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| Never give in! Never give in! Never, Never, Never, Never ---in nothing great or small, large or petty---
Never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.
Winston Churchill
Speech at the Harrow School
Laws, just or unjust, may govern men's actions. Tyrannies may restrain or regulate their words. The machinery of propaganda may pack their minds with falsehood . . . . But the soul of man thus held in trance or frozen in a long night can be awakened by a spark coming from God knows where . . . . Peoples in bondage need never despair.
Winston Churchill
Massachusetts, March 31, 1949
If a Government has no moral scruples it often seems to gain great advantages and liberties of action, but, "all comes out even at the end of the day,. and all will come out yet more even when all the days are ended."
Winston Churchill
from "The Second World War"
The world moves on and we dwell in a constantly changing climate of opinion. But the broad principles and truths of wise and sane political action do not necessarily alter with the changing moods of a democratic electorate. Not everything changes. Two and two still make four and I could give you many other instances which go to prove that all wisdom is not new wisdom.
Winston Churchill
Belle Vue, December 6, 1947
Hate is a bad guide. I have never considered myself at all a good hater----though I recognize that from moment to moment hate has added stimulus to pugnacity.
Winston Churchill
House of Commons
November 6, 1950
Well, one can always consult a man and ask him, "Would you like your head cut off tomorrow?" and after he has said, "I would rather not," cut it off. " Consultation" is a vague and elastic term.
Winston Churchill
House of Commons
May 7, 1947
I am reminded of the remark of the witty Irishman who said: "There are a terrible lot of lies going about the world, and the worst of it is, that half of the lies are true."
Winston Churchill
House of Commons
May 7, 1947
Some people's idea of free speech is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.
Winston Churchill
House of Commons
May 7, 1947
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| Scholars Are Uncovering a Radically Different Jesus
in Ancient Documents Just as Credible as the
Four Gospels
The Bible's Portrait of Jesus Can't Be Trusted
Because the Church Tampered with the Text
New Explanations Have Refuted Jesus' Resurrection
Christianity's Beliefs about Jesus Were
Copied from Pagan Religions
Jesus Was an Imposter Who Failed to Fulfill
the Messianic Prophecies
This is the list of contents from a book I'm currently reading. It seems there are a lot of atheists out there who would really appreciate it if Christians would deny Jesus as the Christ (Anointed One, Messiah). The list above depicts some of the reasons these atheists choose to ignore Jesus as their Creator. I have heard these "explanations" since I was a teenager and my sister was in college, taking a course in which the Bible was to be studied as literature. Of course, it wasn't studied as such, literature, that is, but was used by the atheist professor as a podium to preach his religion, atheism.
The last excuse I heard, personally, as to why Jesus shouldn't be trusted, was a report that the family burial ground of Jesus was found, and that Jesus' bones were found there, too, or were assumed to be there. My children were asking me about that. Unfortunately, I couldn't work myself up over this report. Read the list above, and you'll understand why. A true atheist will make up anything to convince himself that he was not "created". He will use anything that backs him up when he states that he turns into a pile of dust when he dies. He will believe anything that backs his belief that he is not accountable to God, or called to be grateful to Him.
The first item on the list is about the gnostic gospels. These "gospels" are being used, not to prove that Jesus is Lord, but to prove to these atheists that they themselves are lord. The spark of divinity lies within them and nowhere else. Frankly, I have never met an atheist who would put his life on the line for anyone he loved, much less anyone he detested. Atheists I have met, most of them, tend to be abusive towards people. The only love they have is for themselves. Not all atheists. I am sure some atheists are true seekers, and are not in it to demean others' faith in Christ. I have met a few of these people.
The Church tampered with the text. I don't know. If I were a scribe, and I had patiently and honestly copied Scripture every day so that others might have faith in Christ, and thus eternal life, I'd be wondering where these people who were judging me so were getting their information. I would think that since they did not know me, they just enjoyed judging people and attempting to make others look bad. I would think that it was not just me, but everyone that they belittle. Personally, I have not been presented with any information that is backed up with evidence to support this statement. Just like the gnostic gospels lack real evidence to back up their authority on the life of Jesus.
New evidence has refuted Jesus' resurrection? This is supposed to be "new" evidence? Not hardly, but the same lame excuses atheists have always used, even since Jesus' day. Atheists are too quick to say, "Yeah, right" without investigating all the evidence of a situation. These people are so involved in disproving Jesus' divinity that they fail to
recognize that what they're saying has always been said. One reason given to refute Jesus' resurrection is this, and I quote, "Dead bodies don't rise--not one that is is clinically dead--as Jesus surely was." James D Tabor, who holds a doctorate in Bibical studies, came to this brilliant conclusion. "Dead bodies don't rise.." Okay. Well, Mr. Tabor, dead bodies have been rising since the Old Testament times, before Jesus was born on earth. I suppose you deny this information, also. Of course you do. Refusing to believe that anyone is able to be resurrected makes life easy. You can do what you want without answering to anyone but American law. You don't have to answer to God. You know, I wish just one person would be honest about it and state that "God is there, but dawg if I'm going to live for Him." This statement would at least be honest.
Pagan religions. Noone ever wants to think that maybe the pagan religions adapted their stories from God's people. Can these atheists prove that the Pagans had it first? No, but if they were to study the Bible and then Pagan religions, they might learn something. Instead, they read of the flood in Gilgamesh, and say, "Well, that settles it! There were lots of floods, and who's to say that the author of Gilgamesh didn't have the right account instead of Moses?" Well, the Pagan gods were as dysfunctional as the people they were attempting to govern. One thing I don't want, and that's someone being god to me who hasn't got any more sense than I have. Of course, you never hear these atheists mention the word, Truth. If ever they do mention it, it's to say something vague such as, "Truth--what is Truth? Does anyone really know?" Of course, in his eyes noone does, so that settles that. There is no basic truth underlying any of the Pagan or the Christian stories as atheists see it, so that just proves that Jesus wasn't who He said He was. Rather shaky logic, if you ask me, and since this is my blog, I assume your are asking me.
Jesus failed to fulfill the Messianic Prophecies. The only way anyone could believe this is if they had not studied the prophecies. Anyone studying these prophecies in the Old Testament will be convinced that, if there was a man called Jesus, He certainly fulfilled these prophecies during His lifetime. Anyone studying these prophecies will also understand that any prophecy of Messianic quality is on a time line. Jesus hasn't brought in world peace? It is not the time. The time will come, and Jesus will rule on earth for 1,000 years, and there will be world peace for the most part. Amazingly, some will still rebel against Jesus, as agnostics and atheists do now. But almost peace doesn't count. The peace that Jesus will bring will come after the 1,000 year reign, when all rebellion will be crushed, and the lovers of Messiah will be left to live on earth. Peace will then reign perfectly. Where rebellion against God is, peace isn't, and will never be.
People should be free to pick and choose what they believe about Jesus. And the earth's shape, and the stars, and the man in the moon, and elves. Either something is true, or it isn't. Either Jesus is real or He's not. Either say that you believe in Him as He is presented as the Son of God, or say He's a miserable failure. Or that He didn't live at all. But that would be a lie. But believe it if you want to. You see, I just never found it a profitable thing to believe in lies. I mean, they always disappoint. Because they're not true. A lie can't deliver what it's supposed to. So, yeah. Believe about Jesus whatever you want to. Just remember, if you decide to believe a lie about Him, you're going to get what you asked for. Nothing. Lies do not deliver what you think they will. If you think a lie will give you peace of mind and ease your conscience to allow you to do what you want, well, you'll still have to pay for doing what you want. And peace of mind? Don't think so. Lies rarely if ever deliver peace of mind. Unpleasant surprises, yes. Peace of mind, no.
Well, here is my assessment of what these atheists and agnostics nowadays believe: It's not any different from what the atheists and agnostics believed hundreds of years ago. Any time anyone wants to squelch on his responsibility to God, he will make to himself these same excuses and try to make others believe that he is honest about them.
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| Job 1:1 - "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil." Finis Dake, who created a study Bible for Christians, stresses that Job is a true-to-life actual man, and his life, as given in Job, was not a myth or fable conceived for our instruction or entertainment, but it is the life of an actual man we're faced with. This man Job faced the same types of discouragement we do, only his was multiplied beyond belief of endurance. I, personally, would think a person unable to endure such tragedy. Then I remember the Jews suffering in Germany, Austria, and Poland under Hitler's rule. Their authority, wealth, families taken away from them a little at the time, until like Job, they had nothing. So many of these people, Jewish and Christian, managed to maintain their places before God in spite of their helplessness. Or what appeared to be their helplessness. A man's true authority and power is in his relationship with God, after all, and so when the Nazis stole the Jews' businesses, murdered their wives and children, and mocked their Life-giving, all-Powerful God and their relationship with Him, they might only go so far. All external was stripped away, the things most people consider to be success and power in this world, and they were left naked, their faith fully exposed, their God apparent in their very survival of such treatment. True power does not show itself in the ability to control one's life. It is not in the ability to protect one's children, much as we would like to. True power appears the moment we realize that a relationship with God, and this only, can feed our spirits. When we begin to teach this fact to our children, then they are truly protected, for all their lives. This relationship is the one we can bank on. We can depend on it. Our children can depend on it. This is Life. | | |
| Jesus Christ is born on Christmas Day, all over again, in the hearts of many people. I am one of them. Just think. This time 2006 years ago, most people were just going about their business, never expecting such a change as Jesus brought with Him. Never expecting the compassion He gives. The Jews did, however. Jesus came first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles, and these Jews 2006 years ago were saying among themselves that the time for Messiah was close at hand. The shepherds in the fields talking to each other about Messiah's appearing that night that Jesus was born. They were excited, these shepherds. They didn't feel the weather while they spoke to each other of the things of God. Messiah's appearing was on their minds as it was on most of their countrymen's minds. They spoke with great conviction of Messiah's coming to Israel, and soon! His coming was soon! Very soon..... Suddenly, an angel appeared to these shepherds, announcing the birth of a child in the city of David, Bethlehem, and saying that this child would be the one to bring peace between Jehovah and the people of His creation. Messiah! Then, as suddenly as that angel had appeared, a host of angels were there, singing, "Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, good will to men!" Messiah...He was to be born in Bethlehem. He was to bring peace to Israel...these shepherds had to know, so they went to check out the message the angels had brought them. And the shepherds found the newborn king, the Son of God, and son of Man. The one who came to bring us life eternal. The one who came to bring us forgiveness for our sins. Such love! Such compassion! Praise God! Praise Him for the wonderful things He's done for us! He is indeed wonderful, and there is no God like Him. None. Praise God. | | |
| Okay. I'm here again, and ready to go with my xanga site once more. A slight warning, however: any of you who come to my site for the sole reason of discrediting what I say in an ugly manner -- your comment will be deleted and you will be blocked from my site. Any of you who get some kind of perverted joy from from using names or discouraging words in your comments to me will wind up blocked. Your comments will be deleted, but you will not be able to leave a comment informing me of my immaturity. Any of you who plan to actually communicate with me about my post will be welcomed. You are the ones that make my days pleasant. So. Those are the rules. If you are capable of leaving a comment that forms a disagreement with me but does not put down my faith or character in any way, I will accept your comments. I appreciate courtesy with disagreements. I also appreciate honesty. Those of you who leave comments that disagree with me, yet are name-calling and ugly, you are not honest. You are a thrill-seeker. You get a thrill from thinking you are better than someone else. Also, I will not have my God mocked in my comments. If you do this, you will not only find your comments deleted and your name on my blocked list, but I will report you to Xanga. Now, for those of you who read my posts with an honest enjoyment or an honest purpose, Thank you from the bottom of my heart, and these posts are for you. Christmas is coming! A time to celebrate Jesus' birth into this world. A time to celebrate His love for us in doing this, and a time to remember that God never forgets us, ever, tho at times we may feel alone. God is always near, and that must be taken on faith. When I begin to feel alone, I go thro some cycles. The first cycle is astonishment. "I can't feel God! Where is He?" The second is wondering. Wondering what I have done to cause Him to leave. "Have I sinned? Have I not cared enough about His Presence with me? What is causing this situation?" Then, I usually decide that I have sinned, and go looking for the sin that caused God to back off. "Oh, I know. It was when I deleted all those nasty comments from my Xanga site. I should have left them on there so maybe these heathens would come to Jesus..." Or "It must be that I am too demanding of my daughter (that lives with me). I shouldn't have fussed at her about not doing the dishes yesterday. I should have just done them myself..." And on and on. The third cycle is feeling guilty. "How can God forgive me when I have been so thoughtless and inconsiderate of others? Or so inconsiderate of Him? I'm no good witness! I'm just fearful and lazy...etc." The fourth cycle is the productive one. This is the cycle where I quit backing off from trusting God. I take my eyes off of myself and glue them to God's compassionate ones. I begin to study my Bible again. As long as I believed I was guilty of something, I couldn't bring myself to read about God. I guess you might say that I quit listening to the things I'm telling myself about me, and I just tune into God anyway, no matter what He might think of me. And I always get to feeling better. For one thing, I'm not beating myself over the head any more. I am not trying to forgive myself or to "discipline" myself over supposed wrongs. I am looking at God and trusting that He loves me even if I cannot feel His Presence. I either trust the Bible or I don't, and the Scriptures say that God never leaves me or forsakes me. Never. Never ever. He is always there for me. During these times of being lonely for God, I often find that as soon as I express my faith in Him, and tell Him of my love for Him, things begin to change immediately. Then I go into the "WOW!" cycle. So, right now I am not "feeling" God's Presence so much as I am taking it by faith that He will never leave or forsake me. But I am happy with this, probably because I am doing what I am supposed to do. I find I always feel better when I do what God says, when I maintain my end of the relationship. So, when I feel God's Presence again, I will be ready for Him. I am ready for Him now, whether I can "feel" Him there or not. | | |
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