Win Life’s Battles

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field
which the LORD God had made.
And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said,
‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent,
“From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden,
God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it or you will die.’”

The serpent said to the woman,
“You surely will not die!
“For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened
and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
and that it was a delight to the eyes,
and that the tree was desirable to make one wise,
she took from its fruit and ate;
and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:1-6


The problem is: man has never recovered from his fall into sin. Jesus has the only plan that wins this battle.



The Proverb: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” Proverbs 22:6 is not always true or a spiritual law; but rather a wise principle that we can usually depend upon … sort of like “you can’t teach an old dog, new tricks.” It is also true that this principle works both positively and negatively.

If we discussed Genesis 3:1-6 a hundred times, it would never be enough. This is a key passage in all of scripture; the fall of man and man’s sinful nature is clarified, and the introduction to our enemy, the evil one, and his lines of attack against us are made clear. The devil followed the same formula when attempting to deceive Christ. Matthew 4:1-11. We are each in a lifelong war with the forces of evil, and yet the world would have us believe there is no such thing. To follow that false conclusion would be like General Patraeus going to war in Afghanistan without coming to grips with who our enemy is, and what the enemy’s goals, plans, and tactics are. In our battle with the evil one; there are three lines of attack: men’s lust, riches, and pride. This scheme is always the same and therefore predictable, but there are many different tactics on each battle line. Our proper defense is always the same also and our defense when applied always wins. It was clearly illustrated by Jesus in the wilderness. He used the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. And when Jesus rebuked Satan, the devil fled; Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’” 11Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him. ”Matthew 4:10-11. We can always have the same victory. This is our guideline for victory over our adversary the Devil and his demons.

Adam and Eve, although not children, were the first humans that the devil worked his word magic on. Having never before sinned, they were much like newborns; the big difference being newborns are born with a sin nature. So why is all of this so important to us? Because the enemy understands what works and that is to control the minds of those who do not know any better. If the evil one can establish his lies and false beliefs in untrained minds, these false beliefs become embedded and are difficult to correct with the Truth. Whether taught in the first grade or at the university … the false beliefs become ingrained, and only the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word can overcome. The scripture is quite clear:

“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:7-9

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2

Contrary to what the devil would have us believe, Jesus has a good, and pleasing, and perfect will for you and for me. He wants us to be faithful to Him, to stand firm on His promises, strong and courageous in our battle, to not be discouraged or afraid because Jesus our Lord and Savior will be with us wherever we go. Think about that for a minute; would you handle things differently if you could actually see Jesus standing next to you, at all times? I’ve got a feeling the daily activities of our entire world would play out much differently. Well, He is with you and me, whether we can see Him or not!

So what is the problem? Like I said earlier; “training up a child works both positively and negatively” We have an entire generation of adults that have been trained in the secular atheistic mindset. The line comes in many different packages: false religions, false science, humanistic philosophies, amoral views on values and the key issues of life, tolerance and political correctness, to name a few. And now many are professing Christians training up their children in these politically correct doctrines of demons, and then children are passed along to the public schools to reinforce these false and often atheistic beliefs. And then we wonder why America is on the brink?

The mandate in our public schools against Christianity demands that we can’t even discuss values unless they are anti-values; otherwise they raise the government religion argument. Government taught religion has great potential for evil. We only need to look to the Islamic nations for evidence as to where government religion could lead, if left unchecked. And for sure, a blended religious view would surely breed heresy. But in the world of our warped legalese, everything is carried to its end. The result is a system that rejects Truth; and projects values neutral, amoral ideas, and atheistic beliefs in its quest to be tolerant and politically correct.

What do Christians need to do to stand up for the beliefs and freedoms that we have come to love; and are called by Christ to defend? First we must not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We cannot allow the world to shape our beliefs and world view. And then we need to train up our children. The child could be your first grader, your high school student, or a college professor like the one in my “Keep the Faith” post. It could be a friend, a co-worker, neighbor, a church leader, or a total stranger. This is our calling as Ambassadors for Christ with a ministry of reconciliation. We need to allow the Love of Christ to control us. We cannot do that effectively unless our mind has been transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word.

Negative brainwashing comes at us in a multitude of ways. TV, Movies, the internet, books, and of course public education is the most obvious danger because it comes from a position of authority and is assumed to be correct by the unsuspecting students. In California, the message has now become government mandated transgender, transsexual, bisexual, and homosexual training in grades K-12. Can we even imagine the depths of where this amorality will end? Of course we can ... murder of unborn babies has been ruled legal, and is taught as a valid option in our public schools. Is there no end to their quest to force their beliefs upon the rest of us? When everyone’s views and values are equally valid, there is no limit to the depths of depravity. And when there is no purpose to life, everything is relative, including EVIL. Of course there is one line of attack that would make anyone that speaks out against this “tolerance babble” as guilty of hate speech.

So I want to go on record here challenge politically correctness run amok: I believe abortion is murder. I believe lying, cheating, stealing, trans-genders, transsexuals, bisexuals, homosexual, and any form of promiscuous sex outside of marriage is sin, and that these facts must be explained to our children accordingly. Any move to force amoral evil teachings on our children are doctrines of demons with the intent of destroying the American way of life. I believe that evolution, and man-made global warming as taught in our public schools are false science, and to a large degree a lie and are leading our children away from the truth. I believe that teaching the values our country was founded upon is the basis of our free society and critical to raising up an honest, moral, patriotic, responsible, and free society. To teach otherwise is evil.

I believe that radical Islam is a political system hiding within a religion and that its goals and plans are a direct threat to the community of freedom loving citizens throughout the world. I love the people but I hate all false religions. The only loving thing to do ... that really matters eternally is helping others to see salvation through Jesus Christ. I believe that the progressive, socialist, Marxist, Maoist, communist and false religious ideologies are a great danger to America and if left unchecked will lead to America’s downfall from within. The teaching that America was not founded primarily by Christians and basically upon the principles found in God’s Word the Bible is a lie promoted by the forces of evil; and those who have been deceived by these false teachings.

These are many of the false doctrines that have infected America like a cancer. Americans have been brainwashed with these lies. Anyone who challenges the political correctness is attacked as foolish. These heresies are firmly planted in hearts and minds over the past hundreds of years, one person at a time. We can only reverse this process one person at a time … starting with you and I, and then with our circle of influence. Test those things that you believe carefully. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind with the Truth of God’s Word. Reject and challenge those teachings that are contrary to the Truth. Be strong and courageous!

This war! We can and will win because we have Jesus standing with us and walking along side of us. There are those who believe that during the past hundred years the church has entered the period of apostasy described in the letter to Laodicea. As a result, many denominations have denigrated to seminary training that is teaching pastors false doctrine who then pass this foolishness to the church. There is to some degree, an entire generation of believers infected by this heresy. All the more reason for us to consider the teachings of our church leaders carefully; so as not to been deceived by pastors who may also have been misled. Every teaching and teacher must be tested by the Word of God.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
God Bless you my friends, Bob
Copyright: Robert West 2011

Keep The Faith

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The earth was formless and void,
and darkness was over the surface of the deep,

and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

God saw that the light was good;
and God separated the light from the darkness.


God called the light day, and the darkness He called night.
And there was evening and there was morning, one day. Genesis 1:1-5


Evolution Is Atheistic Religion



Why are we allowing this heresy to be taught as fact in our public schools?
Recently a Christian who apparently believes in Darwinian Evolution and I had the following exchange.

BW: I asked: "Do you believe in Darwinian Evolution? "What could be more ignorant than to say you are a Christian and then to deny that God is the Creator of all things and instead embrace the atheistic religion of Darwinian evolution, and the atheistic teachings of the world over God's Truth and His commands? How's that atheistic Christianity working for you? Hmmm ... getting kinda warm?" I attached a linked to People of the Lie.

AC: He replied: "How do explain the human skeletal remains found in major museums all over the world?" "Oh.., Obama, Soros, Pelosi and Reid hired a bunch of people to create molds where they created skeletons and buried them all over the world. And as part of the process they used a technique developed by Al Gore that artificially ages the manufactured bones to fool the scientists into thinking they were tens of thousands years old. Yea, that's it."

As you can clearly see, he is apparently an advocate for evolution, the doctrines of demons. My reference to atheistic Christianity was perhaps harsh, but we have been going around in circles for years now, and my wife believes I am wasting my time here. Of course the discussion never did result in him answering my question regarding Evolution beyond his "skeletal remains in museums" retort. His position as a professed Christian is somehow bound to fight for evolution rather than God's Word. He is quick to point out "I am a member of Saddleback Church."


The following is the testimony of Professor Gary Parker, Ed.D. in biology/geology from Ball State University. Dr. Parker explains his conversion to God's Word over Darwinian Evolution in His book "Persuaded By The Evidence." This scientist's testimony strongly answers the "skeletal remains in museums" or the "evidence falsely categorized by atheistic evolutionists" position. It will be interesting to see what my adversary does with the testimony of this most learned Biology and Geology professor.

Enjoy this one and be sure to pass this along to other Christians; and also share it with those who are stuck on Evolution.


“I wasn’t just teaching evolution, I was preaching it. ‘It was millions of years of struggle and death that brought mankind and all the other animals and plants into being,’ I told my college students. I praised Darwin for being the first to understand how evolution worked. ... I let students freely express their religious beliefs, but would not let them use their personal faith to challenge what I considered the rock-hard science of evolution. I thought it was part of my duty as a science teacher to deliver my students from silly old superstitions, like taking the Bible literally and trying to refute evolution with ‘creation science.’


“The change began when Dr. Charles Signorino, a chemistry professor at the college where I was teaching biology, invited my wife and me to his home for Bible study. ... I started studying the Bible, primarily to criticize it more effectively ...

“Make no mistake about it--creation/evolution is a salvation issue. I do not mean you have to have a detailed knowledge of creation science to be a Christian; I simply mean that belief in evolution can be for many, as it was for me, a powerful stumbling block to accepting (or even considering) the claims of Christ. Paul warned Timothy to avoid the oppositions of science falsely so-called, which some have erred concerning the faith 1 Timothy 6:20-21. Evolution is really ‘humanism dressed up in a lab coat,’ a man-centered worldview that uses scientific jargon to put man’s opinions far above God’s Word (as Eve did in the Garden).


“My extensive knowledge of, and zeal for, evolution certainly prevented me from even considering that God might be real and the Bible true. So what happened. Well, Dr. Signorino, the colleague who invited me to the Bible study, was not only a superb Bible teacher, he was also a scientist respected internationally for his work in chemistry. He challenged me to look again at the science I thought I knew so well. Confident that science would support evolution and refute ‘4C’ biblical literalism, I gladly accepted the challenge.


“The battle began. For three years, we argued creation/evolution. For three years, I used all the evolutionary arguments I knew so well. For three years, I lost every scientific argument. In dismay, I watched the myth of evolution evaporate under the light of scientific scrutiny, while the scientific case for Creation-Corruption-Catastrophe-Christ just got better and better. It’s no wonder that the ACLU (actually the anti-Christian lawyers union) fights by any means to censor any scientific challenge to evolution! ...

“About that time, I got a copy in the mail of the first book I ever wrote, a programmed science instruction book called DNA: The Key to Life. Up until that time I thought people who wrote books, especially textbooks in science, knew what they were talking about. I had a nearly straight A average and earned numerous academic awards, and my book had been reviewed by experts on DNA, but I knew all the uncertainties that went into it. (Indeed, when I published the second edition five years later, I put the first edition aside and started fresh, so much additional knowledge about DNA had been gained.) It finally dawned on me: if experts in science can write books that have to be continually corrected, revised, and updated, perhaps God could write a Book in which He said what He meant and meant what He said: eternal and unchanging truth, an absolutely sure foundation for understanding life useful to all people at all times in all places!


“Looking now at the Bible as the truly true ‘History Book of the Universe,’ I was lifted out of the prison of time, space, and culture, and enabled to see past the shallow and ever-changing words of human experts to the deep and never-changing Word of the Lord God, Maker of heaven and earth! I experienced who Jesus is and what Jesus meant when He said, ‘You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free’ John 8:32

“I could now look at familiar facts in unfamiliar ways--ways that made more sense scientifically and helped me to solve some of the origins problems that had puzzled me as an evolutionist. As I looked at biology with the blinders of evolution finally removed, the biblical theme of Creation-Corruption-Catastrophe-Christ was reflected everywhere! ...

“... some said that if I only knew more about fossils, I would give up this ‘creationist nonsense’ and accept the ‘fact of evolution.’ Then the Lord did something fabulous for me: a fellowship from the National Science Foundation for 15 months of full-time doctoral study. With fear and trembling, I added a doctoral minor in geology, emphasizing paleontology and origins, to check out the fossil evidence firsthand. I had excellent professors, including some Christians, but all assumed evolution without question. However, what they taught me about fossils made it hard to believe in evolution and easy to accept the biblical record of a perfect creation, ruined by man, destroyed by the Flood, restored to new life in Christ. ...

“At the end of my geophysics unit on radiometric dating, the professor was going over the long list of assumptions required to convert any measurement of radioisotope amounts into some estimate of age. Midway through the list of unwarranted assumptions and inconsistent results, the professor paused to joke that if a Bible-believing Christian ever became aware of these problems, he would make havoc out of the radiometric dating system! Then he admonished us to ‘keep the faith.’

“Keep the faith. At bottom, that is all there is to radioactive decay dating: a faith the facts that have failed. At bottom, that’s all there is to evolution: a faith the facts have failed. Evolution was only able to get a toe-hold on science because of 19th-century ignorance of molecular biology, cellular ultra structure, ecology, and systematics. Discoveries in these fields completely crushed evolution as a science, but it persists only too well as a secular religion protected from contrary evidence by the anti-American censorship lawyers united”
Excerpted from: Persuaded by the Evidence, Dr. Gary Parker, pp. 251-261.
==============================================================

There you have it! What more needs to be said? I have over a thousand similar quotes from prominent scientists, professors and Nobel Prize winners from every different field of science, all coming to similar conclusions: "Evolution may be true in other fields, but in their field of expertise ... Evolution has failed ... Evolution is a lie." Science is religiously promoting a false theory and doctrine. The call by the evolutionist atheist Professor to those completing their doctorate study is deafening: "if a Bible-believing Christian ever became aware of these problems, he would make havoc out of the radiometric dating system!" ... Then he admonished us to "keep the faith."

If you would like to read up on the legitimate scientific truth, you can start right here:

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1

KEEP THE FAITH!

God Bless you my friends, Bob
Copyright: Robert West 2011

The False Message

But false prophets also arose among the people,
just as there will also be false teachers among you,
who will secretly introduce destructive heresies,
even denying the Master who bought them,

bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
Many will follow their sensuality,
and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;

and in their greed they will exploit you with false words;
their judgment from long ago is not idle,
and their destruction is not asleep. 2 Peter 2:1-3





......... Less is More .....


A very popular seeker friendly pastor stated; “As a pastor, I’ve watched churches adopt many contemporary styles in worship, programming, architecture, music and other elements. That’s okay as long as the biblical message is unchanged.”

The problem here is obvious to us all … the biblical message has changed. All of a sudden political correctness and tolerance trumps Biblical truth. And of course in the modernist or postmodernist worlds there is no absolute Biblical Truth. Jesus was not the supernaturally conceived Son of God who came to forgive man for his sinfulness; but rather a most loving good teacher.

God is not the Creator of the universe who came in the form of a man; but rather just another man who evolved to greatness. One basic idea of this emerging church is to speak to men in their language, and they have carried the blending of Biblical truths with men’s supposed wisdom ... to a unbiblical end. Men’s philosophies or fantasies are now presented as the Bible. For a clear example, let’s look at some verses from a much loved paraphrase that is often presented by pastors in our confused emergent church generation as God’s Word.


As we look at these passages from a most important section of God’s Word, I have placed the Message Bible alongside the New King James Version. I want to make it clear that I am not a Greek scholar; but rather a lay Bible teacher following the leading of the Holy Spirit. I would welcome insights or corrections from someone out there with this expertise. Hopefully, the Message diversions will be apparent to all. No, I do not recommend only the KJV. Personally I use many different translations, including a Greek Hebrew Study Bible, and the New Living Translation. A foolish practice for Christians is to buy a paraphrase like the Message Bible and then be confused into thinking it is a Bible. When men's words replace God’s Words, the power of God’s Word is lessened. Most knowledgeable Christian’s personal comments on the Bible have just as much power as the Message Bible. Actually they could be more valuable since they are not likely to be confused with the Bible, as the Message often is. Pastors quoting paraphrases as if they are God’s Word is dangerous and quite misleading. I have a hundred examples, but let’s just look directly at the text. My purpose here is to raise a red flag. Buyer beware!

Earlier today, perhaps the greatest teacher on cults in the past century told me that the most dangerous cults are always those that come in the name of Christ and disguise themselves as ministers of the Gospel. Think about that!

John Chapter 3

1-2 There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, "Rabbi, we all know you're a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren't in on it." MSG

1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." NKJV

I don’t know why the author added the word “sect.” If anything it only makes this verse less clear. John’s words were much clearer. He was a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews. A prominent leader among the Jews is less clear. The Pharisees were not prominent leaders but rather religious leaders who ruled the people. To rule meant that they had the ability to severely discipline them; jail, try and punish, and even to the degree like when they attempted to stone Jesus, and ultimately forced his crucifixion. Their power had been compromised by Rome, but they still ruled the people. Why does he use the word “late” rather than he came “by night” Does he know it was late? On many points these changes may be viewed as minor and overly critical, but as you will see when you view the changes in the bigger picture, the original meaning can be distorted. Finally, how does; “No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren't in on it.” make this verse more clear than “for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him?” In these first two verses, my conclusion is that the original is shorter, clearer, and easier to understand than The Message. In fact, in all of the verses below you will notice that Message is always longer that the original. Recently, "religious people adding their views to the scripture," was a primary criticism by an unbeliever I was witnessing to. This is a key reason some falsely conclude the Bible contradicts itself.

3 Jesus said, "You're absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it's not possible to see what I'm pointing to—to God's kingdom." MSG

3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." NKJV

Here we have a clear misinterpretation of scripture. Jesus does not tell Nicodemus; “You're absolutely right” … but rather he is talking most assuredly about a new subject … being born again and seeing the kingdom of God. Jesus has changed the subject and gone directly to His main point; and is explaining to this religious leader that he is spiritually lost. Less is more!

4 "How can anyone," said Nicodemus, "be born who has already been born and grown up? You can't re-enter your mother's womb and be born again. What are you saying with this 'born-from-above' talk?" MSG

4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" NKJV

Nicodemus makes it clear this is news to him here. He does not challenge Christ with the mother’s womb statement, as the message somehow implies; but respectfully asks him about that which is unclear to him. The “born-from-above talk” phrase makes it sound as if he is making light of or confronting Jesus as the other Pharisees had done previously. Less is more.

5-6 Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the 'wind-hovering-over-the-water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it's not possible to enter God's kingdom. When you look at a baby, it's just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit. MSG

5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. NKJV

Please … How in the world does he come up with this? Most assuredly is commonly translated truly, truly or verily verily. Clearly this wording to give more emphasis to what Jesus is about to say not point out to Nicodemus that he is not listening. This “wind hovering over the water creation” line is total babble. Born of water is natural birth, born of the Spirit is spiritual birth, or to be Born Again as Jesus explains. Any time someone takes three lines from the mouth of Jesus and converts the verse into six lines from their imagination and calls it Biblical, they are in danger of committing Biblical heresy. I think it may have been accomplished here. All of these two verses are over the top. The original is clearer and much easier to understand. This is the perfect example of Less is More!

Not a single word needs to be added to the Words of Christ.

7-8 "So don't be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be 'born from above'—out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it's headed next. That's the way it is with everyone 'born from above' by the wind of God, the Spirit of God. MSG

7 Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." NKJV

Once again “Less is more!” He doesn’t do as bad of a job of adding words here but the original text is exceedingly far better. “Born from above' by the wind of God”??? Give me a break. That is far-fetched, at best.

9Nicodemus asked, "What do you mean by this? How does this happen?" MSG

9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?" NKJV


Even here, changes are made for the sake of change, not for clarity.

10-12 Jesus said, "You're a respected teacher of Israel and you don't know these basics? Listen carefully. I'm speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don't believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can't see, the things of God? MSG

10 Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, we speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? NKJV

What makes the author think Nicodemus is not listening? I am convinced he was listening intently. God was speaking and He was possibly the only Pharisee who received Christ as his Lord and Savior. He was asking questions because he was seeking the Truth. That is not procrastination. Telling Nicodemus “earthly things” was a reference to information that was easily understood through human experience, logic and training; as compared to heavenly things which were things of the spirit such as miracles and spiritual birth. Once again, Peterson’s more is less.

13-15 "No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life. MSG

13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. NKJV

How does this expansion: “and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life” clarify or improve upon the original? … “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Did Jesus die on the cross so that men could look up to Him; or did He die as a sacrifice to save men from the consequences of their sin? This Truth is about believing in him and His sacrifice on the cross for our sins and accepting Christ as our Lord and savior. “will gain a real life?” Where does he come up with this idea: that our life here on earth is anything other than a real worldly life. It is not eternal life in heaven, but it certainly is a real life? It is no wonder that unbelievers are confused if pastors are encouraging them to read this babble. And new believers are liable to come to false conclusions. Less is not only more but less is also Truth; rather than a misleading deception.

16-18" This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. MSG

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. NKJV

The actual Word “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” is once again, much clearer. “Destroyed” is a poor substitution for perish, and “by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life” is less of an absolute than “whoever believes” and whole and lasting life does not make “everlasting life” more clear, but actually less clear for me. Those of other religions or no religion at all might believe their life on earth is a whole and lasting life already, but surely not an everlasting life. God did not come to put the world right or to help. He came to save the world from the sins of mankind. “One of a kind Son of God” seems ill-defined: “the only begotten Son of God.” These words have meaning. Condemned by God says so much more than “pointing a finger or telling the world how bad it is.” Why not just say: “eternally condemned” if one wants to clarify God’s condemnation?

19-21"This is the crisis we're in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won't come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is." MSG

19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." NKJV

It is not a crisis but rather eternal condemnation by God for our sins and for following the evil one. A crisis could be a bad grade or an automobile accident. God-light did not stream into the world. What is this supposed to mean? Jesus is the light of the world. He came in the form of a man to die for our sins. He is Love and Truth. Satan is darkness, evil and the lie. Jesus exposes the evil darkness and brought the Truth to men. Due to their fallen nature, men loved darkness rather than light, because their sin feeds their lust and pride. Fallen man is not willing to accept the truth because he is too proud to admit his sins and he wants to be the god of his own life, and do whatever he wishes. Where does all of this God-light and God-work talk come from? Less is More!

Less of God’s Word always says more than when convoluted by the wisdom of men! I sometimes enjoy a paraphrase to listen to as I fall asleep but only if the text does not change the original meaning to support some mans revisions and conclusions.

I hope this has been a healthy exercise for you; it certainly brought up my red flags. I cannot understand how so many Christian Leaders have recommended The Message Bible. The only thing I can imagine is that they are doing a favor for a friend, or a book publisher ... and that is an abomination!

God Bless you my friends, Bob
Copyright: Robert West 2011

Unknown Unknowns

When Donald Rumsfeld was Secretary of Defense, he coined some phrases
about knowledge that apply far beyond military matters.

Secretary Rumsfeld pointed out that there are some things that we know that we know.
He called those "known knowns."
We may, for example, know how many aircraft carriers some other country has.
We may also know that they have troops and tanks, without knowing how many.
In Rumsfeld's phrase, that would be an "unknown known" --
a gap in our knowledge that we at least know exists.

Finally, there are things we don't even know exist, much less anything about them.
These are "unknown unknowns" -- and they are the most dangerous.
We had no clue, for example, when dawn broke on September 11, 2001,
that somebody was going to fly two commercial airliners
into the World Trade Center that day.



Dr. Thomas Sowell


There are similar kinds of gaps in our knowledge in the economy.
Unfortunately, our own government creates uncertainties that can paralyze the economy,
especially when these uncertainties take the form of "unknown unknowns."

The short-run quick fixes that seem so attractive to so many politicians, and to many in the media, create many unknowns that make investors reluctant to invest and employers reluctant to employ. Politicians may only look as far ahead as the next election, but investors have to look ahead for as many years as it will take for their investments to start bringing in some money.

The net result is that both our financial institutions and our businesses have had record amounts of cash sitting idle while millions of people can't find jobs. Ordinarily these institutions make money by investing money and hiring workers. Why not now?

Because numerous and unpredictable government interventions create many unknowns, including "unknown unknowns."

The quick fix that got both Democrats and Republicans off the hook with a temporary bipartisan tax compromise, several months ago, leaves investors uncertain as to what the tax rate will be when any money they invest today starts bringing in a return in another two or three or ten years. It is known that there will be taxes but nobody knows what the tax rate will be then.

Some investors can send their investment money to foreign countries, where the tax rate is already known, is often lower than the tax rate in the United States and -- perhaps even more important -- is not some temporary, quick-fix compromise that is going to expire before their investments start earning a return.

Although more foreign investments were coming into the United States, a few years ago, than there were American investments going to foreign countries, today it is just the reverse. American investors are sending more of their money out of the country than foreign investors are sending here.

Since 2009, according to the Wall Street Journal, "the U.S. has lost more than $200 billion in investment capital." They add: "That is the equivalent of about two million jobs that don't exist on these shores and are now located in places like China, Germany and India."

President Obama's rhetoric deplores such "outsourcing," but his administration's policies make outsourcing an ever more attractive alternative to investing in the United States and creating American jobs.

Blithely piling onto American businesses both known costs like more taxes and unknowable costs -- such as the massive ObamaCare mandates that are still evolving -- provides more incentives for investors to send their money elsewhere to escape the hassles.

Hardly a month goes by without this administration coming up with a new anti-business policy -- whether directed against Boeing, banks or other private enterprises. Neither investors nor employers can know when the next one is coming or what it will be. These are unknown unknowns.

Such anti-business policies would just be business' problem, except that it is businesses that create jobs.

The biggest losers from creating an adverse business climate may not be businesses themselves -- especially not big businesses, which can readily invest more of their money overseas. The biggest losers are likely to be working people in America, who cannot just relocate to Europe or Asia to take the jobs created there by American multinational corporations.

Written by Thomas Sowell ©Creators Syndicate 7/13/2011
Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute and author of The Housing Boom and Bust.

We Need Jobs!

When your dread comes like a storm,and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me,

Because they hated knowledge, And did not choose the fear of the LORD.
They would not accept my counsel, They spurned all my reproof.
So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices.

For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them. But he who listens to me shall live securely and will be at ease from the dread of evil. Proverbs 1:27-33

We Don’t Need New Taxes, We Need New Taxpayers!

It’s this kind of no-nonsense speech that is making Marco Rubio
a quickly sought after Conservative political figure.
It’s long ...... but full of wisdom!

"Our total debt is about to reach the size of our entire economy. That's kind of the framework in which we're operating in when we discuss this. Now, I actually think we're closer to some sort of agreement on this, Sen. Ayotte, than a lot of people realize.

"I've heard the term thrown around in the last couple days, a 'balanced approach' to dealing with it, and I think there's agreement that there has to be a balanced approach. I certainly have always said that you cannot simply cut your way out of this problem. You have to have a combination of cuts and growth, growth and revenues to government. I think the debate is, how do you accomplish these two things? And I'm not going to focus so much on the cut part of it today. I want to focus on the revenue part of it because that's the part the president and some of my colleagues here have focused on over the last day, this idea of getting more revenue or this new term, 'revenue enhancers,' which is Washington talk for more money to the government.

"And, according to the president, some in his party, most in his party I should say, the idea is simple that...in America that are making a lot of money, more money than maybe they should be making, and they just need to pay more in taxes. And if these people pay more in taxes, then all of these problems will get a lot easier to deal with. That's kind of the viewpoint they bring to this debate.

"Yesterday, we saw, and I know tomorrow the majority leader, we'll be voting here on the floor on something the majority leader has offered up, something called the 'sense of the Senate,' which people watching at home may wonder, 'What is that?' Well, that basically means what's on the Senate's mind. The 'sense of the Senate,' this thing that we're going to be voting on tomorrow, is basically that you've got a bunch of people in this country that make over a million dollars, and that these people need to do more to help with the debt. That's basically the 'sense of the Senate' that there's going to be a vote on tomorrow -- very interesting things.

"So, I looked at it because ultimately this is a serious issue. So, let's explore this with an open mind. Let's not be doctrinaire, let's not be blindly ideological. Let's look at this from a common sense perspective, this idea that all these millionaires and billionaires, if they just paid more taxes, these problems would be solved. Let's analyze it. This is all about math.

"And here's the fact: the fact is it doesn't solve the problem. First of all, if you taxed these people at 100 percent, basically next year you said, 'Look, every penny you make next year the government's going to take it from you,' it still doesn't solve the debt. Not only does that not solve the debt problem, but I looked at a host of other -- a great publication that came out today from the Joint Economics Committee, our colleague Sen. DeMint chairs it. And it kind of outlines some of the tax increases being proposed by our colleagues in the Democratic Party and the president to solve the debt problem. And you add them all up, you add all of these things up -- the jet airplanes, the oil companies, all of the other things they talk about -- you put them all together in one big batch, and you know what it does? It basically deals with nine days and 23 hours worth of deficit spending. Nine days and 23 hours of deficit spending. That's how much it solves. So all this talk about going after people that make all this money, it buys you nine days and 23 hours. Let's round it off. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt. It buys them 10 days of deficit spending reduction. That's what all this stuff rounds up to.

“So, here's the bottom line: These tax increases they're talking about. These so-called revenue enhancers, they don't solve the problem. So what do we do then? Because clearly we have to do two things.

"One, we have to hold the line on spending, if you keep digging yourself in the hole, the hole is going to bury you. But the other thing is, how do you start generating revenue for government so we can start paying down this debt? And that’s what the debate should be about.

“We already know these taxes they're talking about don't work. So, here's what works. Here is what I would suggest works in a balanced approach, using the president's terminology. Let's stop talking about new taxes and start talking about creating new taxpayers, which basically means jobs. Now, here in Washington, this debt is the number one issue on everyone's mind, and rightfully so. It is a major issue. But everywhere else in the real world, the number one issue on people's minds are jobs. And I'll tell you every other problem facing America -- a mortgage crisis, home foreclosure crisis, this debt problem -- all of these issues get easier to deal with if people are gainfully employed across America.

"And the impact that unemployment's having across this country is devastating. We hear about unemployment in facts and figures. They give us numbers, Sen. Ayotte, 'Oh, X percent people are unemployed.' Well, there's stories behind every one of those people. You know who a lot of these people are that are unemployed in America? They are people that have done everything they've been asked to do, and they've done it right. Maybe they served their country overseas, maybe they went to college and got a degree and now came back home. Maybe they worked for 10 or 20 years and did a really good job at work, and now, you know what, they can't find a job. Or maybe they were lucky enough to find a job after losing their original job, but it pays them half as much, and they work twice as long.

"That is the real face of unemployment in America, of people that are hurting. And our job here is to do everything we can to make it easier for them to find a job, not harder. And I think that's what we have to do when it comes to a balanced approach and when we talk about revenue.

“We don't need new taxes. We need new taxpayers, people that are gainfully employed, making money and paying into the tax system. And then we need a government that has the discipline to take that additional revenue and use it to pay down the debt and never grow it again. And that's what we should be focused on, and that's what we're not focused on.

“So you look at all these taxes that are being proposed, and here's what I say. I say we should analyze every single one of them through the lens of job creation, issue number one in America. I want to know which one of these taxes that they're proposing will create jobs. I want to know how many jobs are going to be created by the plane tax? How many jobs are going to be created by the oil company tax that I heard so much about? How many jobs are created by going after the millionaires and billionaires the president talks about? I want to know: How many jobs do they create?

“Because I'll tell you, and I'm going to turn it over to Sen. Ayotte in a second. I'm interested in her perspective on this as a job creator, as the spouse of a job creator who runs a small business, as someone like me who just came off the campaign trail. Let me tell you something. I traveled the state of Florida for two years campaigning. I have never met a job creator who told me that they were waiting for the next tax increase before they started growing their business. I've never met a single job creator who's ever said to me I can't wait until government raises taxes again so I can go out and create a job.

"And I'm curious to know if they say that in New Hampshire because they don't say that in Florida. And so my view on all this is I want to know how many jobs these tax increases the president proposes will create because if they're not creating jobs and they're not creating new taxpayers, they're not solving the problem."
========================================

WITH POLITICIANS LIKE MARCO RUBIO COMING FORWARD ... THERE IS STILL HOPE FOR AMERICA!

But we must never forget:

Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.

It is vain for you to rise up early,To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep. Psalms 127:1-2

God Bless you my friends, Bob

The Dream That Never Dies ...

Here is a tribute to all of the men and women
who defended our freedom so many years ago.

ENJOY ....

Notes from the owner of the video: 65 Years Ago my Dad shot this film along Kalakaua Ave. in Waikiki capturing spontaneous celebrations that broke out upon first hearing news of the Japanese surrender. Kodachrome 16mm film: God Bless Kodachrome, right? I was able to find an outfit (mymovietransfer.com) to do a much superior scan of this footage to what I had previously posted, so I re-did this film and replaced the older version There are more still images from this amazing day, in color, at discoveringhawaii.com
===================================================================

Hopefully many in the newer generations will catch the spirit
of those common people who made America the greatest country to ever exist.

I hope you had an incredible Independence Day!

God Bless you my friends, Bob

People Of The Lie

Another parable He put forth to them, saying:
"The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.

So the servants of the owner came and said to him,
Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field?
How then does it have tares?'
He said to them, An enemy has done this.
The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?'

But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares
you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest,
and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers,
"First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them,
but gather the wheat into my barn.” Matthew 13:24-30



There are many lessons that we can learn from this parable.

The first lesson is that Jesus preached a parable. I imagine that if we could talk to those in the audience that they would say I was there and I heard everything Jesus said with my own ears … but, did they really hear? “And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” Matthew 13:10-11. Those who listened only to the public message and then went about their business clearly did not hear the divine message and deeper explanation that Jesus shared with the disciples that He met with inside. When we meet with God in frequent, intense, personal prayer, and devotions … He will meet us there, and through the Holy Spirit, and the power of His Word, He will guide us, protect us, and transform us. Stop and pray now; that Jesus will speak to you as you seek deeper truth from His Word. Pray: "Reveal to us the tares of the field." Lord. Now let’s look at His explanation, His wisdom, and the applications of this truth as it applies in the walking out of our daily lives.

The "Parable of the Tares", and Christ's explanation of it must be taken together ... because His exposition explains the parable and the parable illustrates the exposition. Beyond the two, no explanation is needed. The main question we are left with is how does the parable apply in our world today?

Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field." He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He, who has ears to hear, let him hear! Matthew 13:36-43

As you can clearly see, contrary to what some would have us believe, the scripture is not hard to understand. Jesus is quite clear. These truths are explained without question. The facts are absolute. There is no speculation. There is no debate. There is no room left for the reasoning, or the wisdom of men. We are not left with questions about what He said. Here are the Truths that Jesus establishes here:
1. Jesus is the one who sows the good seed.
2. The World is the field.
3. The good seed are the sons of the kingdom.
4. The tares are the sons of the evil one.
5. The devil is the enemy who sows the tares.
6. The harvest is the end of the age.
7. The reapers are angels.
8. The tares will be gathered and burned with fire.
9. Jesus will send angels to remove all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness.
10. The lawless ones will be condemned to fire.
11. The righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom.
12. He who has ears let him hear.

Listen Up! This is where people are likely to look in another direction. I realize that this type of message causes me to lose readers. Just this week, a friend of mine was teaching a similar message and he was told; "we want to discuss politics". That is fine, as long as it is not men discussing their idle opinions. The tares have greatly corrupted our politics as well. The political questions should be: “how has America been led astray by the lies of the enemies of Christ, and what can we do to bring the gospel back in front of America?” This is our only hope. The rest is dissipation. Unfortunately, a large percentage of Christians have gotten lost in the tares. I’m sorry but Jesus is speaking directly to you and me here ... and the message is deadly serious. The devil who is the enemy of Christ, and his disciples are real. The tares or sons of the evil one are real. They are all around us. The messages of the devil are also tares designed to deceive us. Jesus NEVER lies. Many who are considered good people by Christians are actually tares. These are the ones who have rejected Christ, His Word, and His Gospel of salvation. The aim of the evil one is to neutralize the wheat and render it un-edible.

So in the context of my recent posts, what tares has the devil seduced America with? Answers: Darwinian Evolution; the Modernist teachings; and the social gospel are a good place to start looking for heresy. Wait a minute you say … what’s wrong with doing good deeds as the social gospel promotes? Nothing; unless your message deletes the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the process, along with the teachings of God’s Word; and replaces those teachings with Darwinian Evolution, environmentalism, the wisdom of men, and a whole list of other worthy and well-meaning goals that are great aims for the betterment of mankind but are contrary to, and in defiance of the Bible and the teachings of our Savior. That is heresy.

Question: if a missionary spent an entire adult life ministering to the poor and giving medical care to the sick; but never shared the gospel of salvation and eternal life with these same poor sick people, would this be a temporal or an eternal ministry? I have a relative on such a mission to Africa. My prayer is that the experience will see her come to Christ as her Savior during the process. Her intentions are good, but without Christ it is all aid for the moment.

The immediate problem for America is The People of the Lie.

The Modernist movement established the battle lines. The Modernists concluded that there are no absolutes that they can reject the established doctrines of Christianity: creation, the virgin birth, the miracles of Christ, salvation, justification and eternal life through Christ and then believe whatever they choose and call it Christianity. Fundamentalists on the other hand say no! There are fundamentals of the Christian faith that are absolutely taken by faith and these Truths are not negotiable.

The tares are often disguised as beautiful flowers and mixed in as shown in the wheat field picture above.
They are beautiful flowers but they are not wheat, and I imagine they would make you sick if you ate them.

We have an entire generation of adults who have been trained in a variety of heresies that they now have accepted as truth, and they call themselves Christians. Their missions are good deeds and well meaning. The question is: are these beliefs Christian? Many are religions that have been allowed to call themselves Christian, but promote doctrines contrary to God’s Word. Many have blended Christianity with the teachings of the world … often rejecting the Bible when conflicts arise. Others are religions that promote good and positive principles. And of course there are many who openly deny Christ; but instead stand on principles that promote the common welfare of all. Lastly, we have those who reject all religion and have determined a belief system based upon whatever they choose to believe. After all this is America … the land of the free.

All who reject the gospel of Christ are doomed; and unfortunately America will ultimately fall, unless a revival occurs. We must pray to that end. We are not to judge them … but Christ judges them all. “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:18

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” 1 Timothy 4:1-2

As predicted by Clarence E. Macartney, in his response to Fosdick 90 years ago: "Shall Unbelief Win?" ... where he argued that liberalism had been progressively "secularizing" the church and, if left unchecked would lead to "a Christianity of opinions and principles and good purposes, but Christianity without worship, without God, and without Jesus Christ." This prediction has now come to pass. Churches standing on Biblical fundamentals are now the exception rather than the norm. People want to be entertained. People want a message that goes along with what they have come to believe. In other words ... people want to be the god of their own belief system.

That is their option, but don't call it Christianity.

The question that must be addressed NOW by each believer is: Do the beliefs I have accepted as Christianity lead to eternal salvation with Christ in heaven or am I lost eternally due to false doctrines. Is anything that you believe contrary to God's Word?

Thus we see that the Lord Jesus Christ solemnly warned that MANY who will do wonderful things IN HIS NAME will turn out to be unsaved people who did not know Him in truth. It is not enough that someone loves “Jesus” or serves “the Lord” or preaches “the gospel.” The apostle Paul warned of false christ’s, false spirits, and false gospels 2 Corinthians 11:3-4. The Devil can and does counterfeit everything God is doing in this age. He has his own gospel, his own doctrine of conversion, even his own brand of holiness.

The only way we can know for sure what is genuine and what is counterfeit is to test it by the infallible Word of God. The people at Berea were commended for doing this: “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” Acts 17:11

Those who carefully test everything by the Word of God today are often considered as troublemakers by many within mainstream evangelicalism, but the Bible warns that those who are not careful are foolish. “The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going” Proverbs 14:15. The wise man knows there are many spiritual dangers. He is aware that he has a formidable spiritual enemy who transforms himself into an angel of light and whose ministers transform themselves into ministers of righteousness. The wise man takes heed to the Bible’s warnings: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” 1 Peter 5:8. “... Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” 2 Corinthians 11:14-15. Because of these spiritual realities, the wise Christian is extremely cautious. He does not simply accept someone as a genuine Christian because of a mere profession or because of “good works.” He investigates what gospel the person holds, what Christ he is trusting, what spirit he is following.

How is this lie being delivered and willingly received by millions who have in their heart trusted Christ? Search your heart and you tell me. I don’t want to be judgmental or legalistic … but the examples are NOW everywhere. Here is an extreme example of how deception misleads a most loving person. Notice the number of Christian leaders who were not Bereans in this article??? There are many, many, more examples.

God Bless you my Friends, Bob
Copyright: Robert West 2011