What do you believe about life after death?

May 22, 2020UncategorizedRickeyD

Theological question on FB: “What do you believe about life after death?”

Those who die having believed-trusted in Jesus Christ as Lord will be translated instantaneously into the presence of God subsequent to their last exhalation in the body (2 Corinthians 5:8) and they will, forever, live with God and serve Him in glory and peace (John 14:1-3; Revelation 22:3; 5:10; Matthew 19:28; 1 Corinthians 6:3; 2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 20:6).

Those who die having rejected Jesus Christ as Lord for the mediation of their sin will, at their last exhalation, be translated into the realm Messiah calls Hades-Sheol/Torments (Luke16) and they will remain there in their disembodied spirit, fully conscious-aware, until the Judgment of the Condemned manifesting subsequent to the Millennial Reign of Messiah Jesus. At that time, they will be brought out of Hades-Sheol/Torments and receive a corrupted resurrected body of flesh (John 5:28-30) and stand in the Judgment of the Condemned before Jesus Christ (Revelation 20:11-15; Philippians 2:10-11).

The condemned will be adjudicated guilty for sin, their name will not be found written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and they will be cast into the Lake of Fire and suffer commensurate with the sin committed in the body in Time and then die the “second death” and cease all existence and remembrance (Matthew 10:28; Matthew 16:26; Revelation 20:11-15).

Mankind will either deal with their sin while in the body in Time within the Age of Grace by trusting in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin – or – mankind will deal with their sin at Judgment in Eternity. God the Father is NOT going to permit unrepentant sin to enter His Kingdom (Revelation 21:27).

Jesus - absent from the body present with the Lord

Why would a Loving God create Hell?

May 21, 2020UncategorizedRickeyD

Theological question posited on FB: “WHY MIGHT A LOVING GOD CREATE HELL?”

Christian response…

Hell was not created for mankind but specifically for Lucifer/Satan, the angles that followed Lucifer in his coup d’état and the False Prophet and the Beast (Rev. 20:10). Mankind will enter Hell by first climbing directly over the Cross of Jesus Christ (John 3:16). Hell is essential seeing that our Creation in Time finds its origin/causation as a direct resultant/response to the spiritual war/sin initiated by Lucifer in the Kingdom of God – the Spiritual Realm before the beginning of Time. Time/Earth/human kind were created as a repository and battle ground for the spiritual war initiated by Lucifer in the Kingdom…God removed Lucifer’s sin (Luke 10:18; Revelation 12:9; Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28:11+) and placed the rebellious cherub angel on Earth to be dealt with by Messiah partially within the constraints of Time and physics (1 John 3:8b; Gen. 3:15).

Nothing impure is permitted to exist or enter into the Kingdom of God (Rev. 21:27); therefore, anyone who rejects the atonement for sin freely offered by Jesus Christ and the “rebirth” that accompanies atonement…if anyone refuses to repent of sin and trust in Jesus Christ as Mediator for that sin, they cannot enter the Kingdom of God; therefore, Hell will be a respiratory for all of mankind that has rejected God’s Way to life in Jesus Christ (John 14:6; John 8:24). Again, God the Father refuses to allow the destructiveness of sin to enter or dwell in His Kingdom.

Concerning the unrighteous who have rejected Jesus as Lord and subsequently died in their sin (John 8:24)…Hell for unredeemed mankind will be the “second death” i.e. a cessation of all life and remembrance (Matthew 16:26). Those who have rejected Jesus Christ as Lord and Mediator for sin, they will suffer in Hell commensurate with the sins committed in the body constrained by Time then they will die the “second death” (Matthew 10:28). Only Satan-the Beast-the False Prophet and the fallen angels will suffer in Hell forever.

God the Father has provided mankind a way of escape from death in Hell via the suffering and atoning death of Messiah Jesus for sin; mankind will either deal with sin while existing in Time within the Age of Grace through faith in Jesus as Lord – or – mankind will deal with sin at the Judgment of the Condemned in Eternity and subsequently in Hell (Revelation 20:11-15).

Did God create COVID-19; Is God the Author of Moral Evil?

May 18, 2020UncategorizedRickeyD

Did God create COVID-19; Is God the Author of moral evil?

Discussion-Explanation…

First of all, please understand that the KJV translators of the 1611 Authorized Version of the Bible did not translate the Hebrew “ra” in Isaiah 45:7 in context as the KJV translation suggests that God is the Creator of moral evil. When an exegesis is performed and word-for-word translations are sought, we find that “ra,” in the context of Isaiah 45, is accurately rendered as “calamity” not evil…see Hebrew: https://biblehub.com/interlinear/isaiah/45-7.htm

Second, it is important to understand that disease, suffering and death are not God’s will but these sociological negatives manifest by choice via imputed free will. God has ordained that both His angelic and human creation possess free will in order that love and relationship with Him can manifest in purity with authenticity. In order for one to truly love and enjoy fruitful relationship/fellowship/intimacy, the parties involved in said relationship must possess the free will to choose that relationship or reject it; In order for love to manifest with authenticity and purity, one must possess the free will to choose hate; In order for true righteousness via obedience to exist, one must possess the free will to choose disobedience; In order for good to exist and be realized as a positive sociological construct, one must possess the ability to choose evil. If mankind were to be programmed to respond in accordance with a predetermined action or robotism, love would be impotent and relationship unfulfilling.

Negative sociological constructs manifest by choice/free will as a default to those constructs that are positive. God does not desire or create negative sociological constructs as this would run contrary to His holiness and sinlessness but God does allow for the possibility of negative sociological constructs out of necessity in accordance with free will and God pleads with human kind to choose good over evil, blessing over cursing, life over death (Deuteronomy 30:19).

Thirdly, in the Beginning, God created all things “very good” (Genesis 1:31). God created human kind in His own spiritual image (Genesis 1:27). Free will, one of God’s communicable attributes, having been infused within human kind in conjunction with the moral law, God then placed man within a literal paradise called Eden where every desire of his heart was at his fingertips and God provided protection, sustenance, love, relationship-fellowship for-and-with Adam, but God’s holiness, justice, righteousness, necessitated that Adam be permitted to choose fellowship with God or pursue narcissism and self-reliance; therefore, God provided Adam with the option to choose fellowship with his Creator or choose to compromise with evil (Genesis 2:17).

God presented Adam with a choice out of necessity for free will to be exercised and love between God and man to manifest with purity and authenticity. Ultimately, Adam relented to the enticement of his wife, Eve, and Adam chose to compromise with evil as opposed to obedience to God and fellowship with Him; therefore, man rejected God and God’s Covenant of provision, sustenance and life; hence, the curse on mankind and nature (Genesis 3:17; 1 Corinthians 15:22).

Subsequent to the curse upon mankind and nature, entropy via the 2nd-law of thermodynamics and atrophy via human genomic mutational degradation manifest as a result of free will giving-way to disease, suffering, starvation, war, hate, evil, murder, death, all of which have ravaged-devastated human kind for 6000-years. God is NOT the Author of disease, suffering, starvation, war, hate, evil, murder, death, but these sociological negatives have manifest as a result of free will exercised initially by Lucifer in the Kingdom and subsequently by our first father, Adam, who transfers a sin-nature, a rebellious nature, a corrupted genome, death, through his seed to every man and woman born of the seed of man (Romans 5:12-21).

In closing, God is not the Author of moral evil, disease or death but again, these sociological tragedies exist as a default of free will which is essential for relationship with God to manifest with purity and authenticity.

Atheism-Evolution are NOT Logical or Reasonable

May 18, 2020UncategorizedRickeyD

Can anyone, especially an Atheist or Evolutionist, name or describe an object or thing existing within the realm of Time and constrained by physics that is not the product of a creator or designer or maker?

If your response is “no”…please explain the following,

1) Explain the origin of matter void a Creator or Maker or Designer that is outside of the Space-Time continuum.

2) Explain the presence of the Moon, Sun, Stars, Earth, void a Creator, Maker or Designer that is outside of the Space-Time continuum.

Observation…

Atheism and Evolution are not logical or reasonable because logic demands that if all things constrained by Time and physics, that which we see/apprehend around us with purpose and function, mandate a designer, a maker or creator then the Sun, Moon, Stars, Earth, exhibiting much greater purpose and design than anything within our grasp, must also be the products of a Designer-Maker-Creator. To deny this is illogical and void reason; therefore, atheism and evolution are both illogical and defy reason.

Jesus - when I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers

Atheist: What is it about (god) that makes you people believe he exists?

May 17, 2020UncategorizedRickeyD

Question from an atheist: “What is it about (god) that makes you people believe that he actually exists, and that he is an all-round good guy?”

Response…

Nothing “makes” me believe…from my earliest childhood staring at a clear nights sky was more than sufficient evidence for me that a Creator existed; unfortunately, it was not until I was 35-yrs of age and read through the New Testament for the first time that I learned of the Truth concerning why Creation manifest and the Name of our Creator.

I took that information and initiated an in-depth study of the Scriptures, including the original languages in areas of difficulty…It was INCREDIBLE the change that began to manifest in my life and the assurance and peace that encompassed my entire existence knowing that Jesus – Yeshua is exactly who He said He is and that He is my God…the One who suffered and died for me so that I can live with Him for Eternity…that was 28-yrs ago and the Holy Spirit has been incredibly faithful and good to me! I cannot deny what I know to be Truth. Jesus Christ is LIFE!

Jesus - when I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers

jesus - Romans 5-1 justified by faith we have peace with God

The Levitical Law, the Commandments and their role in the life of a Christian

May 17, 2020UncategorizedRickeyD

The Levitical Law, the Commandments and their relevance in the life of a Christian…

The Moral aspects of the Levitical Law and the Law of Conscience (Romans 2:15) will continue in perpetuity as the Law is necessary for the continuation/sustainability of the species and the Law is essential for Judgment in Eternity to manifest with equity and due process (Matthew 24:35).

The problem arises when men and women attempt to find righteousness (a right standing) with God the Father by keeping the Law in perfect obedience when no man or woman can be justified by Law because we’re encumbered with a sin-nature (Romans 3:23) and we cannot keep the righteous requirements of the Law in perfection; therefore, to fail in one jot or tittle of the Law is to fail in all the Law (James 2:10).

This is why Messiah fulfilled the Law for us in perfection (Matthew 5:17); it was Messiah’s perfect obedience to the Law that permitted Him to be the ONLY acceptable sacrifice for sin. We can attain, through the imputation, the perfection of Messiah’s righteousness when we believe with a sincere heart that He is God who died to pay our sin-debt and that He was resurrected from the dead for our justification (2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 10:9-10).

Therefore, the Law plays an integral role in the life of a Christian as the Law demonstrates the righteousness of God while declaring our need for Jesus Christ as our Mediator for sin (John 14:6; John 3:36; 1 Timothy 2:5).

Knowing God – Rejecting God > The Dichotomy of Time and Eternity

May 17, 2020UncategorizedRickeyD

Knowing God – Rejecting God > The Dichotomy of Time and Eternity

As a student of Apologetics, I have debated the hopelessness of Atheism ad nauseam and a consistent, immutable, theme accompanies and permeates each and every debate; that is, there are those who know God and there are those who cannot know God, why?

God, in His mysterious ways, has decreed that only the heart willing to believe will see His reality and understand His precepts, His Covenants, while the one who refuses to believe will remain blind and lost and deceived (1 Corinthians 2:14). God is a gentleman, He forces Himself upon no one yet remains receptive to anyone willing to internalize the empirical evidence in Nature that testifies of His power, dominion, sovereignty; He remains receptive to anyone willing to internalize His written word and believe; He remains receptive to anyone willing to receive His Living Word, Jesus Christ (John 3:16), but He hardens those who reject Him by denying the call of His Spirit and denying the empirical evidence in Nature as testimony of His reality (Romans 1:18-32; Hebrews 11:6). The repeated rejection of God’s call upon one’s life results in an incremental fall into spiritual blindness, debasement, debauchery, hopelessness, addiction, perversion, death of the mind, body, soul (Romans 1:18-32).

This mystery is irrefutably obvious in the life of the Atheist, the Nihilist, the Naturalist, that is unable to see the beauty and love of God and experience the supernatural life He infuses into the one willing to “believe” (2 Corinthians 4:4). A dichotomy for the ages that is played-out before my eyes and it is a beautiful thing to see the holiness and justice and righteousness of the God who lives within me displayed in the World that surrounds me.

The God who died for me cries-out to His creation and desires to gather us under His wings like a hen gathers her chicks but “many” reject the love and call of God and my God, in His unfathomable sovereignty and justice and holiness, regrettably allows the “many” to pursue the death they so stubbornly desire as free will remains inextricably linked to love and relationship.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.” Matthew 23:37 (NASB)

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14 (NKJV)

“There are honest doubters and dishonest doubters. An honest doubter is willing to search out the truth and live by the results; a dishonest doubter doesn’t want to know the truth. He can’t find God for the same reason a thief can’t find a policeman.” Adrian Rogers

jesus - bless are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled

Debating the Natural Mind of the Atheist i.e. the Walking Dead

May 16, 2020UncategorizedRickeyD

The absurdity of Atheism and debating the Natural mind of the Walking Dead…

Having debated the atheist for years as a student of Apologetics, the most frequent recurrent rebuttal to God’s reality is the atheistic mantra “prove your God exists.” For this reason, I do concur with the Holy Spirit in Romans 1:18-32; Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 1:9; Psalm 14:1, that the Atheist is a “fool,” a liar and they will be “without excuse” when they stand in the Judgment of the Condemned before Jesus Christ (Rev. 20:11-15). The Atheist is truly the “walking dead” among us as they are dead spiritually and actively seeking death in sin and the “second death” in Hell (Ephesians 2:1-4).

Consider this…

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, through both the written word and the Living Word, Jesus Christ, provides the only coherent worldview with corresponding truth that defines origin-meaning-morality-destiny and directly answers with logical consistency, empirical adequacy, experiential relevance. The Holy Spirit, within the pages of Scripture, carefully articulates who, what, where, when, why, how, concerning the origin of matter; the purpose for life on Earth/in Time; the necessity of objective morality; the destiny of mankind in Time and Eternity.

On the other hand,

The Atheist-Nihilist-Naturalist has NOTHING but conjecture, inferences, historical science, to explain the meaning of life; the purpose for Time and Eternity; the origin of matter; the diversity of life; the existence of objective morality, logic, reason; the existence of the Moon, the Sun, the Stars, the complex human genome. The Atheist proclaims “science” as their god but science is ever changing and explains NOTHING relevant to the most important questions in our life i.e. who, what, where, when, why, how, relevant to Time; our presence in Time and how all things came into existence and WHY?

Remember this when conversing with an Atheist…

When the Atheist obfuscates and lies to you and tells you they don’t believe in God, remember what the Holy Spirit has clearly articulated e.g. every human being having attained an age of reason intuitively knows that our Creator exists and that our supernatural Universe and our complex genome are irrefutable preliminary evidence for His reality (Romans 1:18-32).

The Atheist is thoroughly brainwashed by Darwin’s idiocy i.e. “naturalism” and they are headed to death in sin and death in Hell as a result (John 8:24); therefore, pray for them and tell them of what Jesus Christ has done for them at the Crucifixion but understand that Satanic darkness consumes the soul and mind of the atheist and they are blinded by the god of this World, Satan, and your words will seem as foolishness to them (2 Corinthians 4:4; 2 Corinthians 2:14).

Tell the Atheist of God’s love for them and walk away before they attempt to pollute your soul with Satan’s deceptive rhetoric as the atheist is Satan’s emissary in Time (Ephesians 2:1-4; Matthew 7:6; Matthew 10:14).

God’s sovereignty v. Man’s free will

May 16, 2020UncategorizedRickeyD

Confusion concerning God’s sovereignty and our free will.

God has given free will to both His angelic and human creation in order that love and relationship with Him can manifest in purity and authenticity. God’s immutability, omniscience, sovereignty, is not inhibited by our ability to choose our own destiny. Our omnipotent God is perfectly capable of working through and around our individual choices to accomplish His perfect, immutable, will.

You are free to choose to honor God the Father by grace through faith in the Son, Jesus Christ, and receive forgiveness of sin and eternal LIFE – or – you can choose to reject Jesus Christ and serve Satan by default and die in your sin and die the “second death” in Hell (John 8:24).

Your sin WILL be dealt with either by trusting in Jesus as your Mediator for sin while you are living in the Age of Grace – or – your sin will be dealt with at the Judgment of the Condemned subsequent to the Millennial Reign of Messiah (Rev. 20:11-15). God the Father is NOT going to permit your unrepentant sin to enter His Kingdom subsequent to the death of your body in Time; therefore, the “choice” is yours to make, please choose wisely (Rev. 21:27).

Why are children who are raised in Christian homes becoming atheists?

May 15, 2020UncategorizedRickeyD

Question posited on FB: “Some people born from Christian family, they end up being Atheist, what went wrong, back and forth, why?”

Christian response…

Unbeknownst to most parents today…

An overwhelming number of today’s “atheists” – nihilist – progressive socialist-democrats find their deep deception in our high schools and universities of “higher learning” where they are inundated with the lies of Darwin’s idiocy (since 1963) secreted into the biological sciences while simultaneously influenced by Marx-Lenin-Stalin and historical revisionism in the humanities. In the history of mankind, there has never been a more successful and powerful progenitor of atheism than demonic Darwinian evolution forced upon America’s children by progressive socialists in the classroom in 1963.

Darwin’s idiocy is fused with the lies in the humanities to act as a catalyst and we’re graduating, in droves, mindless, brainwashed, useless, naive, atheistic-socialist-progressives who are so thoroughly brainwashed that an overwhelming majority will never find Truth or Faith…they will die in their sin and die in Hell as a radical socialistic-atheist and you cannot reach them with Truth…they’re gone and they will ultimately destroy America’s Constitutional Republic and our posterity will suffer horrifically in vile and loathsome socialism.

Why is America Dying? https://rickeyholtsclaw.com/2020/04/08/why-is-america-dying-an-old-houston-cop-explains/

evolution - atheism and evolution best friends forever