Posted in Atonement • Continuity & Discontinuity • Daily Living • Law • New Testament • Old Testament • Reward • Sabbath • Tanakh

Doing

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Matthew 24:45–46 ESV. “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. (See also Luke 12:43; John 13:17)

Jesus gives words of encouragement to His followers, pointing to the time when He returns and finds His servants doing what He told them to do. He is speaking of the people He set over His household, so specifically that means leaders. Typically, feeding is a figure of speech for giving out the food of the Word. But “doing” extends to all of His servants too.

So what are the things we should be doing? Is it simply to have dinner with other members of our household, or is there more? We could include the “golden rule,” that is, treat others as you want to be treated. Or maybe our actions should be helping the poor, taking care of widows, and practicing justice. But is that all the Bible tells us? Well, Zechariah lists a couple more items.

Zechariah 7:8–10 ESV. And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”

So far, then, we are supposed to feed each other the Word, treat others as we want to be treated (which might also include showing kindness and mercy to one another), render true judgments, avoid oppression of people who have no defense such as widows, poor, orphans, or sojourners, and don’t devise evil against another in your heart. All those actions certainly are included in a servant’s duties to his or her Lord and Master. They are the practical outworking of redeemed people returning the love Jesus has for us. I have found, though, in other parts of God’s Word addressed to His people, that there are things we can include in the list we should be “doing.”

Isaiah 56:2 ESV. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

Apparently, he (or she) who “holds fast the Sabbath” (and keeps his hand from evil) is included for the person who wants to be doing what Jesus says when He returns. There are other the tasks included in a servant’s life so that we can be doing what Jesus told us to do when He returns. All of the instructions included are derived from what Jesus gave at Sinai (the Law or first Sermon on the Mount) and places like the (Second) Sermon on the Mount. Fasting on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) for instance is given expanded meaning by Isaiah.

Isaiah 58:6–7 ESV. “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Leaders in particular, our so-called “wise men,” have turned the Law of the Lord into a lie, by writings and teachings that reject many of His Laws. Instead, they preach ear-tickling, emotional and sentimental messages that only use God’s Word as a touchstone to launch rants. So they are not “feeding” like they should.

Jeremiah 8:8–9 ESV. “How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord, so what wisdom is in them?

James, the brother of Jesus, leader of the congregation in Jerusalem, was not contradicting Paul in the book he wrote. He was not only in line with Paul but also Jesus, who gave all of the instructions we should be doing when He comes back. We are to be “doers” of the Word and not just hearers.

James 1:22–25 ESV. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Remember that the books of the misnamed New Testament weren’t collected and called such until about 200 A.D., so “the word” James referred to was the equally misnamed Old Testament (see also such Scripture as John 10:35; 1 Corinthians 4:6). Other writings, such as those in the New Testament, had to conform to the Old Testament (a better name is Tanakh or Law, Prophets and Writings) or would be rejected as Scripture. We accept the New Testament as Scripture, but only as it conforms to the Law, Prophets and Writings.

Jesus didn’t start some new thing but stayed true to the words He spoke many times and in many ways throughout history. Our God and Messiah repeatedly called His people to “do” the things He commanded at Sinai instead of just “hearing.” His admonition for His servants to be doing what the Master commanded is right in line with everything He spoke through the prophets time after time. His commands to us are the same as they’ve always been.

Hosea 12:6 ESV. “So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.”

The phrase “hold fast to love and justice” is one of the many summary statements in the Bible for The Law. The commands given by Jesus at Mount Sinai were the epitome of love and justice, personified and certified by His teaching at the advent and by His sacrifice and resurrection.

Matthew 7:21–23 ESV. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Signs and wonders are not the task of a servant of our Messiah Yeshua. Our task is laid out here by the inverse of His statement to “depart from me you workers of lawlessness.” The clear meaning is that following His Law is not only the will of the Father but also will be the test for entering the kingdom of heaven. A little later in the book of Matthew, He says it again.

Matthew 12:50 ESV. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

There is no special reward for our efforts to follow His will as expressed in all of His commandments (although there are many blessings). Salvation is granted by faith through grace, and following the Law is our lifestyle and discipleship method. We obey all of His commands because we love our God and Messiah and return some of this love by living like He wants us to live. Our Master lived the laws He commanded, and we copy Him as much as we are able with all our heart, mind and strength. When we are done with our labors and have entered into His kingdom, after He has ascended to the throne of David in Jerusalem, we might have some different rewards, but we will have just done our duty.

Luke 17:10 ESV. So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”

Every word God speaks is by definition good, just, loving and holy. The humble servant does not hesitate to follow any of His words because faith is a combination of trust in God and obedience. The faithful person, recognizing God’s kingship and mercy, will happily submit to whatever our king and Master directs.

Don’t be fooled by the teachings of many in the Church who claim that the Church replaced Israel in God’s plans or that the Law has been eliminated by the death of Jesus. Scripture cannot be changed as our Messiah Yeshua said in John 10:35. Since the penalty for disobedience has been paid, there is no fear of death if we don’t understand a law or make a mistake in obeying. What will earn us the second death penalty (the Lake of Fire) is refusing the payment for our sin in the blood of Jesus. He has made us free from death if only we demonstrate our acceptance by obedience to all He commands with all of our heart. If we refuse the blood and try to gain our own righteousness by earning His gift, there is no other acceptable payment for our sin.

Ecclesiastes 12:12–13 ESV. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

Shalom

Posted in Atonement • Daily Living • Faith • Repentance • Righteousness • Salvation

Irredeemable

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A dictionary says that irredeemable is “being beyond remedy, hopeless.” In a biblical sense, it means that someone has refused God’s offer of salvation because the heart is so hard it won’t listen. It can happen even to people who claim to be following Jesus. The writer of Hebrews puts it this way:

Hebrews 6:4–6 ESV. For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

If it can happen to people who have seemingly converted, it can also happen to the unconverted. Israel is an example of a mixture of hard hearts and soft hearts. Those who believed (and believe) in Jesus and do what He says are soft hearted, while those who don’t are mostly irredeemable. Hearts get so hard they are just unreachable.

Irredeemable can also be applied to unforgiving people. Those withholding forgiveness are told specifically by Jesus that they are irredeemable in places like Matthew 6:14.

Matthew 6:14–15 ESV. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

 Lack of forgiveness freezes the unforgiven in time, because in the view of the offended there is now no remedy for the offense or sin. The supposed offender is locked in place. Jesus paid the blood price for sin, but the unforgiving person is mocking that sacrifice. They have deemed someone “irredeemable.” But according to Jesus, by declaring thusly, they place themselves in the actual irredeemable boat. Those who don’t forgive will not be forgiven.

No one is irredeemable according to God. All are eligible for redemption if he or she wants it. Jesus paid the price for our redemption, redeeming us from slavery to sin and death with His painful and bloody death on the cross. However, people can make themselves irredeemable by the refusal of this momentous action on their behalf. There is no other payment for our debt of sin, so refusing the sacrifice of Jesus leaves one with no option but to pay for sin with his or her own death (meaning the lake of fire).

Revelation 21:8 ESV. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

The choices are either eternal life or eternal death. Believers press on to eternal life with confession, repentance and the Holy Spirit. The writer of Hebrews quotes Psalm 95 (in Hebrews 3:7-11) which is a plea to avoid being irredeemable by the hardening of the heart.

Psalm 95:7–9 ESV. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. There are many chances in life to confess Jesus and repent of doing what is right in our own eyes. The more they are refused, the harder the heart becomes. If you hear his voice, respond and do what He says. Your heart of stone can be turned to flesh and eternal life will be yours as long as your heart stays soft and you persevere.

Shalom

Bruce

Posted in Daily Living

Slow Motion Boycotts

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I have an active boycott life, meaning I’m always looking to avoid giving my money to people who hate me. I don’t drink beer very often, but I applauded those who stopped buying Bud Light. I’ve refused to buy Nike tennis shoes for several years now. I have many happy memories of Disneyland and Walt’s movies, but now they are ruining the “happiest place on earth” for my grandkids. Tickets to the parks are ridiculously expensive, way overpriced, not to mention gas and hotels, and Mr. Disney has got to be spinning like a top in his grave.

Some boycotts are not felt by the target companies, or at least they don’t admit it and blame lack of sales on other factors. The boycott of Bud Light was immense and could not be denied, so the corporate execs couldn’t hide that one, but some boycotts are more like a slow motion scene in a movie. I know because I am in the process of several myself.

It can take a while to “divest” interest in a product that one likes and has been buying for a long time. I have a drawer full of Levi’s Button Fly 501 shrink-to-fit jeans purchased over several decades for instance, and I really like the fit and the wear. Right up until they started going woke. I was determined to find another brand, so I tried some Wrangler’s. I found that I like their version of denim apparel better, and I like a zipper rather than the buttons. It took me a while to make the switch because I had to initially buy a pair of the Wrangler’s, which meant figuring out different styles and sizes. But I was determined to get away from the woke haters and kept plugging till I got comfortable with the new (to me) product.

The cardinal rule of business used to be that it takes a long time to win a customer’s loyalty, and once you lose that loyalty it is almost impossible to get it back. This axiom is still true, but it is obvious that modern business managers have forgotten. Or maybe they just presume on our loyalty, thinking that we are just stupid and unwilling to put in the work to find substitutes for their products.

So we see some quick effects from some boycotts, but just because the effects are not as dramatic and easier to hide doesn’t mean a slow-motion boycott is not working. It can take a while for the sales changes to be felt. JC Penny’s started a slide in sales when they decided that bathroom gender didn’t matter. Target is struggling with mounting losses. But Light will never recover, especially since there are many, many beers out there that are better. The woke will blame the loss of income on the economy or the weather or some other likely (to them) cause, but they won’t admit their error even when the corporate bigwigs are on the street and out of a job.

I may be taking a long time, but trust me when I say that come hell or high water I am determined to divest no matter how long it takes. I’m sure there are many who feel the same way and are pursuing similar goals. I think this is why stock prices are falling, sales figures are dropping like rocks, and businesses and banks are going the way of the dodo bird. The woke people are losing the loyalty of their customers, and they won’t get it back. Ever. Ta ta and tootle doo, you morons. I, and many others like me, are not going to look back.

The real reason for the woke stuff is the brain behind it. I’m not talking about the CEO’s and CFO’s. It’s evident that what ties all of the perversion and hate together is the Chief Hater, otherwise known as the Deceiver and Satan. He is real and he is the one directing the destruction of culture. The corporations and executives are just willing dupes. The Hater really, really hates God, and wants to usurp His authority and destroy His kingdom so he can take over. This is the reason to fight the woke culture and all that attaches to it. It’s a spiritual battle, and believers need to use every tool we have to sidetrack the “progress” and stay on track with our patient, loving God. We need to live His kingdom in every way, even if it means getting away from our favorite jeans or beer. It may not seem like a battle, but make no mistake it is a fierce conflict being waged not just with swords and shields but also with dollars and economic might.

Ezekiel 9:4–6 ESV. And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house.

Shalom

Bruce

Posted in Daily Living

Selwyn Duke Misses the Mark

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In a column of 1/5/22 titled The Truth Factor: A Major Reason for the West’s Declining Christianity Is Rarely Recognized, Mr. Selwyn Duke presents his opinion that, in short, the reason for declining Christianity in modern times is people. People are to blame because of cultural relativism, lack of belief in objective truth, and a few other things. However, if this is correct, how in the world did Christianity spread and flourish in the first few hundred years of a “cultural relativistic” Roman empire after the Resurrection of the Christ?

The Empire’s pursuit of hedonism (pleasures of the flesh) and narcissism (self-worship reflected in idolatry) were certainly as prevalent and mind-numbing as they are now. Yet Christianity was accepted by huge numbers of Jews and Gentiles even at the threat of death. The culture, or more accurately cultures, was about in as bad a shape as it (they) are now. The people didn’t like objective truth, rejected any constraints on immorality, and generally were as jaded and seared of conscience as people nowadays. How, if Mr. Duke is right, did anything about Christianity ever get traction with anyone?

I put the blame squarely on the Church. The problem isn’t Christianity, the problem is how it is taught and lived by those who say they are Christians. If there is any moral or cultural relativism, and obviously there is, it was birthed and watered and fertilized (can I get an amen on the fertilizer?) by the leaders and teachers of the Church. By Church, I mean the collective, visible, entirety of every organization claiming to follow the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The so-called “Church” has modeled and force-fed a sort of Churchianity that looks like Christianity but only in name. It has appropriated some of the wool of what looks like Bible teachings while denying the One who bought them. They do this by sitting in judgment on the Bible, cutting out sections they don’t like while blowing those they do like all out of proportion to the rest of the Bible. They use deceptive words such as “Jesus, Jesus Jesus” just like many in Israel said of the Temple in Jeremiah 7. Israel said “The Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD” like they were rubbing a lucky rabbit’s foot.

Israel thought that just because they had the Temple that God would always protect and nourish them. They could live however corruptly they wanted, do a couple sacrifices, and keep living corruptly. Now the Church uses Jesus as the same kind of a lucky rabbit’s foot. Go to Church on Sunday, say the Name a few times, then go out and live like they want to anyway.

The reason Christianity is declining is not the condition of the hearers of the message but the fact that the Church message isn’t any different than the world’s. They aren’t teaching (or living) the Word, which makes Christianity as different from the world as the Garden of Eden is from a landfill. The Church just looks like a bunch of social clubs, with varying rules of behavior mostly coming from confessions, creeds, by-laws and statements of faith that might contain some of the Word rather than the unchanging and undying whole Word of the Most High.

Jesus told His followers to “make disciples, baptizing them…and teaching them to observe all that I commanded you (Matthew 28:20).” Since the misnamed New Testament wasn’t created at the time, that meant all of the also misnamed Old Testament words of God. “All I commanded you” was all in the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. He didn’t command anything new, He just cleared away the commandments of men that had come to obscure the Word.

His Word has been obscured again. The Church teaches “commandments of men” as commands of God (Isaiah 29:13) just as other religions do. So it just doesn’t look any different compared to the world. The commands of men are the same relative, permissive, sappy, weak, banal, lame, narcissistic junk that is the hallmark of the world. Their Jesus is a caricature of the Jesus of the living Word, nutritionally lacking in the power to change not only oneself but the world.

The problem is not the hearers of the Word It is in the ravenous wolves wearing sheep’s clothing who substitute their own opinions for a whole Bible.

Posted in Blessing • Daily Living • Faith • God • Healing • Holy Spirit • Humility • Law • Natural Man • Relevance • Righteousness • Worship

An Aide to Spiritual Growth

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Some people have told me that they experienced a big improvement in their walk with God when they had a vision of the resurrected Christ.

I wanted to do better in my walk, but how does one go about getting such a vision? Details were light or non-existent. I remember one Calvary Chapel pastor encouraging the congregation to “visualize the throne room and Jesus sitting there.” Well, I could do some imagining, I guess, but that didn’t help. I was aware I was just making it up.

Since I found that Torah is for all believers, I have actually seen the Father and the Son as I read His Word and do what He says. I’m making a lot of changes for the better in my growth and walk with God, but some of the changes I need to make are coming slow. Do I need a vision of the resurrected Christ to become a different, more righteous person?

As I was pondering this a few days ago, I had what I think was in fact a vision. But it wasn’t of the resurrected Christ. I think God gave me a better vision, one which is going to help much better.

He gave me a vision of myself.

I don’t mean the same type of vision that some believers claim to see of Jesus. I mean God gave me a view of myself as He sees me, with emphasis on my character development (or lack of it). I got a glimpse of myself as I really am, which cut through the image I have of myself normally. We want to think the best of ourselves, and we craft an image that we hope is true. But most of the time it isn’t true. It’s just wishful thinking.

The downside to seeing yourself as you really are is it’s very discouraging. The upside is, when you accept the truth about yourself and take responsibility for your actions and for changing your actions, then you can make progress in moving closer to God. The reason is that as you draw closer to the light of the Father you become more aware of what you lack in perfection or holiness. You can either patch over your flaws with fig leaves as did Adam and Havah, or with improved vision you can accept and change.

It was painful looking at my history and seeing the bad decisions, the unwillingness to do what God said I should do, the times of stunted growth; simply because I didn’t want to give up my comfort.

So in a sense I did get a vision of the resurrected Christ through eating and drinking His body and blood (hearing and doing His word). But what really got me was the vision of myself as I really am.

I still need a lot of work, but the job is actually easier with an honest, albeit painful, self-evaluation.

Shalom

Bruce

Posted in Blessing

The Law versus the Approval of Men

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One of the many good things about God’s living oracles, or the law, is that I can take comfort and have confidence that I am an approved son. Oh, not that I get any special awards or accolades. It’s just that I can feel good about doing one more thing God says on a minute-by-minute basis. I am not perfectly behaved. I am not Jewish. I don’t have a bunch of people who hang on my every word, nor do I have frames of famous people I’ve met or recognition from colleges or learned men on my wall. What I do have is the satisfaction of doing what God says, no matter how small the effort or how many times in between I might fall.

The approval of men is much different. Most judge by appearances, or money, or by the number of followers on Twitter. Approval from people is ephemeral, vaporous, and without substance. As long as I think like them, do like them, make sure I feed their egos and avoid hurting their feelings, then I am accepted and part of the group. Step outside with a different thought one time, however, and you are done. Not only that but you will never be accepted by them again unless you spend a lifetime in obeisance, bowing and scraping and hungry for every tiny little pat on the head or scratch under the chin.

Each command, statute, hint or suggestion I do from what He says as outlined in His Word I know meets with His approval. I might not get a coin from Him immediately, or even a pat on the head or scratch under the chin, but each step connects me better and blessings flow. When I refrain from work on His sabbath simply because He asks me to I am made whole with His oneness and Spirit. I avoid pork or shellfish; He is there. His holidays channel the river of life through my soul.

Men do not approve. They’d rather my worship be at their direction and that I elect them to be as gods. The only reward from that, however, is in their regard which is as changeable as the weather during a Rocky Mountain spring. One minute sunshine, the next a freezing snowstorm. No thank you. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Shalom

Bruce

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Audiobook for Whole Bible Christianity Available

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It took a while, but an Audiobook version of our book Whole Bible Christianity is now available. It’s about 15 and a half hours, narrated by Bruce. You can get it free if you sign up for a trial membership at Audible.com. You get a free audiobook when you first sign up for the service. After the first month it costs $15.00 per month but you get one free book per month too.

If you click this link to view the print version, then click on the Free with your Audible Trial button and stay with Audible for two months, not only do you get two free audiobooks (for $15.00 the second month) but we get a $50.00 bonus! You can exchange any audiobook you decide is not for you, and your credit for one free book rolls over to the next month if you don’t use it. Even if you cancel membership after a while you can keep all your audiobooks.

What a great deal! Whole Bible Christianity, Blessings Pressed Down and Overflowing audiobook for free, a bonus to us, and you get more free audiobooks.

There’s also the print version of the book, and Kindle version for a pretty low cost. The Kindle and audiobook versions do not have the Scripture Index with almost 1,500 entries from every book in the Bible, and the audiobook doesn’t have the footnotes, but still you can listen on the way to work and back or read on a Kindle at your leisure. Get all three and get it all.

Shalom

Bruce

Posted in Book publishing • Church • Clean & Unclean • Continuity & Discontinuity • Daily Living • Faith • Fear • Feast and Festivals • Feast of Tabernacles • Feast of Trumpets • God • Gospel • Grace • Holy Spirit • Humility • Hypocrisy • Identity • Israel • Law • Love • Marriage • Messianic Movement • New Covenant • New Testament • Old Testament • Paul Teachings • Whole Bible Christianity book

New Audiobook!

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We’ve now produced an audiobook for Whole Bible Christianity. It is available on Audible, Amazon and iTunes. I narrated it myself and it sounds very good. I did the narration because I don’t think anyone else could’ve really given the project the right tone except the guy who wrote it. It’s about 16 hours long but I don’t know what the pricing will be. Just check with Amazon under Whole Bible Christianity when you want a complete reference for Whole Bible Christianity to listen to in your car or while you are trying to go to sleep!

Shalom

Bruce

Posted in Authority • Balance • Blessing • Book publishing • Church • Comfort • Cults • Daily Living • Judaism • Judgment • Law • Love • Manna Reading Schedule • Messianic Movement • New Covenant • New Testament • Old Covenant • Old Testament • Paul Teachings • Promise The • Reading • Reward • Theology • Whole Bible Christianity • Whole Bible Christianity book • Worship

Whole Bible Christianity, The Book

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Our book Whole Bible Christianity has finally been published! It is on Amazon at this link:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0997501413/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1DQVER67Q2HMX&coliid=I1RPTLB6JQO1FI

There is a Look Inside feature, you can flip between the front and back cover, and it is only $19.50. If you would prefer, we will have the entire text on a web page when we update our website so you can read it online.

The book has about 800 direct quotes from the Word, around 1,500 entries in the Scripture Index, and is about 340 pages. One of the many uses of the book is as a handbook for whole Bible Christians everywhere who need a reference to help counter attacks against a whole Bible lifestyle. Chapter 7 deals with a bunch of the objections to following God’s living oracles, and chapter 8 has a list of blessings from doing what Jesus says.

Let us know what you think, and make sure to post a review on Amazon if you would be so kind.

Shalom
Bruce

Posted in Bible • Faith • God • Jesus • Repentance • Salvation

God More Skeptical of Humans Than Ever Before

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I read the headline on Drudge with amusement: Americans More Skeptical of God than Ever Before. I had to laugh. And laugh. And chortle. And maybe even snicker. All these surveys measuring human belief in God, and not a single one measuring God’s belief in humans.

According to the article in vocativ.com, in previous studies it was assumed that people were losing trust in organized religion, but were still pretty spiritual (whatever that means) in private. Now the researchers are thinking that people’s faith in God is declining, public or private.

I don’t have any trouble believing that people are fading. Selfishness is at an all time high, judging from observation. We buy Bibles at record rates, but our actions indicate we must be using them to prop up a broken couch leg or to hold our porn collection more securely on the bookshelf. We aren’t reading it, and we certainly aren’t doing what it says either.

Which begs the question: what does God think about us? We know He’s a God of love, or at least we hope He is, even to the extent that we hope He will always love us no matter what we do. So we keep doing it. But I don’t think that He loves unrighteousness at all. And for those who practice it He has a very dark, hot place all prepared.

Is this the falling away or rebellion that is spoken of by the Paul (2 Thessalonians 2:3)? The whole world knows about God, but doesn’t know God? Without a doubt, in my opinion, yes.

I think we have turned God into a cosmic sugar daddy, and if He doesn’t deliver the goodies we turn away. Many of us only worship Him because of what they think they can get (health, wealth, etc.) and when they don’t get it they throw a temper fit. They wonder why God allows evil to continue, never questioning their own part in refusing to obey His Laws and causing the evil in the first place.

God doesn’t want anyone to perish, but at the same time He knows many will insist. He is losing His patience, I think, and for the sake of those who really believe in Him, evidenced by actions consistent with His Word and Law, He will be cutting things short very soon. Just because people lose faith in Him doesn’t mean He will leave those few who don’t out in the cold. But He’s very skeptical about those who are falling away.

Do unbelievers matter to God? I’ve got to say, I don’t think they matter very much to God at all.

Shalom
Bruce