know, for example, if she can do yoga. If you do some research, you'll find out this fact: "There is no yoga without Hinduism and there is no Hinduism without yoga."
It's a choice between praying and receiving God's Holy Spirit, or drawing on your own power through meditation and receiving the Kundalini spirit. "You will know them by their fruit" (Matthew 7:16). The religious as well as the New Ager want to hang on to the world at all costs, while the follower of Yeshua is glad to let go. What a big difference there is between joining a church organization and joining the family of God! Between being led by God's Spirit or deceived by the spirit of Satan. Someone asked: "Can I still listen to Heavy Metal?" To which I ask: Why would you want to? Galatians 5:16 tells us to "Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." But how can a person walk in the Spirit if he's not born of the Spirit of God? The true Christian's power comes from the one true God, in the name of Yeshua Ha'Maschiach aka Jesus Christ.
A poll taken recently by the American Broadcasting Company, ABC, is a good example of what it means to be religious in the Western World: At least 75% of all Americans claim to be Christian. That's pure religion! In view of all the crime, decadence, blasphemy, lying, etc., nobody in his right mind would even think that they're talking about real born-again followers of the Lord Jesus. They might have a paper or a baby baptism certificate with the word "Christian" on it, or perhaps they pay 10% of their income to some church organization, but such things do not impress God.
So many people are trying to enter paradise via Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and the Roman Catholic religion. New Age Christians pour their hard-earned money into the pockets of prosperity pastors of megachurches or teachers of New Age philosophies and occult practices. They pay big money to create their own reality, with the goal in mind of reaching a "higher level", ultimately obtaining the so-called "Christ Consciousness" and so to be on an equal level with a false Jesus. They are living in a fantasy-bubble that's going to pop on the day they die. In Luke 18:8, Yeshua wonders if He will find any faith at His return to Earth. One thing is certain: He will find plenty of religion. The religions of the world are in the process of uniting. Their leaders, those they look up to for guidance such as Joel Osteen, Oprah Winfrey, Pope Francis to name a few, teach that there are "many ways that lead to God" – a good illustration of New Age doctrines of demons. Jesus says He is the only way (John 14:6) and the only door to Heaven (John 10:7). Who are you going to believe? I put my belief and trust in Yeshua alone.
The Bible foretold what's going on in these times, along with the intensity: Economic turmoil, wars and more wars, crime and violence like never before, tsunamis and earthquakes, famines, epidemics, the days of Noah, Sodom and Gomorrah reloaded with these days of gays and transgenders. Mankind is spinning out of control and bringing judgment on themselves. So, are you a genuine born-again believer or are you only religious? Say you don't like religion? Good, neither do I, it leaves a bad aftertaste. The words of the Lord are sweeter than honey in the mouth (Psalm 119:103). The world is a theatre play, the religious and New Agers are actors on a stage about to collapse. The final act of the play is upon us and the curtain is soon to fall. The heavenly orchestra is in place for the grand finale and Heaven itself is about to open to shine its glorious light as the King of kings and the Lord of lords comes descending. You will either hear Him say, "Depart from Me, I never knew you" (Matthew 7:23) or "Well done, enter into the joy of your Lord" (Matthew 25:21).Yeshua will either be your Judge or your Savior – your choice as long as the breath of life is in you.
"Look! He's coming with the clouds and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him. All the multitudes of the world will wail because of Him. Even so, amen. He's coming quickly. Come, Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 1:7 / 22:20).
Fred

Evolution vs Creationism 

After numerous debates with evolutionists, after hearing the same old arguments, here are some thoughts that speak for creationism.

Evolutionists love their nifty chart, displaying the progression of ape to human. The findings turned out to be not so evolutionary – Heidelberg Man, for example, was built from a jawbone that was later conceded to be quite human, Nebraska Man was assembled from one tooth that was later found to be the tooth of an extinct pig, the jawbone of the Piltdown Man turned out to belong to a modern ape, the famous skeleton of the Neanderthal Man was later identified as that of an old man who suffered from arthritis, and on it goes, the great hoax. When the so-called experts discuss evolution, it sounds like a guessing game with words such as perhaps – probably – may have – for some unknown cause – about – might have – possibly.

The big bang theory states that the universe came into being from a single point, where high density and high temperature caused an explosion, thus starting the cosmic expansion of the universe 13.8 billion years ago. Hey, why not make it an even 14 billion? Actually they mean that something came from nothing. Oh my, that’s a big bite to chew on. Another ludicrous theory is the evolution of the species. From Nemo to amphibian, a dash of metamorphosis for the reptile, a long stretch from there to the monkey and finally, with an extra large portion of fantasy, on to the “intelligent” human being who thinks up all this stuff. Not one person can show me an example of evolution according to its definition. They rattle on about changes in fish or the beaks of certain birds, but it's all within the same kind, good examples of adaptation. The Bible says:
"God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that crawls on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:25)

Only 6,000 Years of Recorded History

That's all, just 6,000 years. That would be 4,000 years B.C. and then 2,000 some years A.D. Why is there no recorded history before 4,000 B.C.? The answer is obvious – there was no history! I asked Google how long humans have been around and the answers ranged from 200,000 to as many as 2 million years. Evolutionists simply can't agree. If the false claims of unscrupulous scientists were true, then man's historical record should span back at least hundreds of thousands of years. Another thought to ponder: I think you would agree that technology has advanced tremendously during the past 100 years or so, whether in transportation, communicattion, industrialization, automation, Internet, etc. Now if humans have existed for 100,000+  or even for "only" 25,000 years, why didn't all of these modern inventions appear thousands of years before the 20th century? Why did humankind wait so long to invent these "comforts" of life?

The Bible dates creation, as we know it today, at approximately 4,000 B.C. Thus, it was around 6,000 years ago that God created the heavens and the earth, animals, fish and plants, in just 6 days, and it was 6,000 years ago that He formed man out of the dust of the earth.

These Bible claims, no doubt, seem absurd to evolutionists, who have convinced themselves that the earth itself is millions of years old. Ironically, they have absolutely no evidence of such longevity. Only theories, and yet children are brainwashed with evolution in public schools all across the world, which is taught as if it were a fact. It's a great evil to deny students the Bible account of creationism. The Word of God makes infinitely more sense than the fairytale of evolution. This is just another way the people of this godless generation reject their Creator. Next time you watch some sort of nature film on your high definition tv, as beautiful as the pictures may be, listen for the speaker to slip in those evolutionary "facts" here and there – "in the course of 35 million years" – "100 million years ago" blah, blah blah. Why do they do that? It's what they've been taught, it's what they choose to believe, which is the perfect fulfillment of 2 Timothy 4:4 in the Bible:

"The time is coming when people will not have patience for sound teaching, but will cater to their passions and gather around themselves teachers who tell them whatever their ears itch to hear. Yes, they will stop listening to the truth, but will turn aside to follow myths."

There is no recorded history prior to 4,000 B.C. The world's history is clearly defined by six world powers since time began: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. Since Rome's fall in 476 A.D., there have been no world powers (super powers yes, but no world powers). At the time of Moses, Egypt ruled the world. Before Egypt, there is absolutely nothing recorded in history about a world power. It is no coincidence that Revelation 17:10 speaks of these world powers:

"... five are fallen, and one is, and the other has not yet come. When the last one comes, it shall remain only for a short while."

At the writing of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, Rome was still the world power. The Apostle John, under the inspiration of God's Holy Spirit, tells us that Rome is the 6th world power and that one more is to come. The 7th world power will be the Beast system, the kingdom of the Antichrist. His diabolical New World Order is quickly forming now – with a universal religious view, a global centralized government, a one-world economic system, a cashless society, etc.
Do you think it's a mere coincidence that the Word of God is so concise on world history? The Bible records the beginning of mankind at 4,000 B.C., and secular history is eerily silent before 4,000 B.C. If I were an evolutionist, I would be extremely disturbed by this fact. Just show me any recorded civilization before 6,000 years ago, and I don't mean some pottery jug or item claimed to be 14,000 years old. There are no records of history prior to 4,000 B.C., no writings, no battles, no wars, no countries, nothing. It's as if mankind just suddenly began – which is exactly what the Bible says happened:

"Then Adonai, God, formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living being." (Genesis 2:7).

There is no history to indicate that humans existed prior to 6,000 years ago. Oh sure, evolutionists will talk about things like carbon dating, archeological findings and the like but if evolution were true, then the history of mankind should be traceable going back hundreds of thousands of years or more. One of my courses at college had the lofty title of "The Origin and Development of Life", which was in fact all about evolution. It was always called the "Theory of Evolution" and even today it remains only a theory, while it is presented at school, in books and on tv as the proven truth, though it has not been proven.
Another thought for you: Why is there a multitude of languages? Evolutionists claim that all of mankind evolved from the same primitive life source, so how did we end up with so many languages? The Bible teaches that God created all the different languages at Babel:

"Come, let's go down and confuse their language so that they won't understand each other's speech." "... Adonai (the Lord) confused the language of the whole earth and scattered the people abroad all over the earth." (Genesis 11:7+9).

It is far more reasonable to accept that God created all the languages than it is to believe that some space dust from a massive chaotic explosion somehow became life and then took on intelligence, and then from the same evolutionary process ended up with all these different languages. If, as evolutionists claim, the earth is millions or even billions of years old, and mankind has evolved from a lower and simpler form of life, then why has mankind gone from writing upon stones to laser printers in just the past 3,500 years? When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, they were written upon stone. It is abundantly clear that the Egyptians carved messages into stone (hieroglyphics). So why is it that mankind has only discovered better inventions in the past few thousand years? If mankind had evolved, as evolutionists claim, then why didn't man discover ink 50,000 years ago?
Think about it. This is an astonishing thought – There were no planes, cars, computers, refrigerators, electricity, lights, gas- powered equipment, telephones, recording devices, CD players, MP3 players, electric razors, televisions, smartphones, etc. 200 years ago. Civilization has advanced to incredible mind-boggling achievements in just a little over 100 years. So why didn't mankind discover any of this stuff 100,000 years ago? If mankind had evolved in the course of tens of thousands of years, then people would have discovered these inventions a very long time ago. 

People believe in evolution because they want to believe it – hoping to avoid giving an account of themselves to the one true living God on Judgment Day. Evolution is the "easy way out" for people who are hoping it's true, who don't want to think about facing Adonai Yeshua – the Lord Jesus Christ.
Evolution is the great hoax, a mess of confusion. If we evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys? Are they freaks of nature? Didn't it work for them?

Fred the Creationist