Gone Fishin' ?

Verse of the Week

For I do not have delight in the death of him who dies, declares the Lord Jehovah. So turn and live.

(Ezekiel 18:32)

Thought for the Week

          Jesus used the expression “fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19, Mark 1:17). I think too many “preachers” today focus on fishing for men as a sport rather as a serious endeavor to stock the Lord’s pond. They practice a type of catch and release that focuses more on how many they can claim as catches instead of the number of fish that are actually delivered to stock the pond.

 Experienced fishermen know that a previously caught fish can be harder to catch. Fishing is not a sport to the fish; and, being caught may be a painful and frightening experience. The preachers who are using catch and release do more harm than good. The expression once bitten, twice shy applies in life in many ways.

A lot of folks have been caught this way though you would never know it unless you asked them - they do not live the life of one of the Lord’s fish. Other folks have been caught and think they are safely in the Lord’s pond, when in fact they are just hanging out on a stringer in whatever water they were in before. They may or may not live their lives as if they have been caught; but, they do not live the life of one of the Lord’s fish. Finally, and sadly, there are those whose lives may reflect living the life of one of the Lord’s fish but that is all it is - a reflection. They are sincere but are with a different fisherman - most likely one called Paul. Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery, but it is still imitation and not the real thing.

We are told several times, by Jesus, to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees (SEE NOTE). Paul was not one of the Twelve Apostles but he was a Pharisee. People who follow Paul think the leaven of the Pharisees was rigid adherence to the law - it was not. Jesus told us the leaven of the Pharisees was hypocrisy - acting the part, not real (Luke 12:1). We are also told, by Jesus, to beware of false prophets (Matthew 7:15). Evil is most deceptive and dangerous when cloaked in good. Paul is as dangerous to the soul and the children of YHWH as Mohammed.

If you are reading this, but still swimming in Paul’s pond, the Lord is throwing you a lifeline - please grab it while there is still time. Read Jesus’ warning in Matthew 7:21/22!

NOTE: We are also warned against men in general (Matthew 10:17), covetousness (Luke 12:15), and of the leaven of the Sadducees (Matthew 16:6, Mark 8:15) - also called the leaven of Herod.

Quote of the Week

You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. -- Abraham Lincoln

Comment: There is a reason Jesus said many are called but few chosen: Lincoln left out Satan’s option - fooling most of the people most of the time.

Did You Know

The third section of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (also called the Tanakh) is known as the Writings, also called the Ketuvim or the Hagiographa.

The Book of Esther is the only book in the Tanakh that does not contain the name of God (YHWH). COMMENT: The traditional explanation relates to the concept of “the hidden face of God” (hester panim) because YHWH plays a crucial role in the Purim story, but it is behind the scene.

The writings of Saul of Tarsus (AKA Paul) and Mohammed both mention Jesus. Paul does so over 200 times but never quotes Jesus once! COMMENT: Most modern “Christians” follow Paul’s example and do not listen to what Jesus said! They follow Paul’s false gospel not the Gospel Jesus taught.

Hundreds of records for the lowest temperate are being broken! COMMENT: So much for “Global warming”. Looks like the scientists of the 60’s and 70’s may have been right with their prediction of “Global Cooling”!

          The fallacy of the Theory of Evolution has had a hard time dealing with the Theory of Intelligent Design. It has an equally hard time with concepts such as irreducible complexity. But on a much simpler level here are some puzzling facts to consider:

- There is only one mammal that flies - the bat.

- There is only one mammal known to be poisonous - the Cuban solenodon (a type of shrew that

was supposedly extinct).

- Only one mammal is born with horns - the giraffe.

- Giraffes have seven vertebrae in their necks - the same as humans.

- If an octopus loses one of its arms it grows a new one.

- There are over 50 oceanic species in the Amazon.

- The tiger has striped skin beneath its striped fur.

- Both the polar bear and the zebra have black skin beneath their fur/hair.

- Most snakes lay eggs; but, some snakes give live birth (i.e. the rattlesnake).

- The cockroach has two brains - one in the head and one in its tail.

There are so many animals that scientists falsely claimed were extinct for millions of years, but are not, that there are a whole mess of ways to refer to or classifying them - Lazarus taxa, Elvis taxa, zombie taxa, pseudo-extinct, living fossil, etc. COMMENT: It seems many of the scientific communities’ proponents of the Theory of Evolution have a lot in common with the proponents of global warming - they lose their grants if they do not tote the line - sycophants or scientists? Nowadays a degree in science really is a BS degree!

A pagan temple in Cambodia, called Angor Wat, has ancient carvings of live dinosaurs (more specifically the stegosaurus). COMMENT: There is actually quite a bit of evidence that man and dinosaurs did live at the same time (i.e. fossilized footprints) - though much of it is disputed. I have yet to hear of an archeological explanation for the evidence at Angor Wat. Like most such examples if an item does not fit an evolutionary paradigm it is ignored (i.e. over 45,000 ancient stone carvings/engravings in Ica, Peru showing men with dinosaurs - fighting, riding, etc).

PS - The Bible is not the only ancient text that may mention man interacting with dinosaurs (e.g. livyâthân - Isaiah 27:1, Job 3:8, 42:1, & Psalms 74:14, 104:26) - even ancient Hindu texts do so regarding gigantic “lizards”.

PSS - Perhaps there is a reason every ancient culture on Earth has legends concerning man interacting with dragons.