Ezy Win

One of the major problems in the field of behavior science is the problem of people feeling they have no apparent purpose in their lives. Many in today’s world feel that they are trapped in an existence that offers little in the way of inspiration or guidance or pragmatic instruction for life improvement. This situation has been amplified by the Depression that has descended upon the world.

“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Corinthians 15:19).

General Douglas MacArthur (one of the generals who helped to win World War II) said in a speech after the Japanese surrender: “We have had our last chance. If we cannot devise some greater and equitable system, our Armageddon will be at our door. The problem basically is theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence, an improvement in human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, literature and all material and cultural developments of the past two thousand years. It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh.” It can only be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh. The flesh being saved will be the human trainees left over from the tribulation.

Christ spoke of this identical problem about twenty centuries ago. Focusing on the last days, he said, “…except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved…” (Matthew 24:22). Christ predicted a time when all life might be erased from the face of this planet (the time period in which we now live). “[Seeing] then [that] all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons should you be in [all] holy conversation and godliness” (2 Peter 3:11).
In compliance with God’s time table, there will be multiple resurrections from the dead (John 5:28-29). There are some false teachers who teach there is no resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:12).

At the last trump the dead in Christ will be raised at the first resurrection into bodies that do not die (1 Corinthians 15:52-54). Those in the first resurrection will not experience the second death. They will rule with Christ for 1000 years (Revelation 20:6). Many coming up in the second and third resurrections will be surprised to see that they will be judged by their works (Revelation 20:12 and Revelation 20:13).

Which Works?

God will, in time, remove all rebellion to him from the face of the earth. His Son, Christ will take back this planet by force (Revelation 19:11-13) and force peace upon this earth. He will be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6). Of the increase of his government there will be no end (verse 7). Individuals who overcome will be given a white stone, awarded to them by Jesus Christ himself. That stone will have the individual’s new name, which will be unique in the entire universe. And no one will know the name except the one who receives the stone (Revelation 2:17).

What God has for his people is much more than a repair job to return to an Eden-like environment. What he has planned transcends all that has ever existed. The next major positive event for the universe is the kingdom of God coming to this planet, which is the reason we should pray “…thy Kingdom come.”

The kingdoms of this world will be forced to become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ (Revelation 11:15). The New Jerusalem will come to this earth and God will tabernacle with his people (Revelation 21:2-3). There will be no more death, sorrow, tears, or pain (verse 4).

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).

“In the last days it will come to pass, [that] the mountain of the LORD’s house will be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills. And all nations shall flow into it” (Isaiah 2:2, Micah 4:1).

“And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3 and Micah 4:2).

“And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3).

“And they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken [it]” (Micah 4:4).

-wilyelder

Ask Your Bible
Read about emotional freedom technique – it has helped many people to find their path to spirituality.

Everybody needs an organized schedule in order to survive a presumably chaotic day. Time management is an important aspect of any job and even at home. If you don’t have the proper schedule for the day or week, you’ll find yourself stressed out and unable to properly relax. Managing your time properly is very advantageous for somebody who is always on the go. Let’s look at some of the things you can do in order to completely optimize your time.

Create a To-Do List

To-do lists are a great way to organize your schedule. But remember that listing all the things you need to do is never enough. You also have to prioritize and list them according to importance. Remember to list your duties according to: the things you must do that are important, the things you can do that are not important, and the things you can’t do that are important.

This way, you would have a general idea about those tasks you can do later and others that you can accomplish now. This would also provide you the time to procrastinate, which you can use later to relax.

Always Keep a Watch

If you are a person who is always on the go, always bring a watch with you. Keeping track of your time is important when you are busy. This way, you would neither waste nor lose time. Also in your home, try to put a regular or decorative wall clock in the living room. Make sure that the clock is placed somewhere it could be easily noticed.

There are also many collectible mantel clocks, which you can place on top of the fireplace and any empty shelf or bookcases around the house. Doing this can generally help you keep track of your time. Just make sure that you set the time right.

Multi-Task

Multi-tasking is a popular technique in managing your time. This can also affect your to-do list. Try to look for several things that you do at the same time but remember not to do two big tasks at the same time. Instead, pick one big and one small or two small tasks. Also, make sure that you can concentrate on your tasks. If you think that the tasks are too big for you or too many, don’t risk being stressed out. Remember to do everything at your own pace.

Online Reminder Services

Nowadays, there are services that can remind you of the important things you need to do and some of them are even free! Online reminder services are popular. All you have to do is to sign up for a free account and start setting dates for your important activities. When one of your activities is about to happen, the website will automatically notify you through your email.

Of course, make sure that your email program has a built-in alarm and reminder settings. This way, it can alarm you when something important needs to be taken care of. Now, you don’t have to rely on your trusty nautical table clocks or other alarm clocks to remind you of anything, everything is right there in your computer.

During the past forty years, Catholics have not been educated in their faith. Many Catholic adults have high school diplomas, bachelors, masters, and even PhD’s in business, science, medicine, etc. But, unfortunately, they have a second or third grade education in their Catholic faith! This is so sad, because when we are ignorant of our Catholic faith and the history behind it, we are vulnerable to having what faith we do have destroyed by someone of equal or greater ignorance, but perhaps greater persuasive powers. In other words, they may have more faith in their error, than we do in our truth. Remember, the Catholic faith contains the fullness of divinely revealed truth! So, what should we do? We should educate ourselves by studying all our adult lives. There are many good Catholic Audio Files files available on the Internet that you can download and listen to. There are many good Catholic websites available that can offer you solid Catholic teaching, such as ,Catholic Audio, where you can begin to “catch up” on all the Catholic doctrine and history you have missed out on.

Take me, for example. Until I was in my early thirties, I didn’t really know my Catholic faith that well. I thought I did, but when I actually began studying, I discovered I knew very little! In fact, even today, I realize that there is SO much to learn, that I can study all my life and never know it all. I guess that’s why the Pope has his own personal theologian to help him when he does research and study. Yes, the Pope studies the Catholic faith, too!

Some folks learn better by reading, some learn better by hearing. The Bible says that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. That’s why I think audio might be a little better than reading for this sort of thing. That’s why I recommend that you take a little time and download some of the audio (.MP3) files from the site I recommended and similar sites.

If you have an .MP3 player or an iPod, these type files would easily play on it. If you don’t, and have a PC with a CD burner, you can easily create music CD’s with the .MP3 files. You can do like I do and play the CD’s in your car’s CD player on the way to work and back. (I live approximately 67 miles from work, and this is a great time to listen to a good Catholic lecture on some topic or other.) I was especially interested in the talks on personal conversions to Christ and the Catholic Church. I was also interested in the history of the Catholic Church by Steve Kellmeyer. All these audio files are orthodox, i.e., faithful to Catholic teaching. We need to be very careful what we read and to what we listen in this day and age, because there has been a strong attack on the Catholic Church from without AND from within. To be able to discern what is truly Catholic teaching and what is not is of utmost importance. And I believe that the Catholic Audio Files files are as orthodox as you can find!

God bless!

Steve Bergeron

P.S. Read how emotional freedom technique helped many people to find the way to spirituality and self improvement.

Regarding Babylon, the message in the book of Revelation is not “Come out of her, you Pagans.” The message is: “Come out of her, my people” (Revelation 18:4). The message would not be appropriate unless God’s people had a presence in Babylon at the time of the end. Why should you come out of Babylon?

“…That you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues” (same verse).

“For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities” (Revelation 18:5).

“Babylon has been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad” (Jeremiah 51:7).

While the City of Babylon will be a specific place on this earth, Babylon itself is a system that girdles the globe. It is the international control system against God. It was set up like that from the beginning when Nimrod established Babel, the seed that became Babylon.

“…Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Eternal” (Genesis 10:9).

The King James “before” is from the Hebrew word “paniym”, which means, among other things, “in front of.” Nimrod placed himself in front of God, ahead of God, in essence, against God. And, Nimrod’s system, Babylon, as refined by his wife, Semiramis, became the control system opposed to the Creator God.

To understand Babylon, we must understand Babel, the tower upon which the system was founded. It was more than just a tower; it was the start of the control system against God. It has evolved into being the control system we see in today’s modern world: control of religion (faith control), control of media (opinion control), control of education (mind control), control of commerce (trade control), control of banking (money control), control of medications and prescriptions and medical services (drug control).

How did Babylon get started? Before there was Babylon, there was Babel. After the flood, God gave a promise that he would not destroy all flesh in a flood (Genesis 9:13-15). However, many of the people were still fearful. Nimrod took advantage of this fear. Josephus describes what happened after the flood. At first many were reluctant to come down from the mountains, fearing the possibility of a future worldwide flood. This occurred in spite of a direct promise from God. When the majority of people came down from the mountains, they dwelt in the plane of Shinar, a section of territory that would comprise what was later known as a precinct of Babylon. It was a good land for farming and was filled with blessings from the ground. However a leadership arose that rejected the idea that the prosperity was a blessing from God. They believed that their own power was the proper cause of their plentiful conditions and that they were therefore under no obligation to obey God.

It was Nimrod, grandson of Ham, who incited them to exhibit such an affront and contempt of God. His philosophy was, “If you submit to God, you are a coward.” It was a philosophy of expanding self-confidence into self-worship. The building of the tower of Babel was supervised by the master mason, Nimrod. Its purpose was not just to reach into heaven (the sky). Its purpose was also to provide a place to go when the future flood arrived to drown the world. Nimrod worked on the fear people had of the flood, a flood that never came. Fear was (and is) a tool of Babylon.

The tower was constructed of burnt brick, cemented together with mortar consisting of bitumen, which made it water-proof. Fearful that other places might not be as fruitful and plentiful as Shinar, the majority of the people participated in the building of the tower. Nimrod controlled the people by means of the tool of fear. However, the tower-building project came to an abrupt end when God confounded their language and scattered them over the face of the earth (Genesis 11:7-9). So all the people who were participating in the building of the tower became unable to communicate with each other and, as a result, became scattered. After this time, did anyone come to inhabit the land of Shinar? Yes. Hestiaeus mentions the priests of Jupiter (a false god) took sacred vessels and came to Shinar.

Nimrod’s great uncle, Shem, is also known as Sem. He is the father of all the Semitic people. According to profane history Shem killed Nimrod, cut him up, and sent pieces of his body all over the inhabited world.

This violent act had the effect of terrorizing Semiramis, Nimrod’s widow, to the extent that she transformed the Babel system into a mystery, a secret system known only to the inner circle. It became the Babylonian mysteries. And today Babylon is a mystery to the majority of the world’s population who have been victimized by it. Modern education and media are, for the most part, Godless and secular.

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient” (Romans 1:28).

This is one reason so many in the media and in education have lost the ability to maintain logical and reasonable trains of thought. Their degeneracy has developed to the level in which their mind has become reprobate. Some newcomers have not reached that point but they are told they must get with the program or get out. After years of getting with the program, they, too, lose the associative abilities one would ordinarily expect of reporters and educators.

Christ did not institute vows of poverty for himself or for anyone else. On the other hand he did not direct that his way (Christianity) should be run like a business, complete with territorial imperatives, the spirit of competition, and an overbearing chain-of-command to lord it over the so-called “laity”.

Many demons have the effect of placing an extra level of deception into the mind of the idolater. For example, at the end there will be frog-like demons that will influence the rulers of the world to believe that they can actually fight against Christ (Revelation 16:13-14). There is an equation at work here. The more idolatry a person is involved in, the greater capacity they have for self-deception.

“Take heed to yourself that you be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before you; and that you inquire after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise” (Deuteronomy 12:30).

At first glance, this may seem like someone simply going after other gods and using idols as an aid to worship other gods. The next verse makes it clearer. You shall not apply this to the true God!

“You shall not do so unto the Eternal your God…” (Deuteronomy 12:31).

Bible Answers

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Sources:

Elder, Wily, Babylon: Control of Religion, © 2000 Wily Elder, AFSS Corporation, Ocala, FL, United States

Hislop, Alexander, The Two Babylons, © 1916, The Loizeaux Brothers, pages 6,63,64, Neptune, NJ, United States

Josephus, Complete Works of Josephus, © 1960 Kregel Publications, p. 30, Grand Rapids, MI, United States

P.S. Read about emotional freedom technique and how it can help to find the way to self improvement and spirituality.

Just as a camera will generally have a point of focus, the human mind will usually have a point of focus. Eastern philosophies refer to the human mind as being like a drunk monkey looking for the ultimate banana. This, of course, pre-supposes that person is grasping, practicing the way of “get”. We live in a modern world that is filled with distractions of all kinds. There are many things that are devised to capture the mind: 2012 hype, imploding economy, fear-mongering in the media, moneymaking opportunities, entertainment, game playing, politics, talk radio, movies, television, games, Internet, etc. Once a mind is captured by a distraction, it usually ignores what it was previously paying attention to. It may or may not return to what it had originally focused on.

“…where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21).

What we treasure most will usually become the focus of our attention. This can cause us to compartmentalize our priorities. Truth from scripture may become compartmentalized to a part of our mind that contains religious thought. There is nothing wrong with doing that. But wouldn’t it be better to put it into a part of the mind that contains practical pragmatic wisdom?

Christ often condemned the religious leaders because of their lack of wisdom and the spirit of competition and their blindness. They didn’t focus properly.

“The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon: and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here” (Luke 11:31).

The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon and his wisdom and went to see him to see if it really was true that he was the wisest man. She found he was indeed the wisest man (1 Kings 10:1-9).

“And she said to the king, it was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts and of your wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: your wisdom and prosperity exceeds the fame which I heard of. Happy are your men, happy are these, your servants, which stand continually before you, and hear your wisdom. Happy be the LORD your God, which delights in you, to set you on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel forever, therefore he made you king to do judgment and justice” (1 Kings 10:6-9).

The comparison made by Christ was that he (Christ) was infinitely wiser than Solomon. Yet the crowds of people, for the most part, had no real appreciation of that. And the religious leaders hated him.

The same is true today. Christ is the living Word of God (John 1:1). The Bible is the written Word of God. In the pages of the Bible we have a wealth of knowledge that was created from wisdom that is infinite. But generally humans, for the most part, set Bible reading as a low priority. There are computer programs and internet links that can show and translate the various Greek texts on which the English New Testament is based. The same can be done with the Hebrew of the Old Testament. There are programs and concordances that show how specific original language words are used throughout scripture. There has never been an age in which this knowledge, in detail, was at the fingertips of humans until now. And yet most people have almost no appreciation of it.

There are two things that can cause a major focus away from God: an evil heart of unbelief and a heart hardened through the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:12-13).

Scripture contains the knowledge we need (2 Timothy 3:16). To convert it into wisdom, we have to ask.

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraids not…” (James 1:5).

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Psalms 111:10, Proverbs 9:10). The King James “fear” is from the Hebrew “yirah”, having the meaning of fear, awe, respect. Our respect for God is very important. Without it we cannot even begin to have wisdom.

Wily Elder CBA, CMI

Behavior Psychology

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Learn how emotional freedom technique helps people to find their way to spirituality.

Some Christians question how the books of the New Testament came to be accepted to the approved canon. Actually, it was the other way around. John, the original apostle, and his understudy, Polycarp, made sure that spurious and fraudulent books would not become part of the recommended reading material of Christians in the first and second centuries AD. For example, they rejected the Gospel of the Lord, also known as the Gospel of Marcion. There were two extremes of religious leaders seeking to distract people from the gospel of the kingdom of God. One extreme were the legalists, who felt salvation was earned by keeping the law and by being circumcised. The other extreme were the Nicoliatans, whose reasoning was: “God is glorified by forgiving sin, so sin early and sin often in order that God may be glorified that much more.” Sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4). Anti-law imperatives are not something new in theology. Every era of time has had its advocates. The organized beginnings in the Christian era is documented as far back as the 140′s AD. At that point in time there was a heretic named Marcion who invented a new philosophy, which represented an unusual view of Christ.

During the second century, Marcion of Pontius (in West Asia) became associated with a professing Christian group in Rome. He was the son of the bishop of Sinope. He formulated the idea of the Bad God/Good God. His belief was a strange outgrowth of the gnostic theology. He believed the Most High God was an inferior being. He believed Christ came to overturn the harsh laws of the Most-High God. He believed Christ was always spirit (never flesh). He believed Christ never really died for the sins of every one. He believed Christ was a phantasm. This is, of course, the spirit of the Antichrist. He thought the death of Christ was theatrical, not real. Therefore he believed Christ never suffered. He believed there was something holy about not having sex so he and his followers tried to practice celibacy. The bishops (supposedly, including his own father) excommunicated him for his odd philosophy. Ironically, years later, as the standard religion became more corrupt, the mainstream would embrace celibacy as something holy.

Marcion thought the role of Jesus was to liberate Christians from the power of the Most High God (the Father). So he thought the Father was the evil God of the Old Testament. And Christ (he thought) was the nice God of the New Testament who made the harsh God of the Old Testament unnecessary. Does this sound familiar? It certainly fits into some of modern day theology. Marcion felt that only Paul understood the teachings of Christ. So Marcion put together a Christian canon consisting of only ten letters of Paul and a modified Gospel of Luke. He threw out the Old Testament completely. He didn’t want his followers reading Matthew, Mark, John, Acts, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, James, or Jude. And he certainly didn’t want them to read Revelation. In Revelation there are the prophecies of God’s people keeping the commandments right up to the end. Of course, in the Bible, you can’t go further into the future than Revelation.

“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:17).

One time when Marcion encountered Polycarp (an understudy of John, the Apostle), Marcion said, “Don’t you recognize me?” Polycarp said, “I do indeed. I recognize the firstborn of Satan!”

Marcion was not the only anti-law advocate at the time. But he was one of the most famous. Marcion’s “canon” (the modified Gospel of Luke and 10 of Paul’s letters) was a thin book (scroll) to begin with. And from time to time he would modify the “canon”. He always subtracted from it. He never added to it. He removed those scriptures that encouraged obedience to God and those scriptures emphasizing works for a Christian to do. Thankfully, Polycarp, and later, Polycrates of Ephesus, made sure that the contrived canons such as Marcion’s were exposed and rejected.

History of the English Bible

Ask Your Bible

Wily Elder

Antiquity Online, Jews and Christians in Rome’s Golden Age, Chapter 19, 1999 Fesmitha, Eurekanet

Brom, Jennifer, The Ecole Glossary, 1999 Cedar Evansville Education, Ecole

Holmes, Peter, Five Books Against Marcion, 1868 Peter Holmes

Josephus, Flavius, Antiquities of The Jews, 1981 Kregel Pub, Grand Rapids, MI, United States

Lieuwen, Daniel F., The Emergence of the New Testament Canon, 1999 Daniel Lieuwen

Voorwinde, Stephen; Vox Reformata Articles, 1999 Vox Reformata, Geelong, Australia

Wiki Editors, Gospel of Marcion, Copyright 2009 Absolute Astronomy

Read also about emotional freedom technique, as it has assisted many people to find the path to spirituality.

The atrocities in the USA and especially
New York on ‘9/11’ – Tuesday 11th September 2001

Were these compellingly and chillingly accurately prophesied in the Bible in 90 AD, 2,000 years ago,
in the book of Revelation Chapter 11?

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This Chapter Eleven of Revelation has been ‘bugging me’ for twenty-three years, ever since my discovery in that book that the Holy Spirit is ‘Seven Spirits, or a Seven-Fold Spirit’. However I firmly believe that the Book of Revelation is an ‘account of the future – in strict chronological order of events’. So here is my interpretation of Revelation 11: -

“Then I was given a reed like a staff, and they said, “Rise and measure the shrine of God and the altar and those worshipping in it. But leave out completely the court outside the shrine and do not measure it, because it was given to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant to my two martyrs, and they will prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth”.
Revelation 11:1-3
• This chapter 11 is about buildings! ‘Temples’ – secret, sacred, buildings, too! The ‘court outside the temple’ is New York City, especially Manhattan, a leading world tourist attraction for visitors from ‘the nations’ (the United Nations even used to be based in a building on Manhattan at the time the World Trade Centre was built, 1970-1977). Yet, it is a city ‘HOLY to mammon’ – money, the ‘root of all evil’ – containing Wall Street, the world’s largest stock exchange, of which until ‘9/11’ the World Trade Centre formed a huge portion!

• For ‘42 months’ in the Bible is always an omen of Evil or ‘spiritual warfare’! It is half the Holy cycle of seven years. Seven is in fact the ultimate Holy number in all religions, and two in Occult circles the number of the Devil – Seven versus two spells trouble! 1,260 days only corresponds to 42 months of 30 days each if one works out 30 days per month as according to the ‘Numera-logical Calendar’ in Volume C Part 1 of this book… A total of seven years is indicated here by 42 months and 1,260 days each appearing. It took 7 years to build the World Trade Centre, 1970-1977, as I said above…

• The two martyrs of the World Trade Centre were indeed steel-grey in colour (‘clothed in sackcloth’) and indeed took 1,260 days to build – times two, the Devil’s number – 1970-1977…

“These are the two olive-trees and the two lamp-stands standing before the lord of the earth.”
Revelation 11:4

Strip away the façade, and the twin towers were filled with literally hundreds of thousands of miles of electrical, computer and communications cables – for as well as being computer centres for Wall Street they were also communications towers. Just like well-dressed olive trees… The largest buildings in the world at nearly a mile high and an acre each in area when built. At night they lit up the Manhattan skyline – like lampstands on a vast scale… I went to their top floor in 1980, and got a real impression of them at the south tip of the island, ‘standing before the lord of the earth’ i.e. Wall Street, Manhattan; and/or the United States of America!

“If anyone wishes to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths and devours their enemies; and if anyone should wish to harm them, thus they must be killed. They have the authority to shut heaven, so that rain may not fall during the days of their prophecy, and they have authority over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they may wish.”
Revelation 11:5-6

The World Trade Centre headed up Wall Street, which headed up the economic might of the USA. These verses indicate how these forces protected themselves militarily till ‘9/11’, greatly helped by the geographical separation of that country and them, from enemies.

“When they finish their witness, the beast coming up out of the abyss will make war with them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the open street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where indeed their lord was crucified. For three and a half days, some of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look on their corpses, and refuse to let their corpses be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and be glad, and will send presents to one another, because these two prophets tormented those dwelling on the earth.”
Revelation 11:7-10

• The beast from the bottomless pit – insane suicidal terrorism born of pure malignant hatred and possibly envy of the USA.
• Sodom and Egypt – same metre as Manhattan Island in New Amsterdam – New York’s original Dutch name when founded by Peter Stuyvesant in the 17th Century
• It took till Friday – three and half days – for the dust to settle over this atrocity, and those in Washington and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that same awful morning
• Only the ‘earth people’ celebrated in this way – spiritual people, even including all True Muslims, mourned this tragedy

“ And after the three days and a half, a spirit of life out of God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on their onlookers. They heard a great voice out of heaven saying to them, “Come you up here!”, and they went up to heaven in the cloud, in the sight of their foes. And in that hour occurred a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest became terrified and gave glory to the God of Heaven. The second woe passed away; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.”
Revelation 11:11-14

Current estimates are that around 7,000 people will indeed have died as a result of those awful events, at the Pentagon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and above all Manhattan Island. Again, indeed, the island of Manhattan was so badly damaged by the earthquake resulting from the collapse of the World Trade Centre, that a tenth of all its buildings have been made unsafe and so uninhabitable. All this happened after the dead indeed went to Heaven (‘in a cloud’ – of dust and flames), and their photographs were produced by grieving relatives in the streets (‘they stood on their feet’).

Read about emotional freedom technique – it has helped many people to find their own path to spirituality.

As you might have already known, perhaps from your art or history class that churches are not just buildings where individuals gather together to meditate and take part in other religious endeavors. They are also pieces of architectural wonders. They house several of the most valuable art pieces and have historical values. Hence, church restoration and repair is not a particularly easy job.

Numerous churches have been there for hundreds of years and they have withstood the passage of time and natural and man-made calamities. It is crucial to keep them in good condition, including those not-so-old ones. It should be emphasized, though, that church repair and restoration is relatively a difficult responsibility. You need the assistance of individuals who are professionals in this line of work and these consist of carpenters, masons, and plaster and ironwork specialists. It is not just the roofs, furniture, woodworks, and ironworks that should be carefully repaired and restored but the art pieces too. In addition, it must[/spin][/spin] be guaranteed that while these things are repaired and restored, they do not miss their historical feel.

In fact, churches are included in the most significant structures in our society as individuals visit these places, primarily to take part in several religious endeavors. So it is very critical that they are made safe to stay at. Art pieces such as sculptures and paintings are just some of the reasons why people visit a specific church and they deserve to see art pieces that are well maintained. Whilst it is true that it is no easy job, it must be worked on because we would not want lose them. Yes, reproductions of these pieces of art and historical articles may be produced but we cannot replace the authentic charm that they possess. Truly, keeping a church and the art pieces in it in good shape is one great investment.

A church is one building that cannot be overlooked and so is a school. It is also another place where people work together, mainly for learning. We spend so many hours in a day in it, it becomes our second home. It is also the place where, almost certainly, the future great architects, artists, historians, among others will be hailing from. Hence, school repair and restoration is another investment that we need to look into. You would not want this place of education to have leaking roofs, chipped paint, poor ventilation, and damaged toilets. These situation in a school in fact have disturbing effects on the accomplishment not just of the students but the teachers too. Therefore, government executives and school authorities should coordinate and work together on the appropriate distribution of funds for the restoration and maintenance of our schools.

“We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” — FDR during World War II.

There are people who have panic attacks who are so very fearful they are unable to leave their home. They may depend on their family members to communicate with the outside world while they stay “safely” at home. Most of us may see the irrationality of such fear. However have you ever had a fear that caused you to lose your concentration, that caused you to lose sleep at night, that caused you to be losing your peace of mind?

In the field of mental science there is an entire category of specific fears labeled as phobias.

In the sixteenth century, there was the introduction of the word “hydrophobia”, the fear of water. This was a time of great religious persecution. A person could be drowned by zealous mobs or burned at the stake, for being thought of as a witch or sorcerer.

In the 1870′s Dr. Westphal introduced the word “agoraphobia”. It originally was understood to have the meaning “the fear of squares or open places.” This fear was initially noted as evident in the setting of market places or places used for public assembly. One celebrated meeting place of the ancient world was the Agora in Athens. Hence the prefix “agora” was used to describe a fear that was originally keyed to places of assembly. Like the Forum in Rome, the Agora in Athens was a place for an assembly of people. The word “agora” comes from the Latin word “ageirein”, meaning assemble, which is related to the Latin word “grex”. The Latin word “grex” means flock from which the English word “gregarious” is configured. The word “gregarious” is descriptive of a person who likes to socialize (likes to be with a flock).

In the latter half of the 1800′s there were some new configurations of many more words descriptive of fears.

In the 1870’s there was the introduction of the word “claustrophobia”, the fear of enclosed places, the opposite of agoraphobia. Agoraphobia eventually came to mean (primarily) the fear of open places, not just market places.

In the 1890′s there was the introduction of the word “acrophobia”, the fear of heights. The prefix “acro” is from the Greek “akros” meaning topmost.

Some phobias are super-specific. For example, triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number thirteen.

What are some ways people overcome their fears?

Passive Awareness:

In using passive awareness the person experiencing the fear must transcend the direct effect of the fear by gaining insight into the irrationality of the fear and thereby becoming free from the fear. Obviously this method is the least likely to be used for one reason. Most people suffering from a specific fear for any length of time are not likely to have or attain insight into a fear they have become entrenched in. In other words, they are too close to their fear to free themselves from it. The time when passive awareness can be the most helpful is with individuals in which the fear has just begun to have an inordinate effect on their life.

Systematic Desensitization:

In systematic desensitization there is a gradual withdrawal from their fear by a series of small steps that are designed to desensitize a person to the experiences they consider to be negative. For example, a person who suffers panic attacks may be unwilling to communicate with the outside world in any manner. This person will be encouraged to step outside their house two steps and turn around and go back inside the house. Next they will be encouraged to step two steps outside their house and wait for 15 seconds then return to the house. Next they will be encouraged to step all the way to their front gate and wait for 20 seconds and then return to the house. This gradual guidance, successive approximation, will continue until the person is walking around outside and beginning to communicate with other people. This gradual re-introduction to the outside world may take days or weeks to accomplish. The important thing to remember is, in most cases, rushing the person will very likely make their fear worse.

Positive Practice:

In positive practice the fear is extinguished through the use of training which can be self-directed. A man with the fear of heights may climb five floors up and look down and continue looking down until he feels calm in spite of being up so high.

Modeling:

Watching someone else face a specific type of fear can have a profound effect on someone who is trying to overcome the same fear.

Shaping:

When someone successfully overcomes a fear, friends and associates should offer encouragement by giving verbal praise for courage or faith.

The Greek “phobos” from which we get the word phobia can mean flight or that which causes flight. It can mean fear, dread, and terror. It can be a negative fear (as in 1 John 4:18,“…no fear in love….”). Or it may be a positive fear, a reverential fear of God (as in Romans 3:18,”…no fear of God….”). This fear of God is a healthy dread of displeasing Him, just as you might dread to displease your earthy parent.

The basic Greek “phobetron” is terrors. It is configured from “phobos”. A modified form of “phobetron” is found in Luke 21:11. “And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.” The word for fearful sights was “phobetra” In Old English, prior to the 1200’s AD, the English verb for fear was the same as in use today. However, the noun meant “sudden terrible event” and only after the 1200’s AD did the noun begin to describe the human reaction to sudden terrible events instead of the events themselves.

“…God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

The word here for “fear” is the Greek “deilias” from the word “deilia”, meaning fearfulness, denoting cowardice. It is never used in a positive sense.

What is the fear of the future? It is worry. How can we avoid worry?

“…seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).

“Do not fret, then, over tomorrow…” (Matthew 6:34, Knox Translation)“…for tomorrow will bring its own anxieties” (Matthew 6:34 Twentieth Century New Testament).

Are we going to have a healthy fear of God?

Adam and Eve might have learned their lesson. But their son, Cain, did not have much respect for God’s authority. Cain brought plants (fruit of the ground) as an offering to God (Genesis 4:3) Cain was disobedient, after having known what God expected. The “way of Cain” is to say, in essence: “God, I’ll worship You the way I want to worship You, not the way You want me to worship You.” The way of Cain is to have no fear of God, no reverence to God. Jude warned us to avoid the way of Cain (Jude 11).

Wily Elder, CBA, CMI

Behavior Science

Bible Questions

Information Sources:

Arndt, William F., and Gengrich, F. Wilbur, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, London, University of Chicago Press, 1957.

Ayto, John, Dictionary of Word Origins, New York, Arcade Publishing, 1990.

Dewey, Pam, Outside The City, Charlotte, Michigan, Shelter In The Word, Vol. 1, Number 1, 1998.

Stevens 1550, The Englishman’s Greek New Testament, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing, 1970.

Vaughan, Th.D., General Editor, The Word, The Bible From 26 Translations, Gulfport, MS, Mathis Publishers, 1988.

Find your own path to spirituality with the help of emotional freedom technique (EFT).

Finding out the truth about hell requires thinking outside the box. If, after looking at the evidence, you are still not convinced, you have the option of retreating back into the box.

“…what know you, O wife, whether you shall save your husband? Or how know you, O man, whether you shall save your wife?” (1 Corinthians 7:16).

For some, it may come as great comfort to realize that their mate, if they die unconverted, will not be going to an ever-burning torturing hell fire to be tormented for eternity. Why would God, unless he is a sadist, be wanting your mate to be writhing in an ever-burning hell fire for eternity?

There are two main points of view on the subject of hell. On one hand there is the belief that bad people go to an underground torture chamber filled with fire to endure pain for eternity. On the other hand there is the belief that God is a God of mercy who will reward the good with eternal life (John 3:16) and punish the evil by destroying them in the lake of fire so that they cease to exist except as ashes under the feet of the righteous (Malachi 4:3).

What phrase is repeated in scripture/the Bible over and over?

“…his mercy endures forever.” The scripture occurs over 40 times between 1 Chronicles 16:34 and Jeremiah 33:11. David, a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22) repeated it 33 times. We either believe that God’s mercy endures forever or we don’t.

If we don’t believe the mercy of God endures forever, then we believe in the traditional hell.

There is no doubt that professing Christianity, for the most part, is built on the fear of hell. It is fear religion at its worse.

“There is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).

Traditional evangelists have made a good living scaring people into conversions by describing the traditional ever-burning hell. This type of preacher is supposedly a counter balance to an opposite extreme that preaches that there is no punishment for the wicked (which is also a lie).

What is the punishment for being wicked? The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), not eternal life in hell fire. The deceptions about hell dovetail against each other to the extent that most people are pre-programmed to reject the truth of the matter before they even begin digging to get to the truth of the issue. It requires a breaking of set patterns of thinking and realizing that all scriptures fit together to expose a perfect picture of what to expect after our lives are over.

Of course, to get to the truth of the word issue requires us to go to the original Hebrew of the Old Testament and the original Greek of the New Testament.

What is the scripture?

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is useful for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

Is the scripture the King James Version Bible?

No.

Is the scripture the NIV?

No.

Scripture is the original Hebrew and Chaldee Old Testament plus the Greek New Testament.

English translations exist as simply translations. In most cases this is not a big issue. However, on the subject of hell it is a big issue because the King James Bible is peppered with the word “hell”.

In the King James Version of the Old Testament the word translated into the English word “hell” is the Hebrew word “sheol”, which means “the unseen”, in essence, “the grave”. The equivalent of this in the King James Version of the New Testament is the Greek word “hades”, which also means “the unseen”, in essence, “the grave”. There are also two other Greek words that the King James translators translated into the English word “hell”.

One of the Greek words is “ge-enna”, which is a trash pit just outside Jerusalem. There is no trash there at this time. It is a tourist attraction. Tour guides advertise that they can take you to hell and back. Hell is a popular tourist site.

Ge-enna was the place where mothers used to sacrifice their babies to the god Molock. This was centuries ago. After the altar of Molock was destroyed it became a place to put trash. Also criminals who did not deserve to be buried were put into ge-enna, the trash pit. Christ referred to it as a metaphor for the lake of fire, “…where the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched.” The worm is a maggot. The maggot does not die. It turns into a fly. The fly eventually dies, of course. The fire is not quenched. In both cases, the ge-enna trash pit, and the lake of fire, there is no quenching of the fires. They die out when there is no more material to feed the flame.

Last, but not least, the Greek word “tartaroo” is translated into the English word “hell”. It occurs only once in 2 Peter 2:4. It is a condition of restraint. It is not for people. It is for fallen angels only.

It is small wonder that there is such confusion on the subject of hell. After being told as children that “bad people go to hell when they die”, the conditioning is completed by looking into the King James Bible and seeing the word hell occurring many times, not knowing that 4 words of 3 diverse meanings are translated into the English word “hell”. This certainly takes a lot getting used to. And simply knowing the meanings of the original words is usually not enough to extinguish the confusion.

For extra information go to Can You Go To Hell?.

Conditioning received from the traditional hell-fire preachers cannot easily be transcended. For example, there is the analogy of the “soul” being the real you and the body being like an old overcoat that you can shed when you die. The idea of an immortal soul comes from Greek philosophy, not scripture.

Type the words “immortal soul” in an electronic Bible. You will find there are no occurrences of such an idea. The soul is not immortal. The soul that sins will die (Ezekiel 18:4 and Ezekiel 18:20). How many souls have sinned? All have sinned (Romans 3:23). Therefore all souls die.

The soul dies. It does not receive eternal life in an ever-burning hell-fire.

What does the word “soul” mean? If you want the Bible meaning of the word you will need to go to the original languages of the Bible and retrieve the meaning.

Soul comes from the Hebrew word “nephesh”, meaning self or creature. Most of the time it refers to a living creature, man or animal. But it can also refer to a dead creature. In Numbers 19:13 the Hebrew “nephesh” is translated as “body” and it is mentioning a body (a “nephesh”, a soul) that is dead. In the New Testament the word “soul” comes from the Greek word “psuche”, meaning a vital force with the affections and desires. It generally refers to living souls. However, it too can refer to dead souls. In Revelation there is reference to a time in the future when “…every living soul died in the sea” (Revelation 16:3). Every soul (“psuche”) died. You do not have a soul. You are a soul.

There is something worse than dying. What is worse than dying? It is the experience of the second death, of course, when unrepentant sinners are thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8), burning to a crisp to become ashes under the feet of the righteous (Malachi 4:3), the Merciful God allowing them to cease to exist.

As mentioned before, the Hebrew “sheol” is translated into the Old Testament as the English word “hell”. “Hell” occurs 31 times inside the Old Testament, translated from the word “sheol”. However, “sheol” occurs more than 50 times in the Old Testament. What other word is it translated into? It is also translated into the word “grave” and into the word “pit”. It was at the discretion of the individual translator as to whether it was translated as “hell”, “grave”, or “pit”. Many of the Bible translators believed in the traditional hell. This is the reason they used the word “hell” liberally.

What is the punishment of the wicked? Their end is destruction (Philippians 3:18-19) not eternal life in hell. Their fate is to become ashes under the feet of the righteous (Malachi 4:3).

Wily Elder, CBA, CMI

Bible FAQ
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