Long ago, some kings called themselves gods. Some of them may include people or places like Croesus, Sardis, Alexander the Great, Caligula, Domitian, Caesar, Augustus. People would worship these rulers. It was called emperor worship. In some ways, we may still have that in the world.

Ancient God

How did the ancient world see God before Christ came to earth?

1. They saw God the same way elephants see blind men. Wait, I have that backwards. They would see God the same way blind mice, I mean biker mice from Mars, I mean three blind mice up a back to the future clock tower, I mean my mice, I mean men, see an elephant: one might grab the tail and say God is like a rope. Another blind guy may grab the tusk and say God is like a dinosaur or a spear. Britney Spears. Another might touch the legs and say God is a tree. I mean elephant.
2. The ancients probably saw God the way that Hindus do. In Hinduism, there are many gods, deities.
3. They probably didn't always differentiate between what might be gods, demons, angels, aliens, supernatural creatures, beings, witches, warlocks, etc.

Buddhism

How did the ancients pledge allegiance and acknowledge ancient gods, deities, while they were in the public, when they were out and about doing errands, shopping, going to the city, etc? It was similar to Buddhism.

Vietnam

While living in Vietnam, 2012-2017, I saw Buddhist shrines at houses, stores, hotels, businesses, all over Vietnam. People have candles, incense, money, vegetables, fruits, offerings. You go into a store and see a small box with the statues. It is like idolatry worship. They have small idols. Small toys that represents the gods they worship. That's how the ancient world did it.

Heavenly Place

What is Ephesians 3 and 4 talking about when it says rulers in Heavenly places? Well, depends on what heavenly means. You should go back to the original language to translate from the original text. It might not be talking about The Heaven where God is. It might be talking about the sky, outer space, or maybe the hierarchy of the world's power structure which may comply with Romans 13 in some ways.

First Love

Next week, we are talking about First Love, which is day 5, page 149: John 13:34-35. Matthew 22:37-40. I'll be leading Sunday School then. Love God with all your heart, soul, might, mind, guts, and love your neighbor as yourself. Love thru action: 1 John 4:19. Faithfulness. Obedience. Under pressure. Cold love. Recovering. Nicolaism.

1. Describe the Christians in Ephesus.
2. Revelations 2:1-7. 7 stars. Angels. People. Persevered. Faithful. Ears - hear.
3. Be guarded from Trojan Horses. How did that make them cold?

Continue

Joy Over Circumstances: Romans 8:28. Keep going, regardless. Choose life. Make choices. Press onward to the marl of the high calling. Discipline. Perspective. Patience. Perseverance.

Art of Timing

The science and theology of timing is fundamental. We can call it being lucky. Regardless of what we call it, it is what it is and much more. Had Trump ran in 2000, and he almost did, then what would happen? Well, had he won, 9/11 probably would have still happened and they would have had an easier time blaming it on Trump. It would have been easier for them to murder Trump. Also, Trump was not as smart at that time. Also, it would have been easier to stop even more people from voting Trump. There was no Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, smart phones which have cameras on them. It is possible that Trump could have won in 2000. But the fake news could have done what they are doing now in trying to turn the world against Trump. It would have been easier to do that. It is harder now for a variety of reasons. We could blame 9/11 on Trump by saying he should have ran in 2000. In life, we should go with our guts. In retrospect, we can say Trump ran at the right time. But we don't know it could not have worked. We do know what happened was a blessing. Also, we still have a lot of work to do in 2020 and especially 2024. We the people have work to do. The future is up to us. Also, don't procrastinate. Don't use the Trump Theory as an excuse to not do something in your life until later on.

Sermon

God's name is bigger than anything else. Mark put up three blue tarps with the letters to spell God. He put small circles on it to represent Trump, the UN, cancer, death, people, the world, problems, places, things. They are smaller. God is bigger than the boogie man says the Veggie Tales. God is the I Am. Outside of time. Yahweh. First born. Rabbi. Teacher. When people read the Bible long ago, like the New Testament, they generally knew the context. They knew the Old Testament. They knew the background. Prayer versus patience.

Prayer

We are psychic and some more than others. When we pray, we tap into the supernatural world a little. It is like jumping into a lake. We are learning to swim. We are learning to walk. We are learning how to fly in the invisible dimension that is all around us, regardless of whether there is a god or not, there is a lot all around us. It is wonderful and scary all at the same time. We are all connected to each other. We are all empathetic, sympathetic, and some more than others. It's a gift, talent, skill, and a muscle. Some people have bigger spiritual muscles. The point of prayer is not to just demand things as if God is a genie. It is about getting in the right frame of mind and everything. It is about acquiring fire and wisdom.

Prosperity Gospel

The problem with this is that it encourages us to take shortcuts, to embrace magic that is isolated from eternal principles. It leads us towards instant gratification. It is about Luciferianism or self-worship. I like America. Freedom. Foundation. These are some of my notes from church, Sunday, the 18th of August of 2019 at SMVA LMS.