My blogging friend J over at The Oil For Your Lamp has an excellent post up entitled “SPIRITUAL LESSONS FROM THE HEADLINES: Reason Behind Bill Maher’s Fear of Cruz Very Revealing.”
The excerpt here will hopefully whet your appetite and encourage you to read it all!
I saw this story today, and when I read it, I found that I better understand some of the the more troublesome aspects of the Old testament. Bill Maher is famous for attacking God’s actions in the Old Testament. He called God a ‘Psychotic Mass Murderer.’ Now, to be totally honest, I have never found a satisfactory response to the sort of attacks that Maher levels against God. I reject them, but I have never been able to find a way to explain why they are wrong — until now. After reading this story, not only do I have a satisfactory answer, I have that answer in the very person of the person making the attack — Bill Maher!
Bill Maher Explains in Blunt Terms Why He Finds Ted Cruz ‘Scarier Than Trump’
Before I explain the answer I found in Bill Maher’s latest outbursts, let me draw your attention to two particular things Maher said. First, why does Maher fear Cruz more than Trump?
Continue reading HERE
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My comment there:
Wow! Wonderful, wonderful post!
I didn’t watch the video (can’t stand Bill Maher!) but I do recall a Fox News reporter being released from his Islamic terrorist captors years ago – Steve Centani – who did exactly what Maher suggests and uttered those words in favor of the false and evil “god” of Islam. The man sold his soul for his physical life, but if he never repents at the cross of Jesus Christ in this lifetime, then he will lose eternal life with God.
The words of Jesus in Matthew come to mind:
Mat 16:26
“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Mar 8:36
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
I’m participating in Bible Study Fellowship this year and we are in the book of Revelation. We learn that the unrepentant would rather have rocks fall on them and crush them to death rather than repenting of their sin to be saved! The resistance towards salvation for their souls becomes stronger and stronger when they refuse to admit their sins, confess and repent at the foot of the cross of Christ, and ask for forgiveness.
It is interesting to note that the term salvation in Greek means:
“victory, wholeness, well being, and deliverance!”
Therefore, people like Maher reject the very provision that would give him all of these gifts from God! Instead, he urges others to bow to a false god in order to lose their souls! So sad, ignorant, dangerous, stupid, childish, demonic, dumb, disrespectful and hateful! Leading people to hell via the public forum that Maher has is truly disturbing.
In our study on Revelation 8 this past week, one question in our homework asked what we learned from the lecture. This is what I wrote:
“Our (my) choice in this life on earth is to either be deceived by the cunning counterfeiter Satan, or guided in the Truth by our Shepherd King – Jesus Christ!”
I love 2 Corinthians 4! The entirety of the chapter speaks to this issue about Maher, especially these verses:
2Co 4:3
But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
2Co 4:4
whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
Tags: answering critics, Deliverance, faith in Jesus, Jesus Christ, redemption, repentance, salvation, truth, Victory, Well Being, Wholeness
Talk Wisdom 
January 15, 2016 at 9:36 pm |
Okay, I went over and read it. Decontamination procedure is completed.
I’m sure that J realizes that god’s actions in the OT is low-hanging fruit. Everyone in the Christian world knows about it, but no one can explain why. J himself admits ”Now, to be totally honest, I have never found a satisfactory response to the sort of attacks that Maher levels against God.” That’s because there is no satisfactory response. Unless the believer abrogates all responsibility and negates all doubt, and accepts everything as subject to divine will, there can be no way to justify those actions.
That;s a post worthy of its own space, but I won’t go any further here. Let’s talk about your reaction.
CJW:We learn that the unrepentant would rather have rocks fall on them and crush them to death rather than repenting of their sin to be saved!
Really? I’d like to meet the ‘unrepentant’ who actually told you (or your lecturer) that. Even if it’s true, I don’t know why you’re so shocked. All “righteous believers” in all religions feel it an honor to die for their beliefs. Many of them feel it’s a greater honor to make religious opponents die for their beliefs.
…I do recall a Fox News reporter being released from his Islamic terrorist captors years ago – Steve Centani – who did exactly what Maher suggests and uttered those words in favor of the false and evil “god” of Islam. The man sold his soul for his physical life, but if he never repents at the cross of Jesus Christ in this lifetime, then he will lose eternal life with God.
Two questions: one, is Centani still a Muslim? You say he merely confessed so as not to be killed, so unless he still lives in that region of the world, he may have gone back to being whatever he was before.
Two: have Christian terrorists ever behaved this way toward other religions? Because if they have, you no longer have that high horse to sit on and look down on other (or non-) believers.
It is interesting to note that the term salvation in Greek means: “victory, wholeness, well being, and deliverance!”
Complete with exclamation point?
But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. –2 Corinthians 4:3~4 (NKJV)
Who is “the god of this age”, and where did he come from? Because:
I am the LORD, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. –Isaiah 45:5 (NKJV)
Show us how you earned that Apologetics sheepskin.
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January 16, 2016 at 3:20 pm |
GM,
J wrote that he, personally, “never found a satisfactory response to the sort of attacks that Maher levels against God.” That doesn’t mean that there aren’t any satisfactory responses available to believers.
I do not know Centani’s former or current religious beliefs. Perhaps he is an atheist like you so pledging allegiance to the false god of Islam may not have fazed him in the least.
I think that the Greek meaning of salvation deserves an exclamation point. What person, in their right mind, would want to reject victory, wholeness, well being, and deliverance?
See David Guzik’s commentary on “the god of this age” HERE
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January 16, 2016 at 5:45 pm |
That’s right, J personally couldn’t come up with a satisfactory response. If there is one, I’d like to hear it. From any believer.
The Revelation quotes simply mean that neither you nor your lecturer has ever met anyone who actually told you that.
But the passage actually says Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, while you said …the unrepentant would rather have rocks fall on them and crush them to death rather than repenting of their sin to be saved!
The book says they seek to hide, you say they prefer to be crushed. Does your god approve of lying in his name? Or is distortion of the text a standard apologetics riff?
I do not know Centani’s former or current religious beliefs. Perhaps he is an atheist like you so pledging allegiance to the false god of Islam may not have fazed him in the least.
If he is an atheist, then he believes that ALL gods are false; in which case Allah would have meant no more to him than Osiris, since he knew there was no god to hear him pledge fidelity.
Again: have Christian terrorists ever behaved that way toward other religions? Tell us, and tell the truth!
See David Guzik’s commentary on “the god of this age” HERE
Satan is the god of this age?! How do we know that Paul wasn’t speaking of his time, only? He, like all the other early Christians, believed the end of the age was less than a lifetime away.
Even if this is the case, it doesn’t negate Gawd’s own words in Isaiah. He claims to be the One And Only (not the Three And Only, as modern Christians claim). Satan is never mentioned at all.
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January 18, 2016 at 3:30 pm |
Correction to your first sentence. J wrote that he personally couldn’t come up with a satisfactory response UNTIL the one he revealed in the post. You claim to have read the post. Did you miss that important part?
Revelation is a book of prophecy which reveals (most importantly) the revelation of Jesus Christ and which reveals (secondly) what will happen to the saved and the unsaved at the end of the age of grace. There will come a time when God’s judgment will befall the earth and who a person belongs to will determine their eternal destination.
The unrepentant seek to hide but also would rather refuse salvation and have the results of the wrath to come (e.g. mountains and rocks falling on them – which would crush them); than turn from their sins, repent, be forgiven, redeemed and live with God forever.
Did you know that each person’s name is originally written in the Book of Life? Their names would be erased from there for not repenting and accepting Christ as Lord and Savior. Even at the hour of impending death (see the repentant thief on the cross next to Christ) God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness is available to them!
About the triune nature of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He (through the Hebrew plural word for God – Elohim) has been revealed as such in both the Old and New Testaments.
From Don Stewart – What does the Hebrew term Elohim mean?
We read about God the Father and the Spirit of God in Genesis 1:2. In Genesis 1:26, we read:
Note the plurality of God in that verse of Scripture?
In John 1 of New Testament, John writes of the Word of God as being with Him from the beginning.
John tells us that the Word became flesh:
John identifies the Word:
And the purpose of Christ being born in the flesh?
We read about the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus. John baptizes with water, but Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
At the transfiguration of Jesus when he met with Moses and Elijah in Matthew 17, we read that the voice of God the Father identifies Jesus as His beloved Son and are told to hear Him.
Notice the lower case designation for satan as being “the god of this age.” If you read the entire account at the link I provided to David Guzik’s commentary, you will get a better understanding of why satan fits this description.
People are fooled by the wiles of the devil and end up worshipping the created rather than the Creator. This includes other people as well as idols of stone, wood, etc. They label their false gods according to their own will and desires for a “god”; including themselves as the “god” in their lives. But they reject the one True God of the universe. Why? Many reasons. A “god” of their own making can be manipulated into being what they want him to be. Everyone ends up worshipping something – or someone. But the one True God has revealed Himself in Scripture and those who are saved from their sins through the shed blood of Jesus Christ at the cross and have truly accepted Him as Lord and Savior of their lives can never be taken out of the Book of Life.
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January 19, 2016 at 2:36 am |
CJW: J wrote that he personally couldn’t come up with a satisfactory response UNTIL the one he revealed in the post. You claim to have read the post. Did you miss that important part?
No, I knew it was there, and deliberately left it out. J may have an answer to that now, but he didn’t then, and it must have bothered him for a long time. That’s why I thought his story worthy of its own post. But then, he probably hadn’t learned what you know.
The unrepentant seek to hide but also would rather refuse salvation and have the results of the wrath to come (e.g. mountains and rocks falling on them – which would crush them); than turn from their sins, repent, be forgiven, redeemed and live with God forever.
And as he crushes me to paste, the deity will weep, and shout ”I didn’t WANT to do this to you! You MADE Me do it!!” Because that’s a whole lot easier than, say…forgiving.
As if I, a mere mortal, could ‘make’ the Lord of the Universe do ANYTHING he didn’t want to do! Pull the other one.
Did you know that each person’s name is originally written in the Book of Life? Their names would be erased from there for not repenting and accepting Christ as Lord and Savior. Even at the hour of impending death (see the repentant thief on the cross next to Christ) God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness is available to them!
This is why some say that God is Santa Claus for grown-ups. He sees you when you’re sleeping; he knows when you’re awake; he has a book in which he writes down everything you do, good or bad; and at the end of the year/life, he calls you into account for it and rewards or punishes you accordingly. God has you face him in full judicial majesty, while Santa sneaks in and leaves (or doesn’t leave) a nice Something for you.
It’s a great tool for keeping five-year-olds in line, Christine, but it shouldn’t be used on adults.
I also shouldn’t have to remind you that the ‘repentant thief’ appears only in Luke; Matthew tells it differently.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;…
Note the plurality of God in that verse of Scripture?
Yes, I do. It might be explained by the fact that the NKJV is patterned after the original KJV of 400 years ago, which always used “we” as a singular, not plural sense. European monarchs always said “we” instead of “I”, possibly because they ruled in conjunction with Someone Else. That someone could have been the people (the king represented the nation, after all), or the divinity, but either way, the ruler did not rule alone.
If the king talked that way, why shouldn’t God? Does he talk like that in pre-KJ bibles?
In the OT, god always speaks of himself in the singular, but a Jesus and Holy Spirit who have always existed would mean that god has always been a Three-In-One. Even before the Jews left Egypt. But Jewish texts make no mention of that, AFAIK.
Notice the lower case designation for satan as being “the god of this age.” If you read the entire account at the link I provided to David Guzik’s commentary, you will get a better understanding of why satan fits this description.
I read it twice, and always found satan spelled with a capital S. Only ‘satanic’ and ‘devil’ are in lower case.
One of us is wrong.
…A “god” of their own making can be manipulated into being what they want him to be.
How true! When no one can see or talk to your ‘god’, you can describe him as looking the way you want, and hating the people you hate, and desiring the things you desire. One doesn’t have to leave the country to find false gods; they hang out even in the churches. That’s why I gave them up, because they convinced me that all of them are false. Yet for some unknown reason, my stance offends you.
Oh, one more time: have Christian terrorists ever behaved toward other religious believers the way those Islamic terrorists did toward Steve Centani?
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