Richard Alan Edwards: 2011

Monday, February 28, 2011

C.S. Lewis says....

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -- on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg -- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." – Mere Christianity, pages 40-41.

Have you noticed??? There are various interpretations of history, whether it be of civilizations or individuals who were the movers and shakers of those civilizations. Now, there is a uniform agreement on most historical figures (i.e. individuals) as to how they influenced their societies. When it comes to Jesus Christ you have only one option and you must choose. Up to this point in time, you have chosen in case you don't know it yet. I will clarify this paragraph later.

Jesus Christ throughout his three year ministry made His claims as clear as crystal to those he spoke to. They knew he was claiming to be so many things outside the realm of a normal human being and utmost of all, he claimed to be God and the foretold Messiah of the Old Covenant.

Do you want Him to save you? Are you ready to be born again by His power? Are you willing to come to Him as a little child? Are you ready to ask Him to save your soul? Call to Him, repent, believe the gospel that he died for your sins and rose again from the dead and lives in heaven. He wants you to live in heaven forever with Him and with all true Christians. Go into your closet when you can be alone and quiet and call on Him.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Original intent of the 14th Amendment and the 1st Amendment as it relates to Pornography

How would you interpret the 14th amendment as it relates to the children of illegal immigrants who through no fault of their own were brought to the U.S. and in so doing broke a federal law? There was a context in history when the 14th Amendment to the Constitution was written. July 9th, 1868 was the date this Amendment was ratified granting all slave's children the right to be "natural born citizens" of the U. S. This context was clear as we have the news print articles from various states which recorded it's purpose. If "original intent" could preclude other interpretations of an amendment then "original intent" could be applied to other Amendments and preclude other interpretations of the said amendment, correct? Therefore, in Amendment One when free speech and the freedom of the press is mentioned we also could conclude that pornography which had yet to be created would be excluded in the "original intent" of the authors of Amendment One. So persists the question: Why do we allow this defense to exist in courts? Our Amendments exist to the benefit of all and to the demise of no one. Pornography degrades women and men, destroys true understanding of sex, perverts the minds of individuals and is just morally wrong.

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THE LIMITED WELCOME OF JESUS CHRIST

What if today you received an invitation inviting you to have dinner with the most admired person of a Royal family? For instance, King Solomon, Queen Elizabeth, George Washington, or Abraham Lincoln ,or whoever you could name. Would you accept and believe the invitation was authentic and go to the dinner, however unworthy you feel, whatever socio-economic class you are in, whatever race, religion or ethnicity you might be? You have been invited by the Creator God, the most Royal person in the world to have ever lived. Why would you turn down such an invitation. This Creator God is going to make you worthy to sit at His table, he is going to cover your socio- economic embarrassment by giving you one of His own Royal robes. What if the language of this Royal individual was different than yours and you sensed you might have nothing to say to this person? Would you still go if he promised you a part of his kingdom and any desire that you wanted? Now those desires would be stipulated by His rules you understand.

So now, you are at the dinner. Imagine if you were a person who had nothing to say to this person of Royalty and education. Maybe you were at the bottom of the socio-economic level, you had accomplished nothing in life, you had no sense of self worth and absolutely zero to offer this person. You were speechless while sitting at the table of this Royal gentleman. This would be very humbling, extremely embarrassing, would it not? Yet now, something has suddenly changed!!!

This Royal Person is totally interested in your little life. He did not want to talk about all His accomplishments, but wanted to ask you, about you. This person is interested in your life. How different would that be? That would be unexpected and outside your normal experience with other people, right? Then that person of wealth, honor and priveledge and glory said, "ALL THAT I HAVE IS NOW YOURS", you will inherit what I have. You would be shocked at such a statement and ask, what do you mean by that? So, would you accept it, believe it, or would you proclaim: "It cannot be true, you are a liar"!!! I really do not believe you and will not have you reign over me, you shout.

You have heard clearly the offer that was made you.

Now we relate this metaphor to Jesus Christ who came from the highest of royalty and has existed before time began, was the person who created the worlds, the infinite space, the infinite galaxies and the infinite stars. In fact, there was never a time He has not existed. In fact, time has always been and that is one thing he never created. "From everlasting to everlasting thou art God". This person of royalty had hundreds of prophecies written about him by many prophets describing the circumstances, time and city of his birth. There are literally hundreds of prophecies about Him. No one can deny these or disprove them. He was born as a human over 2000 years ago to a woman who was a virgin. He lived a perfect life, never sinning and overthrew all of Satan's attacks. He died for the sins of the whole world. He died for you.

It was said by one author John, that if all the things that Jesus Christ did were all written down, that the whole world could not contain the books that should be written.

Would you, Could you, Should you say after never finding anything against Him, say, "You are some sort of Liar, a Lunatic, or a deceiver of billions of people since mankind began?

Jesus Christ, say it out loud, I dare you to shout it out loud. Call to Him and beg for His pardon. Accept that He died in your place receiving in His own body your suffering for your sins. You have sinned against an infinite Creator and a Perfect God. If you turn away, YOU will never be in His presence but forever be away from His presence because an Infinite God demands an Infinite and perfect sacrifice for your sin. Can you pay that price? No one can. We do not even know nor could we comprehend the infinite demands of God. We must meet His perfection in everything we do. None of us can be as perfect as God. Only His own Son who has never sinned can become your righteousness in God's view. After three days of being dead Jesus Christ rose from the grave. He rose up of His own power and appeared to thousands for a period of 40 days.

He says, "Come to me and I will give you rest." Rest for your souls. He is the Great Physician. God, the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth is inviting you to come and is welcoming you to an eternal supper with Him. Will you come? Will you scoff? Will you doubt? Most of us will not say we hate Him we are just indifferent. Will you throw your hands up in the air and say, "I well never let this person rule over me", I hate Him, I reject Him, I call Him a liar!

Or, will you receive the Royal invitation and the Welcome of Jesus Christ? Come to Him as that person who is at the bottom of the socio-ecnomic class, a person who has nothing to offer, a child with no pride, a brokenhearted person. Tell Him, He is listening. Trust Him and believe what He said about Himself and come to His table as a humbled person. He will not accept you otherwise. Call on His Name and He will save your soul. Repent and believe and lay your life down and He will save you. Read the book of St. John on your knees.

INFINITY

This English word is a derivative of infinitas (Latin) which means "unboundedness", without end, beyond human ability to number or even conceive. It is not a number or a concept, therefore it would have to be defined by someone who could understand it. We have tried in philosophy, mathematics, cosmology and theology to explain it the best we can. All our attempts are futile because we live in time and those who live within a boundary that is earthly cannot comprehend any idea or word or principle outside that boundary.

One of the many reasons men cannot think of God is that they are His enemy. They all have chosen to rebel against Him unless His divine providence interupts that process. He has divine retribution planned for each of us at His judgement. Man always is the center of His own universe and everything revolves around Him. Everything revolves around us. After all, are we not at the top of the food chain? In Western egalitarian civilization our view of God is smaller than small. Secular Humanism built upon Darwinism and Uniformitarianism have become our prevalent religion and we worship and serve the creature more than the Creator. We have taken in these non-logical, silly, spurious heresies which have supplanted the need for a God. How could God create the world in six literal days and rest on the seventh? A limited view and comprehension of the Infinite God is replaced. Get outside of time and find a place of solitude where you can focus on the infinte. Go somewhere without taking anything with you. Get alone. Get away from people, the rush, the TV, the internet and meditate on Time and Eternity and God Himself.