OK, probably not the best lead for an online site on God. But I am not here to get rich or popular I am here for you! There are many YouTube videos and websites that are deceiving, and you must be careful.
It’s not exactly that they are lying to you. I try to be generous, although my harsh reaction to those who have turned their backs on truth or who are deceiving others may make it seem otherwise. I prefer to think that they are ignorant, uninformed, misinformed, or confused by conflicting information. Perhaps they have read one or two books and suddenly consider themselves to be an expert and they start a channel. Remember, Sabersedge’ definition of an expert:
Another point to consider is that the educated elite of any system, whether it is economics, politics, military science, or religion are constitutionally unable to usher in change. They are so vested in tradition and “what everyone knows” that if someone sees something others have missed instead of considering it honestly the entire history of humanity shows that they will attack it. This is why the greatest advances, the quantum changes, in science and technology have almost never been obtained by the “experts” or the “elite.” For instance, Penicillin was a surprise development, other great advances were made by people outside of the field they were advancing and met with merciless mockery and attack when they were first mentioned. This seems to be a part of “fallen humanity” and the sin of PRIDE rather than any urge to truth.
To borrow again from the Sabersedge Association and their principle website:
and (a post that includes personal observations of friends in science by Daniel Saber):
This is connected in my mind, to denominations that insist that they are the ONE TRUE WAY.
Also, I feel I need to clarify something that may have been unclear in previous posts. [Such as these: WHAT DO “REAL” CHRISTIANS BELIEVE? – ofNaturesGod.com and Is the Bible the Inspired Word of God? Is it literally true? How so? – ofNaturesGod.com and We Are Too Often Blind; You Must Unlearn All That You Have Learned – ofNaturesGod.com ]
I write ofNaturesGod because Nature alone is not confused on who God is. The animals, I believe (and the Bible supports this,) know and recognize their creator. I am not saying they are theologically sound thinkers, that is just ridiculous. I am saying they don’t argue over the traits or identity of God. Because God has revealed himself through the creation as well as revelation and scripture than ANYONE who lives on this Earth can encounter the Living God. They don’t need to read the Bible to do it. However, the Bible is the clearest testimony of God’s revelation and even it is subject to being misinterpreted, so if words can be so easily misinterpreted how much easier is it to get lost without a guide? The Bible gives us a core guide to refer to see if we are wandering too far off course. However, ANY faith which is based upon nature and growing naturally out of the created world (this would include Confucianism because Confucius is a Wisdom Sage in the traditions of the Wisdom Literature of the Bible, the Havamal, and the Stoics of Rome,) are likely to contain SOME truth. [For more see also: Of Nature’s God – ofNaturesGod.com ]
THIS DOES NOT MEAN ALL RELIGIONS ARE THE SAME! As I told my parishioners, “Everything you think you know about God is wrong. It is wrong in the sense that it is but a brief glimpse of truth and not the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It is only part of a truth. [See this explained in metaphor in the tale of the Elephant: The Elephant – ofNaturesGod.com ]
The Bible tells us that if we were to even see God in all his entirety and his glory we would be consumed by the awe and intensity of that knowledge. The mystics and the Bible show different levels of heaven (usually seven,) which are outer rings with God at level one in the center. It is said that mystics, prophets, transcendental travelers – (sometimes called Astral Travel, as St. Paul said, “I know someone who travelled to the 3rd Heaven, whether in the body or out of the body I don’t know. God knows.”) who become insane and whose mind is broken have pierced the final veil and entered the 1st Heaven. There they see the infinite God in Its entirety, and the knowledge is too much for their mental capacity and it shatters their finite mind
For this reason, things that to our finite mind (when talking about an infinite Being and Truth,) look completely contradictory and antithetical to truth (opposite,) they could actually just be that way because we will never see the whole picture, nor could we comprehend it with our finite capacity. For this reason, very different religions, if founded by exploring and searching for Nature’s God (i.e. the Creator,) will have some legitimate observations of truth. There is a mystical saying of the ancient Hebrews that if ALL the names of God are ever discovered, and ALL the truths become known, at that point time will end and we will once more be one with God.
Although I am constantly exploring truths to find all these names and observations of God, because I want to know all that I can of God and will re-examine what we THINK we know to ensure we didn’t get it wrong. In some ways all of this is like the 18th century arguments about “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.” What we believe and our theology simply doesn’t matter very much to our salvation.
The ONLY thing that matters to your salvation is that your name is written in what the Bible calls “the Book of Life” and that you serve and have a vibrant relationship with The Living God. This is why so many people, proud in their own theology, belief, and wisdom will be surprised in the “day of Judgment” when Jesus says: Begone you doers of iniquity, I never knew you! [As we discussed here and here ] They may have believed the right things (as in Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he died for our sins,) but they didn’t really have a relationship with God. As it says in the New Testament: “You believe that Jesus is the Son of God? You do well. Satan and all his minions believe too…and tremble.”
I became acutely aware that my own lifelong emphasis on “believing the right things” was just a bunch of nothing when it came to salvation when I did my pastoral praxis at the State Hospital in Iowa. Almost NO ONE there had any capacity for understanding the complex theology that I held to be so important. Yet did that mean that all of these impaired minds were going to Hell? Of course not! God loved them anyway. We sang songs with them and tried to show they that they were loved by us and by God so that they could “feel” a glimpse of a heaven we could never explain to them. As Saint Francis said:
Having said all this, my regular readers will not be surprised that I turn to a story about John Wesley. Apparently, after speaking to one of the crowds gathered to hear him, a raggedy man came up to him and said, “Sir, the Lord has told me to tell you that he has no use for all your book-learnin’!” To which Wesley answered, “Thank you sir, I imagine you are correct.” Then as the man was starting to turn to leave Wesley interjected, “But if I may say so, my good man – although God has not told me to tell this to you and I do so on my own – God has no use for your ignorance either!” We should not take pride in our theology or our faithful attendance and adherence to our respective religious practice, but neither should we take pride in rejecting it all because of its imperfections.
As I have often said, “The only thing wrong with the Church is the people in it.” We are all fallen human beings, flawed and imperfect. As they say, church is a hospital for sinners and not a museum for saints.”
Although I rail on bad online posts and warn you to be careful what you see (I have had people send me posts to comment on for them when they were unsure,) sometimes they are spot on. [Please note that recommending these two videos does not mean that I recommend all the videos produced by these sites.] We all make mistakes and even a broken clock can be right twice a day but I thought the following two posts were worth recommending and thinking about:
Before I leave you to the videos below, please consider supporting this ministry through giving to our Give Send Go, recommending this site, and by praying for us. GiveSendGo | Restoring America’s Foundations
God doesn’t force himself on anyone. He waits patiently for us to make our own choice. Here is a story that illustrates this:
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