David and Goliath the untold story

This is a quick video that looks at the classic battle between David and Goliath in light of some new knowledge about the story. Bringing the story onto a new level and shows G-d's power in a new way. Some people say that this view makes the story less powerful. I would have to disagree; if what this man suggests is true then the power our G-d displays is that much more amazing.

Favorite Books of 2013

Another year is almost over and I've read quite a few books this year. Here is a list of 10 of the best books I've read or reread this year. These are all books that effected my faith. I would highly recommend all of these to anyone. The list is in no particular order.

1. The Circle trilogy by Ted Dekker
2. The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
3. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
4. Jesus Calling by Sarah Young
5. Walking in the dust of Rabbi Jesus
6. Lord of the Rings: The Hobbit
7. The Apocrypha
8. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
9. The Bible (This year I managed 4 read throughs and I am currently in Mark on my fifth)
10. Walking with G-d in the Desert by Ray Vander Laan

Living Miracle

When I was born everything appeared normal. I behaved like any healthy baby would. As time pasted something began to happen. I lacked energy, my pulse and heart rate were very high. After having multiple ultrasounds it was discovered that there was a hole connecting two incorrect chambers in my heart. This meant that my heart was having to work harder because some blood that was sent out wasn't properly oxygenated. If I had grown any older with that condition I would have died because my heart would not have been able to supply enough blood to my body. Now that the problem was identified it did not make things much easier. I was put on a machine to enrich the oxygen going into my lungs, and I was scheduled for surgery. A few ultrasounds later it was discovered that there was an additional hole. This one was not as serious. It connected two chambers that were not as critical. The hole still should be patched just the same. Through this entire process I was covered with prayers by my family and friends. Everyone was hoping for a miracle. The day came and so does my earliest memory. I can remember laying in that bed and watching the white ceiling tiles and the occasional light pass by as I was wheeled into the operating room. The doctors put me to sleep and when they opened me up they were in for a surprise. The last ultrasound I had showed two very distinct holes with no signs of healing. When they stared into my open chest with their own eyes they saw something else. The hole connecting the two chambers mixing oxygenated and un-oxygenated blood was completely healed. The other hole had the beginnings of scar tissue forming over it as well. They removed the forming scar tissue and sealed the hole, but the real reason why opened my up was already resolved. G-d answered my families prayers. The doctors still cannot explain how it happened.

Now because of the holes my heart is stronger and so is my faith; G-d planted something in my heart during that operation. The problem that once would of been the death of me is now the reason why I boast of my FATHER. Miracles still happen I am a walking, living, breathing, miracle. Part of me did die that day, but not the part that was supposed to. The part of me that was going to live for myself is gone. I am left with a scar running down my chest from that operation. It is a constant reminder in my life that every breath I take is a gift from G-d. I am determined to live every breath for G-d and do everything I can to show the love that I was shown. I have looked death in the face and felt G-d's strong hand pull me into his protection. I am now on a mission from him to be his hand to others.

Sword of the Spirit

The idea of the armor of G-d shows up in the Bible in the new testament, Ephesians 6:10-18. There are six pieces to the armor; belt, breastplate, greaves, helmet, shield and finally a sword. The sword is called the sword of the spirit; G-d pours out his spirit to his people on Pentecost, meaning that they did not have it before then. The armor was incomplete. After the fall, at the beginning of Genesis, we see G-d take his people and bring them through a long process to rely on him. He places them in the promised land with the goal of the world seeing them and through them seeing him. He does not call them to go into the world and spread his message; he calls them to stand their ground and use the shield of faith they have been given to hold off evil and be a refuge, shalom, for those hurting people that came to them. 

This leads to them being captured and ruled over on many occasions because the land they where on was vitally important to trade routes between many of the global powers of the day. A good place to show their belief to others, but also a very dangerous one. When Israel is captured and the people cry out in agony, G-d did not sit back he sent his spirit out to one individual each time. We see this in Judges. The spirit of G-d came into an individual and they became a leader that exhibited great power either physically or spiritually. They all received unique gifts from the spirit. Gideon showed great courage and tactical knowledge in defeating his enemies. Samson was given physical strength. Each time the judge would use the gift of the spirit to rescue the hurt and broken people and bring them back to G-d. 

At pentecost Jesus told us the mission had changed. The sword would no longer be given to one person. We would all receive it, we all have the power that once only a few judges possessed. Jesus through his death on the cross took the whole race of mankind back as his own. Our job is to now storm the gates and the fight the evils that we encounter in this world and bring his children back to him. All people are rightfully his once again, the hurt and the broken need to be rescued. Pick up your sword, and use the gifts you have been given to allow G-d to transform you into a warrior,  judge, assassin, soldier in his army.  

Zealot Assassins and The War is Coming

     I thought that I had already posted this week, but someone informed me that was not true. So here is the post that was supposed to come out yesterday. My apologies. I am still in the process of moving over from my old blog. With the start of "The War", this month, I will be posting all of my weekly posts here.

     Recently I finished reading the book Zealot by Reza Aslan. This book does have it's faults and shortcomings; the author is not that creditable. The setting of the time period to which Jesus arrives does reinforce what I have learned from my time in Israel. The painting that Reza shows of Jesus as a zealot is something that I disagree with, but the historical Jesus is someone that we never can really know because there are very few references to him. The idea of assassins on a mission for G-d was something that stayed with me after I finished the book.

     We often picture the armor of God as that of a Roman soldier, a common image to the people of Jesus day. They were an unstoppable force. And likewise that is what the Church became as it spread across the globe. Today Christianity can be found in almost every country. There is a problem with our tactic as a roman army though, today we have sent conquests to everywhere possible using the unstoppable force.

     We need to become Assassins. Christianity must stealthily infiltrate and change the hearts of individuals using the same tools we where given by G-d, now just in a different form. It is much more difficult for Christianity to have the massive conversions we saw in the old days. Today we are called to infiltrate; the government, schools, our workplaces, the lives of those around us and change the world one person at a time. Missionaries go to counties where they must be secretive; countries where they could be killed for their faith. This is not a new idea, Christianity has always called for it's followers to live every second for G-d. The idea that the armor has taken a new form shows that the message of the Bible cannot be stopped.

     The world appears to have taken on the tactics of the roman legions in the sense that Christianity is being singled out and attacked from many sides. The world is locking the shields of it's control together in order to block our efforts to spread God's redemption. The only problem with their defense is they are too late, we are already inside. Christianity must exploit the weak points created and get more "assassins" into positions of influence and power because the Church was not called to simply live on this world. It was formed to reclaim a world stolen from it's creator.

    Also I would like to just add that my short video series the war will be starting up this month. The videos follow the same theme as the book I wrote for NANO this summer.

Intro: The Bible is a story about G-d and his redemption plan for his people. This plan we see in the Bible through the eyes of humans like ourselves, but what did the plan look like to the angels and demons? What caused "The War" and how does mankind get involved? How are we fighting it and most importantly what is the outcome? The idea of these videos is to pull back and look at the story of the Bible in the context of G-d's infinite time and space. To see the events of the Bible and maybe, time permitting, years after. I have yet to cap the series so we shall see just how far and long it will go.

The War

This is a trailer for a series that I am currently working on.

My Tassel

So there was one of those fire and brimstone preachers at GVSU today. I didn't think much of him until when I walked by him he said, "Repent you sinner for your people are the ones that killed the savior". He was looking straight at me and I realized he had made a mistake. I asked, "wait why my people who do you think I am?" And that's when he said it, " you wear the tassel of a Jew." I really tried but I ended up laughing right in his face. I then spent the next 5 minutes explaining to the guy that Jews haven't worn a blue thread in their tassel since the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. Jewish people say that they will not wear a blue thread again till the Messiah comes. The fact that I am wearing blue means I believe he came and therefore I could not be Jew. Besides the obvious fact I look nothing like one. 

Christians like that man make me understand why people don't like us, Christians. He is preaching destruction and damnation. Jesus taught Love. How can that preacher be serving his Rabbi?

Weekly Update

Time for my weekly post. I am close to 5,000 words into my book. I could not decide on a title yet and I am still deciding on chapter breaks as well. Other then writing my book not much is going on. I hope to have more to write about next time.

NANO writing Month

It is now July and it's time for me to start writing my novel. I chose a topic and an area that I found very interesting and I hope to be posting updates as I go about progress I have made. The main topic of my book is to show the connection between spiritual warfare and our daily lives. I will accomplish this by looking at this world from the eyes of two characters. One is an angel and the other a demon, a son of a devil, a nephilim. My inspiration for using this approch comes from C.S. Lewis and his book Screwtape letters. That is all I am going to say for now but as time goes on I will share more details of what is to come.

God in the Fourth Dimension

I took a walk today and my mind ran away with me a bit. I started thinking about this and it makes sense, so I thought I would share. I am not claiming that this is right or that this has any scientific or Biblical support I am simply making an observation. 
Here is the concept about God and his relation to us. We, humans, are in the 3rd dimension. We are 3-dimensional beings, as in X, Y, and Z. We have the power to move though this 3rd dimension and to interact with objects also in the 3rd dimension. When we speak or make a sound, all sound can be defined in the 2nd dimension as a wavelength, or X and Y. To go the other direction would be to move into the 4th dimension which is time. We are stuck with time being an "impenetrable plane" which we cannot touch, or alter. We are confined within it.
Any object that has a shadow loses one dimension. If you hold your hand up to light your hand creates a shadow on the wall. Every part of the shadow is perfectly flat on a surface. It can be defined as X and Y on a flat surface. Therefore, All 3-dimensional objects become 2-dimensional in "shadow-form". A shadow is an "image" or "likeness" of the original object. Take note of the Tesserect here, meaning 4th dimensional objects cast 3-dimensional shadows.
Applying this to God. God exists outside of our world. He exists outside of Time. At the very least God lives in the fourth dimension. In the 4th dimension, God would have the power to move through time, and be completely unbound by it.
Getting to the point. As humans every little thing we do loses a dimension. Our voice is a 2D wavelength (x,y). Our shadow is a 2D image (x,y). God has a +1 dimension, thus if he also follows this same idea would lose a dimension. When God spoke the world into existence, as a 4th-dimensional being, his voice would literally be 3-dimensional objects. God spoke creation into being. Also in Genesis 26 it says, "Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness" To be an "image" or "likeness" of God Himself would make us shadows of Him, losing a dimension from 4th to 3rd.

Periodic Bible

First post, here is a table that is interesting as it sorts the books of the Bible into different groups that can  be used to explain the groups of books in the Bible.