Question 5 Acts 17:26, Genesis 11:9 Did God color me?

Race is a wall we build to keep others away!

“That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the LORD confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.” (Genesis 11:9 NLT)

“From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.” (Acts 17:26 NLT)

We live in a world of amazing diversity. The word cat brings thousands of pictures to our mind. The same can be said for dog, chicken and many other animals. Though we are not animals we shouldn’t be surprised at the difference in people.

The history of humanity is often seen as different nations against each other. As time progressed we have seen an increase in racial division and warfare. Is there a difference between people of different races?

In our scriptures we are told that God created all nations from one man and woman. Every person ever born is from this one set of parents. Adam and Eve are the father and mother of all humanity. We are one family, one blood.

With the advent of evolution as the center of our view of the world the belief in one blood was cast aside. We now hold that humanity is an accident of nature formed by death and destruction over eons of time. From this came belief that humanity could and should be made pure by the removal of “lesser” creatures.

The concept of Eugenics (forming a purer humanity through controlled breeding and culling) can be seen in the growth of African slavery, eradication of American Indians, eradication of Aboriginal tribes in Australia on to Nazism and Communism.

Why are there differences in human beings? After the fall and the flood humanity came together in an early attempt at Eugenics. They attempted t elevate humanity to reach God by coming together to build a tower. God saw the terrible destructiveness to come from this and set up distinct groups and dispersed humanity into peoples and nations.

The dispersion and separation of people was to protect us from ourselves and is a sign of God’s protection and love. It is not a sign of any groups superiority or degradation.

It might surprise you to know Adam and Eve were probably not white but more medium in color like the people of the Middle East. From them would come darker and lighter people based upon where they lived and their conditions. God colored us because we are all really the same “color” of melanin and the amount of melanin we have determines the darkness of our skin. But our different shades , like the rainbow, shows God will go to tremendous lengths to spare us rather than destroy is, or even let us destroy ourselves.

The only “color” that destroys is the darkness of our heart which we create by our own choices and decisions! From that darkness comes racism.

Question 6 1Peter 3:18-22, Genesis 7:6-10 Water is Baptism? Water is God’s way of showing the fullness of His grace.

April 29, 2025

“Then Aaron lifted his hand toward the people, blessed them, and came down from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and peace offerings.” (Leviticus 9:22 NKJV)

Bless God

offer your offering

Bless God's people

offer your offering

What has God offered to you today?

What offering does God desire from you?

Question 4 1 Corinthians 6:9, John 3:16-17 Does God hate homosexuals? Jesus came not to condemn, but to free us from condemnation!

“16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17 NLT)

“Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality,” (1Corinthians 6:9 NLT)

Before America divided over slavery most of the major denominations had divided. By refusing to seek God’s wisdom the Church failed to lead society. We must decide just who is God. Does God have the final say? We may have the right to ask the question but will be obey God?

Some have questioned my sanity or wisdom in talking about this. But that is the problem. As the people of God we are called to teach the Truth that others can be free!

Many try to word study their way out of the issue but several places in the Bible are very specific that homosexuality like so many other things is sin and destructive and deadly. It is a sin just as worshiping money, stealing, adultery and those who allow addictions to turn them from God!

Sexual sin is seen in different ways:

Fornication – an unmarried person having sex with someone of the opposite sex.

Adultery – a married person having sex with someone of the opposite sex they are not married to.

Homosexuality – literally means “of uncertain affinity” and means having sex with someone of the same sex.

All are wrong and all are sin. Jesus even takes it so far to say that if you are thinking about having sex with someone it is a sin. That is why pornography is a sin.

“But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28 NLT)

If we deny homosexuality is a sin we do two terrible things.

First we call God a liar!

Second we leave those who live a homosexual lifestyle without hope! If the Church says homosexuality is okay they are left without

t the hope of redemption because they believe they do not need it! WE WILL BE JUDGED SEVERLY FOR THIS! For to steal hope is to steal someone’s soul.

Does that mean God hates homosexuals? Does that mean we should? GOD FORBID!

God loves all sinners so much that He was willing to let His only and precious Son be slaughtered by us and for us! Not merely killed, but slaughtered for you! Because of you!

God makes a distinction between the sin and the sinner. God hates the sin that destroys and perverts us, that makes us a slave to our desires and fears. That separates us from Him.

But God is able to look beyond the chains to see the pains in the hearts of those who are bound by them. The men who tortured Jesus were not good people doing bad things. They were lost and horrific people who enjoyed the suffering of others, but Jesus forgave them because He loves them!

We have no right to hate those whom God loves! In the Lord’s Prayer we ask for God to forgive us as we forgive others. We are to love those who sin and call them to the love and redemption of Jesus Christ who loves them most!

We forgive because we are forgiven! We love because we are loved!

To hate or be repelled by a sinner is as much a sin as homosexuality. We, like our Lord, must not condemn but seek to lead them to the God who loved us enough to give His own Son for them. We must love God enough to love them! For we are warned:

“If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?” (1 John 4:20 NLT)

Next week: Acts 17:26, Genesis 11:9 Did God color me?

Race is a wall we build to keep others away!

April 28, 2025

“but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved as a wave offering before the LORD, as Moses had commanded.” (Leviticus 9:21 NKJV)

Lift your offering high

to glorify God

bless those who serve

bless all in need

What has God offered to you today?

What offering does God desire from you?

Question 3 John 3:16-17, Genesis 3:22-24 Does God really care?

How can we know if God really cares? Look at His cross!

“22 ¶ Then the LORD God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” 23 So the LORD God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. 24 After sending them out, the LORD God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” (Genesis 3:22-24 NLT)

“16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17 NLT)

Death. We talked about the gift of life but have you ever thought about the gift of death. Yes the GIFT of death!

After the Fall if we had eaten of the Tree of Life and continued to live forever that would have been a horror movie of all time. Growing weaker, frail by disease would be a non-ending nightmare. God protects us from ourselves with a guard to keep us from eating our way to hell on earth!

When our loved ones die we blame God and want them back. Yet do we really want them to suffer again? Do we want them to be with us at such a cost to them?

Death becomes a gateway back through the sacrifice of Jesus for you. Death is a doorway to true life itself.

YOU ARE A SINNER! Does that amaze, astound or even anger you? GOOD! For you must know you are a sinner if you are to ever know you need His forgiveness.

So how does God respond to our rebellion and fall? The God who is absolutely Holy cannot accept sin so He must reject everything and everyone touched by sin. WE ARE SINNERS! WE DESERVE HELL! God should reject and destroy us for destroying the goodness of His creation!

But God chose a more radical way. God gave His only begotten Son to die for you in your place! Knowing we are sinners God chose not to condemn us but to save us!

Save comes from the Greek word sozo which means to make safe, to deliver or protect, to heal or preserve, to save or make while. God in Jesus Christ offers to make you safe, to deliver and protect you (even from yourself), to heal and preserve you and to make you whole! This is the fullness of what God is doing for you and in you through Jesus Christ!

The deepest meaning is healing and making us whole. We all die from sin which like cancer destroys and kills! Jesus came to heal us not only of the infection of sin, but the symptoms and disabilities of our sin.

God chose forgiveness over condemnation, life over death and hope over despair. Why? Because that is who God is! God not only cares but does something about it!

Question 4 1 Corinthians 6:9, John 3:16-17 Does God hate homosexuals? Jesus came not to condemn, but to free us from condemnation!

April 27, 2025

“Then he brought the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar, besides the burnt sacrifice of the morning.” (Leviticus 9:17 NKJV)

A handful of grain

burnt on the altar

A handful of grain

for Communion

What has God offered to you today?

What offering does God desire from you?

Question 2 Genesis 2:7, John 11:25-27 Just what is life?

Life is a gift coming directly from God.

“Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” (Genesis 2:7 NLT)

“25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”” (John 11:25-27 NLT)

When I was a boy I was taught scientists had created life, but really the scientists created a mere building block of life (an amino acid) this was achieved using knowledge of design and using what turned out to be unrealistic conditions.

Life is an incredible mystery. I have see life slip from so many people. There is an instantaneous change that makes it so obvious life is gone, but I can’t explain to you how I know.

God formed us from the dust of the earth like a potter forming a vessel. The intimacy of touch as the hands of the Potter formed us is also seen in God’s declaration that He formed and made us in the womb. But even that is not life. For we are told that God did the first CPR and breathed His very life into us! Again look at the intimacy involved.

Jesus declares He is the resurrection and also life itself! And we can see why. As God, Jesus continues the life breathed into us by God. So what is life? It is the breath of God! The very life of God breathed into us. Breathe is a primitive root meaning to puff, to inflate, to kindle and to expire. Breath is wind, divine inspiration, intellect, soul or spirit.

Part of what we call life is our intellect and mind, which are a gift of God. God actively breathed His breath into us and from that we are kindled to be, to know and to grow! From this we get our hunger for knowing, discovering and growing.

This life was meant to be eternal. We were meant to live forever growing, learning and experiencing. But we chose our own way and that always leads to death. Death is not just the absence of life. I have seen that also over the years. Just as sin is a rejection of God so death is a rejection of life. We do not die because we did something wrong, we die because we rejected the life found in the God who made us.

To reject God is to reject life! Look at the societies that reject God. They always choose death. Whether building a better human or a better world through abortion and sterilization (Eugenics), by killing those considered than (Nazism), building a better society by killing those who dissent (Communism), or controlling population through abortion (China) when they leave God behind they always choose death over life! It is that desire to “do it our way” that leaves behind broken lives, dreams, families and societies.

Life is not just the continuing of breath but the continuation of God within us. That is why Jesus could say “I am the resurrection and the life.” For it is Jesus within us that not only keep death away but allows life to flow through us! More than mere existence, the life of God flowing in and through us to share His life with others!

April 26, 2025

“And he brought the burnt offering and offered it according to the prescribed manner.” (Leviticus 9:16 NKJV)

Offer as I should

not as I want

Cain did as wanted

and lost it all

What has God offered to you today?

What offering does God desire from you?

Question 1 Genesis 1:1-5, John 1:1-5 Is there really a God?

Is there really an active and interested God?

“1¶ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 ¶ Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.” (Genesis 1:1-5 NLT)

“1 ¶ In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 ¶ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” (John 1:1-5 NLT)

There are two questions we must explore. Is there a God? Is God actively interested? There are also two ways of looking for evidence. We can accept the testimony of the Bible or we can look outside the Bible.

Is there a God?

Biblically

Opening of Bible assumes God. “In the beginning God…” God is assumed in all of scripture. The Bible is actually History, or His Story, the story of God working in creation. God is the foundation of all that is because nothing exists without God. In those “beginning” words God creates, thinks, feels, cares and plans. All in the “beginning” chapter.

Non-biblically

Design – Because there is such order and design to all that is we see the hint of a designer. Evolution does not explain the essential that all things evolved from! Nor can it explain the connecting parts necessary that would have to evolve at once! Birds need light feathers, hollow bones, and unique respiratory system to name just a few things essential for flight.

The many common designs within different creations like where pig valves can be used for humans. This speaks of a common designer who used the simple and best design over and over when possible.

A universal intricacy of movement as planets “dance” around their suns and then they “dance” around others to form a galaxy. Galaxies “dance” and form the Universe!

Information – Our DNA is made up of a library of information in a code that defines who we can be. At a minimum each cell contains 500,000 typewritten pages of information. For there to be such volumes without an author or codes without a code maker takes more faith to believe.

Some say that this information was formed by many mutations happening many times over many years. But studying mutations finds that mutations not only do not produce more information but actually reduce information. Most mutations are actually destructive to the host. Cancer is a mutation of healthy cells.

A world of gods- Why does humanity always seek a god? Why are there so many gods out there? Maybe because the God who created us placed in us a desire to discover and know Him? Most cultures have a small group who will not accept the existence of god, but the vast majority believes.

Is God active and interested?

Biblically

All life comes from God – in Genesis 1 and 2 we see God form man and breathe life into him. God touched and formed the man and then performed the first CPR to bring him to life. The word for breath and the Spirit of God comes from the same root of breath or breathing. God breathed His very Spirit into us that is our source of life. John tells us that Jesus is Life itself and that life is the “light of men”. If you are alive then God is actively working in you with every breath you take!

God cared enough to give His Son to redeem you – This Word named Jesus came to give you life. Jesus cared enough to come, to teach, to share, to suffer to die and to rise again so we can have an abundant as well as an eternal life. God not only gives you life but overcomes the darkness that threatens all of us. The Light of Jesus Christ offers us hope and has overcome the terrible darkness that causes war after war and suffering after suffering.

Non-biblically

Spring – Every winter we go through a time of shutting down and death. Winter reminds us of our death but spring reminds us that life can be renewed and even resurrected. Easter is a spring time reminder that we celebrate the coming of life and hope.

Cycles of renewal – All around us are cycles of renewal. The life cycle of birth (a renewal of family and humanity), youth (a renewal of gifts and talents), adulthood (a renewal of creation), old age (a renewal of wisdom and grace) and death (a renewal of life itself)!

Every species or kind has a cycle of renewal; plants have a cycle of renewal and so do planets and the universe. We all live and exist within these cycles of renewal.

The fall brought the curse to these cycles and they led toward disintegration, destruction and death. But by His death and resurrection Jesus has redeemed death, the worst part of the cycle, to actually become the one with the most hope!

Life itself begs for the existence of God and that He is active and interested. That creation and life continue despite the fall and brokenness of humanity. God could have destroyed us because of our arrogance and foolishness but we are still here because of the love of God and His compassion.

“And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6 NLT)

Next week: Question 2: Just what is life?

Genesis 2:7, John 11:25-27

April 25, 2025

“Then he brought the people’s offering, and took the goat, which was the sin offering for the people, and killed it and offered it for sin, like the first one.” (Leviticus 9:15 NKJV)

Offer through the Church

your offering to God

but you cannot control

what is now dead to you

What has God offered to you today?

What offering does God desire from you?

Over the next days I will offer a series of sermons entitled Seven Deadly Questions which I shared at the last three congregations I served. These are qestions people in the churches either had no answer for or didn't understand the question. These are not full or inclusive answers but my attempt to help others begin their own study of these questions which are dangerous to ask.

April 24, 2025

“And he washed the entrails and the legs, and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar.” (Leviticus 9:14 NKJV)

God washes me within and without

God's blood cleanses whiter than snow

God burns the dross with a holy fire

God's love sets free all who are open

What has God offered to you today?

What offering does God desire from you?

1/19/2018

My Lord woke me and called for me to pray

For the fear merchants spread their seed

It grows into a harvest of anger and fear

The evil one will bring fire and hail

Not from the skies but within hearts

The blaze consumes the fear merchants

And those who let the seed into them

The blaze will grow and burn so many

Souls will be lost in their fear and anger

For you cannot blame the fear merchants

Because you have let their seed into you

You have let it grow into a hateful crop

And you have let it keep you from love

And you have let it keep you from prayer

And you have let it keep you from joy

And you have let it keep you from peace

And you have let it keep you from God

PRAY for those who you hate the most

PRAY for those who you fear the most

PRAY for those who you dread the most

PRAY for those who you call them

For you are them to who you call them

And they pray against you out of fear

Little children please humble yourself

Fall before God in true humility

Lest we fall before God in judgment

Judgment because the Church failed

Failed to love each other as we should

Failed to love others as we are called

Failed to love God who loved you first

Cry out lest we burn in our hatred

Cry out lest we burn in our fear

Cry out to the Lord of mercy and love

Cry out for help not to come from above

But for God’s love and hope to burn within

That the fire of fear and hatred will be

Consumed by the fire of God’s love

Let us cry out to our God in humility

Let us cry out to our God in confession

Let us cry out to our God in repentance

Let us cry out to our God in hope

In the hope God will be merciful

In the hope God will forgive us

In the hope God will be just

In the hope God will be Holy

In the hope God will make us

Also to be all those things ourselves

Pray for those you don’t want to

Pray for them most of all

Not because they need it most of all

But because you need to most of all

Put anger aside or God will be angry

Put your fear aside lest God destroy

Call upon God to plant seeds of hope

Call upon God to plant seeds of faith

Call upon God to plant seeds of joy

Call upon God to plant seeds of love

REMEMBER IF YOU DON’T LOVE THOSE YOU SEE

YOU CAN’T LOVE THE GOD YOU CANNOT SEE

And you will not receive God’s love

Because you don’t love those God loves

Not because God doesn’t love you

But because hatred blinds you from love

Because fear blinds you from His love

BE IN PRAYER YOU WHO ARE GOD’S

PRAY FOR THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW

GOD’S LOVE AND GRACE FOR THEM

For if you are full of hate for them

You will become the them to God

Little children BE IN PRAYER

April 23, 2025

“Then they presented the burnt offering to him, with its pieces and head, and he burned them on the altar.” (Leviticus 9:13 NKJV)

I feel I am pieces parts

disconnected broken apart

God alone pieces me together

reconnected coming together

What has God offered to you today?

What offering does God desire from you?

Plugger Problems

This a list of the pains and miseries I have.

Most of the time I am weary and struggle to do simple tasks. My mind runs slower and I struggle with words and memories (before this I had a good memory and as a preacher could speak well) which makes it hard to be around people. I define my days as:

1. There goes my chicken!

2. Where is my chicken?

3. I have a chicken?

I don’t feel what I call real pain as much since my body is mostly numb. Often I have what I call phantom or unreal pain which can be a sudden pain like a punch (which often takes my breathe away), or a stabbing pain (which lasts longer as the days go by).

When still preaching the pain was so bad I would throw up a couple of times each sermon and having

to swallow it made my throat hurt. I found out drinking a carbonated beverage would allow me to burp rather than throw up. Even when I do not feel the pain I still get nauseous.

Traveling in a car for more then a few minutes was agony. One time the pain was so intense I passed

out and when I came to was paralyzed from the neck down for 18 hours. I had little pain and

when movement came back so did the pain. I almost wish I had remained paralyzed. The numbness has spread so far I do not feel the pain but still drink a carbonated beverage to travel.

My abilities and mood together can swing sharply from day to day and at times during a day. One day I can plan for the future and the next be unable to think clearly which is hard on my family.

Other things:

I find it harder to make it to the bathroom in time.

I drop things more often.

Dr Byrd recommended a chair yoga program and it helped with strength and mobility.

Spend more time in bed then I used to.

There may be other things but I may not remember them which is why I made this list.

(This was written in 2017 as I was preparing to go on disability.)

April 22, 2025

“And he killed the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons presented to him the blood, which he sprinkled all around on the altar.” (Leviticus 9:12 NKJV)

From sin comes death

to be paid by life

An offering of blood

in the blood is life

What has God offered to you today?

What offering does God desire from you?