Pioneer Generation

God appeared to the pioneer generation of both covenants, old and new.

God appeared to the Israelites who left Egypt for Canaan under Moses.

On the morning of the third day, thunder roared and lightning flashed, and a dense cloud came down on the mountain. There was a long, loud blast from a ram’s horn, and all the people trembled. Moses led them out from the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire. The smoke billowed into the sky like smoke from a brick kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently. As the blast of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God thundered his reply. The Lord came down on the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses climbed the mountain. (Exodus 19:16-20 NLT)

When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram's horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear. And they said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen. But don't let God speak directly to us, or we will die!" (Exodus 20:18-19 NLT)

The Apostles and the first generation of believers saw Jesus and witnessed His resurrection.

Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? (John 14:9 ESV)

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8 ESV)

Christianity is not only about the message, but also the authentication and transmission process. After all, anyone can claim to be a prophet, but not many can descend on Mount Sinai with fire and resurrect from the dead.

IAAA

Anyone taken CISSP? Do you know IAAA? Identification, Authentication, Authorization and Accountability.

Identification
God said He is the One who created the heavens and earth.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 NIV)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (John 1:1-3 NIV)

Authentication
God authenticates Himself by creating a nation called Israel, by performing signs and wonders and resurrection of the dead publicly and by prophesying the future. Anyone can write a book and call himself a prophet. But only God can create a nation.
Or has a god attempted to go and take a nation as his own out of another nation, by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, by great terrors, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? (Deuteronomy 4:34 CSB)
You saw with your own eyes the great trials and those great signs and wonders. (Deuteronomy 29:3 CSB)
For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. (2 Peter 1:16 KJV)
He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. (1 Corinthians 15:4-8 NLT)
Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. (Isaiah 44:7 ESV)
I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: My plan will take place, and I will do all My will. (Isaiah 46:10 HCSB)
I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. (John 13:19 ESV)
And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. (John 14:29 ESV)

Authorization
The basis of God's authority is lies in the fact that He is God, He is the creator of all things and He is the redeemer of those He called.
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (Revelation 4:11 KJV)
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. (Exodus 20:2 CSB)
You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 18:4 ESV)
Don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 CSB)

Accountability
For most system, accountability is the log of the events or transactions done. For God, things are slightly different. The event log of God is His prophecies of things yet to happen.
Indeed, the Sovereign LORD never does anything until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7 NLT)
And whether they listen or fail to listen--for they are a rebellious people--they will know that a prophet has been among them. (Ezekiel 2:5 NIV)
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11 KJV)
Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, (Psalm 40:7 KJV)
Then I said, "See--it is written about me in the scroll--I have come to do your will, O God." (Hebrews 10:7 CSB)
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17 NIV)
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:8 ESV)

Creation Myths

Secular humanist believed that the Bible's account of creation in Genesis is the same as other creation myths. This article "The Top 10 Intelligent Designs (or Creation Myths)" is an example of such belief. They asked this question, "If they allow one belief system to be taught, surely they must also teach others?" Below is the full context of the quote:

QUOTE
Several parents won a lawsuit against a Pennsylvania school district in 2005 that had added the controversial theory of "intelligent design" to its curriculum. Unlike the theory of evolution which is taught at most schools as a fact-based science, "intelligent design" -- as argued by the plaintiffs -- was nothing more than a philosophy predicated on the Judeo-Christian belief that the logical sequences found in nature are not random happenings or surprising mutations, but deftly managed events created by a greater omniscient and omnipresent intelligence with a specific plan. In short, the work of God. A federal judge thought otherwise. But therein lies the rub: Which god? When the founding fathers established the Constitution of the United States, they chose to include the separation of church and state. This was to ensure that the state-sanctioned religious persecutions that plagued much of Europe during the 16th century would not despoil the young, yet grand experiment in democracy that was to become this Republic. Scientific research has come a long way since Charles Darwin first posited the concept of "natural selection." In the intervening years, humanity has learned much about how we became the dominant species on the planet, how the Earth and the solar system were formed and the ever-changing development of the Universe. Over that time, how we understand the theory of evolution has also changed. Scientists now think that there is an intrinsic logic to our reality, that there are absolutes, laws of nature. Much remains a mystery, and as one question is answered, many others arise. The question that faced Pennsylvania's Dover School District was whether or not the imposition of one creation belief on a multi-ethnic, secular student body is in keeping with the law that prohibits the creation of a state religion. If they allow one belief system to be taught, surely they must also teach others? To help out with this dilemma, LiveScience presents a list of those Creation Myths that helped define civilizations both past and present...
UNQUOTE

The article went on to list the top 10 "Intelligent Designs (or Creation Myths)" to demonstrate the problem if all these "myths" were to be taught.

1. Genesis of the Judeo-Christian and Islamic Faiths
2. Greek
3. Hindu
4. Japan
5. China
6. Aztecs
7. Ancient Egypt
8. Babylon
9. Zoroastrianism of Ancient Persia
10. Norse

Performance

I can do more by my Lord the creator of heavens and earth than by my own strength. I think this is simple logic.

It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. (Psalm 118:8 ESV)
Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us. (Isaiah 8:10 NIV)
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31 ESV)

Facebook Blocked My Account

This morning Facebook lock me out of my own account because they suspect someone is posting on my behalf. Wonder which post caused them to think of this?

Facebook has rejected a Singapore government request to remove fake news yet the Facebook dictator Zuckerberg try to decide which post of mine is malicious and wanted to save me from myself.

In every good there is evil and every evil there is good. If even God decides not to remove fake news from the world, who are we to do that?

"The farmer's workers went to him and said, 'Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?' "'An enemy has done this!' the farmer exclaimed. "'Should we pull out the weeds?' they asked. "'No,' he replied, 'you'll uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.'" (Matthew 13:27-30 NLT)

God's Promise to Israel Through Jeremiah

The Lord has made a promise to Israel.
He promises it as the one who fixed the sun to give light by day and the moon and stars to give light by night. He promises it as the one who stirs up the sea so that its waves roll. He promises it as the one who is known as the Lord who rules over all.
The Lord affirms, "The descendants of Israel will not cease forever to be a nation in my sight. That could only happen if the fixed ordering of the heavenly lights were to cease to operate before me."
The Lord says, "I will not reject all the descendants of Israel because of all that they have done. That could only happen if the heavens above could be measured or the foundations of the earth below could all be explored," says the Lord. (Jeremiah 31:35-37 NET)

Three Points To Note

I always see such response to messages, "Noted" or "Noted with thanks". I think there are three important points we ought to note in life.

The first point to note is that death is not the end of consciousness.

What happens after death? Almost nobody has ever come back, except for one Jesus. So I have to based this point on the only One who had came back to life and also on the Bible who tells me that death is not the end of it all.

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, (Hebrews 9:27 ESV)

The next point to note is that you cannot save yourself.

How can that be proven? Simple. Death is the ultimate proof. If anyone can save himself, the first thing he will do is to save himself from physical death. If we cannot overcome death, it is unlikely that we can overcome anything beyond it.

Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe. (Proverbs 28:26 NIV)

The last point to note is only Jesus can save and there is none else.

Almost every religion in the world requires you to do something to save yourself. Only one religion provides salvation because someone did something for you. Jesus saves by dying on the cross on all our behalf. He proved His victory over death by His resurrection. We know we will live because He lives.

so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:28 ESV)

Why did I spend so much time and effort, writing this three points for you to note?

Because there is a second death, an eternity in the fiery lake of burning sulphur. If death is just the end of conscious existence, I would not have bothered to write all these. You live your life and I live mine. And the good news of Jesus Christ is not good news at all and Jesus would have died in vain.

"But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars - their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." (Revelation 21:8 NLT)

Hopefully, you would do more than just responding with "Noted" or "Noted with thanks".

Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?" Paul replied, "Short time or long - I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains." (Acts 26:28-29 NIV)

Middle Child Dates Middle Child

I came back from Ho Chi Minh City with my wife and when I stepped into the house, I saw my daughter and another guy from church. He asked permission to date my daughter which I gladly approved.

Bible And Scientific Rules

Three events described in the Bible had great impact on science:

1. Creation;
2. Sin entered the world;
3. The flood.

Without acknowledging these three events, the science of earth's origin cannot progress and will be stuck at its present state of speculation of big bang and evolution.

Creation
The creation was good up to the seventh day. It took six days of implementation and was successfully completed by the end of the sixth day. God rested on the seventh. The production problem caused by sin has to occur after the seventh day. So, at least for the first seven days, the scientific rules that governed the universe was different from today. There is no death and decay.

Sin
When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. (Romans 5:12 NLT)
When sin entered the world, the scientific rules that governed the world changed to cater for death and decay. But many of the good stuff that exist initially still continue. Men lived to almost a thousand years old.

Flood
The world wide flood caused an unprecedented environmental catastrophe. The life span of men dropped rapidly from almost a thousand years to seventy years.

Millennium
The Bible prophesised one more change, that is, the millennium. I am not sure if this has an impact on the scientific rules, but men will resume living to a thousand years. The carnivores will become herbivores and I suppose, death, for humans, plants and animals will be rare.

Forgot My Bag

I have a thanksgiving item to report. I was travelling from Vị Thanh 渭清, Hậu Giang 后江 to Hồ Chí Minh 胡志明 City. After taking a drink at the only rest point along the way, I left my bag with my laptop in the restaurant. Only after travelling quite a while (maybe 30 minutes) before I realized that my bag was not in the car. We told the driver to turn around back to the restaurant and prayed very hard that no one took the bag. Thank God when we reached the restaurant, the bag was still there. We give thanks to our prayer answering God who does not leave His children in a lurch. (BTW, the drinks were nice. We also thank God for that.)