14:23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because [he eateth] not of faith: for whatsoever [is] not of faith is sin.

Romans 14:23

Repent! for the day of the Lord is at hand.

What images does this statement conjure up for you? For many, especially nonbelievers, a Christian who makes this statement is seen as crazy, misguided, mean, hostile, holier-than-thou, hypocritical, or just plain ignorant.  We think of people in the streets with signs marching around.  Many would be surprised to know Christ Himself said it. (Revelation 2:16, I Thessalonians 5:2) 

Some would not care that He said it, since they consider the bible to be fiction anyway. Some people would believe they don't fall into the category of needing to repent, since they have not done anything wrong.  Some people are not worried about the day of the Lord, because it won't happen until the end of time (I wonder when that will be?)

Some people believe "the day of the Lord" is not scientifically possible, so no need to worry about it. But scientists are currently showing things to be possible that would have been considered impossible in the past. Why do you need a scientist to tell you something in order for you to believe it anyway? Scientists themselves are about to create "mini-blackholes" here on earth (possibly as early as this November). Doesn't sound like a good idea to me, even if I don't believe the bible warnings. I'm not worried, though. God is in control. Earthquakes and wars must come to pass, even if I don't understand why.  My next blog posting on coincidence will talk more about the Large Hadron Collider. The scientists built it, so you can believe it is real.  They are trying to figure out what happened to the antimatter and find the God-particle. More on that later in this post.
 
We had a man come on our campus when I was in college and started yelling to everyone who would listen that all Democrats were going to Hell, and that all college students were going to Hell.  Pretty soon he had a very big crowd - not many were agreeing with him. I was going into my (kosher) apartment a quarter of a mile away when I heard the biggest shout from the crowd.  I learned later that he had made the statement that Hitler had the right idea, just the wrong methods.

After he had been arrested, released and came back later that day, and had developed his crowd again, a man who said he was a pastor told the man "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."  I later thought of this man when I read the book of Jonah, who (finally) did what God told him to do, which was to tell the people of Nineveh to repent or the Lord would overthrow them in forty days.  Jonah was then disappointed when they repented and God did not overthrow them (he had been looking forward to it, I guess).

There is a popular country song out now that says "Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to go now."  From the images in the video, they use this as an excuse to party and have a good time.  I personally know people who are looking forward to living in heaven (I am).  If you believe in heaven, why don't you want to go now?  None of us is looking forward to the physical death, but do we mourn the grass seed after the grass grows?

Some are looking forward to the rapture (I did not know this term until I joined the Baptist church - it seems to be an evangelical term).  The bible says, however, not to look forward to the day of the Lord, because it will be a terrible day.  Maybe the church will be taken out of the world before it happens, I don't know personally how it will happen (although falling into another dimension is something a few scientists have speculated about). But we still should not wish that terrible day on others either.  Some people use that as an excuse not to believe in God - if He loves us (like the bible says He does), He wouldn't allow such a terrible day to happen (like the bible says it will). Therefore He does not exist.  But it will happen, and we Christians have been told to tell the world (even though we will be hated for telling people they need to love each other or die).

Christians ourselves tend to split ourselves into "liberal" and "conservative" camps. Is it any surprise the nonbelieving world does it, then? Jesus summed it up nicely in Matthew 11:18-19 "For John (the Baptist) came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of pulicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children."

So what is sin? This seems to be where people disagree.  I know people who disassociate themselves with the church and Christ because Christians who are supposed to love everyone will say that people who drink alcohol or are homosexual or don't go to church or don't read their bible are going to Hell. So people start their own churches to say that Jesus loves everyone, so nobody is going to Hell. People like to believe this, because then we don't have to worry about spreading the gospel to the Muslim or Hindu part of the world.  If God loves everyone, then why would He create whole cultures of people who don't believe in Him and then throw them into a Hell that He did not create for them.  It is easier just to believe there is no God.  But then we have no hope for heaven at all.

The bible doesn't say that nobody is going to Hell, so is it fair to start a church to tell people this?  Jesus did die for everyone (including Hitler and the men who flew the airplanes into the buildings on 9/11).  However, if you push Him away, He cannot help you.  If Jesus' love was enough to save the whole world, why did He have to come in the flesh to die on the cross? It was not so you would have a reason to give presents to your children on His birthday, although there is nothing wrong with that. As for the people who have not been told about Him, whose fault is that? Jesus told us to tell everyone about Him. If you refuse to believe in Jesus because you want Him to be fair to the rest of the world, then just maybe it is your responsibility to spread the
Word.  Would you tell a fireman who is pulling you out of your burning house that you refuse to go with him unless he pulls everyone else out first? If you cared about them, you would let him pull you out and then go after them yourself. Thats what evangelical Christians have chosen to do.

It was an Episcopal priest who came on Oprah and essentially agreed with her that it was okay for us to believe we are Gods (not one of my childhood faith's finest hours). On the other hand, it was a Southern Baptist pastor who asked my husband not to come to church on his motorcycle, so my husband stopped going since that was his only transportation at the time. Is believing we are gods a sin? Is riding a motorcycle?  If you read your bible, God will tell you.

One of Satan's biggest lies that many people believe is "I am not a bad person. If God exists, He won't throw me into hell, because that would not be fair."  But how do people who believe this get their definition of fair? Many would say they follow the Golden Rule.  But that rule came from the bible. Can we pick and choose which parts of the bible we agree with and which parts we disagree with?  The bible says homosexuality is a sin. It says to stay sober. It says to go to church. It says to read your bible. It says to love everyone. It says there is a heaven. It says there is a hell. Which parts do you believe?

So again, what is sin? People like to say that if nobody else is getting hurt, then it is not a sin.  They don't consider that they are hurting God Himself. Sin is anything that stands between you and God.  

If getting drunk on a Friday night is more important to you than loving your God who gave his life for you, that is a sin.  If having sex with a person who is not your spouse is more important to you than loving your God (or your spouse), that is a sin. If sleeping late on Sunday (or Saturday or Wednesday or whichever day your church meets) is more important to you than gathering with your brothers and sisters in Christ, that is a sin.  If watching David Letterman is more important to you than learning what your God wants to tell you, that is a sin. The good news is that these are not unforgivable sins. You do have to repent though. We all know that saying you are sorry means nothing if you are not really sorry.

If God is all-powerful and all-loving, why is there sin in the world? If God has the power to make us live forever, why do we die? Why not take us all to heaven now?  Well, for one thing, if we all go to heaven without loving everybody else first, then heaven will pretty much be the same as earth, with the same problems it has now. Can you think of anyone you have not loved? You won't be allowed into heaven without loving the people that God loves. Do you know who that is? Maybe God hasn't taken us all to heaven yet because He is still saving people.

I have said in previous postings that in order to get to heaven, we will need to hold the hand of the one who is there.  In order to do that, we have to 1) believe the hand exists, 2) believe it wants to hold ours, 3) believe we need to hold it.  The fourth thing that must be true is that we need to be able to hold it.  God is not able to be near sin. Before Jesus came, Rabbis had to be completely washed of sin before attempting to come near the holy place. When anyone touched the ark of the covenant, they died instantly. God had to send Jesus in the flesh so He could associate with sinners and publicans.  God is able to wash the sin from your life. He already has, with the blood of His precious son. You just have to believe.

Some will say this is all a bunch of malarky.  Some will say my use of the word malarky shows that I am just silly and ignorant. Why? Scientists have "proven" that in order to create matter, according to quantum physics, an equal amount of antimatter must be created at the same time.  Antimatter is (almost) the same thing as matter, only with opposite positive and negative charges.  When matter and antimatter come into contact with each other, they annihilate each other.  Antimatter has been nicknamed matter's evil twin, although there is nothing inherently "evil" about it.  The problem is that scientists have not been able to find all of the antimatter that must have been created at the moment the universe began. So they speculate that it deteriorates faster than matter does.  What if we are the antimatter? What if the "real" universe is wherever the "real" matter went. What if we can't see or touch God because we will be annihilated if we do?  Is it really malarky to believe that it is our sin that keeps us out of heaven? Why do you believe me when I say the scientists have proven antimatter is real even though they can't find it, but don't believe me when I say the bible is true even though we can't see God? Just a thought.

My new favorite chapter in the bible (because it is the one I just read, tomorrow it will be a different one) is II Timothy chapter 3. I dare you to read it. :-)

Thanks for reading.