Who, or what can we believe?

There is so much unsolicited evidence on the net: people can write whatever they want, and technology makes it easy to doctor images to back up the theory being presented, which makes it easy to deceive people. Scripture warns us that a great deception will be pulled on the people in the last days; so convincing that even the elect could be fooled if possible (Matt.24:24).

It's a known fact that people lie. either to achieve their hidden agenda, or to evade the embarrassment of dealing with the consequences of their actions. Some may seem like harmless fibs, but a lie is a lie. This is why there is so much distrust in the world.

So who do, or can we trust? Scripture says that God cannot lie; it's not in his nature; the devil is the father of lies. For a believer in the one Almighty God, everything is tested against his word, and to them the Bible is the the inspired word of God. Now theory has it that Constantine was the one who conceived the idea of giving the people a bible, so that they could be controlled by religion. But since he was a pagan the spiritual writings of the prophets would have been beyond him. Whatever God wanted to perserve for today's readers would have been overlooked. One of the interesting things about The Dead Sea Scrolls is that fragment of scrolls reveal that certain books of the bible are word for word copies of the ancient writings. To disregard the writings of ancient holy men, because of Constantines motives is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Like Constantine, many people today do not understand the nature of prophecy; prophecy is simply telling people what God said. Much of it is cryptic, and sounds symbolic as the prophets wrote about things that were beyond the knowledge of their times. One example is found in the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream by Daniel. What is more amazing about this incident is that he was required to tell Nebuchadnezzar what the dream was too. After spending some time in prayer he was able to tell him that God had given him an image of what was in store for the world.

He told Nebuchadnezzar that God orders history by setting up and removing human rulers. and this dream illustrates this truth. But before he told him what he had dreamed he told him it was a God given vision in response to his concern about the future. The disturbing image of his dream was a huge statue: the head was of gold: the chest and arms were of silver; the belly and thighs were of bronze (brass); the legs were of iron; and the feet were a mix of iron and clay (Daniel 2:31).

Suddenly the dazzling figure moved, and a stone supernaturally cut from a mountain flew through the air and struck the figure with such force that all traces of it dissappeared, and the great stone filled the earth. Daniel told him that the head of gold symbolized him and his city of Babylon, because of the great use of gold to decorate all the important buildings, but someday the grand and mighty Babylon would be defeated by an inferior kingdom.

The chest and arms of silver represented Darius and the Medo-Persians. The empire was bigger, but inferior in quality of government. The next great empire (bronz) would be Greece, ruled by Alexander the Great, who ordered that he be called the king of the world. The iron legs represented the destructive strength of Rome. For though they built many things they crushed and demolished all resistance, which stamped out freedom. These four kingdom reigns have been fulfilled, the last kingdom has yet to play out it's roll.

Of course Daniel didn't name the sequence of empires, history has born out the proof of this prophecy. There is no reason to doubt that the world will live through the last worldly (feet of clay and iron) and brutal empire. The question on many minds is who will rule this last empire? It is believed that something of the old Roman empire will be revived, but it will be mixed; bible scholars point to other prophecies about the end days, when Daniel speaks of a federation of 10 kings (7:24), some strong and some weak that will create internal problems. Many believe it will involve the countries that once were ruled by Rome, which would include the EEC, since a economic union was formed with The Treaty of Rome in 1957.

The members held a summit meeting in Rome in Dec. '75 and seven of the nine nations held direct elections to the European Parliament in '78. They agreed to issue uniform passports, and they now have the Euro currency. Whether the speculation is true, or something else develops, it is a certainty that Europe will be a significant power bloc in the years prior to Christ's return to reigh as King. I believe the New World Order is the directive of this last empire, which will be ruled by the anti-christ.

If you haven't guessed already, the rock that destroyed the image in the dream, which filled the earth, represents Christ's rule of all the nations. No matter what people say, or what men plan, God has a plan for the world; history is unfolding according to His plan. Amen.

ps. You can read the interpretation of Daniel's life in Babylon in a little book titled: "Daniel: Decoder of Dreams" by Donald K. Campbell. Published by Victor Books, SP Publications, Inc. Box 1825, Wheaton, Illinois 60187. It is a wonderful companion to the study of the book of Daniel.

Something didn't feel right

I'm not sure what I did, but this new entry to the book ended up on The Journey blog, use this link to read it. http://cyber-pilgrim-thejourney.blogspot.com It is listed under the same title, dated Tues. December 23.'08.

Faith, creativity, and the aftermath.

It was surprising to find that 9/11 didn't make me anxious, as I had been during the Gulf Crisis, which led to my reconciliation; and the new spiritual birth. I was a basket case in those days. It makes a difference to know that you are in control, LORD, and that Your word says 'only you make me dwell in safety'. Now if I had the same confidence with my daily problems I'd have it made.

Intellectually I know I already have it made, it's just easier to say 'I live by faith' than it is to do it every moment. In my vulnerable moments, when the cares of the world loom larger than life, I comfort myself with the knowledge that you know what's in my heart; plus, since my name is written in the Lambs book of life, I have the promise: "He who started a good work in me, will see it through until Jesus comes." (Philippians 1:6) Use my contemplations on the anniversary of 9/11 to strengthen my walk with you LORD.

Meanwhile, the challange remains to give hope to the hopeless. That was a major intent behind the desire to write a short story, plus create curiosity in the book of Revelation. In the months following 9/11 there was a flush of ministries talking about the connection, and there were even seminars about the end times. So I felt a little deflated during the delay period, but I saw nothing similar to my idea of viewing it as a journal from a Christian perspective, and there are always people who need a timely word to revive their hope. At times this book seemed like an impossible task, LORD, but it's nice to remember reading your word to the apostles, "Nothing is impossible with God."

Writing about my faith works better for me: I'm not comfortable going up to strangers and just blurting out, "Do you know Jesus?" Often it goes over like a lead brick, and closes the door. I feel more confident just listening to someone's problem and ministering Godly wisdom, without sounding as if I'm cramming it down their throats. Often they are not even aware that I'm using Your word LORD, and many are open to prayer when I let them lead me to what their need is. It helps if they feel as if they know me too, so I'm planning to let the neighbors catch me sketching out in the back lot; it's a great way to start a conversation. I believe You put a pencil and paintbrush in my hands as tools for Your glory; not just my pleasure.

Speaking of creativity, tonight there was an interesting evening news item; promoting the run of a dramatic dance presentation, commemorating 9/11. The stage backdrop is the familiar picture of the protruding metal beams at 'Ground Zero' ; backlit like sunset. The dancers wore red, modern interpretive dance outfits, and the theme is a plea to God--'whomever or whatever he or she may be'--as stated in the introduction. It really bothers me that people are afraid to say, "Almighty God" for fear of offending somebody. This "politically correct" reference to God irks me. Anyway, the theme is a plea for an end to 'this cycle'? I hadn't been paying much attention to the introduction, so I missed whether it was terrorism, or all wars that was the hearts desire. However, I was pleased to see that artistic expression was alive and well.

Some have painted pictures; written poetry, or songs about the heroes and victims of this disaster. A pang of zealousy gripped my heart when I heard of them, for not accomplishing a creative expression of something so world changing myself; this is not like me. I have a painting to remind me of what I felt during the Gulf Crisis; I started another during the Oka Crisis, in Quebec, and I did a mixed media piece in response to the Wako incident. Sometimes it feels as if my life has stopped counting for anything. If I hadn't heard of the preparation years for Moses, Joseph, David; plus anyone else used by You, LORD, I could slip into dispair. But accepting that I have a God ordained destiny gives me something to hang on to.

P.S. I knew that moving back to Toronto was going to be a hardship, with the higher cost of living than in St. Catharine's, but I didn't think it would turn me into a hermit. Beside having limited resources to get 'out and about' the pollution is hard on my lungs. This has intensified the feeling of not counting for anything, especially since the sister church of my St. Catharine's home church doesn't have a bus pick-up for those on limited budgets, which means I'm unable to at least fellowship with other believers.

This great spiritual hunger led me to create a Christian website: http://www.freewebs.com/christiancrossword where I can fellowship with believers, and browse the forums looking for those who sound as if they need a little encouragement. There is also the interesting extra of having to deal with skeptics and athiests, on the open forums. It can be quite stimulating, as the questions they ask and the statements they make, allow you to exercise your faith. It's exhilerating how what they say reminds me of something from my study of the Bible.

Being on the net has opened a whole new world to me through Google, and YouTube searches. Having an account on the CBCnews blog led to other bloggers giving me tips of items to watch. The things I'm finding are opening my eyes, especially to some of the things I wrote in my first draft. It is stuff I feel compelled to share, so I'm developing another site to do that. http://www.freewebs.com/ccsnewsite I encourage all seekers of truth to check it out. Plus I have accumulated YouTube videos on my favorites page, and submitted my first video to enable others to access them: http://www.youtube.com/rookycybernerd .