World scene

What do you think of when you read or hear these words?

Matthew 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all [these things] must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

Mark 13:7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for [such things] must needs be; but the end [shall] not [be] yet.

Luke 21:9 But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end [is] not by and by.

Imagine, the middle east and what is going on. Think about what the world needs the most to survive and keep the life style of their choice. Imagine what would happen if unfriendly rogue governments decided to shut off the world's oil supply.

Many governments of the world are welcoming peaceful demonstrations in the Arab world to overthrow their governments. Egypt has forced President Hosni Mubarak to resign and they are demanding a new government. Libya is trying to overthrow the government of Moamer Kadhafi's regime. There are scores of other middle eastern countries where demonstrations are going on also. Iran, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain and even Saudi Arabia have unrest and protests. The overthrow of the governments of these countries could potentially start a world war.

By shutting off the oil supply in the middle east, life on earth, as we know it, would come to an end. At the present moment, we can not survive without oil.

Oil is the basis for gasoline as we all know, and it is also needed for a variety of other essentials as well. This is a list of some of the products made from oil. Nearly everything in our lives is made from oil, made by machinery and systems dependent on oil, and transported by oil as either gas or diesel fuel.

Ammonia, Anesthetics, Antihistamines, Artificial limbs, Artificial Turf, Antiseptics, Aspirin, Auto Parts, Awnings, Balloons, Ballpoint pens, Bandages, Beach Umbrellas, Boats, Cameras, Candles, Car Battery Cases, Carpets, Caulking, Combs, Cortisones, Cosmetics, Crayons, Credit Cards, Curtains, Deodorants, Detergents, Dice, Disposable Diapers, Dolls, Dyes, Eye Glasses, Electrical Wiring Insulation, Faucet Washers, Fishing Rods, Fishing Line, Fishing Lures, Food Preservatives, Food Packaging, Garden Hose, Glue, Hair Coloring, Hair Curlers, Hand Lotion, Hearing Aids, Heart Valves, Ink, Insect Repellant, Insecticides, Linoleum, Lip Stick, Milk Jugs, Nail Polish, Oil Filters, Panty Hose, Perfume, Petroleum Jelly, Rubber Cement, Rubbing Alcohol, Shampoo, Shaving Cream, Shoes, Toothpaste, Trash Bags, Upholstery, Vitamin Capsules, Water Pipes, Yarn.

If the middle east shuts off or rations oil, you can guarantee that the world will respond in desparation.

Revelation 9:16 And the number of the army of the horsemen [were] two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them

Revelation 16:12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.

Revelation 16:16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon

Armageddon will be a battle in the middle east. It will be fought in northern Israel against all the nations of the world that need to survive.

China, India, and southeast Asia are in the makings of an industrial revolution. They needs oil more than ever and may very well pass the oil consumption of the United States. If the Arabs close off access to its oil, China will most definately send its armys to the middle east. China has boasted in the past that they have a 200 million man army that can be mobilized. This correlates with Revelations 9:16 when it tells of two hundred thousand thousand soldiers. It is also east of the middle east like it is told in Revelation 16:12, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.

Matthew 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Arguing Christians

I've been reading the letters by readers who profess to be Christians. The subject is whether Peter was the first Pope or even a pope at all. I ask myself, is this really that important to argue about?

If Peter were here to listen to the bickering, he would probably sweep it under the rug and tell you all to go home until you can come back and play nice.

It is bad enough that atheists say that Christians are superstitious fools. But to listen to supposed mature devout followers argue about scripture just fuels the fire for nonbelievers to criticize and prove their point to not believe.

1 Corinthians 10:31 says ".....in whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." Is bickering, fighting, and backbiting glorifying God?

Romans 1:22 "Professing themselves to be wise, they become fools."

There is enough division among Catholics and Protestants, let alone all the denominations. If Christians can't figure out the meaning of God's greatest commandments, Mark 12:30-31 "...to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love each other like you should love yourself", then they have a lot to learn about being a Christian.

Finally, in saying this, we should all keep quiet, keep reading and studying our bible, and pray for understanding and wisdom. Just remember, believers and nonbelievers alike read these letters and hear you loud and clear.

God's greatest commandment

Which commandment is the greatest one? Do you think it is thou shalt not kill? Howabout thou shalt not steal? There are some commandments that many people don't even think of and some that people don't even know what they mean.
So which commandment is it? Moses brought back 10 commandments from the mountain and all of them are important. Thou shalt not covet is probably the least known or observed commandment, so it can't be the most important. What about honoring our parents, or not worshiping any other god but God himself?
Would you believe that the greatest commandment of all is not even one of the 10 commandments? How can this be, you ask?
Jesus himself gave us the commandment. He told us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love each other. This is the greatest commandment. All other commandments hinge on these.
We honor God by loving him and doing his will. By loving each other, we are also honoring him.
There is nothing better that we can do than to love God. When we love him, we reverence him and do all we can to please him. We don't worship idols or any other gods, we don't lie, murder, steal. We don't commit adultery nor will we covet. Not one of the ten commandments would be broken if we truly love God.

What is Christmas to you?

What is Christmas to you? Is it hustle and bustle at the malls, or getting everything just right for a party? Howabout buying the right gift for someone special? Do you think of the real reason for the season or does it get pushed back into the corner of your mind from all the stresses that the holiday can create?

This is the day that we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The day has been replaced by materialism and merchandicing. We are starting to hear from the political correct that we should say happy holidays instead of Merry Christmas.

Christmas is a time for us to reflect. A time to remember what God has done for us and what he can do if we just ask. It should be a time of happiness and gift GIVING without a thought to receive a gift in return. A time to give to others who are in need and a time to spend with family.

But really, is Christmas time the only time of the year that we should do these things? Is there only one time of year that people are in need? We all need to look around us and see the less fortunate and the lonely people. Think of the people around you that have nothing, or that elderly person down the street who has no visitors.

What will happen to that child who has no shoes or clean clothes to wear to school? What is happening to the awnry old man next door who wants nothing to do with you or your children because he has been lonely for so long? Is he really unapproachable?

Is our December so filled up with things to do that we have no time for others? We need to stop and take a deep breath or two and look around. The best gift is giving from the heart with joy, love, and happiness. Its not the most expensive gift that we can afford, its the one that is selfless and full of caring. Its a gift that can be transferred to others. Its a gift of love and affection. Its a gift that says, "I care enough".

Charity is not necessarily a monetary value. Charity is the act of giving. An act that we all let slip by because we are too busy or just don't want to get involved. Charity can be giving time to those that are in need of help, like cleaning the gutters or making minor repairs for a neighbor. Taking a warm meal to the elderly and offering an ear to bend or a shoulder to cry on.

These acts are an act of kindness and love. Jesus gave us two commandments that are more important than anything else. He told us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love each other. Think about how you treat others and how you have taught your children to do the same.

Christmas is not about partying, or seeing who gets the best gift. Christmas is about giving, and giving our best. But it should not be one day or one month, it should be all year round.

Noah and 8 plus souls

Noah, Genesis says, was one of eight souls that survived a cataclysmic world wide flood. This story has been told for centuries. Scientists have actually found records of tremendous flood scenarios around the world that date back to a time very near Noah's life. But were there more people that survived that just are not mentioned?

Genesis chapter 6 says that God was angry about all the evil and wickedness. So he tells his follower Noah that he is going to destroy the world with a flood. Noah is instructed to build an ark or a large barge that will handle all the beasts of the earth with food and provisions.

In Genesis 7:1, God said to Noah, "Come thou and all thy house unto the ark". It rained for 40 days and nights and the ark floated away with Noah, his family, and all the animals. Notice that The verse said all thy house?

The word house can mean family. It can also mean anyone under your care or command. How many stories in the bible show us that there were workers, maidens, concubines or slaves that were all under the same roof? These in some instances would be considered the house. The church is considered to be God's house and you can see how many people belong to it.

The bible mentions that Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth and these three had wives. Counting Noah and his wife, this accounts for eight souls. However the bible says that Noah was 500 years old when his three sons were born and it never mentions any children before his three sons. All the men from Adam to Noah had children by the time they were 187 years old. Why did Noah wait so long to have children?

The bible doesn't reveal anything unless it is significant with God's overall plan. It could be easily assumed that Noah and his sons already had children that could have entered into the ark along with the whole house.

God instructed Noah to bring the animals into the ark. Of the clean animals there were to be seven, both male and female. Of the animals that were unclean, just two of each, male and female. The ark will be a floating zoo that dwarfs any zoo in the world in comparison. Just think of 8 people taking care of a zoo. Do you think it would be impossible?

More to come

Cain's wife

Cain had murdered his brother Abel and soon finds himself in the land of Nod. I always wondered where this land was. I also wondered who Nod himself was. I thought that maybe there was someone named Nod and the land was named after him.

Nod was not a person at all. The land of Nod wasn't even an actual place. The word Nod actually means "to wander about or live in exile".

Genesis reveals that Cain meets a woman and they have a baby and name him Enoch. Where did this woman come from? This is an age old question that many believing and nonbelieving people have asked.

Most people will tell you that Cain's wife was his sister or possibly a niece. But why would God allow Cain to marry a relative? God does not approve of incest, so why would he allow anyone, especially Cain, to do this?

The answer is in Genesis chapter 1. God created man and woman and told them to be fruitful and multiply. Then he formed a man and called him Adam. Created and formed are two different words that describe actions of God.

The word created in the Hebrew language is "bara". Bara means to create. The word formed in Hebrew is "yatsar". Yatsar means to mold or squeaze into shape. Two different words with two different meanings or actions declared by God.

Genesis 2:1 declares that God had finished his work of creating the heavens and the earth and all the host of them. The word host in Hebrew is "tsaba". Tsaba means a mass of people.

God had created people, men and women, and formed a man, Adam. The host, or mass of people was all the races of people, white, black, oriental and so forth. It was from these people that Cain had found his wife.

Cain's dilemma

Cain was the first son of Adam who was mentioned in the bible. It is not certain if Adam had other children before Cain. But let's just assume that he was the first child.

Cain was a tiller of the ground or in otherwords, a farmer.

Cain had a brother named Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, what we might refer to as a rancher.

The two brothers gave offerings of their labors to God. Cain would offer grain, fruit, or vegetables that he had grown in his field and Abel offered some of the firstborn sheep of his flock. Over time, things must have changed in Cain's offerings.

The bible mentions that Abel offered the firstborn from his flock, but it does not say what Cain offered besides the fruits of his labor from the ground. This should make us think of what we offer to God.

Abel's offering was given to God before anything else. That is evident from the passage of his flock's firstborn sheep. Cain on the otherhand, must have had other thoughts and motives for his offerings.

Perhaps Cain gave his best at first but maybe he slacked off and started offering what was left on the barn floor. What comes to mind with this is all the dirt, mold, or chaffe that is left on the bottom of the pile.

God had respect for Abel's offerings but not Cain's. Was Able's offering more genuine and willing as opposed to Cain's who only gave his second best or less? This reflects our society today. We don't always give our best. We stop shy of giving unless we have an abundance. Some people don't even give when they are able to.

Cain grew angry at his brother because God had more respect for Abel. Abel is then murdered by Cain because of Cain's jealousy and rage.

As you read this and ponder, ask yourself, why did Cain lash out at Abel? What infuriated Cain so much that he had to take it out on his brother?

Many of us are like Cain. We feel that we are being treated unfairly and someone else is getting all of the credit or breaks. What we do not think about is who's fault it really is.

Look in a mirror and you will see who's fault it is. We accept that we have given our best. Then we feel cheated when we get passed over. Do we really give our best or do we give whatever we have left over? Do we keep the best for ourselves and offer the broken pieces to our neighbor?