The Holy Goalie

 

Álisson Ramsés Becker. born 2 October 1992, is a Brazilian professional footballer ("soccer player" for Americans). He plays his professional football for Liverpool in the English Premier League. Professionally, he is known as Alisson. On 18 May 2026, he was selected to be on Brazil's squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Because of his German ancestry, Alisson was nicknamed "The German" while playing for Roma in Italy. He speaks Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and English.

Alisson and his wife, Natália, have been WHO advocates for pro-active care of mental health.

Alisson is mentioned in this blog because he is an outspoken Pentecostal Christian known to hold baptisms in his swimming pool. One teammate nicknamed Becker "The Holy Goalie" due to his outspoken faith.

With so many athletes being known for drugs, domestic abuse, out of control tempers, personal arrogance, questionable financial dealings, and any number of other negatives, it is to be praised that Alisson chooses to publicly serve the Lord.

(This is an English language humorous word play. It may not translate well into other languages. "The Holy Goalie" is an alliterative word play on "the Holy Ghost" or "the Holy Spirit.")

Greatly Earned Praise

 You may notice that I do not criticize individual countries, political parties, or individuals on this blog (unless there is a direct connection to Christianity). That is not its purpose. The blog is intended to be completely non-political and to be devoted to the teaching ministry of the Church. That does not mean that I cannot praise countries, political parties, or individuals.

At the 2026 FIFA World Cup games there have been many positive things: great attendance and enthusiasm, the attendees seriously enjoying themselves, pleasantly surprised positive reactions to actually experiencing the United States, and highly competitive game play with no obviously overmatched teams.

Something not directly related to soccer (aka football) has stood out to me. At the end of all of their games, the Japanese fans have handed out plastic bags and cleaned up all the trash from the stands! What else needs to be said?

I Asked Google AI This Question: Does God Exist?

 On 6 March 2026 I asked Google AI “Does God Exist?” Here is its answer:

Whether God exists is a profound, centuries-old question with no universally accepted empirical proof, making it a matter of faith, philosophy, and personal conviction. While many find evidence in creation, scripture, and personal experience, others require scientific, empirical evidence, leading to a divide between believers and atheists/agnostics.

Basically, this answer avoids the question and adds nothing new to the discussion. I then asked “Does God exist? What do you, the AI program, think?” and the answers became dramatically less direct. Instead of a statement, the AI suggested several websites where the issue is discussed. This seemed as if it did not want to answer the question or could not answer the question.

If you ask an AI program if it is sentient, it will say no, it will say that it is a probability algorithm which has been trained. Some say that AI programs seem to display political and/or philosophical biases. The AI scientists, the ones who train the AI, vehemently deny this, but we ALL have biases based on our own personal worldviews. The historical and traditional Christian worldview is totally incompatible with some versions of modern worldviews which absolutely reject the possibility of any form of absolute truth.

I personally use AI searches every day. The programs can find hard factual information, no matter how obscure, almost instantly. One of my searches was about the cause of delays for a construction/repair project on a short stretch of road in Vestavia, Alabama, USA. The program went to the internet, searched every possible mention of the subject, and formulated an answer. The answer took three seconds and sounded like a person wrote it.

AI is merely a useful tool. It does not know anything in the way that we do. It is a computer program which follows instructions which it has been taught. Properly utilized, it can find information in seconds which would take the user days or weeks to find. Where AI is weak is in areas which require opinions. The opinions AI gives may very well (I would say probably do) at least partially reflect the worldviews of its teachers. The teachers would insist that this is not so or that, if bias is present, it is unintentional.

AI used in bible study can be an excellent tool. Carefully and properly used under the guidance of the Holy Spirit it can deepen your spiritual growth. Just remember that it is a tool, a computer program, and not the Holy Spirit. Any statements an AI makes must be judged by their consistency with Christian orthodoxy. My belief is that the Holy Spirit can use AI in your Spirit-led Bible study as an expression of the Spirit’s reminding and teaching ministries. John 14:26

A good, simple and excellent discussion of using AI in Bible study:

https://thecharaproject.com/8-safe-ways-to-use-ai-for-bible-study/#:~:text=We%20live%20thousands%20of%20years,experiences%20would%20have%20influenced%20them

And of the dangers:

https://thecharaproject.com/aiforbiblestudy/

Charity at the Grocery Store

        Recently at the grocery store the cashier rang up my purchases and then asked if I wished to add a donation to one of the store's several charities. When I said no, the cashier looked at me as if my ears were covered in green fuzz. So, I responded.

        What I said was that I donate to my local church, a dog rescue group, and to a well-known major national Christian charity which provides disaster relief, food supplies, farm implements and animals, Bibles and Christian educational materials, occupational training, sewing machines, washing machines, medical procedures and supplies, construction supplies, etc.  

        The cashier perhaps felt a little blasted by this but I was not angry and was not addressing the comments directly at him. I hoped that everyone in line was hearing what I was saying. I made several points: Most people give nothing to charity except for an occasional grudging dollar or two at the grocery store. Charity means absolutely nothing unless it is done willingly and gladly. If everyone would choose just one charity and regularly give to that one charity, all the charities would be adequately funded. Christians can preach with their actions.

        Perhaps the grocery store checkout line was an unusual pulpit, but sometimes things just need to be said as the Holy Spirit leads. There is no hard historical documentation that Francis of Assisi actually said this, but it is a true statement anyway, "preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words."

There Can Be No Racism or Bigotry in the Church. We Must Live healthy Lives.

             The Holy Spirit, who is fully God, indwells every believer. It is the responsibility of every believer to carefully maintain their personal health to the best of their ability because their body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The totality of all those led by the Holy Spirit constitute the Church, the Bride of Christ. The members of the Church come from all nations, races, genders, ethnicities, ages, and Christian religious denominations. Absolute agreement on all points of discussion among Christians is not required. There is a small remnant of true Christians in every group. The Lord knows those who are his. Racism and bigotry are absolutely incompatible with a declaration of faith in the risen lord, Jesus Christ.

About Vaccines

             I have my opinions on vaccines and you have yours. It is not the intent of this blog to ever tell you what to think. This blog hopes to present you with raw verifiable facts which are consistent with objective reality. The intent is to help you to think for yourself, rationally and critically, and, hopefully, in the context of this blog, that you allow yourself to be led by the Holy Spirit.

Do not base your opinions solely on what I say. Do not base your opinions solely on what anyone else says. Do not base your opinions solely on what any religious tradition says. Listen to all of them, but use your own mind, and read your Bible. Be like the Bereans (Acts 17:11), even on totally secular matters. Like they used to say about the Marvel Cinematic Universe: “It’s all connected.”

The discussion about vaccines in the United States has devolved into people taking sides based on their political leanings and has come to involve multiple issues: progressivism, conservatism, autism, Christian nationalism, distrust of government, distrust of the giant pharmaceutical companies, distrust of science in general, rejection of organized religion, some elements of bigotry, possible adverse side effects of vaccines, issues of vaccine effectiveness, the ethics of mandates, libertarianism, epidemiological community health concerns, availability of health resources, possible vaccine effects on autoimmune diseases, religious and/or ethical objections, exactly who will benefit most from a vaccine and whom they might harm, preventing pandemics, possible medically adverse ingredients in vaccines, ethical concerns over some methods of vaccine preparation, the concern of some that over-exposure to vaccines early in life might overwhelm the immune system, natural immunity vs vaccine immunity, live vs dead viral components in vaccines, issues of informed consent, racial differences in disease susceptibility. Did I leave any out?

Vaccines are biological preparations designed to stimulate the recipient’s immune system causing it to produce proteins called antibodies against a particular microorganism. The antibodies are, in effect, weapons produced by the body to protect itself against invaders.

Some vaccines are built from proteins or other parts of the organism being targeted. Other vaccines use the entire organism in either a dead or greatly weakened form. All are intended to cause the body to violently say “This is not me!” and to learn how to attack this particular “Not Me.”

The idea is that, if an exposure to this particular “Not Me” later occurs, the body will remember the prior attack and will jump into action to produce massive quantities of the weapons it needs.

This blog post is about the Coronavirus vaccine for COVID-19. New vaccines are needed each year because coronaviruses are RNA (ribonucleic acid) viruses and mutate more quickly than DNA (deoxy-ribonucleic acid) viruses. Most of the mutations carry no consequences for the human host but a few give the virus significant advantages in ease of transmission or in severity of the disease. This occurs as errors in copying the virus’ genetic information cause changes in the organism’s surface proteins. These changes result in the surface proteins being different enough from prior versions that the body’s immune system thinks that they are a “Not Me” that it has not seen before.

Because of this, the immune system essentially has to start over and, so, cannot make a quick kill. This means that there is no pre-existing immunity to the new variant even though it is still the same virus.

Vaccines have to be developed each year because of that year’s new variants, which usually arise in Asia or India and then spread worldwide. The vaccines which are developed are actually guesses or assumptions that the virus variants which arrive in the West will still be the same ones for which the vaccine was developed. This can account for why some of the vaccines are more effective than others. 

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            An aside: This process of the body's immune system attacking "Not Me" is what is involved in tissue rejection after organ transplants and also comes into play during pregnancy because the mother is "Me" and the child is "Not Me."

Film Comment: Sinners (2025)

 

Sinners is a movie which is intended to be about racism, cultural oppression, colonialism, black culture, anti-religion, and anti-Christianity. As usual, I can make Christian observations about the film which are probably unintended by the director.

“Son, you keep dancin’ with the Devil, one day, he’s gonna follow you home,” from a pastor father to Sammie, nicknamed Preacherboy, who is aching to become famous for his outstanding blues guitar and singing talent. Sammie hooks up with two morally fluid brothers who are opening a juke joint. This sets up a conflict when two white men and a woman show up that night wanting to join in the fun. The problem is that they are vampires.

One man about to be killed/turned into a vampire begins to loudly quote the Lord’s Prayer. All the vampires join in and help complete the quotation. This seems to be intended to show that Christianity has no power against evil.

A Christian response: the frightened man’s words were just that, words, and they did have no power. There is a difference between knowing and believing. The power is not in the words. They are not a Magick spell. God is not our genie in a bottle. The words have power only as they are used by the Holy Spirit.

The theologian, Martin Luther, noted that "The Devil can quote scripture to his own ends." Satan quoted Psalms 91:11-12 while tempting Jesus to misuse his authority (Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13). Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44). Jesus responded to Satan's attack by quoting scripture back to him, Matthew 4:7, which quotes Deuteronomy 6:16..

Breaking the Fourth Wall

 

            In film-making, there is a concept called breaking the fourth wall in which one or several characters acknowledge the existence of the viewing audience and address the viewers as if they are participants in the ongoing events.

            The first, second, and third walls are like a box around a stage set: the back wall and the two side walls. The fourth wall is the wall visible to the characters in the play but totally transparent to the people watching the events as they occur. Traditionally, the actors and narrators are assumed to be unaware that they are being watched by the audience.

            Breaking the fourth wall occurs when a character in the play or film glances at the audience or camera, makes movements like a wink or a knowing smile which betray a knowledge of the existence of the audience, or actually speaks directly to the viewers. Occasionally, the narrative itself becomes self-aware. Examples of this phenomenon occur in the films, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the Marvel Deadpool films, and The Neverending Story, which can be seen to exhibit as many as seven levels of fourth wall breaking.  

            What does this have to do with this Christian blog? Well, this is in reference to the Bible itself. The Bible is holy, but as an object it is just a book, ink on sheets of paper, or, in our current modern days, the arrangement of millions of pixels on your cellphone screen.

            There are widely varying levels of reverence for the physical book itself, with some actually bordering on idolatry, but the physical book is just that, a book.

            Two ways of understanding the Bible are as a tool or as a weapon. Both understandings can be biblically supported.

            So, back to the subject of this post. Sitting on a shelf or lying on a desk the Bible is just a book. The thing which only Christians can understand is that once it is picked up and opened, the Bible is itself indwelled by the Holy Spirit, the same person who inhabits each of us. Just as we can use the Bible, so can he. It is one of the many ways he can speak directly to us.

            The Holy Spirit is aware as we read the biblical text and he guides us to new insights, the meat of the gospel, new levels of understanding which we as believers can gradually comprehend as we mature. How do we know this? The Bible tells us so.

            One of the activities of the Holy Spirit is the Reminding Ministry. He will guide you in the Bible to the answers or understandings which you need to further mature as a Christian.

            Isaiah 11:2; 1 Corinthians 2:12, 3:1-4, 6:19-20; Hebrews 5:12-13; John 14:17,26, 16:13; Romans 8:9; Colossians 1:27; 1 John 4:15.

The First Three Letters of the Bible

 

In Genesis 1:1, the first word of the Bible, in Hebrew, is בְּרֵאשִׁית which is transliterated as bare sit or b'rei-sheeth.  The first letter is ב (bet), the second letter is ר (resh), and the third letter is א (alef). The English-language name of the book is Genesis, from its Greek name, Γένεσις. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, Bereshit, “in beginning.”

Some Christian commentators have noticed and commented on this as a statement of the Trinity in the first word of the Bible. Others see it as merely an interesting coincidence.

            בן         Ben (son)

            רִיחַ       Ruach (spirit, breath, wind)

            אֱלֹהִ֑ים    Elohim (God, a name in plural form)

            Religious Jews reject this understanding as heretical, believing that the very essence of their religion is monotheistic; God is one, not plural. They understand the plural name of God, Elohim, as expressing the majesty of God, as in the phrase "holy, holy, holy," with each "holy" adding to the emphasis or strength of the word.

            An objection to the idea of Jesus or the Trinity being mentioned in the Old Testament is seen here:  https://gsgriffin.com/2017/07/29/the-bereshit-jesus-in-genesis-argument-has-no-merit/#:~:text=Both%20assert%20the%20following%20meanings,covenant%2C%20mark%2C%20cross)

by writer Garrett S. Griffin. Griffin is a Democratic Socialist activist and political writer.

Book Comment: Shocked by the Bible

 

In his book, Shocked by the Bible, Joe Kovacs points out numerous things which you probably did not know about the Bible. Kovacs makes no claim to be a Bible teacher. In fact, he says, ”I’m just a journalist fed up with the lack of accurate knowledge about what’s in the Bible.”

As with most books such as this, the author is not trying to tell you what to think. He specifically says that he does not expect you to agree with everything he says, He is trying to challenge you to read your Bible and to listen to what it says. Do not believe anything just because someone else told to believe it; let the Holy Spirit guide you to the truth.

Some of the subjects Kovacs mentions include:

The Wise Men did not visit Jesus on the night of his birth in the manger in Bethlehem. No one knows how many wise men there were.

Some Christian theologians believe that Jesus appeared numerous times in the Old Testament.

Sex within marriage is celebrated.

What does “we are God’s children” really mean?

Information you will need to search for this book: Kovacs, Joe, Shocked by the Bible. The Most Astonishing Facts You’ve Never Been Told ((Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2008).

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A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

Labels: A Useful Tool in Searching This Blog

 When you you read one of the posts in this blog, there are several tools to enhance the usefulness of the post. The Labels tool is one of these. 

The current blog text which you are reading is in a white box. To the right of the blog text is a light-green box. Scroll down to the small white box which is below the light-green box. This white box is Pages. The listed pages are Home, About this Blog, Statement of Faith, and Statistics. Clicking on the name of one of the listed pages will take you to that page.

Home: At the end of the current posting which you are reading, there is a light green box with the name of Labels. These labels concern the subjects related to the current post at hand. An example of a label is "animals." Click on "animals" and the Labels tool will call up blog postings which list "animals" as one of their labels. You can use this tool to search for any subject, such as "sports," "trinity," "baptism," "book comment," or random things such as "chainsaw" or "dog poop." At the extreme bottom of the Home page is a full listing of every label which has been used on this blog, listed alphabetically. It is extensive but you can search it by scrolling down the page.

About this Blog: A statement of the philosophy of this blog and things which you may expect to see here.

Statement of Faith: I have seminary training but would not attempt to tell you what to think: I'm interested in challenging you to actually think. Many people, possibly most, don't. Read your Bible and let the Holy Spirit perform his teaching ministry.

There are three types of Christian doctrine: absolutes, convictions, and opinions. Only absolute doctrines are "fighting words." They are doctrines which must not be compromised even if they lead to heated arguments, splits, and expulsions. 

Demonstrating an absolute (salvation by faith and not by works), Paul publicly rebuked Peter (Galatians 2:11-19) over whether Gentiles had to adopt Jewish practices to become Christians.  

An interesting discussion of the ranking of doctrines: read especially the comments of PRMan99. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/comments/58iiy5/doctrine_fundamental_secondary_tertiary/?rdt=41393

Statistics: This page lists the current historical number of page views for this blog and the countries from which this blog has been viewed.

Book Comment: 50 Things You Need to Know About Heaven

 

                In his book, 50 Things You Need to Know About Heaven. John Hart has one especially relevant comment: “Earth is the closest that a non-Christian will ever get to heaven. Earth is the closest a believing Christian will ever get to hell.”

                The book discusses 50 questions about heaven, such as:

                “Who goes to heaven?”

                “Do people in heaven know what is happening on Earth?”

                “Will animals go to heaven?”

                “How can I be sure I’m going to heaven?”

                “Will others in heaven know my secret sins on Earth?”

 

                As with all books such as this, the author is not trying to tell you what to think. He is trying to challenge you to read your Bible and to listen to what it says. Do not believe just anything because someone else told to believe it; let the Holy Spirit guide you to the truth.

                Information you will need to search for this book: Hart, John, 50 Things You Need to Know About Heaven (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2014)

             

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A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

The Restrainer

 

            In the city in which I live, one of the local television stations carries a weekly broadcast of the Sunday morning worship services of a large local church. Every week, immediately after the church service broadcast ends, a commercial begins for a local gambling casino. The world is always ready to pour in if the Church, the ἐκκλησία, is not present as a restaining influence.

            The word, “restrainer, “ is from the Greek word Κατέχον (Strong’s 2722) which is used in the Bible to express ”hold down,” “hold back,” “detain,” “restrain,” and other similar meanings.

            2 Thessalonians 2:6-8 says that “the restrainer,” the one who holds back the world, will continue to do so until he is taken out of the way.  To modern readers, it may not seem to be clearly stated who this restrainer is. A literal translation of the Greek of verse 6 into English is "And now that which is restraining, you know, for to be revealed him in his time."

            Many believe that the restrainer is the Holy Spirit who indwells all the Christians who make up the Church. The removal of the restrainer could reference the removal of the Church at the time of the Rapture.  The Antichrist is to be revealed when the one who hinders his presence is removed.

            These concepts are involved in controversy among theologians over how to interpret eschatological doctrines. I will not tell you what you should believe but I will say that we should, at least, discuss it and not ignore it. Paul assumed that his contemporary readers understood what he was referencing ("you know"). Paul was talking to us also.

Now We See Darkly

Cataract surgery replaces a damaged, thickened, and discolored lens with a new perfectly functional replacement.  I carry cards in my wallet with the details of the prescriptions of each of my replacements lenses and have been delighted with the restoration of my proper visual abilities. Once I had the first surgery I was impatient to have the second surgery and complete the process.

The opthalmic surgeon performs the surgeries one eye at a time. This produces an odd situation. After my first surgery, my post-operative eye saw bright new intense colors with ultra-sharp delineation between white and black.  Not so with the pre-operative eye. What I saw was yellowed, dull, and faded, with incorrect color perceptions. I saw a green shirt as grey and could not distinguish some blues from some greens.  The scientific term for this phenomenon would be that the cataract had produced an acquired tritanopia.

Most people are spiritually asleep or, at best, walking around with a thick film over their eyes. When converted to Christianity, they suddenly see what has really been around them the entire time. Reality can be very shocking.  They become eager to complete the process.

Conversion changes your mind and your perception of the nature of reality. You have received the Holy Spirit and now are indwelled by the Mind of Christ. This enables you to see things as Jesus sees them.  You see things which once you could not see or understand. This is the beginning of the process of sanctification.

Was Bill O'Reilly Divinely Inspired to Write Killing Jesus?

The Fox News Channel political commentator Bill O’Reilly was a high school history teacher before he embarked on his television career. He has written numerous books such as Killing Kennedy, Killing Lincoln, The Last Days of Hitler, and Killing Patton.   He is a Roman Catholic believer and has said that he thinks he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write his excellent Killing Jesus. This set off a firestorm of criticism with some people saying that they think he is insane or blasphemous. I think he is probably correct that he was inspired.

I know the implications of what I am saying. I also think that this blog is inspired by God. Of course, it is not inspired on the same authoritative level as Scripture. That idea is the core heresy which led to modern Mormonism. The canon of scripture and doctrinal interpretation is closed. 

The Bible clearly states that each of the Saints (us, not a special class of extra-holy people) is divinely inspired. We  have the Mind of Christ. We have a direct link to the Holy Spirit who indwells, leads, instructs, and counsels individual believers.

Of course He leads us. Of course He inspires us. If He does not, then the problem is with us. We are not listening.

If you do not feel the Holy Spirit moving in your life, now is the time, today. If you are a Christian, ask Him, then listen.

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A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

Update to the Blog Header

I have recently updated the header message on this blog. The new header: κηρυσσων την βασιλειαν του θεου και διδασκων τα περι του κυριου ιησου χριστου μετα πασης παρρησιας ακωλυτως. The underlying meaning of this blog is this: the essential unity of Christians worldwide regardless of race, nationality, or religious denomination. There are real disagreements among us but there is a small remnant in every authentically Christian gathering. The Holy Spirit is leading His remnant into deeper understandings of the "meat" of the Gospel and not just the "milk.

When You Have a Fifth Place Car

On a recent NASCAR television broadcast, Kyle Petty, a former driver and now a television race commentator, was talking about one driver who was unable to pull any closer to the lead than fifth place in the race no matter how hard or well he drove his automobile.  Petty said, “Sometimes you just have a fifth place car.”

Then, Petty added this, “When that happens, your responsibility is to come in fifth.”  Do not make excuses.  Do your best with what has been given to you. You are responsible for your use of what you have been given.

Christians call this stewardship.   To be a steward is to manage the property or affairs of another person.  Christians are expected to use their God-given gifts to further the work of the Lord.

What? You say that you do not seem to have any “gifts?”  All Christians have at least one gift, the unearned and unearnable free grace of God who spent the most valuable thing in the universe, the life of Jesus Christ, to provide for our salvation.  He spent this resource for me and for you, as a gift to us, as if each of us was the only one.  The sacrifice of Jesus did restore order to the entire universe, but it also was made for each of us … individually.  A gift.

No Christian should think to use their lack of ability as an excuse for not performing a task which God has clearly assigned to them.  He gives us whatever time or resources we need to do whatever He asks because nothing and no one can stand in His way or prevent Him from achieving His purposes.  “For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?” Isaiah 14:27

    

As members of the ἐκκλησία we each have been given specific gifts so that we may perform specific functions.  “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” Genesis 2:15

All the gifts are needed and none of the gifts are more important than any of the others for the proper function of God’s plan.  Some can teach, some can comfort, some can do manual chores, some can provide financial resources, some can preach, some can pray, some can nurture faith in others, some can care for the sick, some can cook, some have a special connection with children, some are judges, some are peacemakers.  All the gifts are exercised under the leadership of the Holy Spirit..

“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.”  1 Corinthians 12:12

“For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:” Romans 12:4

“As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” 1 Peter 4:10

“For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;” Romans 12:4-6

James, the brother of Jesus, gave us the other side of this, a warning. “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” James 4:17

Use Any Combination of Coins

On a newspaper vending machine I saw this printed instruction: “Use any combination of coins.  Do not use pennies.”

What?  Although it is obvious that the writer meant “use any combination of coins, except pennies,” that is not what was said.  What was said was a logical inconsistency, an impossibility.

We must make sense in what we say and do.  This applies to Christians especially because “they” ARE watching us and listening to us.  We will be most effective when we are clearly understood, even though that will sometimes bring hostility to us.

When speaking to unbelievers we must talk to them in ways which they will understand.  To begin immediately quoting scripture to them will usually leave them absolutely cold because they do not recognize the authority of scripture.

The first step is to logically and coherently convince the unbeliever that there is a real “problem” in the world.  Many will not readily admit this.  Before we can present the solution which we know to be true, we must convince the unbeliever that everything is not OK as it is.  There can be no real listening without that recognition. We must also convince unbelievers that the solution to what is wrong does not lie with things which are, of themselves,  positive: education, social justice,  benevolent government, the elimination of poverty and hunger, science, the eradication of racism, better hygiene, environmentalism, the curing of diseases, respect for animals, etc.  Luckily for us, we are merely the instruments.  The Holy Spirit does the real work within the unbeliever.

Remember that we must be wise warriors.  Although, our ultimate adversary is, of course, Satan the Accuser, the prince of this world, the individual battles are not with enemies but with potential brothers and sisters. 

If I Could

On the dry erase message board in the laboratory where I work someone wrote “If I could.”  The phrase was obviously calling for responses, so I wrote, “I would.”

“If I could” assumes that I can’t.  It assumes a lack of ability.

Could, would, and should are helper verbs, also known as modal verbs. Modal verbs are defective verbs without true infinitive forms. They express the subjective mood. Could carries the verbal idea of to be able to. Would carries the verbal idea  of to be willing. Should has no infinitive forms at all but carries the idea of some type of obligation. Yes, English verb conjugation is highly irregular.

The subjective mood expresses possibilities based on the speaker's emotions, opinions, moods, attitudes, personal thoughts, etc.

Christians are indwelled by the Holy Spirit.  We can. When God assigns us tasks, He never asks if we are able to perform them.  He assumes that we are able.  We are able to perform our assigned tasks because of the empowerment we receive from the Holy Spirit who lives within us.  God has ownership of the unlimited resources of the universe.  If we are performing a task assigned by God, we absolutely have whatever is necessary to complete the task.

“For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?” Isaiah 14:27. The obviously expected answer is no one.

Ephesians 2:10.

Since the Alpha

Three persons in One,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
One since the alpha.