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All creation is integrated

Spirit Precedes Material

There is a tendency to view the spirit world and the material world as separate entities.   Heaven and Hell as far off distant places.   However, this is not the reality of creation.  The spirit world and the material world are integrated together in one creation.

To begin with we need to maintain a biblical perspective.   In Genesis 1:1 it says, “In the beginning, God…”.  In other words God, as the Creator, precedes in existence the creation.  God is not a material being, He is a Spirit.  Consequently, Spirit precedes matter therefore is greater than matter.   Furthermore,  since there is no clear mention of the creation of the spirit beings commonly called, “angels” in Genesis, nonetheless we understand that Lucifer was in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.  Therefore it is agreed that the angelic host was created before the material world was created.

In regards to mankind we know that Adam was created materially first (Gen. 2:7) from the dust of the ground, then the breath of life, or spirit, was given to him.  With that spirit he comes to life in the physical world, but also exists in the spirit world. Whether this was true for Adam or not, it is true for us that our spirits can see through the physical, but the physical has difficulty seeing into the spirit.

All people exist in the spirit world at all times because our spirits are in that world while our bodies are in this world, but that is not to say we exist as divided people, for our spirit, soul and body make up the one being that we are.   When Paul tells us that we are seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6) he means that we are in Heaven already with Christ in our spirits, but not our bodies. Read the rest of this entry →

The emasculation of husbands

Despite the title of the blog, I am not against women teaching.  I personally benefit and enjoy listening to Joyce Meyer,  Nancy Lee DeMoss and other intelligent women who hear God and speak on behalf of God.  And I believe that these women when broadcasting through the airwaves or any other public communications medium are fine, because they are not specifically teaching men. They are teaching whosoever will.  There is a significant difference.

I had to rethink through my point of view on this topic since I was recently excommunicated from a house church headed by a woman pastor.  In post expulsion communication with the brother that had brought me into the fellowship, I expressed regret to him that I had not heeded my conscience in continuing my attendance when I found out that the group was being led by a woman.  I told him that we have a tendency to rationalize and to justify what we want at the expense of the plain teaching of Scriptures which says:

I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. (1 Tim 2:12 NIV) Read the rest of this entry →

Selfish love is good when it is in the joy of loving others

Valentines is a week away.  So I think it is appropriate to talk about love.  In the world there is a selfish love, which is the basis of most love experienced. This selfish love has the motive of  “what do I get out of this relationship?” The focus is on receiving, not giving.

In contrast the agape love of God is one of giving.  This is usually considered a good  love for there is no expectation of return.  But anyone who has given this kind of love knows that it is not truly selfless. Read the rest of this entry →

Alex Douglas Elite Acrobat 1985

I have had this blog for some time now and it occurs to me that I have never given my testimony.  So, here it is.

I was born in a manger…. yeah, right!  No, I was born in an atheist family in California and had no church experience except the Unitarian. That was brief as my parents, who were raised in Christian homes, were transitioning to complete atheism. My only memory of the Unitarians was finger painting in Sunday School and singing Kumbayah, which seemed to be a foreign language to me.

But I had an Irish Catholic neighbor friend when I was young Grammar school child. I asked him about Jesus, but could not believe that a man became God. Nonetheless, I do remember crying out to Jesus to save me, even though I did not understand who He was. I even remember moments of speaking in tongues spontaneously. But with no further understanding, I continued to live as a pagan, though I believed there was a God. Read the rest of this entry →

In the last month two movies came out that had been promoted on Christian radio.  I don’t see movies in a timely manner, so my comments are dated.  Nonetheless there may be some of you who have not seen these movies, so I am still giving my 2 cents.

My wife and I went to see An American Carol first.  That was a mistake and waste of money.  We knew that it had gotten an “F” by a secular reviewer, but went thinking it was because he had a liberal bias.

The movie is a poor adaptation of Dickens “Christmas Carol” by David Zucker in the heavy handed slapstick style of Airplane for American conservative politics.  The Scrooge of the story is played by Kevin Farley in a thin paradoy of Michael Moore (called Michael Malone) as an anti-American documentary film-maker who sees the reality of Terrorists by the visitation of one ghost, Kelsey Grammer,  as General Patton.  There are two other ghosts, George Washington played by John Voight and a country star that I am unfamiliar with, but they are brief cameos. Read the rest of this entry →

Last night I watched the Republican Convention, and was greatly moved.  I do not vote anymore because I had learned long ago that the US government of the last 100 years is a private corporation that follows the Constitution of their corporate charter, and not the Constitution created by the founding fathers.  To register to vote is to join this corporation, and thus be subject to its rules.  I am not a citizen of this private corporation but a citizen of the Kingdom of God first, and I am an ambassador for that kingdom to this corporation.

I had left political observation for several years.  But Sarah Pallin caught my attention.   My wife had the Republican Convention on TV when I came home from work.  I got home in time to hear Giuliani’s speech.  It was an excellent speech, so I got hooked and watched the rest. Read the rest of this entry →

A few days ago I was talking to a plumber about homeschooling his children. It has been my observation as a gymnastics coach that the home school children make better gymnasts because of their confidence. Removing children from the house and putting them into institutions, whether public education or private, creates ontological insecurities. Those kids taught at home have a basic self confidence that is created by the assurance of love demonstrated by their parents investing their time into their education. Besides, I said, who else knows your kids better than you? Isn’t it true that it is every parent’s responsibility to discover the gifts that are in your kids? Who else is going to take the time to provide different activities that will show them what they either excel at or fail at? No parent really knows the gifts and talents God has endowed in their children when they are born, and part of the joy of raising kids is discovering what those gifts are along with them as they grow up. Read the rest of this entry →

Eph 5:25
25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; (KJV)

While praying this morning a thought came to me from the Lord regarding laying down our lives for our wives.  The usual thought that I have had based upon this verse is the extreme of dying on the cross.  Or perhaps in modern terms, pushing my wife out of the way before being struck by a car, and dying as a result of being hit myself.

But those extreme actions never occur without the simple acts preceding it. The spirit of the verse is one of self denial towards one’s spouse. That is, in preferring her wants and needs over my own. Read the rest of this entry →

When I met my wife, I knew I had come home.   I understood that home was not a place, but a person.  Where ever she is, there is my home.  This is true with Christ.   We are mistaken to think that heaven is our home.  It is not. Our home is Christ. Where ever He is, we are at home.

Heaven is the Old English word for haven.   A haven is a safe harbor for ships to wait out storms.   It is a temporary stop.   Heaven was not created for humans, just as the Lake of Fire was not created for humans.   Heaven is for the angels (Gal. 1:8), and the Lake of Fire for the rebellious angels (Matt 25:41).   The Earth was created for humans (Gen. 1:26). Read the rest of this entry →

My marriage was transformed when I grabbed hold of a spiritual principle. That principle is found in 1 Cor.  11:3.

“But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” (1 Cor 11:3 KJV)

I had theologically understood it all along, but it was in the practical application that I missed it.  Theologically I understood why Adam was cursed when it was Eve who disobeyed in partaking of the fruit. Adam had the responsibility to “keep the garden” (Gen. 2:15).   That meant that he was to guard and protect that garden. The garden, included his wife, Eve.   So when Adam did not stop Eve, he abdicated his responsibility.   Paul tells us: Read the rest of this entry →