Eureka Moments

[Webers.Home]

~
Mankind's mortal enemy; the Serpent-- a.k.a. the Devil (Rev 12:9 & Rev
20:2) --has the ability to tamper with the human body and the human mind
in ways not easily detected; e.g. Gen 3:6-12, Luke 13:16, Mark 5:1-5, Eph
2:2, 2Tim 2:24-26, and Heb 2:14-15.

However, there are moments of spiritual clarity given Adam's posterity so
they can make decisions about the things of Christ on their own without
mental interference from the father of all gaslighters, sophists, and
deceivers.

For example: I was baptized an infant into a major denomination; and over
time sufficiently catechized. So I knew about the crucifixion, but had
somehow been led to believe that it was due to unfortunate circumstances.
In other words: I pitied Christ, but beyond that I saw nothing of practical
use in what he endured.

So I remained loyal to my denomination's beliefs and practices 24 years until
one day back in 1968 a man at my work asked me-- in so many words --
whether I knew that Christ died to atone for my sins. Well; I had never once
in all those 24 years even so much as faintly considered that the cross might
be to my advantage until that man said so.

It was my first real moment of clarity and I could almost feel a sort of scum
being removed from the windows of my mind as I instantly realized that
safety from divine retribution was not only a distinct possibility but easily
within my grasp.

The thing is: I had not been told that God was thinking of me when His son
went to the cross for the sins of the world. I was aware that he went to the
cross because of the sins of the world but had somehow never caught on
that he went for anybody in particular until that man talked with me; which
was very fortunate because at the time I had a lot to answer for.

I sincerely believe moments of clarity like that are not happenstance; no,
they are calculated so as to give people a fighting chance to do their own
thinking about Christ, viz: without assistance from a higher power, our
spiritual perception would remain forever obscured by the unseen world's
activity in our heads.
_

 

[Webers.Home]

~
An additional moment of clarity came when it dawned on me that eternal life
and immortality are not synonymous, i.e. not the same thing.

For example: Adam came into existence with immortality; which he later lost
by tasting the forbidden fruit. So immortality cannot be honestly described
as indelible (so to speak) because it can be revoked just as easily as
endowed.

In contrast: eternal life is 100% indelible because it defines the existence of
God; the infinite supreme being who always was, always is, and always shall be.

● 1John 1:2 . . The life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness
and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was
manifested to us

* That passage is of course referring to John 1:1-3 & John 1:14.
_

 

[Webers.Home]

~
When I was a young guy coming of age, it occurred to me that it would be
the cat's meow if I were as naturally pleasing to God as His son Jesus always
is, because then it would be very easy to attain to Heaven, and to stay in
Heaven, without fear of being kicked out:

"He that sent me is with me: the Father has not left me alone; for I do
always those things that please Him." (John 8:29)

I was very surprised, and excited, upon discovering that something very
similar to the very thing I wished for is contained in a promise that God
made to Moses' people.

● Ezek 36:24-27 . . I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you
home again to your land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you
will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship
idols. And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will
put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a
new, obedient heart. And I will put My spirit in you so you will obey My laws
and do whatever I command. (cf. Jer 31:31-33)

That benefit was originally intended for the Jews but anon became available
to Gentiles too.

● Isa 49:5-6 . . And now The Lord says-- he who formed me in the womb to
be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I
am honored in the eyes of The Lord and my God has been my strength --He
says: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of
Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light
for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."
(cf. Eph 2:11-19)

And sure enough, the benefit is reiterated in the New Testament per 2Pet
1:3-4 which says:

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness
through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.
Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that
through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the
corruption that's in the world."

I should think it goes without saying that the divine nature would be a whole
lots more successful at producing an acceptable level of piety than the
human nature could ever hope for because even at its best the human
nature is corrupt; which is translated from a Greek word basically pertaining
to damaged goods, i.e. broken.
_

 

[Adstar]

~
Mankind's mortal enemy; the Serpent-- a.k.a. the Devil (Rev 12:9 & Rev
20:2) --has the ability to tamper with the human body and the human mind
in ways not easily detected; e.g. Gen 3:6-12, Luke 13:16, Mark 5:1-5, Eph
2:2, 2Tim 2:24-26, and Heb 2:14-15.

However, there are moments of spiritual clarity given Adam's posterity so
they can make decisions about the things of Christ on their own without
mental interference from the father of all gaslighters, sophists, and
deceivers.

For example: I was baptized an infant into a major denomination; and over
time sufficiently catechized. So I knew about the crucifixion, but had
somehow been led to believe that it was due to unfortunate circumstances.
In other words: I pitied Christ, but beyond that I saw nothing of practical
use in what he endured.

So I remained loyal to my denomination's beliefs and practices 24 years until
one day back in 1968 a man at my work asked me-- in so many words --
whether I knew that Christ died to atone for my sins. Well; I had never once
in all those 24 years even so much as faintly considered that the cross might
be to my advantage until that man said so.

It was my first real moment of clarity and I could almost feel a sort of scum
being removed from the windows of my mind as I instantly realized that
safety from divine retribution was not only a distinct possibility but easily
within my grasp.

The thing is: I had not been told that God was thinking of me when His son
went to the cross for the sins of the world. I was aware that he went to the
cross because of the sins of the world but had somehow never caught on
that he went for anybody in particular until that man talked with me; which
was very fortunate because at the time I had a lot to answer for.

I sincerely believe moments of clarity like that are not happenstance; no,
they are calculated so as to give people a fighting chance to do their own
thinking about Christ, viz: without assistance from a higher power, our
spiritual perception would remain forever obscured by the unseen world's
activity in our heads.
_

I had that moment when i read Romans 7.. And i do realize it is in the Bible in earlier scriptures but my mind seemed to have been blocked up until i reached Romans.. I realize now that the Atonement of Jesus for the forgiveness of my sins is Christianity 101.. But i had been in a false church.. a works salvation church.. Not a Christian church at all..

 

[Webers.Home]

~
A home in Heaven is comparatively much to be preferred than cooped up in
a fiery netherworld; but to be honest about it, Heaven doesn't interest me.

It's an alien world with which I am totally unfamiliar; and when I leave here,
I will be leaving behind everything near and dear to me, e.g. photos,
mementos, souvenirs, collections, sights and sounds, mountains, creeks,
rivers and forests, clothing and equipment, tools, landmarks, entertainment,
hobbies, my spouse, BFF, and my aging Ford Ranger pick-up truck, etc, etc.

The culture shock tsunami of leaving all that I know & love and going to a
foreign land where I know & love nothing at all, is not my idea of a good
time. Personally; I dread the thought of having to start all over again from
scratch.

NOTE: I've heard tell of folks thoroughly unable to form attachments to
anything, to anybody, nor to any place. When they leave this life, they will
leave nothing behind of sentimental value; nothing in the least, nothing at
all. It's like they lived their entire lives as turnips and carrots instead of
sentient beings.

* The one thing I do look forward to in Heaven is the possibility of a library
where everything that can be known about the cosmos is stored. Carl Sagan
would've loved a library like that because he went to his grave with a lot of
unanswered questions. But now they'll never be answered because Carl was,
at best, an agnostic, and at worst, an atheist.
_

 

[Webers.Home]

~
It puzzled me during a recent reading of the book of Leviticus that Moses
was authorized to consecrate Aaron to the rank of high priest. Well; the
thing is: high priests are the people's mediator between God and Man. Was
Moses' rank actually higher than that, i.e. Moses was superior to his people's
mediators?

Well; as it turns out: the Old Testament's high priests mediated between
God and Man but they typically didn't communicate between the two as that
task fell to the prophets; among whom Moses was the first relative to the
Law (Deut 18:15-19 & Deut 34:10) and their tasks not only included the
consecration of high priests but also kings (e.g. 1Sam 3:20, 1Sam 8:22 &
1Sam 16:11-13) viz: high priests typically channel the people's sins whereas
prophets typically channel God's thoughts.
_

 

[Webers.Home]

~
I grew up in a very strict denomination wherein the male libido was
considered naughty. For example Matt 5:28 which says:

"I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already
committed adultery with her in his heart."

That passage is a bounce from Ex 20:17 which says:

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your
neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or
anything that belongs to your neighbor."

Coveting, per se, isn't a sin because Paul encouraged the Corinthian
Christians to "eagerly covet" the best spiritual gifts (1Cor 12:31). To
eagerly covet" means you go after something with the full intention of
obtaining it.

An excellent example of evil coveting is Ahab's move to take Naboth's
vineyard away from him by despicable means instead of honorable per the
21st chapter of 1Kings.

Matt 5:28 has been used and abused over and over to condemn male libido
when it's not addressing a man's libido at all. It's telling men that when you
go after a girl; to do so for proper purposes rather than scheming to sleep
with her in an improper manner, i.e. out of wedlock; because it's wrong to
be even be seriously considering something like that.
_

 

[Webers.Home]

My first encounter with a Watchtower Society agent (a.k.a. Jehovah's
Witness) occurred in 1969. At the time I was young and inexperienced; and
thus assumed that the missionary coming down my dad's driveway was a
typical Christian.

But when I spoke of my encounter with an older Christian at work; he
became alarmed; and urged me to read a little book titled "30 Years A
Watchtower Slave" by William J. Schnell; whom the Society at one time
demonized as an agent of Satan. I would not be surprised if it still does.

After getting my eyes opened by Mr. Schnell's book, I was afterwards
steered towards another book titled "Kingdom Of The Cults" by Walter
Martin. No doubt the Society demonizes Mr. Martin too.

Around late 1980, my wife and I attended a series of lectures sponsored by
a local church titled "How To Witness To Jehovah's Witnesses". The speaker
(call him Pete) was an ex JW who had been in the Watchtower Society
system for near three decades before terminating his involvement; so he
knew the twists and turns of its doctrines pretty good.

Pete didn't train us to hammer the Society's missionaries in a debate
because even if I was to best them scripture for scripture, they will not give
up on the Society. Their mind's unflinching premise is that the Society is
right even when it appears to be totally wrong. They are thoroughly
convinced that the Society is the voice of God, while my voice is regarded as
no more valid than that of a squeaky little gerbil.

Later on, I read a book titled "Why I Left The Jehovah's Witnesses" by Ted
Dencher. I also read the Society's little brown book titled "Reasoning From
The Scriptures".

(This was all before the internet and the ready volume of information
available online, e.g. YouTube.)

From all that vetting, study, and training I discovered that although the
Watchtower Society uses many of Christianity's standard terms and phrases,
those terms and phrases mean something entirely different in the JW mind
than what I expected because the Society has re-defined them.

All in all; coping with Jehovah's Witnesses has been an Herculean task
because their beliefs are such a tangle of semantics coupled with a bizarre
assortment of twisted scriptures, double speak, rationalizing, humanistic
reasoning, and clever sophistry.
_

 

[Webers.Home]

For the longest time I sincerely believed the so-called fallen nature is
propagated via reproduction and inherited from one's biological father
because most every Bible teacher I encountered in the 56 years following
my conversion has said so. But from whence did Eve obtain it? (This isn't
about the so-called original sin)

She was already fully sentient and fully constructed from material taken
from Adam's body prior to the forbidden fruit incident. Since himself tasted
the fruit after his wife was already in existence; then it was impossible for
Adam to pass the fallen nature to her by means of reproduction.

In the past, I suspected that the chemistry of the forbidden fruit had
something to do with the first couple's altered moral perception; but now I
seriously doubt it because Eve was the first to eat the fruit, and when she
did, nothing happened. She remained just as comfortable in the buff as
before. It wasn't till Adam tasted the fruit that she began to feel indecent; so
I'm pretty sure that the underlying cause is far more serious than the
chemistry of that fruit.

FAQ: If Eve's altered moral perception wasn't due to the fruit, nor due to
inheriting it from Adam when she was constructed with material taken from
his body; then what?

REPLY: Mr. Serpent is the logical source, a.k.a. the Devil (Rev 20:2) He has
the power of death (Heb 2:14) and the ability to tamper with the human
body and the human mind in ways not easily detected; e.g. Luke 13:16,
Mark 5:1-5, and Eph 2:2.

The Serpent was apparently all set and ready to wield his power the moment
that Adam crossed the line and ate that fruit. It amazes me how quickly it
takes effect. Soon after Adam tasted the fruit, he and his wife both
immediately set to work cobbling together some rudimentary aprons to
cover up their pelvic areas.

FAQ: Why wasn't the woman effected by the Serpent's power when she
tasted the forbidden fruit?

REPLY: It was apparently God's decision that if sin and death were to come
into the world, they would come via a lone male's actions just as life and
righteousness would later be offered to the world via a lone male's actions.
(Rom 5:12-21)

FAQ: When does the Serpent go to work on people . . . in the womb or out
of the womb?

REPLY: Adam and his wife demonstrate that it can be done on adults, but
I'm guessing that for most of us it's in the womb. (e.g. Ps 51:5 & Ps 58:3)
_

 

[Webers.Home]

~
When I was a child, Hell was academic, i.e. an article of faith. But not
anymore because now I'm 80 and most of my family has passed on. It's
very, very probable that my mom and two of my three brothers are down
there. Somebody else's kin suffering in Hell is one thing, but quite another
feeling about it when it's your own.
_

 

[Webers.Home]

~
● Gen 4:16-17 . . Then Cain went out from the presence of The Lord, and
settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. And Cain had relations with his wife
and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch

Back in the latter part of the decade of the 1960's, when I was just
beginning to seriously read the Bible, that passage led me to believe Adam's
wasn't the only family on Earth but that God had created numerous "cells"
like his in various places. My premise was based upon other parts of the
Bible that reveal God doesn't condone incest. (e.g. Lev 18:6-15)

However; the Adams were very definitely the only people on Earth back
then.

● Gen 3:20 . . Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the
mother of all the living.

● Acts 17:26 . . From one man he made every nation of men, that they
should inhabit the whole earth.

So then, Cain obviously married a sibling. But I had no clue as to how it was
okay for him to do so rather than patently wrong. Well; in time I discovered
that the laws of God, in particular His codified laws, are not retroactive.
(Deut 5:2-4, Rom 4:15, Rom 5:13 and Gal 3:17)

Now that was truly a Eureka moment which I have found useful on
numerous occasions; especially when curious folks ask me to explain how
Jesus' human sacrifice was legal seeing as he-- a Jew --was limited to the
atonements specified in the covenant that Moses' people entered into with
God per Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, to wit:

● Deut 4:2 …You shall not add anything to what I command you or take
anything away from it, but keep the commandments of The Lord your God
that I enjoin upon you.

● Deut 5:29-30 …Be careful, then, to do as The Lord your God has
commanded you. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left: follow only the
path that The Lord your God has enjoined upon you.

Well, the secret is: Jesus was designated, and scheduled, to die for the sins
of the world prior to both the world and the covenant. (Mic 5:2, 1Pet 1:20 &
Rev 13:8)
_

 

[Webers.Home]

~
FAQ: How was it legitimate for Adam's posterity to be given the death
penalty for his offense when so many passages in the Bible are opposed to
passing a father's mistakes on to his progeny? For example: Ezek 18:1–4,
Ezek 18:18–20, 2Kngs 14:6, Deut 24:16, 2Chron 25:4, and Jer 31:29–30.

REPLY: As was stated in a previous post: The laws of God, especially His
codified laws, are not retroactive. (Deut 5:2-4, Rom 4:15, Rom 5:13 and Gal
3:17)

For example; it would be wrong for God to hold my offspring accountable for
my actions now; whereas prior to instituting the Law and the Prophets, it
would've been right because God had yet to officially cease that practice in
his association with mankind.

In other words: God-given rules of conduct vary in accord with the system
by which folks associate with God. For example: the covenant into which
Moses' people entered with God specifies a number of curses for their non
compliance with the covenant's rules; whereas the covenant by which
Christ's followers associate with God doesn't specify curses for his followers'
non compliance because Christ's covenant is an honor system whereas Moses'
covenant is a legal system.

This particular moment of clarity was a mite confusing for me at first but
once I got used to the idea; it hit me what a huge advantage with which
Christ's followers have been blessed, viz: they practically have a license to
steal, so to speak.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my
burden is light." (Matt 11:28-30)

That promise isn't an exaggeration. When Christ's system of beliefs and
practices are compared with Moses' system, there is in fact no parallel.
Christ's system is so, so much better.

NOTE: "Come to me" is an invitation that requests an RSVP so I urge
interested parties to find some privacy and speak up for yourself. Tell Christ
you want in-- do so while the offer is on the table. Don't procrastinate and
risk losing it.
_

 

[Webers.Home]

~
● Gen 2:15-17 . .The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden
of Eden, to till it and tend it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying:
Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; but as for the tree of
knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for in the day you eat of
it, you shall die.

That passage is a favorite among critics because the man didn't drop dead
the very day he tasted the forbidden fruit. In point of fact, he continued to
live outside the garden of Eden for another 800 years after the birth of his
son Seth (Gen 5:4). So; is there a reasonable explanation for this apparent
discrepancy?

The first thing to point out is that in order for his maker's warning to
resonate in the man's thinking; it had to be related to death as he
understood death in his own day rather than death as modern Sunday
school classes construe it in their day. In other words: the man's concept of
death was primitive, i.e. normal and natural rather than allegorical, spiritual,
and/or philosophical.

As far as can be known from scripture, mankind is the only specie that God
created in His own image, viz: a creature blessed with perpetual youth. The
animal kingdom was given nothing like it.

That being the case, then I think it's safe to assume that death was common
all around the man by means of vegetation, birds, bugs, and beasts so that
it wasn't a strange new word in his vocabulary; i.e. God didn't have to take a
moment and define death for the man seeing as how it was doubtless a
common occurrence in his everyday life.

So I think we can be reasonably confident that the man was up to speed on
at least the natural aspects of death and fully understood that if he went
ahead and tasted the forbidden fruit that his body would lose its perpetual
youth and end up drying in the sun like roadkill; so to speak.

In other words; had the man not eaten of the forbidden tree, he would've
remained in perfect health but the very day that he tasted its fruit, his body
became infected with mortality, i.e. he lost perpetual youth and began to
age; a condition easily remedied by the tree of life but alas, the man was
denied access to it.

As we all know: the aging process is a lingering, walking death rather than
sudden death, i.e. mortality is slow, but very relentless-- it feels neither pain
nor pity, nor remorse nor fear; it cannot be reasoned with nor can it be
bargained with, and it absolutely will not stop-- ever! --until our body is so
broken down that it cannot continue.

"A voice said: Shout! I asked: What should I shout? Shout that people are
like the grass that dies away. Their beauty fades as quickly as the beauty of
flowers in a field. The grass withers, and the flowers fade beneath the breath
of The Lord. And so it is with people. The grass withers, and the flowers
fade, but the word of our God stands forever." (Isa 40:6-8)
_

 

[Webers.Home]

~
● Lev 19:32 . . Demonstrate your fear of God by standing up in the presence
of elderly people and showing respect for the aged. I am The Lord.

In the beginning; Adam was made superior to his wife not because of his
gender, rather, because he was the senior of the two. (Gen 3:16 & 1Tim
2:11-13)

Rising to one's feet for the elders among us carries over to revering God
because He too is an elder among us. God likely doesn't look His age--
except maybe in a figure of speech, e.g. Dan 7:9 --but we really should keep
in mind that He's among us as not only a better, but also a senior. So we
would do well to step aside for God, carry His bags, and/or hold a door open
for Him not only because he's a deity and a monarch, but also because He's
older.
_

 

[Webers.Home]

~
● 1Pet 3:15b . . Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks
you a reason of the hope that is in you.

* There's a bit of a caveat moderating those instructions located at Matt 7:8
and goes like this:

"Do not give that which is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before
swine; lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to
pieces."

In other words: 1Pet 3:15b is limited to sensible folks and excludes those
who more resemble feral beasts than civilized humans. (cf. Rev 22:14-15)

Anyway: the Greek word for "hope" in the above instructions, and in others
(e.g. Rom 8:23-25) pertains to expectations; viz: it isn't wishful thinking,
nor crossing your fingers; no, it's a confident kind of hope that looks forward
to something, and fully expects to obtain it; i.e. it's an anticipating hope;
viz: it doesn't pray for the best, while in the back of its mind dreading the
worst.

When people aren't 110% sure what the afterlife has in store for them-- if
there is even the slightest concern, anxiety, or unease --they can't possibly
comply with Peter's instructions for the simple reason that the hope that is in
them, if any, is the wrong kind of hope.

● Rom 12:12 . . Rejoice in hope.

When people are praying for the best, while in the back of their mind
dreading the worst, they have absolutely no cause for rejoicing; no; but they
do have plenty of cause to fear the unknown.
_

 

[Webers.Home]

~
Note the difference in the wording of these two passages.

"For God was pleased through him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether
things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood,
shed on the cross." (Col 1:19-20)

"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is
above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow: of
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth" (Phil 2:9-10)

The Colossians passage speaks of reconciliation, whereas the Philippians
passage speaks of sovereignty. The Philippians passage includes things
"under the earth" whereas the Colossians passage omits them. In other
words; things under the earth, though effected by Christ's sovereignty, are
unaffected by his blood, i.e. they won't be reconciled to God.

Down at the end, when all is completed and set in concrete; the Bible says:

● Rev 22:11 . . Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who
is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and
let him who is holy continue to be holy.

Viz: it appears to me that there is no 100% plan of salvation, i.e. somebody
out there isn't going to make the cut.
_