Thursday, April 27, 2006

Investigating (Acts 17)

In the second half of Acts 17 we find ourselves in the secular city of Athens. Paul left Berea due to some Jewish followers who were persecuting him (v.13-15). Once again Jews enraged over his message of salvation through Jesus Christ followed him from city to city stirring up trouble. Tightening up his sandals, Paul is sent by the wise Bereans to the city of Athens to wait for Silas and Timothy.

In Athens, Paul encounters a city chalked full of idols. They were everywhere! The Athenians even went so far as to erect an altar to and UNKNOWN GOD (v.23) just to be sure they had all their bases covered. These people were serious about idol worship. He also runs into strong intellectuals who do nothing but talk about and listen to new ideas (v.21). Did these people have jobs? Imagine the intimidation factor here in trying to tell these people about Jesus the Christ? Paul doesn’t seem too nervy by this (obviously this is the power of the Holy Spirit working in his life). He squares off with them and tells them the Good News. The results? A few became followers (v.34).

One treasure I came across here was Paul’s investigation of Athens. Check out verses 16 and 23:

16 "While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols."

23 "For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you."

He talks about “looking carefully” at their objects of worship. Basically, he did some investigation work prior to speaking and preaching to them. I find this so interesting because in our day and age it seems we (the Church) seldom know what others are really worshipping (by worship I mean – what they spend their time thinking about, the thing that raises their heartbeat and blood pressure, the thing that tries to fill their heart, and the thing they really love and admire). We tend to shy away and dismiss it as garbage that we should have nothing to do with. But the problem is some people are perishing because they embrace this “garbage” as truth. Then they come to us with questions about it and we are completely ignorant and unable to connect what they see as truth to God’s Truth. It’s essential that we connect God’s Truth to them. This is what Paul did in Athens. Their UNKNOWN GOD was about to be explained to them (v.23).

Imagine the scene if Paul didn’t investigate Athens? How well would he have been able to relate God’s Word to them? Do we take time (like Paul) to investigate what those around us are worshipping? Do we spend time researching their religious beliefs? This couldn’t be more relevant with the upcoming release of the DaVinci Code movie. Are we ready to answer the world’s questions after they see the DaVinci Code? Some will and have embraced this as truth. Have we researched it? Have we read the book?

I thought I would list some practical “investigation” steps to help us out. If you can think of any more I haven’t listed let me know. I’ll list them on here for you.

1. Get into the Word. Some good books dealing with false teachings are: Galatians, 1 Timothy, 2 Peter, and 1 John. Also, I encourage you to dig into the Gospels to check out our Savior’s own words over such matters.

2. Pray. God’s Spirit guides us into all Truth the Scriptures say (John 16:13). Ask Him to do that with your research. Ask Him to filter what you see and read to ensure you don’t get suckered into it.

3. Do some research on the internet. This is free! Some good sites to use that offer information and have links to other sites with information over false teachings are: Christianity today and Blue Letter Bible (Jehovah’s Witness, Mormons).

4. Check our your Christian bookstore. Most offer a plethora of books dealing with and addressing false teachings. Right now you can find numerous books on the DaVinci Code. Some are even discounted due to how many are available.

5. Ask your local pastor for help. He/She is smart, educated, and spent thousands of dollars on a degree (from a Christian school) that he/she would love to put to use! He/She might even have some books you could borrow to save money (just be sure to return them). She/He will point you into the right direction for help with such issues.

I encourage you to be informed. Ignorance isn’t an eligible excuse in our day and age. We are surrounded by information. Don’t let the Enemy keep you from learning about his ways because he sure knows about our ways. If you have any other helpful information let me know and I’ll be sure to add it to this post. Thanks and may God through the Holy Spirit prepare us for service to Him.

3 comments:

Seven Star Hand said...

Are you ready for the Truth yet?

The Vatican is proving that seeking the truth is a real threat to their dogma. How enlightening, since this goes a very long way to proving that Christianity is based on lies. If it wasn't, they would be confident of surviving intense scrutiny. Since they aren't and since they have gone to such great lengths to suppress those seeking the truth over the centuries, their deceptions are, once again, laid bare for all to see.

What does "making the blind see" symbolize? Perhaps many more people are now ready to "open their eyes to the truth!"

Now if Christians (and others) can gain the wisdom to walk away from the folly of religion and seek to understand the truth about the Creator and the Messiah (me).

Did you ever stop to think what the True Messiah would say about worshipping false names, false images, and dogma? Well, now you get the chance to hear my side of the story and weigh it against the strong delusion of faith and religion. None of the European names and images in the New Testament can possibly be the truth. What then is the purpose of "faith" but to prevent good people from seeking to understand truth and wisdom?

Read 2 Thessalonians 2:11 and the verses that surround it. Why do you think this message is in the New Testament? Those who saw the truth dying as the new Roman religion was being imposed would have tried to warn others in subtle ways where it most counted! These ancient texts are mysterious because they purposely encoded hidden messages to bypass Roman censorship. See how the Romans treated the Jews, Zealots, Gnostics, and others, a.k.a. those who sought truth because they knew better than to trust the blatantly duplicitous and evil Roman Pontificate?

How can people trust the veracity of texts created by a Roman organization known for centuries of abominable evil? How can anyoneexpect that people who could so readily torture and murder others for seeking proof of the truth would somehow not lie to you? Why don't "the faithful" have enough discernment to understand that those telling a strong lie for power and profit would insist that you refrain from seeking the truth and "have faith" in their texts instead?

How do we finally solve these ages-old mysteries? To recast a common political adage, "It's [the] symbology stupid!" The Dead Sea Scrolls, Bible, Gnostic texts, and Quran are rife with purposeful structured symbolism. Do you really think this is accidental or casual?

Unlike most of you, I have a very personal interest in ancient wisdom symbology, false prophecy based on its misrepresentation, and deceptions imposed in the name of religion. Consequently, I've written an extensive tome proving that all three so-called Faiths of Abraham are purposeful deceptions.

I know many readers of this site will want to scoff at this information before bothering to pay attention to the details. I have produced stunning and comprehensive proof that the original pre-Christian Apocalypse (Book of Revelation) was a symbolically encrypted wisdom text that was stolen and modified by the founders of Christianity. I demonstrate a series of specific and undeniable proofs of verifiable fraud in the Christianized Book of Revelation, which also appear throughout the New Testament.

I present verifiable proof that the symbology of sealed Hebrew texts is an advanced ancient philosophical technology.

The ancient symbolism used in The Apocalypse and other Hebrew prophecies and wisdom texts predates Christianity, Judaism, modern secret societies, and mystery schools by thousands of years. While in the hands of Christianity, The Apocalypse and its symbology have been purposely misinterpreted, recast, and misrepresented. The original Hebrew document was a multi-purpose narrative constructed using layered and synchronized ancient wisdom symbolism. Its true purposes, features, and functionality are detailed in my book, further demonstrating that it was a symbolically encrypted Hebrew wisdom text encoding prophecy, philosophy, and scientific wisdom that was stolen and fraudulently modified by the founders of Christianity.

If your goal is to seek the truth, then read my articles, download my FREE E-Book and direct others to read them also. Challenge them to PROVE me wrong. The E-Book is a FREE download and I make no money from it or the paperback.

Visit my website for the articles, (www.geocities.com/sevenstarhand), I haven't had the time to maintain my blog yet. You'll understand why.

Not only do I talk the talk, I walk the walk...

Here is Wisdom!!

Tim Sheets said...

Seven Star Hand,
Thank you for stopping by, reading my blog, and commenting! I would love to talk more with you on what you believe and your theories. I appreciate the honesty and sharing what's truly on your heart.

Please don't think I'm blowing you off, but I will get back with you. I'm pretty busy and would like some time to check out your book to see where you are coming from.

I must warn you that I will not dismiss the history and tradition handed down to us from the Church on the grounds of Christianity being based on lies, a blatantly duplicitous and evil Roman Pontificate, secret symbolism in Revelation, and new ideas. (I'm guessing you probably knew I would say that too?) Give me a week or so and I'll get back with you.

<><

Jenny said...

SSH's post was very long and hard to read...but this scripture came to mind

Matthew 24:4 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.

Matthew 24:23-27 At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. 24For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. 25See, I have told you ahead of time.

26"So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. 27For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

Faithfulfollower - AMEN!