Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | April 15, 2013

Quality of Life, by David Bower

 Are You Content With Your Quality of Life

In the privacy of your own thoughts do you find that your life consistently displays the fruit of the Holy Spirit? Can you say with conviction that the vast majority of the time my life manifests love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? If you can, then you are living a Spirit led life; if you cannot then the opportunity still exists to change that.

I believe we can generally agree had God chosen He could have taken his children home the very moment they were born again into His family; He has obviously chosen not to do that. We, as His children, are given the opportunity to live out our appointed days endowed with a living soul, a living spirit, and a mortal cursed body. I have found it amusing that the only part of us that can be seen is the one part of us that has not been redeemed.

Our mortal bodies will either return to the dust or be transformed as a part of the First Resurrection as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

In the meantime what about quality of life you may well ask and we are given an answer to that in a number of places. In Romans 8:28-30 we are told, “28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

During our mortal lives we are experiencing the process of being conformed to the image of his Son and in addition we have responsibilities as determined for each of us by our Lord. Our quality of life depends on how amenable we are to this process of conformation and how faithful we are to the practical daily implementation of God’s word in our lives. Our lives come with a lot of assembly required and the Bible is the manufacturer’s assembly instructions; we ignore it at our own peril.

Please remember that our eternal security as a part of God’s family is never in question. We can confirm with confidence that we are “Once Saved, Always Saved” and Romans 8:1-2 should be a source of great joy to the Christian, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

A Daily Choice

Each day brings a fresh opportunity to choose our lifestyle and our perspective on life and living; at the most basic level we can choose to live by faith or live by sight. The Bible is filled with advice from our Creator on how to live each day in a manner that will provide the greatest joy and satisfaction; God wants His children to enjoy life and offers the Holy Spirit as a guide and counselor.

The fruit of a Spirit led life includes those qualities all of us seek but look for in all the wrong places. In Galatians 5:22-25 the qualities of the Spirit led life are listed, “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

It is most important to realize that the fruit of the Spirit is a blessing generated by the power of the Holy Spirit; it is not a work that we do in our own power. For us to think we can produce this fruit in our own power is pride and you know what the Bible says about pride, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18

There are probably few, if any, human beings who would not like to have their lives characterized by love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Why then do they seem to be so rare? How many Christians do you know whose lives are consistently characterized by these qualities? There may be a few but probably not many.

What is the Problem?

Since these qualities are so desirable for enriching one’s life why are they so inconsistently found in the Christian community? There is a simple answer to that question and the answer is sin. Although our eternal position before God has been perfected by the shed blood of Christ our daily battle with sin is an ongoing problem with which we must all live. The Bible tells us in Romans 14:23b, “everything that does not come from faith is sin.” That means it is very easy to sin; whenever we worry, fear, doubt or think or do anything that is not of faith we are sinning against God and quenching the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When the power of the Holy Spirit is quenched in our lives the fruit of the Spirit is gone too!

God knew we would have a problem with sin so He provided an answer for His children which is stated in 1 John 1:8-10, “8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”

The key to God’s answer to our sin problem is found in verse 9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” In His grace, God not only forgives us our known sins but also purifies us from all unrighteousness as well. When we confess our sins to God the power of the Holy Spirit can be restored in our lives and we then have the opportunity to live a Spirit led life and manifest the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

In Summary

As Christians we have been eternally justified before the Father by the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our position as God’s child in God’s eternal family has been secured by the power of God and is unalterable; we can never lose our salvation! Our daily experience with sin is another matter entirely and while it has nothing to do with our eternal security as a believer it has everything to do with the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives and our overall quality of life.

When we live our lives by sight and not by faith, we are sinning and quenching the power of the Holy Spirit. If we recognize our sinful thoughts or deeds and confess them to God He will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness and this restores the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives and opens the door to a Spirit led life filled with the fruit of the Spirit.

Don’t Miss Out On The Blessings God Wants You To Enjoy!

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | April 9, 2013

Quality of Life Versus OSAS Part 1, by David Bower

A Source of Confusion

As a Global Media Outreach online missionary I have the privilege of working with people from all over the world. While many of those with whom I work are receiving Christ for the first time, many are Christians who are having problems in their lives. These problems cover a wide range of categories but the majority of them seem to focus on quality of life issues such as sin, unemployment, family issues, and feelings of loneliness or rejection.

Questions similar to, “Why has God abandoned me, or where is God now that I need Him” are posed in various configurations and some even question their salvation itself. All too often quality of life issues are confused with eternal security issues. What I would like to do in this article is to clearly distinguish the differences between quality of life and once saved always saved.

The Basic Problem

Is there a problem separating God and man and if there is what kind of a problem exists? There seems to be a lot of confusion on this point so clearing up what is really going on is a great place to start our diagnosis. Yes, there is a fundamental problem of separation that exists between God and man and this resulted from Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden.

When Adam disobeyed a direct command from God not only did he die spiritually that very day but the entire human race died too; this is referred to as “The Federal Headship of Adam.”  This principle is explained in Romans 5:12-14, “12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.”

Paul points out the fact that after Adam no one could sin against God’s only command to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil yet physical death came to all men even though the law was not yet given. In Adam’s case spiritual death came immediately but physical death was not to follow for several hundred years; all of Adam’s descendents though have been born spiritually dead.

God’s Solution to the Basic Problem

Fortunately Paul does not drop the subject on that sad thought but provides God’s answer to the problem when he writes in verses 15-16, “15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.” Here we see the work of our Kinsman-Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ paying the price of redemption by the shedding of His own blood.

What about the law and personal sin? The Mosaic Law was given to show us our inability to satisfy the righteousness of our perfect and holy God. In Galatians 3:23-25 we read, “23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.”

The One Condition

One can see from the above that our problem is a problem of birth; we have been born into a family that is spiritually dead and at birth we take on the characteristics of our family. That gives more significance to our Lord’s statement to Nicodemus in John 3:3 where he said, “Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” When we are born again we are born into God’s family and are given the characteristics of God’s heavenly family which includes spiritual life.

Once born into God’s family there is absolutely no way to become unborn from God’s family; we are a part of God’s family forever and ever. We become at our second birth a child of God and are sustained in that capacity by the power of God. There is nothing we can do or fail to do that will ever change that. This principle is stated clearly in Romans 8:38-39 where we read, “38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

What then is the one condition required in order to enjoy this second birth? There is a simple answer and that is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

This is why I am convinced that once an individual is saved, they are always saved.

To be continued in Part 2

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | March 31, 2013

The Beginning of the End

The Resurrection of Our Kinsman Redeemer

Today we remember the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ which is observed as a critical turning point in the history of God’s relationship to mankind. Although God’s original plan was for Adam and his progeny to have dominion over the earth; Adam, by disobeying a direct command of God, forfeited his dominion to Satan who has ever since been the “prince of the power of the air.”

In the Book of Ruth we read of Boaz who, as a kinsman redeemer, was enabled to redeem the inheritance of Elimelech and restore to him a line and a heritage for his name. Boaz is seen as a type of Christ in his capacity of kinsman redeemer to the family of Elimelech. As you will recall from the story, the kinsman redeemer had to be a near relative with the resources to redeem the forfeited inheritance for the family to whom it had originally belonged.

At the time of the virgin birth, our Lord Jesus Christ was made blood of our blood, and flesh of our flesh and became qualified by birth to serve as a kinsman redeemer for humanity. Humanities debt was a debt of sin to God but the Lord Jesus Christ, being born of a virgin and free of sin, was free of that debt and by nature of His holy righteousness was in a position to redeem mankind’s lost inheritance by His death on the cross.

By dying on the cross and then three days later being resurrected, the Lord Jesus Christ paid the debt of sin against humanity and began the process of redemption which will be successfully concluded at the Second Advent. At this point we still live in a world controlled by Satan; Satan is still the “prince of the power of the air” but is living on borrowed time and he knows it.

The Beginning of the End

The death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ was the beginning of this process of redemption, it was the beginning of the end. The end is yet future and is being delayed for a particular reason and that is the completion of the Church, the body of Christ, the bride of Christ.

One might visualize the situation today if one thinks of a prison that contains a very large number of prisoners. It has been decreed that all of the prisoners have been fully forgiven and are now free to return to their homes and families; all they need do is walk out of the prison to freedom. Surprisingly many choose to remain in their cells and ignore the open cell doors preferring the darkness of their cells to the light of freedom.

Mankind today faces that exact situation as Christ’s death has redeened the entire world and all that is required to receive a share of that redemption is to accept Christ’s death on the cross as payment for one’s own sin.

To continue the analogy, the situation is further complicated by the fact that the prison is scheduled for destruction; anyone remaining in the prison will suffer the fate of the prison and be subjected to the same destructive forces. This heaven and earth will be destroyed by fire and all of mankind who reject salvation in Jesus Christ will be given eternal bodies and cast into the Lake of Fire forever and ever, this is the Second Death. There is no neutral ground, one is either for Christ or against Him!

I urge you to choose freedom, choose life, choose Christ!

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | March 4, 2013

Did A Bullet Graze Our Head? by David Bower

What Happened?

Bullets grazing heads sounds like some sort of detective fiction and the reader knows when reading those words someone had a close call. So what does bullets grazing heads have to do with “Life from a Christian Perspective” you may well ask? There is a simple answer to that question, Asteroid 2012 DA14 which on February 15, 2013 passed around 17,000 miles above the surface of our planet essentially grazed our earthly heads. Now 17,000 miles may sound like a great distance but when compared to typical astronomical distances it’s like a bullet grazing the forehead.

What made February 15th an interesting day for astronomers was the fact that just hours earlier a meteor exploded above Russia’s Ural Mountains causing considerable damage and injury. It appears the two events were completely unrelated but the timing was interesting coming as close together time-wise as they did. Neither the meteor nor the 150 foot asteroid was large enough to threaten all life on the planet by either explosive forces or the creation of a world-wide winter.

Asteroid DA14 

2012 DA14 Grazing Earth [NASA/JPL-Cal Tech]

What Would Happen If?

What if that asteriod had hit the earth? I had to do some research to find an answer on that one as I am not an astrophysicist. From my research it appears the impact of an asteroid hitting the earth will depend on its size, density, speed, and its angle of entry into the earth’s atmosphere; the greater the size and density the greater the mass, the steeper the angle of entry the greater the potential for penetration into the earth’s atmosphere. Smaller and less dense asteroids will explode in the atmosphere and the less the angle of entry, say less than 20 degrees, the more likely to explode at a higher altitudes.

 On June 30, 1908 an  asteroid slightly larger than 2012 DA14 exploded over the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Siberia destroying around 80,000,000 trees over an area of around 830 square miles. New York City has a reported land area of around 468 square miles and an estimated population in 2011 of 8,244,910. Whereas the likelihood of an asteroid strike over New York City is remote, the results could be devastating but localized to that area.

In Revelation 8:10-11 we read, “The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water–the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.”

Meteor over Russia 

                  Meteor Over Russia           

One can see the similarity of a burning meteor or asteroid to a blazing torch flying across the sky.

What Can You Do?

The news today seems to be filled with stories of troubles, fear and disaster. Wars and rumors of wars fill the media with stories of developments that threaten individuals and whole societies with terrible acts of violence and death. This begins to ring bells for the student of Bible prophecy. In several places in Scripture descriptions are given of the end times and those things we are seeing in the news today bear a striking resemblance to what the Bible predicted.

The potential enormity of these events makes any steps we, as individuals, can take seem pathetically small and inadequate. We live in the perfect time to trust in the Lord and walk by faith. It’s only when we think there is something we can do to ameliorate the consequences of those events that we search and struggle to make adequate preparations for survival.

 The Bible warns us these days are coming and tells us that God does not want His church to experience these troubles. Instead of an ark of gopher wood He has prepared a vast removal called the Rapture of the Church to deliver us from this coming time of great judgment. We can know with certainty before things get really bad that we will be given new eternal bodies and removed from the earth. What we do not know is just how bad things are going to get before the removal takes place.

We can know with complete assurance that we are individually and collectively objects of God’s love. We can know that He is working all things together for our good and that He is conforming us to the image of His Son. In light of that reality our only valid option is to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Such an alternative is extremely liberating.

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | February 16, 2013

Peter the Roman, The Last Pope? by David Bower

 Saint Malachy and the Papal Succession

As you are probably aware, Pope Benedict XVI has announced his resignation to be effective at the end of February. This is the first time in almost 600 years that a pope has resigned from office; the last pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII in 1415.

The reason I bring this up has to do with the prophecies of Saint Malachy, an Irish archbishop who died in 1148. According to the record, these prophecies were largely unnoticed until 1595 when they were discovered and then published by a Benedictine named Arnold de Wyon as a part of his history of the Benedictine order. The prophecies are supposed to list the Popes in order and provide some information on the nature of their leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.

Needless to say they are in no way to be compared to Bible prophecy and have been the subject of much debate over the years. What has impressed many is their appearance of accuracy in describing the Papal reigns of the various Popes. According to the current list of Popes, the next Pope will be the last one, the 112th Pope on the list.

Peter the Roman

Here is an English translation from the Latin concerning the last Pope: “112 Peter the Roman, who will nourish the sheep in many tribulations; when they are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The end.”

Is any of this conclusive, and the answer to that is no, it is not. There is even debate over the authenticity of the 112th Pope as being part of Saint Malachy’s original list; some say it was a later addition to the list.

I mention it because as a part of the overall scene it provides some additional insight into the times in which we live. Just as the world didn’t come to an end on December 21, 2012, the next Pope may not actually be the last one; time will tell.

This week’s meteor exploding over Russia did bring a verse to mind; in Acts 2:19 Peter is speaking of the end times and says, “I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.”

We live in interesting times, do we not?

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | February 8, 2013

Abby Cat’s New Best Friend, by David Bower

The Arrival of Tomboy

Most of you know the story of Abby Cat and her discovery on the used car lot at the local Honda dealership how after seven years of feline deprivation we had relented and invited a cat to join our family. After that things seemed to go well for a few years but then a boy cat wandered into our lives.

This all started innocently enough when a beautiful black and white cat started hanging around our house. We thought at first it must be a neighbor’s cat and was just looking for more food. We were already providing a second breakfast for some other neighbor cats and so we believed this to just be one more cat out and about looking  for additional food. 

David and Tom Boy 1-11-13

Tomboy with a boyish smudge of grease on his right jaw

As time passed the boy cat, whom my wife decided to call Tomboy, started hanging around even more and we were beginning to experience some cold nights. Being a softy when it comes to animals, I fashioned a little shelter out of some cardboard boxes and some towels and an old shag rug. It turned out Tomboy seemed to appreciate the shelter and started spending the nights in the box. In addition Abby Cat had started noticing this cat that was hanging around the outside of her house more and more.

Abby Cat watches Tomboy - Jan. 2013

Abby Cat Watching Tomboy

That began to raise some serious suspicions that Tomboy was a legitimate stray and might be looking for a forever home. As time passed our convictions grew that this was the case and I started becoming concerned about Tomboy’s well being. Conventional wisdom suggests that male cats may have shorter lifespans because of their natural inclination to roam at night and that ran directly contrary to my growing concern for his well-being.

A Big Transition for All of Us

We definitely had mixed emotions about bringing Tomboy into the house as several considerations immediately surfaced in our thinking. The first was Abby; she had been an only cat every since she was just a few weeks old and we were concerned how she would adjust to Tomboy sharing rulership in her kingdom. After all she had enjoyed the exclusive use of two staff members and absolutely no competition from anyone else.

The other side of that coin was the distinct possibility that this might provide a playmate for Abby and could potentially brighten her life in a way that was beyond the ability of her staff. We knew that if we brought him in he would have to go to the vet for the usual assortment of vet inspections etc but we decided to go ahead and take the plunge. We took him in to the vet on January 24th for the full treatment and picked him up on Saturday morning, the 26th and brought him home.

Their First Encounter

Abby Cat is a very cautious girl and does not tolerate change or visitors very well. Any time the doorbell rings she runs under the bed and won’t come out until all the visitors are gone. We were very curious how she would react to a loud bawling cat (Tomboy did not like the cat carrier). We set the carrier down on the floor and left the door closed initially to see what would happen next.

Abby Cat was totally fascinated by that loud cat in the carrier and she came up and stuck her nose right next to the cat carrier’s door. Tomboy was probably still recovering from surgery and didn’t seem too interested in Abby Cat who was alternately hissing and overcome by curiosity.

First Encounter-Tomboy is home!

Abby Cat Sees Tomboy Up Close

 The next step was to open the door and let Tomboy out; I’ll have to admit to slight feelings of apprehension as we were unsure whether Abby would run under the bed or stand her ground; she stood her ground as the next picture will show.

See Tomboy leaning away from Abby Cat

Notice the Slight Lean Away from Abby Cat

It was to take about three days before Abby Cat finally began to accept Tomboy and now they are developing the playful relationship for which we had hoped. Tomboy has made an admirable adjustment to our household and offers his own unique personality as enrichment to our family.

Tomboy has accepted certain responsibilities around the house and contributes to the household chores as any good boy should.

in front of my monitor

Tomboy Helping Me Write My Blog

Tall and skinny. 1-26-13

Tomboy on Guard Duty

Don’t let me give the impression it’s all work and no play; there’s no telling what is going on in two kitty minds here.

Abby Cat peeking around the corner

Abby Cat Peeks Around the Corner at Tomboy

Tomboy asks why she keeps following him.

Tomboy Must be Asking Himself why is that Cat Following Me?

Playing with the brown ball

This was What we had Hoped For

Tomboy has a personality all his own and brings a lot of sparkle and life to our household. Abby Cat has begun to really enjoy him and they are playing together more and more; all this in a week and a half, thank you Lord.

Tomboy, full face 2-2-13

Tomboy Bower

It’s 4:40 AM Friday morning as I publish this and Tomboy is on the floor behind me purring.

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | February 5, 2013

A Follow Up, by David Bower

A Fair Question

The question was posed about my speculation on the timeline and the sequence of events involved in Genesis 3:1-6. I wrote the response and thought there might be others that would be interested in my reasoning. I hasten to add that much of this is my speculation and in class I always tried to distinguish between the clear revelation of Scripture and my speculation on the missing parts.

Those of you who have been in any of my classes know how I tend to try and fill in the blanks where the Bible is concerned; in other words I love to speculate on the missing information. The Bible is a marvel of brevity and focuses on its message of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. In doing this many details are omitted as extraneous to this focused message.

I’m sure we have all had areas of special interest that were left unanswered by Scripture about which we had promised ourselves to ask when we get to heaven. The first six chapters of Genesis fall solidly into that category for me; there is so much in every one of those six chapters that fascinates me and leaves me wanting to learn more.

The Question

“I have a question about this new post on death.  What makes you believe that there were several days, or possibly weeks, in between Eve’s conversation with Satan and actually eating of the fruit of the tree?  That is so different from what I’ve been taught all these years where Adam and Eve are both with Satan and then she eats of the tree and offers some to Adam and then he eats. ” 

My Answer to the Question

The Bible simply does not say and the delay is my speculation based on my 60 years of marriage, the language in some of the verses, and my knowledge of human nature. I believe there was a time gap between verses 5 and 6. I think it unlikely that the conversation with Eve would have gone the way it did if Adam had been there. Had Adam been with Eve and the serpent it is unlikely that he would have remained silent when such a vital subject was under discussion. In verse 1 it is written that the serpent said to the woman, not the man and the woman. Again in verse 4 the serpent speaks to the woman with no mention of the man. I doubt very much that Adam would have been totally ignored if he had been part of that conversation.

I believe it is reasonable to believe that the Biblical account is a brief summary of what happened. In verse 6 it says, and when the woman saw it was good for food how did she know that? Satan had not said it was good for food, only that she wouldn’t die and would be as God. I think it is reasonable to assume that Eve had seen animals and birds eating the fruit with no ill effects and concluded it was good for food by observation.

One has to understand that the Bible is telling the story of man’s fall and God’s solution to the fall. There is no intention of filling in too many details as this would only muddy the water. The same principle applies to Cain who goes out and finds a wife; there is no mention of any girls having been born to Adam and Eve until Genesis 5:4 but we know girls too must have been born all along for the human race to exist. In Genesis 5:5 the age of Adam when he died is mentioned but Eve’s age is not.

I do not know of any source for this other than my own study. Fortunately I don’t have a scholastic reputation to preserve so I can enjoy myself speculating on areas where the Bible is not specific. Most commentaries of my acquaintance only address those topics spelled out in the text, which is the safe thing to do; there is enough argument over those sections without bringing in speculation.

By way of summary, when it is mentioned, the serpent is only speaking to the woman suggesting the man is not there. Human nature, being what it is, I suspect Eve pondered the information the serpent had presented and checked it out against what could be observed about the tree. When she chose to tell Adam, the shocker was probably that she had been eating the fruit for weeks and felt fine and had watched animals and birds eat the fruit with no harm. Information like that could have shaken Adam and been instrumental in his decision to eat the fruit.

The bottom line is this level of detail is not critical and I simply enjoy speculating on what might have happened that could fit in with what information was revealed in Scripture. I think my conclusion, although unprovable, is logical and consistent with human nature. When we get to heaven, if we still care, we can, perhaps, get all of the details filled in.

My next blog will be on a considerably lighter note, Abby Cat meets Tomboy, see you then.

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | February 1, 2013

Death, Deaths, and the Second Death, by David Bower

 First of All What is Death?

I’ll confess I’m guilty of asking a trick question; I’ll ask someone what is the first death recorded in the Bible and I’m generally told the death of Able is the first death recorded in Scripture. That, of course, is a seriously wrong answer; the first death recorded in Scripture is the spiritual death of Adam and Eve when Adam disobeyed God.

Lets reconstruct the sequence of events; God told Adam in Genesis 2:17, “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Notice the timing – when he ate of it he would surely die. Next, let us recall Eve’s conversation with Satan in Genesis 3:4 where Satan tells Eve, “”You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.” At this point Satan is calling God a liar and seems to be giving Eve totally opposite information.

After Eve’s initial conversation with Satan as embodied in the serpent, I believe several days, or more likely several weeks went by while Eve watched the tree and may have even watched animals eating the fruit of the tree with no evidence of death. It is probable that Eve had previously mentioned this to Adam and, as I’ve mentioned before, Adam grew so tired of Eve always bringing it up that Adam added the do not touch part out of a sense of frustration with Eve.

One fateful day Eve decided to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree and what do you know, nothing happened. This may have gone on for several days before she finally mentioned it to Adam. She and the animals seemed to continue to enjoy good health even after eating the fruit of the forbidden tree; this seemed to support the serpent’s argument that one would not die.

At some point Eve confronted Adam with the facts and caused Adam to doubt God; perhaps he had misunderstood God or gotten confused about which tree was forbidden. Regardless of his excuse he joined Eve one day and ate of the forbidden fruit and they both died spiritually on the spot at the instant Adam ate.

The Federal Headship of Adam

What is really sad is the entire human race died spiritually in Adam at that same moment; you died, I died, everyone died. This is called the “Federal Headship of Adam” and is taught, for example, in Romans 5:12f.

Does this mean that Adam and Eve fell dead on the ground at that point? No they did not, in one sense Satan was bending the truth to serve his purposes. Although they died spiritually at that moment they did not die physically for hundreds of years, in Adams case, and an unspecified number of years in Eve’s case; although physical death had become certain it was delayed but spiritual death was instantaneous.

Let us reconstruct what I believe happened; the command had been given to Adam before the creation of Eve so I believe it applied only to Adam and not to Eve. The tree itself was not poisonous so its fruit did not cause injury or death to the animals and to Eve. The danger was the act of direct disobedience to the only command that had been given, don’t eat the fruit of this one tree.

When Adam disobeyed a direct command of God, the only recorded command at that point, by the way, Adam and the balance of humanity died spiritually and that specifically included Eve.

From this we can determine there are two forms of human life, spiritual and physical. The spiritual side is eternal and will last forever for each and every human being. The physical is temporary and usually lasts less than 100 years, in some instances much less.

Two Forms of Life and Two Forms of Death

When Adam and Eve were created they had living spirits and living bodies; at the time of the fall they died spiritually which meant they had dead spirits and living bodies. I think it likely that they were both eventually saved by faith and we’ll see them both in heaven.

After the expulsion from the Garden of Eden other children were born to them but these children and their children after them were born spiritually dead the same as today. Since the fall, only the Lord Jesus Christ who was fathered by God, the Holy Spirit, has been born spiritually alive. Spiritual life now comes to the rest of us only by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.

There are two classes of humans walking on the surface of the earth today, those who are still spiritually dead and those who have been made spiritually alive by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior; between those two classes of humans there is a great gulf fixed. The only bridge is the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Second Death

There remains one fearful fact that I must mention and that is the eternal nature of those who are spiritually dead. Although they died once in Adam there awaits them a second death which is eternal in nature. In Revelation 20:11-15 we read:

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.

The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” 

If a person has rejected the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ, that person’s eternal soul is given a body that will never perish and will suffer the torment of the second death, the lake of fire, forever and ever.

We live in what has been justly called the “Age of Grace” but this age may rapidly be drawing to a close. The Bible tells us the events following the end of this age are going to be terrible beyond description. I urge you by the mercies of the living God to avail yourself of the free gift of salvation; believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | January 25, 2013

Stranger Than Fiction, by David Bower

Alternate Universes

I am a reader, I love books, I collect books, I make books a part of my life; I still have the first recreational books I was ever given as a child. I don’t recall exactly how old I was but I was given two books on some occasion which seemed to be the catalyst for my life-long love affair with books. I believe they were given to me by my father who is reported to have been a reader also. I’m looking at them as I write this and they are quite a bit the worse for wear and age but are still readable. They are “The Mercer Boys’ Cruise in the Lassie” and “The Mercer Boys on Beach Patrol” by Capwell Wyckoff and published in 1929 by The World Syndicate Publishing Co. New York City. Can you imagine – I still have those books plus two others in the same series I got later?

I discovered science fiction by way of the Saturday morning fun club at the old Heights Theater on 19th Street in the Houston, Heights around 1938. The hero of the series was Flash Gordon and the spaceships captured my imagination. Each Saturday episode was a cliff-hanger that left Flash in mortal danger and one had to come back the following Saturday to see if Flash would survive.

It was not until the early 1940’s that I discovered science fiction pulp magazines; WW II was underway and the Boy Scouts of America collected waste paper for the war effort. As I would pick up paper for recycling I would occasionally see a magazine with a lurid science fiction drawing on it; a space ship or a dangerous looking alien which was sure to catch my attention. I started collecting them and would read and re-read them for hours on end. My wife reminds me that when we got married about the only thing I brought to our marriage, besides myself, was a small stack of clothing and a large stack of science fiction pulp magazines.

By now you are probably wondering where I’m going with this brief recitation of my early life and there is a simple answer; in all that reading of science fiction I encountered many different universes as created by the minds of many science fiction writers. That process has carried on throughout my adult life as well, as my enthusiasm for science fiction has not waned as I’ve aged.

the-moon-colony

This is a copy of the dustcover of a 1937 edition of “The Moon Colony” by William Dixon Bell which I have in my library.

The Human Imprint

Since I have read so many science fiction stories  set in worlds of the writers imagination it would be impossible to remember each of them in much detail. Suffice it to say that most of them have seemed reasonable and internally consistent. The worlds, and the universes of which they were a part had a familiar ring to them; they were something devised by the mind of man and man’s imprint could be seen on each of them. They fit in with human thinking and human priorities and felt familiar in certain ways; one could sense humanities imprint upon them.

It is this human imprint, this quality of human thinking and human reasoning that is conspicuously absent from the Bible. Although it is the story of humanity it is told from what seems to me to be a distinctly non-human perspective. The Bible tells the story of a world and a universe in a manner that is so completely alien to all of the other worlds and universes about which I’ve read as to suggest to me a non-human author; the Bible is different in profound ways that speak loudly of non-human authorship.

What does this suggest you may ask and my response is it strongly indicates to me the author is not a human being, the author is the Creator God of human beings. While it is true that God used human beings to do the actual writing it is also true that those human beings were led in their writing by the Spirit of God who fundamentally influenced their writing and its content. This has produced an overall style that is distinctly non-human in its reasoning and priorities and often runs contrary to human reason; this is to me one of the greatest proofs of the divine authorship of the Bible, it was not written from a human perspective on life and living, it was written from the Divine perspective.

The Biblical Scope and Vision

The Bible’s description of reality is far and away more extreme than any fantasy or science fiction book I’ve ever read. The Bible introduces aspects of the world in which we live that no human author would ever even dream of including in a world or universe of their creation; our reality is totally incredible when compared with the writings of any human author.

One of the more amazing points that is made in the Bible has to do with reality; in an earlier blog, What is Reality?, I described reality as it exists in our universe and it is wild enough to blow your mind if you try and grasp the enormity of our reality. The only uncaused reality is the Trinity, the triune God; all else in our universe is a creation of that one reality. All but the Trinity is a creation of the Trinity and exists at the will of the Trinity. That is an overwhelming thought that should play some tricks on your brain if you think on it. We are not independent entities but exist as created beings whose very existence is dependent on an outside power.

This outside power, the Trinity, determined at some point to engage in a creative act and the universe came into being. The Bible tells us this was done in six days and is being continuously sustained in its existence by the Second Person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible also tells us this universe is to be destroyed in the future and replaced with a new one. The new one is to be peopled only by those who have received the gift of salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The present universe is a testing ground with one question and one right answer; it is a pass/fail test and there is no grading on the curve.

The question is “What do you think of Jesus Christ” and the one right answer is “He is the Son of God who died on the cross for my sins and I receive Him as my Savior.” This alone is what life is all about; everything else is fluff, window dressing, illusion! If you get that answer right then your life has been a great success; if you get that answer wrong then your life has been a sad failure.

Please don’t leave this life a failure!

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | January 18, 2013

Life Lessons from Abby Cat, by David Bower

A New Member of the Family

Seven years had passed since our last cat died of old age; we had tried to convince ourselves we were too old to add another cat member to our family and that had worked for awhile until a fateful day in July of 2009. I had taken my wife’s car into the dealership for routine maintenance when during a stroll around the used car lot I happened to see a black and white clump that looked suspiciously like a kitten sleeping under a used car.

Being of a curious nature I walked over to the car and saw a small black and white kitten who just happened to have one of the cutest little faces I had seen in a long time. When I spoke to the kitten she looked up and my heart melted; I knew my resolve not to own another cat was in grave danger. Just about that time a used car salesman walked up behind me and asked me if I wanted a cat? He went on to explain that this little stray had been hanging around the lot for about a week and they would feed it scraps from their lunches occasionally.

About that time the kitten emerged from under the car ready to play; she came out in what we later came to call her ninja cat position standing on her back legs with her front legs stretched out over her head. Here is a picture of her in her ninja cat mode harassing a piece of paper on a string:

Ninja Cat

Ninja Cat

Recalling our agreement I knew I had to call home and see what my wife thought about having another kitten; I called and told her I was in trouble, hastening to assure her that I was OK but had come face to face with one of the cutest kittens I had ever seen. We quickly agreed that this one would be an exception to our resolution and that I would bring her home. I then faced the problem of trying to catch her and finally, with the help of a nice lady, was able to get her into a box to carry her to her new forever home.

When we got her home she disappeared behind the washer and dryer and wouldn’t come out. Not wanting to rush her adjustment to her new home we decided to let her take her time getting acclimated to us and her new surroundings. Because of our seven year old resolution we had gotten rid of all of our cat equipment so we had to start over and get her everything new. One of the items was a scratching post bunk which she still uses and just happens to be in this afternoon as I write this.

Abby in Her New Bunk Bed

Abby in her new bunk bed

The photo above was taken on July 22, 2009; the photo below shows her ladyship reclining in the same bunk. Don’t let that calm expression fool you though; she still likes to run and play in a very kittenish way and could be out of that bunk in a half second.

Abby in Bunk 8-20-12

 Abby today (her fur is even thicker and softer than it looks)

Just like every other cat that has been a member of our family, Abby has a unique personality that is hers alone. She is a very special family member that brings her own combination of personality traits to our family and has greatly enriched our lives. The fact of the matter is that Abby has taught me a great deal about my relationship to my Heavenly Father.

Life Lessons from Abby Cat

From time to time I reflect on the progression of events that brought Abby into our lives and began to see some interesting parallels between her life in our family and the believer’s life in God’s heavenly family. Initially Abby was living in a used car lot on the frontage road of US 59 and this became a point for consideration as we quickly debated her future with us. We both had mental images of her wandering out on the frontage road and getting injured or killed. Before we join God’s family we too are living in a dangerous world and are exposed to dangers and threats that can continue into eternity.

When Abby joined our family she was moved into a protected environment and has since lived her life protected from the dangers present in the used car lot. When we, as Christians, join God’s family we are eternally protected from the second death and the judgment to come. Although we, at present, still live in the world and are surrounded by dangers we have the eternal spiritual protection provided by our loving Heavenly Father.

We are left in the world and exposed to many trials and temptations as a part of God’s process in each of our lives to conform us to the image of His Son. We are all works in progress and can be assured that this work in our lives will be completed perfectly by God in His appointed way and according to His predetermined time table.

A Scaredy  Cat

Promise me you won’t tell Abby I told you, but she’s a scaredy cat. When just the three of us are at home, most of the time you would think that Abby is a mighty ninja cat who doesn’t know the meaning of fear. Let the door bell ring and she retreats under the bed and won’t come out. Visitors to our house have to take our word for it that we even have a cat because Abby is nowhere to be seen. Her keen ears can detect when everyone is gone and she reappears within seconds of the last departure.

We are so much like that and our Heavenly Father must be either amused with us of saddened by our behavior when we react fearfully to circumstances. We would love for our friends and family to see and enjoy Abby with us but this is not to be as Abby seems to think anything out of the normal is a fearful threat to her personal safety.  How often do we go around suffering in anticipation of things which never happen?

The Bible tells us in  Isaiah 41:10, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” This is just one of many verses that seeks to reassure us of God’s love and hand of protection over us; why do we so often act as if we don’t think He really means it?

Our Commitment to Abby

When we brought Abby into our family we accepted an obligation to love her and care for her. She is totally dependent on us for her food, water, and general care. We take that obligation very seriously and regularly devote the needed time to her well being; in the morning she eats first, has her litter box cleaned, fresh water poured and her floor swept before anything else gets done. We do this because of our love for her and our feelings of responsibility for her well being. We too are totally dependent on our Heavenly Father for all things; there is nothing we will ever have independent of His grace and mercy.

If we, with our flawed sinful natures can do this for our Abby Cat then what can we reasonably expect from our Heavenly Father who is perfect in His love for us? First of all the eternal heavenly things are all prepared for us. Second the Lord is working all things together for our good. Third the Lord is conforming us to the image of His Son and fourth the Lord’s love for us is absolutely certain and eternal. All of this is promised in Romans 8:28-39 which I encourage you to read again.

Abby in her bunk 3-25-2010 017

Abby in her bunk

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

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