Everlasting life!

There is a Greek story of a goddess who fell in love with a mortal. The problem, of course, was that they both knew that he would eventually die, while she enjoyed immortality. The goddess went to Zeus, the chief god, and asked if she might be granted a request. Zeus agreed - but told her that she could have only one request granted, and was never to come back for another. Happily, the goddess agreed - and asked that the object of her love be granted everlasting life. Zeus granted her request, and the couple were married.

At first, all was well. However, as the years passed, they realised that they had made a major mistake. The husband lived on - but he kept getting older. His body deteriorated; his mind became fuzzy; while his wife lived on in her eternal youth. The point of the story, one may assume, is that everlasting life - in itself - is not something to be desired.

That story came to mind when I read a newspaper headline, earlier today: "Scientists find way to STOP ageing in development which could lead to everlasting life." Now, to be fair, they do claim to have found a way by which the actual process of aging may be stopped. It's all to do with telomeres - fragments of DNA which cap both ends of each chromosome and protect against the wear and tear of natural ageing. However, even the thought of "being around", in this human life, for thousands of years, is surely off-putting! And, of course, there is the practical consideration of population growth!

It may be more than coincidence that I came across that headline, and article, so soon after my previous post on the Final Frontier! Perhaps the Lord is speaking to someone specifically through this blog! Are you concerned about death? It isn't unusual! However, for those who have come, in repentance and faith, to Jesus the Christ and received the new life that He offers, there is no need to fear. He offers us, here and now, "life in all its fulness" (Jn.10:10) and, when our mortal life has ended, a continuing life in His nearer presence. It's not "everlasting" life, but "eternal life" - the Life of God Himself. and it is something that we enter as soon as we accept the gift of salvation that Jesus gained for us on the cross at Calvary.

Have you accepted that gift? If not, why not?! Perhaps you think that you are not good enough! Well, I'll not argue with you on that score! You see, neither am I! Paul wrote to the Roman believers (!) that "all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written: 'None is righteous, no, not one;' " (3:9-10) and, again, that "... all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (3:23).

That's why he made clear, in his letter to the Ephesians, that it is "... by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God -" (2:8). This year is the 500th anniversary of the Reformation,and one of the great principles of the Reformers was "Sola gratis" - "Grace alone". Taste of that grace for yourself - you will never regret it, and you will know life that is truly rewarding (although not necessarily easy!), and that will be yours for all of eternity!

Do true disciples of Jesus need material evidence?

One of the online magazines that I regularly receive had an interesting article in today's issue.  The heading was certainly one that caught the eye: "How babies were made in Jesus' time."   I reckoned that I knew the answer to that one - in the same way that they have been made since Adam and Eve!

However, the article, by Andrew Lincoln of the University of Gloucestershire, was actually about the virginal conception of the Lord Jesus, and the source of the male-provided 'Y' chromosome!  There is an opportunity for comment, and the first two comments referred to Ron Wyatt (of whose existence I was previously unaware!) and his alleged discovery of the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant which, according to the two commenters, had traces of the dried blood of Jesus on it - blood that was tested and showed that it only had the mother's chromosome! 

Now, I am not in a position to comment on Ron Wyatt’s findings, other than to say that, apart from anything else, I can think of no reason why the human blood of Jesus would be found on the Ark! However, I wonder about the relevance of any of these alleged discoveries – finding Noah’s ark; the Shroud of Turin; finding the Ark of the Covenant; etc.

When the resurrected Jesus made His first appearance to the disciples (John 20:19), Thomas was not with them. He was informed, later, and responded that without ‘concrete’, material proof, he would not believe!

Eight days later, Thomas was with the others, and Jesus appeared again. He invited Thomas to check out the evidence as he had wanted. Of course, brought face-to-face with the risen Saviour of the world, and King of the universe, Thomas could only fall to his knees in worship. (v.28).  Jesus’ following words are very enlightening: “Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.’” (v.29). I would respectfully suggest that those words could be interpreted as, “Blessed are those who have no material evidence, but who still believe”!

In other words, whatever alleged material evidence is produced, real faith does not require it!  

I saw another reference, yesterday - to LGBT people.  It suddenly struck me - I am an LGBT person!   For those who are astonished that I should make such a statement, let me quickly assure them that my sexuality is not in question.  It's just that I realised that those letters, in that order, have an immediate connection to Paul's words in Rom.3:4 - "Let God Be True though every man be false, ..."!  I'll stand on that LGBT statement until the day I die or am raptured!  Hallelujah!

Marriage Mistakes #2.

"Mistake #2: Sexuality is a Civil Rights Issue.

When Lady Gaga sings, “Baby, I was born this way,” it makes for good music. [I don't agree with Phil on everything!]  When Barack Obama embraces it as a political philosophy, it makes for bad government.
He used his inauguration speech to liken the fight for same-sex marriage to the epic struggle won by Abraham Lincoln against black slavery, and by Martin Luther King Jr. against racial segregation, saying: “Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law — for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.” Barack Obama is a master at rhetoric, but this is lazy at best and insulting at worst.

Issues of race and of sexuality are entirely different. To try to twist this is not to carry on the journey started by Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr.; it is to insult what they stood for and try to hijack their legacy.
 
I have searched in vain for a robust medical study which shows that our sexuality is written deep into our DNA. It hasn’t been proven that homosexuality is genetic any more than it has been proven that homosexuality is caused by our environment. It appears that it is simply one of many sexual preferences that societies ought to weigh carefully, and then label right or wrong.

A boy who falls in love with his sister can’t marry her because we have ruled that incest is wrong. A man who falls in love with a twelve-year-old girl can’t marry her because we have ruled that child abuse is wrong.
We may decide that a man falling in love with a man is as equally valid as a man falling in love with a woman, but we can’t do so by appealing to genetics and civil rights. Men are twice as likely as women to become addicted to pornography, but their XY chromosomes don’t mean that their temptation is justified. 
 
It’s entirely right for us to have a free and open debate on whether homosexuality is right or wrong, but it’s entirely wrong to pretend that this is a civil rights issue like black slavery or racial segregation.
This is all about moral choices, not genetics. Barack Obama should be ashamed of himself for insulting the memory of Lincoln and King by suggesting otherwise." 

The above is Part 2 of Phil Moore's excellent article.  Be sure to check tomorrow, for the third, and final, episode!  Not having received any news to the contrary, I am now assuming that full permission to publish has been granted!   (No idea why this publishes in upper-case only!  It's in normal sentence style when I type it!).