Do you have a heart condition?

We may ask ourselves this when faced with certain symptoms such as SOB (shortness of breath), chest pains, tightness in chest and PVC's (pre ventricular contractions). Our doctors may ask this question when we go for an annual. We see billboards and magazine advertisements encouraging us to tell our doctor if we experience these symptoms. We focus so much on our physical, outward bodies, yet fail to see that there is something deeper lurking within each one of us. And that is the spiritual condition of our hearts. But how many of us actually consider the condition of our heart spiritually? How many of us actually ponder what is going on inside our hearts....with our feelings, emotions, motives and attitudes. Frankly from what I see and have experienced, very few, if not many, even consider, much less are aware of the spiritual condition of their hearts. Their actions demonstrate that quite lucidly.

If someone were to look inside your heart what would they see? Obviously we know the absolute Truth, that God sees what's there. You can hide your heart from others, but not God. But do you know what's there? I will say it again, do you? First, let me make it clear.......I am not preaching, only desiring that as you read this, you may ponder and allow yourself to be in a pensive mood so that you can make application from this post, that is if you so desire. I think it is important for all to engage in reflection. It seems in our fast paced culture we have a very hard time doing this but it is nonetheless important.

Some may tell you that our emotions can effect our health. I believe since God created a whole person, meaning mind, body and soul, all are connected and relate to one another, thereby effecting all. You can not neglect your spiritual life at the expense of your health and vise versa. Your soul is simply your mind and how you think, your will and how you choose, and your emotions and how you feel. You can not separate your emotions from your mind and will and you can not separate your emotions from your health. They all are connected to form one human being.

When Jesus preached during his brief ministry on this earth, His main concern was the condition of our hearts. We can have an outward show of righteousness and goodness and may appear as moral, virtuous, etc., but inside we can be filled with dead men's bones as Jesus so perfectly illustrated in Matthew 23. We can impress others with our pretension, but God sees the real you that we tend to hide from others. In other words, we tend to dissimilate. We can be calm and collected but yet be crafty and calculated with the intent or strategy to destroy. The world will judge you based on outward appearances alone and make presumptions based on that, but God looks at the heart........I Samuel 16:7. The Bible and God's Truth are pretty clear to me. You know they say you can't judge a book by its cover. There is some definite Truth to that. Hebrews 4:12 is also pretty clear to me........"For the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerning of the thoughts and intents of the heart". The Greek word, Kririkos, means "discerner."

So let me ask you this. Where is your heart? Do you even care? Jesus said if you hate your brother or sister or neighbor, it is the same as murder. If you have lust in your heart toward another, it is the same as adultery. You may not pull out a 9mm pistol and shoot your neighbor, but if you hate them, its the same as murder. You may not actually commit the act of adultery with another, but if you lust after someone, it's the same as adultery. Now listen, don't stone the messenger because this is what God says. If you are going to have anger that is tantamount to projectile vomit, you can take that up with God. He can handle it better than I can. And lets not forget jealousy or envy? These emotions can so overwhelm that they literally can become an obsession with another. They can not only consume your mind but will take over your heart causing heart palpitations and high blood pressure........a big problem in need of emergency assistance. Before you are even aware, you may go into cardiac arrest and flat line rendering you DOA, a new resident in your local morgue!

Guard your heart my friend, for it is the wellspring of life and out of it flows all the issues of life........(Proverbs 4:23), otherwise, you may leave a wake of destruction in your path.

How much of a free will does God give us?

Throughout the church there are many who are divided on the issue of free will verses predestination. It is a divisive topic and tends to turn into polemics. Nevertheless, it is a very important topic because it concerns your doctrine and what you believe. Hermeneutics is simply your interpretation of scripture. This is important because if you do not know what you believe, you may fall for anything. Some may consider this topic esoteric, but I guess that depends on your level of comprehension.

Many Believers have written books on this very topic. It is a topic that has been greatly explored by pastors, theologians, lay people and the simple. I myself have read many books on this topic and one in particular stands out above them all. It is called "The Sovereignty of God" by Arthur Pink. Arthur Pink dives into the operation of the human will and the sovereignty of God in human affairs. He does not negate the free will of man because God does hold men and women responsible for their choices (Romans 1). He also addresses the sovereignty of God over the will of man using Romans chapter 9. He talks about the sovereignty of God in human affairs, in government, in creation, in salvation, in reprobation and he juxtaposes the sovereignty of God and human will, human responsibility and prayer. At the end of his treatise, he talks about the difficulties and objections many will have as they read this delicate subject. In Romans 9, the apostle Paul also addresses the objections the reader will have with rhetorical questions and irrefutable evidence in response. Arthur Pink bases his understanding on this text in scripture and many others as well.


So Who is regulating the affairs on this earth today-God, or the Devil? That God reigns supreme in Heaven, is generally conceded; that He does so over this world, is almost universally denied-if not directly, then indirectly. More and more are men in their philosophizing and theorizing, relegating God to the background. Take the material realm. Not only is it denied that God created everything, by personal and direct action, but few believe that He has any immediate concern in regulating the works of His own hands. Everything is supposed to be ordered according to the (impersonal and abstract) "laws of Nature". Thus is the Creator banished from His own creation. Therefore we need not be surprised that men, in their degrading conceptions, exclude Him from the realm of human affairs.


The free will that God has given man is only operational within the proclivities of his or her flesh. He/she is in bondage to sin because his/her mind is darkened in trespasses and sins (spiritually blind). He/she is unable to comprehend the light (Ephesians 2 verses 1-5). As a result, mans' will is bound by their flesh. They are in bondage to sin and death. It is similar to walking into your local morgue. Is it not indeed filled with corpses that are dead? So how then can these dead people choose what they want? We say they cannot because they are physically dead. It is the same thing spiritually. When a soul is dead spiritually, he/she can not and has not the ability to choose life in terms of spiritual means for he is dead in trespasses and sin. By this standard, God will hold each person accountable for their choices. He has given each one of us a free will to choose. But again those who are spiritually dead in trespasses and sin, who with their free will, choose that which is ONLY within the proclivities of their flesh nature. The objection that is raised frequently concerns the matter of culpability. Why does God then hold man accountable when his will is in bondage to sin and death and has not the ability to choose Christ? The irrefutable response is simple. God is the Creator or the Potter. We are the clay. He can do whatsoever He wants and as He wills. Does not the Potter have the right over the clay? He can make one vessel unto honor and one unto dishonor. He is sovereign. His deity and immutability will not be denied Him.


So where does predestination fall into place? I believe it is the efficacious, miraculous grace of God that unveils the blind folds and within an instant enables an unbeliever to see God and His Truth thereby resulting in his/her submission to the gospel......the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is only the efficacious grace of God that enables a spiritually dead person to see, or come alive and then choose that which is pleasing to God. Therefore, none of us can take credit for our salvation for it is all God's doing. And this will completely obliterate man's arrogance (which in his pride he can not stand........none shall glory in the presence of God). It is grace and grace alone that saved those of us who are saved. We had nothing to do with it because as you recall, we were one of those corpses in the local morgue unable to choose because we were dead, not just physically but spiritually as well. Only now, because we have raised from our spiritual death and the bondage of our will to sin, do we have the ability to choose that which is pleasing in God's eyes. In other words, because we have the Holy spirit inside us, we will have more of a desire to choose that which will glorify God. Do we always choose that which will glorify God? No, because we who are saved by the blood of Jesus still have a free will to choose God's will or our own flesh. The apostle Paul speaks of this in Romans chapter 7 and his struggle with his very powerful flesh that was at war with his spirit. Thank the Lord Jesus in His mercy, for He understood this.......that is why He died in our place for our sins. He knew of our inability (in and of ourselves) to obtain righteousness through the Law.

Why do we want so badly to take credit for our "goodness" and why do we put so much stock in vain traditions and man made philosophies? The apostle Paul stated clearly in Galatians 1 verse 10, "For do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after men. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ". This nullifies the traditions of men so Paul would not "frustrate the grace of God........for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain". (Galatians 2, verse 21). And in chapter 3 verse 11....."that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, for it is evident that the just shall live by faith". God forbid I should glory, save only in the cross of Jesus Christ.

For the Believer choosing God's will and His best should take some effort to seek His face in those matters. Even though God may show the way, sometimes Believers choose their own way. Our flesh is feverish and impulsive and yes, selfish. We tend to be hasty and sometimes miss the way. Sometimes we are hard of hearing and are in definite need of a hearing aid! In those times, dependence upon God is a must and His grace will be sufficient. He understands our frame and knows we are but dust.

There is so much more to extrapolate but I will allow the reader to do so at his or her perusal. So if you like books, and you are interested in learning new scripture, this book will, no doubt, enhance you comprehension of deeper spiritual truths and challenge you to look beyond what you see. It will give you insight and deepen your love and understanding of this amazing God who is always in control!

My oh my, what beautiful pearly whites she has!

Now I wouldn't mess with this broad.......she will eat you for dinner.

What went horribly wrong on the USS Indianapolis?

On July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58. The ship was returning from a top secret mission in the delivery of critical parts (the enriched uranium) for the first atomic bomb, Little Boy,  to be used on Hiroshima from a United States air base on a small pacific island called Tinian. The ship was sunk in just 12 minutes. Of the 1,196 crewmen on board, about 300 went down with the ship. The remaining crew of 880 men faced exposure, dehydration, starvation and shark attacks from oceanic white tips. Because their mission was top secret and because their failure to arrive back at their destination went unnoticed, their rescue was long delayed resulting in the loss of about 600 more men. It wasn't until survivors were finally spotted by the crew of a PV-1 Ventura that was on routine patrol that the remaining men were rescued. A PBY Catalina under the command of Lieutenant R. Adrian Marks was also dispatched to lend assistance and report. He was able to rescue 56 of the 316 men in the water. All in all, only 316 sailors survived. The USS Indianapolis was the last major U.S. Navy ship sunk by enemy action in WW II.

The non-arrival of the Indianapolis was known at once to Lieutenant Stuart Gibson who failed to investigate the matter and made no immediate report of the fact to his superiors. Worse yet is that the Indianapolis did send distress calls before they sank. Three stations received the signals but none acted upon the call. One commander was drunk, another had ordered his men not to disturb him and a third thought it was a Japanese prank......eerily similar to Pearl Harbor! To cover their tracks, the Navy denied that a distress call had been sent. The receipt of the call came to light only after the release of declassified records. When the ship did not reach Leyte on the 31st, as scheduled, no report was made that she was overdue.

The Captain of the Indianapolis, Charles Butler McVay, had asked for an escort for his delivery of the uranium to Tinian knowing the pacific waters were infested with Japanese u-boats, but was denied that request by the Navy. He was instructed to zig-zag instead. Captain Charles Mcvay, who had commanded the Indianapolis since November 1944, survived the sinking and was with those who were eventually rescued. In November of 1945, he was then given a court martial and convicted of "hazarding his ship by failing to zigzag". The controversy surrounding the court martial was that there was evidence that the Navy itself had placed the ship in harm's way in that McVay's orders were to 'zigzag at his discretion, weather permitting". The most egregious of all is that our country betrayed their own (McVay) by summonsing Mochitsura Hashimoto, the commander of Japanese sub that sunk Indianapolis, with a court martial to testify against McVay. Hashimoto was stunned by our country's treatment of their own. He stated that his own country would not do that to him, further more Hashimoto testified in court that zig-zagging would have made no difference.

Fleet admiral Chester Nimitz remitted McVay's sentence and restore him to active duty but McVay retired in 1949. While many of Indianapolis's survivors said McVay was not to blame for the sinking, the families of some of the men treated him with unmeasured terms of vituperation. The guilt that was placed unnecessarily on McVay's shoulders, (scapegoating by our government), resulted in his suicide in1968. Using his Navy-issued revolver, he was discovered with a toy sailor in one hand on his front lawn. How sad for this man to endure such persecution. There is nothing worse than to be  lambasted by the court of public opinion. That is by far the worse sentencing to be handed down.........especially if you are innocent.

In October of 2000, the United States Congress passed a resolution that Captain McVay's record should state that "he is exonerated for the loss of Indianapolis".  In July 2001, the Secretary of the Navy ordered McCoy's record cleared of all wrongdoing.

Lets talk Romans Chapter 14

I love this chapter because it addresses the very problem with so many Christians. In fact this is a problem with not just Believers but Unbelievers as well. It is the issue of passing judgment on one another. Unbelievers would do well to heed this advice from the Apostle Paul.......it may improve your relationships!

The Apostle Paul writes that Believers are to accept one another without condemnation for personal convictions. We have no right to judge others on such issues, for they are matters of conscience, to be settled between the individual and the Lord. Believers must then stop passing judgement on one another. Instead each person needs to be sensitive to how his or her choices affect others and choose to do those things which lead to peace and to mutual edification. In this way we protect each person's conscience and the quality of his or her personal relationship with God.

In the first verse, it is essentially saying that we are to accept one another. The Greek word....paralambano......is a powerful relational term. It means to welcome, as with open heart and arms, eager and ready to share all of life. This is the kind of love we own one another in Christ. When we pass judgment on one another, it means we determine, on the basis of our own beliefs and convictions that another person is sinning. However, when a person engages in sin, we are not passing judgment to call that act sin, but rather agreeing with God. It's important to have that distinction clearly in mind. Neither individual or congregation has any right to pass judgment.

When we judge others, we are clearly "looking down" on others. The problem with this is that it distorts relationships and keeps us from extending and receiving ministry and love from one another. It is our relationships that God cares about, not whether we eat meat or only vegetables or dot all our I's and cross all of our T's.

When the Apostle Paul talks about the strong and weak in verse 2, they both are to be accepted. Surprising to many, it is the "weak" faith that has problems with the freedoms that others with a stronger faith enjoy! Strong faith realizes that spirituality is not a matter of do's and don'ts, but of loving and serving God while enjoying His good gifts.

Christ is Lord........all people are accountable to Him (Romans Chapter 1). Verses 5-9 affirms the essential truth that we are all personally responsible to Jesus Christ for the choices we make. We are accountable to Him for He is Lord. Too many Christians-leaders and lay people-act as if fellow believers were accountable to them rather than to Jesus. When we pass judgment on others, we usurp Jesus' role as Lord and deny Him the place that is rightfully His in our fellow believer's life. What a terrible sin this is.

On a side note that is relative,  God does not call perfect people......in fact, both the men and women that God used mightily had major character flaws but they loved God more than this world. God worked through their weakness to reveal His strength. Moses had a severe anger problem......he even murdered an Egyptian for beating an innocent Hebrew. Abraham was a liar. Jacob was a deceiver. David was both an adulterer and a murderer. Peter was a coward and too impetuous. Paul was hot-headed. The list goes on. The Bible is a great book because it reads like a true soap-opera and involves quite a bit of drama because it so perfectly illustrates the true depraved nature of man apart from God.

I kept my dad's Bible after he passed away. He read only King James which I do too. He had a thing for masking tape, a bit of a fetish, so he put masking tape on the front cover of his Bible and wrote with a black sharpie marker....."Diary of a Mad, Mad Planet"! I couldn't concur more. Just look around you.......how true it is!


Excepted from a fantastic book (which all serious Bible students need), "The Bible Reader's Companion" by Lawrence Richards.