God must not be finished with me yet.

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18 May 2013 – Day 646 – John Allen – http://encounters-with-god.com

How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.—Matthew 7:4, 5 NIV

I can tell that God is not finished with me because he keeps showing me things about myself that I had no idea were there. Maybe it is all the scandals swirling around our President’s head. Every time someone points out something stupid or irresponsible that he has done, I have to ask myself if I have made the same mistake. My anger toward him has subsided now that everyone knows how pathetic he actually is, even though they may not admit it.

Seriously, I really feel sorry for the guy. I know what it is like to lie, cheat, and steal your way into a slimy pit of despair. I’m praying for him to repent and turn to God. I will know if he does because he will stop treating me and my friends as the bitter enemies he has made us out to be, and start listening to good advice from the decent men he has shut out of his life. He will become an example of leadership that depends on God for guidance and takes responsibility for his policy.

He will stop killing babies before they are born. He will stop sodomizing his friends. He will stop slandering his political rivals. He will stop offering aid and comfort to the Islamist terrorists who hate God. He will stop lying to his supporters about what he can do for them. He will stop enslaving us with a massive overbearing government. He will stop crippling free enterprise with socialism and environmentalism. And he will stop avoiding his responsibility to defend freedom.

So, that part was easy, but now the hard part is examining myself. I could be doing the same thing in a different way and not realize it. I don’t rely on God the way I should all the time. If I really want to do something my way, I am inclined to let checking it out with God slip my mind until it is too late to do anything about it. Oh, by the way, is it OK that I did that? Sorry I forget to check with you about it, but I know you will work it out for me.

Of course, the problem is sometimes he works it out as a teachable moment for me and reveals something really ugly that I have been avoiding. When my mother got heart failure she went to bed and waited to die, but she didn’t die, so she got up and resumed her life by going to her brother’s 90th birthday party in Idaho. Maybe the bed rest helped her, but I thought what she did was silly.

This morning, I realized I have done the same thing with my life that she did. When I got heart failure, I applied for disability and waited to die. As far as I was concerned, writing my blog was about the only activity my weakened heart could tolerate. The truth is that some of my problems stem directly from inactivity, and I would feel much better if I did more.

How do I know what God has for me if I don’t even try to find it? I have heard that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, but I don’t do it. I understand that God will keep me here as long as he has something for me to do, but I don’t try to find out what that is. Since God keeps showing me new things about myself, God must not be finished with me yet.

Everything balances out perfectly in God presence.

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17 May 2013 – Day 645 – John Allen – http://encounters-with-god.com

But Abraham replied, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.”—Luke 16:25 NIV

A rich man is suffering in hell, so he asks Abraham to send the beggar who had laid at the rich man’s gate to give him some water, but no one is able to cross the gulf between them. Apparently Lazarus trusted God in spite of his pitiful condition, because when he died, God balanced his misery on earth with comfort in heaven.

We know the rich man was unrepentant and had no compassion for Lazarus, the beggar, but he realized his error too late to save himself, so God balanced his self-centered pleasure on earth with suffering in hell. God would have willingly paid the penalty that was necessary to balance the rich man’s life, but the rich man didn’t want to risk his luxurious lifestyle by giving himself to God.

He knew that if he was living for God instead of himself, he would have to use his wealth to help Lazarus and other poor people in his community. And it would require more than money to please God; he would also have to spend time helping people and even give of himself by loving everyone around him.

He had no excuse. He knew what God’s righteous commandments were, and he knew he couldn’t meet them, so instead of asking God to forgive him and trusting God to guide him, he just ignored the problem. Unfortunately for him, God didn’t ignore it. He couldn’t ignore it because everything has to balance out in each person’s life.

If that seems harsh, we need to keep in mind that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. Every person sins and falls short of God’s glory, but the atonement of Jesus is enough to cover all that sin, because he sacrificed himself in eternity when he suffered separation from his Father.

It is hard for us to imagine what it was like for Jesus, but his spirit was one with the Father in eternity, and he lost that eternal oneness when he took our sin on himself at the cross. God had to turn away from Jesus and allow him to suffer in eternity for our sin. If God had not turned away, Jesus would not have suffered enough to balance our sin.

The cross was a cruel method of execution, but it was not eternal. Since the punishment for sin is eternal separation from God, Jesus had to experience separation from God in eternity. It was only a moment, but it was an eternal moment that was more than sufficient to balance all the sin that will ever be committed by man. Everything balances out perfectly in God presence.

God judges the hearts of men.

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16 May 2013 – Day 644 – John Allen – http://encounters-with-god.com

…(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts…)—Romans 2:14, 15 NIV

Harris Rodgers made an interesting comment about “Without God there is no truth.”

This always fascinated me. It particularly fascinated me because this monk was applying a concept to Buddha that is fairly uncommon among Buddhism. Most Buddhists, from what I understand, do not see Buddha as a being that exists other than within the minds of his followers. It wasn’t the case for this monk, however. When the monk told me this, I could tell that he believed his own story. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he did not question whether or not he actually saw Buddha.

I have discussed this with quite a few friends. Some chalk this instance up to medical or scientific error such as schizophrenia or personality disorders. I do not particularly agree with the schizophrenia theory, simply because I hate explaining away mystical happenstance with science. This instance is, possibly, and I stress possibly, one of the instances where man has created a god. I am not sure of his religious background (parents, grandparents, etc…) but I promise you that this monk will live a zealous life for the rest of his days due to that experience.—Harris Rodgers

We all interpret what we see according to our conceptual framework or worldview. Apparently this fellow saw Buddha in a vision. I might see exactly the same vision and interpret it as Jesus. I would say if his response to the vision was similar to mine, we probably saw the same God. The fact that his concept is uncommon among Buddhists would tend to confirm my understanding.

While the Buddhists have great spiritual insight, their concepts do not match my experience. The fact that we all create an idea of God within our own minds tells us something about how our minds work, but it doesn’t say anything about the existence of God. We all create a model of reality in our own minds based on our experience and desires, but we are only successful to the degree that our model represents reality as it really is.

We all live in the same physical reality, but we don’t all have the same understanding of it. We interpret it differently based on our unique individual perspective. Likewise, we all live in the same spiritual reality, but our understanding depends on how we interpret what we see from our perspective. Just as we can be physically blind or deaf, we can be spiritually blind or deaf. At either level of reality, in order to see something you must be willing and able to look at and recognize it.

At both levels of reality, some people have a better understanding of each particular thing than others. People have different levels of experience, and generally the more experience they have the better their understanding will be. They may be able to see it better, spend more time observing it, have a better conceptual framework to interpret what they see, or have a better teacher.

Materialists reject spiritual reality, so they have to interpret spiritual phenomena in physical or psychological terms. However, there is no way for them to prove that spiritual reality doesn’t exist, and since they have never recognized its existence, they are essentially ignorant about spiritual phenomena and have nothing useful to add to any discussion of the subject.

Physical and spiritual realities operate in parallel. When we observe something in physical reality, there is also something happening in spiritual reality that is related to the physical event. That is why it is not possible to prove spiritual reality doesn’t exist just because we can detect physical causes for events. There are always parallel physical and spiritual causes.

Rather than developing a conceptual framework that supported my worldview and discarding information that didn’t fit, I developed a conceptual framework that included the entire breadth and depth of human experience. I know God guided my effort because it worked out perfectly.

When we include a divine level that describes the part God plays in every parallel physical and spiritual event, my triune reality model explains everything. Even the paradoxical characteristics of reality are easily explained if the contradictory elements are operating at different levels. God has promised that everything will balance out perfectly, but we don’t see that in this world. The only way things can balance with both justice and mercy is if they balance at the divine level.

God is resolving everything at a level we are not aware of. At the physical level our body could move into position to carry out an attack. The evil plan to rob some unwary traveler was developed by our soul at the spiritual level. Meanwhile, at the divine level, God is watching, and deciding how he will balance justice and mercy in this case.

Since Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin, the robber has the option to repent and accept Christ as his Savior. That would balance his sin at the spiritual level with Christ’s atonement at the divine level. Until he repents, his life will not go well for him as a warning that he should not do what he did. If he doesn’t get to spend eternity with God, it will be because he refuses to accept the invitation. Everything will balance out perfectly at the divine level when God judges the hearts of men.

Truth is the manifestation of God in human form.

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15 May 2013 – Day 643 – John Allen – http://encounters-with-god.com

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:12 NIV

chicagoja commented on “Without God, there is no truth.”

Nice post. Unfortunately, people believe that faith in God constitutes the Truth, but as you said it’s only their perspective on the Truth (God).

Thanks for your comment. At least faith in God allows for the existence of truth, whereas lack of faith makes the existence of truth impossible. Unbelievers have no basis to claim their perspective is true because there is no one to define what truth is. All I know is that when God tells me something, it always comes true even though I may not understand how or why.

Genesis, and all scripture or religious belief is the attempt of various men to describe their experience of God, which of course they can only do from their limited perspective. If God exists, then God’s revelation of himself is true by definition, but our attempt to describe that revelation is an imperfect reflection of his truth. The fact that you have not yet reached your goal does not mean the goal doesn’t exist. Keep searching.

We are always going to be limited to our perspective of the truth, but not all perspectives are equal. The rules for observation of spiritual or divine phenomena are the same as the rules for physical phenomena. If you want to see something, you must observe it from a perspective that gives you an unobstructed view, and you must be able to detect it with either your senses or the assistance of tools. Furthermore, you must be able to interpret the information in a way that makes sense of it.

There is lots of room in this process for alternate perceptions. The most important factor is simply the desire to see what is true regardless of your preconceived ideas about it. If your goal is to know the truth, it is always dangerous to assume that you finally know what is true. Even if you are 99% correct (which isn’t likely) you will never find the missing 1% if you aren’t watching for it.

We use the idea of God or ultimate reality to explain what we observe. Since materialists are spiritually blind, they explain everything with scientific observations. Spiritual people are not able to describe what they see with science alone, because they detect a transcendent intelligence in control of everything they see. They need a concept of God in order to make sense of their lives.

Our worldview ties everything together in a comprehensive understanding of reality that allows us to function effectively and respond to the various challenges that confront us. Right or wrong, it is better to make some sense of things than to run around in a disorganized panic. If we are honest with ourselves, we are able to make continuous adjustments to our worldview that brings it into a closer alignment with reality as it is.

I believe our highest goal is to get as close to the truth as possible. If that is your goal, the rules are simple enough. You must want to know the truth but you can never assume you have it. You must love the truth more than your own opinion. You must be willing to be the only person in the world who sees the truth. You must respect everyone’s unique perception of reality, because you can learn something from them, even if they are wrong about everything. You must let God help you.

God created us for relationship. That means he is real. He is not some idea of God we can read about in some Holy Book. God is a real person who wants to have a conversation with each one of us. He has a perfect perception of reality from every possible perspective. While there is no way for us to comprehend him or his perception of reality, it is possible for us to let him guide us at whatever level of understanding we are capable of.

I don’t believe in a god I read about somewhere, and I don’t believe in God because someone told me to. I believe in God because I have met him and walked with him for forty years. Now, I live in his presence every day, and he has never failed me. I knew God before I was a Christian.

When I read the Bible, I got excited, because it was obvious to me that those men had experienced the same God I was experiencing. Their perspective was different, but the relationship was the same. When I accepted Christ, he appeared to me, and I knew that truth is the manifestation of God in human form.

Without God, there is no truth.

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14 May 2013 – Day 642 – John Allen – http://encounters-with-god.com

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”—John 14:6 NIV

I am always amused by the logic of atheists. They will say things such as “There is no God,” or “Science proves God doesn’t exist,” or “People who believe in God are delusional.” Even if the atheists are correct, what difference does it make? I believe in God because I am happier and more successful when I believe. If I stop believing, I will be an unhappy failure.

Perhaps I should be willing to suffer as an unhappy failure if there is some greater payoff in the future. Of course the problem is there is no future if you don’t believe in God. OK, perhaps I should try giving up God to see if I could be happier and more successful without him, but I have already tried that, and after I destroyed my life I was miserable.

What about the charge that believers are delusional? I don’t want to be delusional, do I? Surely not, but if I am delusional, how do I know the difference? Delusional states must be determined by independent, objective observation, which is not possible for a delusional person. And If I can’t tell what is real, how can I judge whether someone else is telling me the truth? If the charge of delusion is true, then no one can do anything about it anyway, so why do they try?

It is obvious that atheists deny the existence of God in order to justify themselves, but who are they trying to justify themselves to? If there is no God, then the only rational standard for behavior is whatever makes you happy. Without a God to judge you, nothing matters. You don’t need any reason for what you do, and as long as you can get away with it, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks of what you are doing. Do what feels good.

So that is exactly what I do. The atheists have no basis for criticizing my belief in God because that is what makes me happy. Naturally, if it makes me happy, I am inclined to think it will make them happy also. Since what they do doesn’t matter, why don’t they give up atheism and try belief in God for a while? Are they afraid the atheist gods will punish them for their unfaithfulness?

Of course, they could punish themselves for not being true to their principles, in which case they are making themselves little gods, but what standards do those little gods use to judge us? Since nothing matters, there are no standards for us or the little gods to use. How can we know what is true? The whole justification for atheism is that it is the truth, but it can’t be. There is no truth.

You see, anyone can play the denial game. All you have to do is say it ain’t so, and you are a great thinker with impeccable logic. All I know is that when I didn’t believe in the truth, I couldn’t find any evidence of it, but when I did believe, it was all around me. We are literally swimming in truth. People who don’t want to see the truth are blinded by their self-centeredness.

What we believe is an expression of who we are. Some people believe atheism expresses who they are. They believe in nothing because they are nothing. Believing in God expresses who I am. He is the only way I can conceptualize the love, joy, peace, wisdom, and glory I feel in his presence.

Truth is relative to the observer. Every person has their own perspective from which they observe the truth, and that means they only see what is relevant to them. Since no one has a complete, objective view of reality except God, he is the only one who can define what is true, and he is the only one who can judge whether or not we are living up to it. Without God, there is no truth.

Only God can justify us.

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13 May 2013 – Day 641 – John Allen – http://encounters-with-god.com

In response to a thoughtful comment (in italics) from Freddie F. Daniels, a confused Christian, I wrote, “Thanks for your comment. You don’t have to agree with me, but I think you have some facts wrong, and you don’t seem to understand how to fix our problems. For a more complete response see today’s blog on “Only God can justify us.””

His accusation: I like how you lure the people in with your, I used to be a Democrat when I was younger line and now I am a Republican. Nice try but I think that most people will see right through that. The bottom line is Democrats do not all believe in abortion but they believe it is up to the women and God, I do not believe in abortion and I wish they would at least change the law so the abortion could only be done in the earliest moment of conception or not at all.

My response: Since you can’t possibly know if I was ever a Democrat, your opinion on that is irrelevant. I left the Democrat Party when I realized nothing they ever promised worked out the way they claimed it would. You should pay more attention to results than empty promises.

I’m pleased you want to limit abortion, but your friends murder a million babies a year. Have you ever seen an ultrasound? Did you see the documentary showing the baby recoiling as it was torn apart in its mother’s womb? Have you ever seen your niece grieving because she couldn’t save her premature babies? Why don’t you ask God about it?

His accusation: Republicans do put money before people, bottom line. They put political agenda before the safety and lives of our troops. They don’t mind paying 56% of ALL OUR TAXES to the military but scream and complain about spending about 17% on feeding and housing the poor. Jesus would never, ever, ever choose military spending over feeding the children of this world. Jesus would always choose diplomacy over war, every time and don’t try to pull out some old testament line trying to justify aggression because no matter what, Jesus came and asked us not to act upon any aggression.

My response: You are confusing Democrat slander with informed opinion. Democrat spending is going to bankrupt the country. Have you ever been bankrupt? Do you understand what happens when there is no money to pay your bills or take care of your family? Where do you think the money Democrats like to spend on the poor comes from? I am glad you care about the poor, but why don’t you help them yourself, instead of demanding that other people do it for you.

The money Democrats collect from people by force, in order to buy votes, is drained from the economy, and that slows our economic growth. Without economic prosperity there is no money to fund worthwhile charity projects that actually help people, unlike government welfare that doesn’t. If Social Security paid the same rate as a private retirement fund, we would all be rich.

Money for people who need help should come from their families, churches, charities, and local governments. The Federal Government has no business mandating entitlements that create lifelong inter-generational dependency. Paying young girls to form single mother households is child abuse that creates dysfunctional people and destroys civil society.

Since the total Federal budget is 3.7 trillion dollars, and Defense spending is 700 billion it comes to 19% of Federal taxes, so your figures are way off. By the time you factor in State and local taxes, we spend a lot more on welfare than the military. By the way, if you have ever been overseas you should realize, except for dysfunctional people, we don’t really have any starvation in the United States. I don’t have much money, but all I have to worry about is getting fat. I have a very low income in my retirement today, because I wasted my youth on sex, drugs, and rebellion.

Most of the starving people in the world are being starved on purpose by local wars, so in order to feed them; we must first send troops to stop the fighting. Capitalism has done more to raise people’s standard of living than all the Socialist welfare programs ever conceived. In fact Socialism is responsible for most of the world’s poverty and oppression.

I don’t read anything in Revelation about Jesus returning to earth on a diplomatic mission. It says he is going to kill his enemies. Why did he tell his disciples to buy swords if they didn’t have a right to use them? You are correct in that Jesus didn’t order us to take control of the world by force. The fight we must wage for him is spiritual.

His accusation: The Republicans can claim one policy as something that would make God smile and that would be abortion but every other policy or issue would leave God very disappointed. Democrats are not Gay, or at least not all of them and some of us may not believe in gay marriage but we believe all men and women are equal and should all have the same rights regardless of sex, age, race, religion or sexual preference.

My response: A gay man has the same right to marry a woman as I do. You are not considering the negative impact perversion has on people and society. A homosexual relationship is nothing more than an exercise in mutual masturbation that is not satisfying, loving, or life affirming the way a loving marriage between a man and woman is. Families are the foundation of society, and we will not be able to accommodate the homosexual values of death without destroying the life giving values that come from obedience to God’s righteous law.

His accusation: We as Christians were taught by God that we should not judge others and Republicans spend most of their time putting labels on people and trying to keep them isolated as if they did something wrong…Jesus would be a Democrat if anything, but of course he would never stand for abortion, but everything else he would approve of or at least be neutral…peace out…God Bless!

My response: You are projecting your own judgmental values on Republicans. The truth is you don’t even think God has the right to judge you, but you will find out. I have done a lot of things wrong, and every one of them has brought me profound grief. I have a duty to warn you about what happened to me. Go ahead and learn the hard way like I did. Right and wrong doesn’t wait for some final judgment; we reap what we sow right here and now.

If Jesus just listened to what Democrats promise, you might be right, but since he knows men’s hearts he is not going to be as easily fooled as you are. You have to attribute evil intent onto others in order to justify your own ignorance and sin. You need to have a talk with Jesus before you presume to speak for him. We can’t justify ourselves; only God can justify us.

It is our shared faith in God that binds us together.

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12 May 2013 – Day 640 – John Allen – http://encounters-with-god.com

There is a lot of talk about the illegal alien problem in the United States, and some Senators have proposed comprehensive immigration reform. As usual, this political response misses the mark and will only exacerbate the problem. Any program that will motivate illegal immigrants to register with the government will have to improve their situation, and be easy for them to do without exposing themselves to punishment. The current proposal is nonsense.

When I was a young man, we had a guest worker program that worked very well. People who wanted to work in the U.S. could do so with no problem. They didn’t have to sneak across the border, hire human smugglers, or lie about their status. When they were done, they could go home and come back later. But Democrat Union members didn’t like the competition from foreign labor that might undercut their excessive wage scale, so they stopped the program.

The Democrats’ short sighted, self-centered desire to milk Union members for campaign contributions has directly led to the illegal immigrant problem. Now they back proposals that are designed to accomplish nothing other than fooling minorities into thinking Democrats care about their problems. No sane illegal is going to go to all the trouble required for registration and expose himself to scrutiny by a bunch of government bureaucrats.

Legalization will actually decrease enforcement under the premise that illegal entry isn’t really a crime anyway; it is just a matter of incomplete paperwork. Since illegals have counterfeit identification, and are often paid in cash to avoid government regulations, there will not be any registrations, taxes, or assimilation into mainstream American society. They seem to do pretty well just standing in front of hardware stores waiting for day jobs, or heading out to the fields for work.

Why are people talking about citizenship for illegals? They didn’t come here to vote, they came here to work, and so let them work here, and go home to vote. All we need to solve the problem is a guest worker program that allows illegals to register as temporary guest workers on the same basis as foreigners. We could give them a year to comply, at which time they would be subject to deportation if they were not registered.

If they want an extended stay in the U.S. as a visitor, student, resident alien or citizen, they could apply for that while complying with the guest worker registration. They should not be given preferential treatment for those categories just because they are already here, or have family here, including children. Letting parents stay just because their children are citizens is an invitation to massive abuse of the system. The kids can stay with relatives or go home with their parents.

The only reason politicians want a comprehensive bill is so they can hide what they are really doing from the American people. A comprehensive bill allows them to get approval for their stupid idea by offering support for someone else’s stupid idea. Let’s all take a deep breath and do one step at a time. We don’t need any more socialist immigrants who will vote for even more big government. The more power we give government, the less control we have over our own lives.

This country was founded by self-reliant free enterprise capitalists who took responsibility for their condition and relied on God to guide their efforts. We inherited serious problems that eventually divided the nation in a bloody civil war, but with God’s help we persevered and come out stronger. In spite of the problems that remain, we have the ability to work them out with God’s help.

Illegal immigration has the potential to undermine what it means to be an American unless we find a way for them to assimilate into our culture. I am a strong supporter of bilingual education. While ideally everyone should know a second language, a bilingual nation is an absolute disaster. English must be a requirement for citizenship. A common language is essential for a viable community, but even more important than that, it is our shared faith in God that binds us together.