I like the Bible, and the .45 ACP

I love firearms; from air guns to big mamma jamba .50 cal machine guns. The Heckler and Koch USP Expert in the picture is one of my favorite handguns to shoot; a .45 ACP caliber beast that has a double recoil spring, octagonal barrel with an o-ring, adjustable sights, de-cocking lever and ten round mag. I grew up in a family that loved hunting and shooting rifles and pistols, and 12 gauge shotguns; back in the 50s when I was born, hunting was just part of life; my grand father hunted, my father hunted, my brothers and I hunted; and shooting guns was part of the fun growing up; I almost lost my left index finger playing with an air rifle when I was six, that was no fun.

Hunting or shooting is a great family experience; it teaches kids to be responsible and improves their confidence, they learn about safety and raises their ethics; besides the fact that there is great fellowship between father and son. Learning to handle a gun and to shoot it is one of the best skills a young man can have; and hunting the right way teaches a man to be humble and humane, plus it puts food on the table.

Unfortunately, I live in California; where people hear "gun" and they freak out; they have no idea what the constitution of the United States says about citizen's rights and the least about the second amendment; a great majority is ignorant of the great freedom this country provides and the awesome responsibilities they have just for being "American". I know by experience, that where guns are prohibited, the government is usually repressive; owning weapons is a great freedom and great responsibility but it is the only way to assure I can protect my safety and my family; I think everyone should own a gun.

I came from a country where owning guns are the exclusive privilege of the government, the .45 ACP caliber handguns are illegal and only the army can have them; so after I became a US citizen, the first thing I did, after voting for a republican president, was to go get a Springfield Armory M1911A1 G.I. Model pistol; of course in .45 ACP; the legacy of my friend John Browning; aaah, freedom at last. Real freedom for a man like me is to have a KJV Bible and a .45 ACP on my nightstand. Of course, if you have kids, they better not have access to your guns, that is just common sense.

I still love to shoot, and yes, I still have guns, in fact I have access to more guns than when I was a kid, and I still want more, the flesh is never satisfied.

King David; a man after God's own heart; also loved shooting, and he was good. He probably used a .50 cal sling against Goliath; one of the first terrorists known to man. Great men of war have also been great men of God, like Washington, or Cromwell. I'm not advocating war, what I'm saying is that the more faith a man has, the more valiance he has against evil.

We, the children of God; are on a daily war. We wage battle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places; and that is besides the constant struggle that goes on between the Spirit and the flesh; this is a war that has already been won, we have already attained the victory in Jesus; but we are still in a war, nonetheless.

The flesh fights against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; says Paul in Romans, and we all have that war inside. If you have kids, you have to teach them to battle early in life; don't let them get beat by their flesh, or at least show them how to use the weapons.

Paul said, again, that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal; they are not made with hands; they don't have a specific caliber or twist in the barrel; but they are powerful in God, he says, to demolish strongholds, and to bring down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God; to bring captives back, to bring prisoners of war, the imaginations and thoughts of the heart.

What are the weapons of our warfare? The only one I know is the word of God; which is the sword of the Spirit; and then prayer is also a weapon. Of the list of armor in Ephesians, the only weapon is the sword. It cuts, it pierces deep; down into the division of soul and Spirit and of marrow and bone; it is the discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart, right where the battle is, in the heart.

The children of Israel wandered for 40 years through the desert; and the main reason that happened is because they constantly complained; nothing satisfied them. From the food to the water, all was "waah, waah, I don't like it"; and some people today are just like that; "waah, waah, I don't like it"; a constant dripping of water from the roof.

The flesh is never satisfied, I said; the lust of the eyes, the pride of life; enemies that need to be fought constantly, everyday, the battle against the flesh and the world with it's system of philosophies and empty deceit. Do this, do that; buy this, buy that; look like this, look like that; buy, do, appear; etc, etc.

Once the flesh gets what it wants, it wants more; you get some money, you want more; you get a new car, you want a better one; you bought a house, you need a bigger one; you got a rifle, you want a another one; you shoot one inch groups, you want half inch groups; etc.

The struggle is great for those who have the Spirit inside; now imagine how it is for those who are dead in trespasses and sins. There is no struggle. Dead people do not struggle with anything; they just do it, as Nike says.

People who are in darkness just follow the desires of their flesh and of their mind, with no fight back; it is a normal thing for them to do it; they are just like Paul says in Ephesians 2: children of wrath. The wrath of God is coming upon the children of disobedience, and if God Himself doesn't do something about it, they will not either.

To me it is sad to see some brothers that struggle all the time; they know where the answer for their anxiety is, they know what to do but they just don't; it is a mystery to me; but I know God will get them to get into the bible eventually; God always wins. The word of God is the source of strength and of peace for me; the word of God is the thoughts of God; and when I am reading and studying it, I am thinking like God thinks; that is where the change comes from.

God is awesome; He chose me before the foundation of the world; He predestined me to become a child of God through adoption by Jesus Christ to Himself; He caused me to be born again; He put His Spirit inside of me; and He gave me faith to believe. He increases my faith through His word and He will preserve me and complete the work that He started. It is all His doing; all of it. I don't have to have a list of goals, and I don't have to struggle; if I do, it is just my fleshly mind getting int he way of His doing.

I am not saying that I don't struggle anymore, or that I don't worry anymore, or that I don't doubt anymore, or that I don't flesh out anymore; I do, but it is getting better everyday, I know because God shows me everyday. He is faithful, I am not.

At any rate, I am still alive, and I am still fighting against the flesh, but one day it will be over; in the meantime, I will keep on doing what I'm doing; and encouraging those who need encouragement. I will also keep on shooting my guns. So if you read my blog once in a while; be encouraged, if you struggle with your flesh, be encouraged, it is a sign that you are in Christ; and if you hear "gun' and freak out, go get one and learn how to shoot it, it's a blast; have fun, read your bible and subscribe to the NRA.

Ciao.

Safe to operate....

I've got this from the Gospel Coalition; you can see it there too. If you don't see anything, go here (http://makariotes.blogspot.com) and look for "very safe to operate". If you order one just make sure to lock it, it is very safe to operate; plus it's a deal, just $199.00.

Happy Thanksgiving

Wow; time really flies fast. Here we are in November and it is almost Thanksgiving and then Christmas right after that. My life is disappearing right before my eyes; and yours is too; right before your eyes.

Psa 90:10-12 The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?
So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

This Psalm was written by Moses, the Man of God, it says in the title; it is actually a prayer; a prayer for mercy, for rest. I pray like that many times; and this year I have prayed like that more than I can remember; and God has not ever left me or forsaken me, or you.

Teach me to number my days Lord; I should be counting....Moses says that the number of our years is seventy or perhaps eighty years; it had been decreed by God that the number of man's years should be one hundred and twenty years, no more, Gen 6:3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years."

But now Moses's experience says that it is seventy, and if by reason of being healthy and strong comes to eighty; then it is just pain and labor; total decay and decrepitude. Oh the second law of thermodynamics; the inescapable reality of the curse of sin.

I have learned; I have been taught, I should say; to number my days. Just like Moses prayed, I prayed and God showed me; I have numbered my days and they are not very many; at this point I am closer to departing to be with the King than I was yesterday, we all are.

I guess the question should be: have I gotten a heart of wisdom? Or like the KJV says; have I applied my heart unto wisdom? And, have you?

If I am only going to live 70 years; that means 25,550 days, and if you are 40 years old, like I wished I was; that means that 12,775 of your days are already gone by, and you only have that many days left. But if it so happens that you are one of those people that live for the weekend, well, you only have 1,875 weekends left to live.

What happens if you are 50 years old, like me? Your days are reduced dramatically: you only, I should say, I only have 7,300 days left; or in simpler terms, 1,042 weekends left, or about 260 months.

One thousand weekends left does not sound like a lot of time. In fact, it is not. When you get used to thinking about your life in weeks, instead of days; it gives you a really different perspective about what you should be thinking about in life.

I have no more time to complain about anything in life; and I have no time to waste in things or people who are more concerned about this world than the next; I just don't. I don't want to sound mean, but I am, in fact, tired of wasting time in the same old things that people waste their lives pursuing; money, success, houses, the corporate ladder, cars, and pleasure and everything else this world has to offer. I'm done with it.

Don't get me wrong; I still want to have fun; I still want to spend time with my kids, and my grand kids; and I want to ride my motorcycle; and shoot guns, and play guitar and sing worship songs and do bible studies, and all that; but my outlook in life changed completely since I broke my back at work. I am not saying, either, that I don't enjoy the things God has provided for me; on the contrary, I enjoy everything more than before.

My great pleasure in life is now to hear God speak to me; to see His hand move in my life everyday; from the moment I wake up to the last minute awake, I know I am exactly where God wants me to be, it is very simple. I don't have houses, and cars and motorcycles and money and toys; what is the point in having those things if I'm only going to be able to use them one thousand times more and then I'm gone? Besides, God has blessed me with more than I deserve and I have learned to be content; all I need is in Jesus; anything else is vanity.

I am not leaving anything behind but words; words, I pray, of wisdom to my children; words of love that shall be remembered for another twenty five thousand days or so. That's it. That is my legacy.

One day coming, I will wake up in the likeness of the King; one day my eyes shall see Him face to face; and on that day I will be completely satisfied; no more toil, no more pain, no more tears, no more struggle with my mind and my desires, no more need of anything, the day is coming, faster than I think.

Our day is coming, that is for sure; of that we can be confident; one day we will die and get rid of this flesh; that day we will not have this body of death to contend with; there is not going to be more internal warfare; no more strife between the Spirit and the flesh. No more slaughter of illegal aliens driving on the freeway, and constantly asking for forgiveness for my heart's deceitfulness. Eternity is coming.

I told the story about how God answered my prayers with shooting stars; seven different times in three nights; some people just mocked it, "some people spiritualize everything", I heard someone say; another brother said: "I guess if you just look at the sky long enough you'll see something"; what a disappointment. Instead of rejoicing with me and praising God that He was merciful to me and moved the stars with His finger to communicate His will to me; these brothers just doubted, or maybe they were envious; I don't know but I'm sad for them, they are my brothers and I love them the best I can but I don't feel like hanging around them, they're a drag.

If you are in need, and you pray to your Father in heaven, and right after you ask a question to your Almighty God, He sends a hummingbird to fly right in front of your face, and this little bird is just looking at you three feet from your eyes; do you think that was a coincidence? Or do you "spiritualize everything" and just think that was the finger of God showing you how He cares for the birds of the air, and He cares more for you than them, and He knows your need and is going to meet it? Whatever man.

I don't have time for that; I am done with that kind of empty perception and I am not willing to spend my valuable time with people like that. I agree, I need to love the brethren; and I need to be patient; and encourage those who are weak (not that I am strong, not at all); and weep with those who weep, and rejoice with those who rejoice; and strengthen the feeble minded and the discouraged ones; but there is a limit.

To me this Christian thing is a very serious matter; this is not a game; it is in fact a matter of life and death. If you don't see it like that; I don't know what to say, I don't think it's up to you to get the same perspective; I think that is the work of God; Jesus Himself even said it: John 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

You can't believe on your own; God has to do a supernatural work in your heart for you to believe; it is an undeniable reality, you must be born again, and then you can believe. How can a death in trespasses and sins person believe in Jesus Christ? It is impossible. You must be born again first. God must give you birth; and then He must increase your faith through the heavenly gift of His word.

Did you choose to be born in this world? I don't think so. In the same way you cannot choose to be born of the Spirit, Jesus was clear about that; just read John chapter 3 if you don't believe me. You can't make a decision when you're dead in sin and you are a child of wrath even as others; your natural mind is opposed to God Almighty and you are at enmity with Him; that means you are an enemy of God and He hates His enemies with perfect hatred; (Psa. 11:5; Eph. 2:1-3).

Your eternal perspective, as well as your eternal destiny is in the hands of God; He is the one who decides where you go after you die, not you, not me. People have a hard time with this, but I didn't make it up; God did; that is what His word teaches.

Anyway; life is disappearing right before my eyes, I am painfully aware of this fact, but I am joyfully aware of my destiny. A human being without a sense of destiny is like a desperate animal; like a squirrel in a cage, always running, never getting anywhere; some others are always learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth; it's pathetic.

At any rate; my recommendation to you is: count your days and apply your heart to wisdom, eternity is coming, and for some of us it will be here sooner than we think. And by the way, happy thanksgiving.

Not one of them is missing...

Psa 19:1-8 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

Every night, I go outside to the backyard and lift my eyes to the sky; while I look at the stars I ponder, just like David, on the works of the Lord; so perfect, so immense, so steady; there they are, the same stars I looked upon the night before, they're still there, every single one of them.

By looking at the Orion's belt, I can see how much the earth has turned on its axis; or how much the universe has turned on its axis, it all depends how I think about it. If I assume that the earth was placed in a balanced place in the galaxy, and the galaxy placed in the corner of the universe, then it is the earth that turned on its axis; but if I assume that the galaxy was placed in the center and the earth in the center of the galaxy, so that the earth turns out to be in the center of the universe; then it is the universe that turned on its axis; did you get that? It doesn't matter; the earth is in the perfect spot in the universe to display the glory of the Lord and to sustain human life.

God put it like this to Isaiah: 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

See? Not one of them is missing; so what makes you think that Yahweh has forgotten what you need? The same way that He has assigned a place for every star and He knows them all by name, and the way He has assigned a perfect place for the earth; He has designed your place in this world; your lot in life; "He chooseth our inheritance" Spurgeon taught. Psa 47:4 He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah. Pause and meditate on that.

It is the same way for the children of God; the chosen of the Lord, He brings out our host by number; He knows our names; and it is because of His awesome power and mighty strength that not one of us is missing. John 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. That is what Jesus said, not one of us will be missing.

The life of a child of God, like me, and maybe you, is such that it is plagued with sorrow and trials; darkness and tribulation, and pain and tears; but just like the sun, we rejoice as a strong man when he is set to run a race; each day we are like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, with a smile upon our faces, because we know that the grace of our God stretches forth from one end of the universe to the other; we believe that He has cast our sins as far as the east is from the west; for as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him (Psa 103:11-12).

Rom 11:2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew;11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. I just had to throw that in there since it goes perfectly with what I'm saying.

My point is that God knows His children, and this "knowing" is the same kind of knowing that the bible uses to describe His love, an intimate acquaintance with His elect. See, we are not part of that group of which He says: Rom 11:8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. 9 And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: 10 Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.

On the contrary; He has opened the eyes of our understanding (Eph. 1:18) and has hid these things from the wise to reveal them unto us His babes (Mat.11:25). He has set a table before us in the presence of our enemies, He anoints our heads with oil; our cups run over, surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives; and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psa. 23:5-6).

The Lord is our Shepherd (Psa 23:1); and we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture (Psa. 100:3); and His sheep hear His voice and they follow Him (John 10:27-28); and no one can snatch us out of His hand; nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:38-39).

So go ahead; look at the stars and righteously ponder, He will never leave you nor forsake you; you can be sure of that; as sure as the stars will be there tomorrow and the sun will shine on your face in the morning. He promised and He will also do it; He will make the day star rise in your heart.

I had no choice, (from March 2009)

I wrote the following as part of a post back in March; it made an impression on Eutychus and it just did on me; I thought I would re-post that section just for kicks:

I had no choice in the process, this salvation, this becoming a Christian; this being translated from the darkness into the light is not something that I did or I made, or caused to happen, but it was something that was done to me, initiated by God; I didn't choose God, He chose me; I didn't love God, He first loved me; I didn't seek Him out, He came to seek me, I didn't give myself to God, God the Father gave me to His Son Jesus; I didn't have faith in Him, He gave me the faith to believe in Him, I didn't work for it, He gave me the gift; I didn't come to Him, He drew me in to Him; I didn't start the work in me, He started the work in me; I will not, I cannot, complete the work, He is faithful to complete the work in me; I was in darkness, He translated me into the kingdom of light; I lived a lie, He is the truth; I was lost, He is the way; I was dead in trespasses and sins, He gave me life, He is life. I can't perfect myself or keep me saved, He is able to keep me from stumbling and to present me faultless at His appearing, I am being kept by His power through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time.

There is no other way, I am destined to remain in this awesome truth, I cannot come to the Father, unless I come through Jesus, I can't come to Jesus unless the Father draws me, I can't believe in Jesus and His work, unless it has been given to me by the Father. The Father, who has given me to Jesus, is greater than all, and no one can snatch me out of the Father's hand; Jesus and the Father are one, so if I come to Jesus is because I am one of His sheep, and I hear His voice and He knows me, and I follow Him, and He gives me eternal life, and I will never perish, and no one can snatch me out of His hand.

Once He made me a Christian, I can't stop being one, He will not un-make me one: Rom 11:29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

I was predestined, called, saved, sanctified, glorified not because of righteous things I have done, or because I have believed, or because I'm ugly or handsome, or because I'm bilingual or monolingual or even trilingual and speak Spanish, English and Christianeese; neither because I read my bible and go to church and can teach a bible study, or because I do this and don't do that, or because He knew I would believe, (in fact I believe because He chose me, not the other way around), but because of His mercy, because of His grace, because He reigns and has control over all His creation, and He wanted it that way; period.

To the praise of the Glory of His Grace; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be known, by me (and by the church) to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. He will make me and you His trophies, He will parade us as His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus and finished in Christ Jesus, He will make it known to the whole universe and to all creation, in the physical and the spiritual realms; there will be a universal proclamation: Here is my wisdom, no one can do what I can, it is glorious; I AM YAHWEH, the Almighty, there is none beside Me, and all the glory, all the praise and all the honor belongs to Me.

I believe this, not because I think is a good idea, or because is cool but because God says it is true. God did not leave His plan in the hands of men; there is no plan B in His plans; there is no contingency plan, neither plans for redundancy and reliability, everything He has purposed He will do; He is self-sufficient, and perfect in all His ways, His thoughts, His actions. He is faithful to His word, to His promises: Joshua 21:45 Not one of the good promises which the LORD (YHWH) had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.

If the purposes of God can be thwarted by men's decisions, then He is not God, and He is not in control over all things. If He has chosen me based on His foreknowledge of my decision to believe, or based on my response to the Gospel, then the outcome was left in my hands and His salvation is not His, but mine, to initiate and to complete. To dare to think like that is blasphemous, it robs God of His sovereignty and of His glory, and He will not give it up.

Isa 42:6 "I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations,
To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.
"I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.
"Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you."

Do you think that it was up to you to decide to believe? Do you think that your natural, fleshly mind was predisposed to believe? Do you think you had the inclination toward heavenly things? Do you think that man is basically good and has the capacity to come to God on his own? Do you think, or believe, that your heart had a little corner in it that sparkled with divine light and you were seeking God before He saved you? If you do, you have been deceived, you have not been taught the full counsel of God, you have been given half the Gospel and you are in danger of continuing your life in darkness. The heart, says Jeremiah, is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it? We don't even know how depraved we really are.