Dont Jump ship!!

Acts 27:31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved
Acts 27:32 So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall away.  -KJV

  Formerly being in the Navy, I can't tell you to much of the effects of a major storm or a hurricane.  I was in the submarine force. During one deployment close to Guam we hit typhoon Paka in 1997. First a submarine is a round cylinder and is not made to stay on the surface, so during these storms we would dive beneath the waves.  However even at a depth of 200 to 300 feet below the surface the waves above us was still causing us to shake.

  So I cant imagine how Paul and these sailors felt. Their ship was at the mercy of the sea. No one driving, lost with out any star to gain a refference from and the only light for their ship would be the occasional lightning bolt accross the sky.

I can't say exactly how I would actually be in such a situation, but one thing for sure, I would be scared for my life and maybe even frantic.

  From the tone of the passages I read in acts 27, many of the crew felt this way, even to the point that they would want to leave a much bigger boat to get into a smaller boat to save their life.  Common sense would tell you if the bigger boat isnt gonna make it, the little life boat isnt gonna make it either. However during such a storm and the stress on these men, I can understand their desperate need to try and do something instead of waiting and doing nothing.

 Paul said these men must remain on this ship, they must  stay on board  or you cant be saved. At this they believed Paul and cut the ropes to the  life boat. These men was about to jump ship to the life boat which would have lead to their deaths.

 This is modern day Christianity.  Infact many people are on this same ship (spiritually) fighting through many storms in life.  Their faith wanes as each wave strikes them, and during such a storm they contemplate lowering the Life Boat. Storms test us and stretch us, but these storms will not last forever, eventually the clouds will part and the (SON) will shine through.

 It also reminds me of the statement " The grass is greener on the other side". People abandoning their relationships with Christ Jesus and getting into a small boat of appeasing traditions and doctrines that will not be sound, but will soothe their itching ears.

 Many so-called theologies out there are nothing but lies sprinkled with a little bit of truth. They look appealing to the eye, yet deadly filled with poison. One must search for themselves and seek the Guidance of God in this situation. We need to ask for a Spirit of discernment to help us understand what is right and what is wrong.

 There are many things that come against a believer during their years of walking with Christ Jesus in a relationship, and some of these are very tempting to lure us away from such a great relationship but  I believe what Paul declared to be just as valued today as the words he spoke back then  "STAY ON THE SHIP".

In the Beginning

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  -NIV

The above picture represents a growing issue for modern day children in our school systems that believe in God.  I can remember studying evolution and how man came from ape over a series of millions of years, this is also reffered to as Darwinism.

Charles Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist.^[I] He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors,^[1] and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.^{[2]   (wikipedia)}

The majority of scientist to this day still believe in the evolution hypothesis. I wont call it a theory cause as time goes on more scientist are starting to challange these hypothetical so-called facts.

In a survey done by Brian Alters shown that a study surveyed over 1200 college freshman, and found that large percentages of students who reject evolution stated scientific reasons for holding their views. 

(Basically it was evolution versus science)

Alters claims that all their scientific reasons are wrong, and another educator simply believed that students' views could be corrected by telling them what to think, i.e., if "misconceptions are countered with specific evidence."

While some of their reasons may be questionable, some of them are on the right track--i.e., students rejected evolution due to insufficiencies of the mechanism of random mutations or the statistical impossibility of the origin of life. As the study stated, "nearly 40 percent of those skeptical of evolution believe the chance origin of life to be a statistical impossibility"!

We still have many who believe in this evolution tree, however many questions have been brought up that this evolution can not explain.

This is a link to some of the problems that face the current hypothesis of  Darwinism.

http://www.dissentfromdarwin.org/links.php

If it has been proven, (which many believe that there is sufficient proof )  to counter Darwins Theory, why is it still being taught in schools today?

I for one Believe  what Genesis 1:1 stated, and i do not believe we evolved over time from a single celled bacteria that one day became a fish, who then grew legs and walked on land etc. etc.

Though i do like science, and science tries to give us a logical answer to explain things, this doesnt mean that science is always right.

This Bloggers preference is creationism over darwinism.

http://www.creationism.org/

Getting to the place where God wants you.

Jonah 1:17
But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. -NIV

(This was taken from a unkown diver who took the picture. I would love to give him the credit he deserves for it.)

Jonah was sent to warn Nineveh of God's coming wrath if they didn't repent. However instead of being a fisher of men he chose to flee and run from God. In a series of events the LORD sent a fish to catch the man instead!!

 I found myself hitting some deep theology when i gazed at this picture.

   First  I wondered what was on the mind of the diver who lookes like he is going to be fish food. Then secondly it reminded me of Jonah. Very seriously he tried to run from God. He did not want to go to the place that God wanted him to be.  This brought back memories of my own time of  running away from God, trying to hide in the world.  I had fell in love with sin and was persuing my own self centered wants and desires. 

  However God chased me. HE wanted me to get back to the place that HE desired for me to be in the beginning.  Its obvious Jonah didnt like or enjoy his trip back to land, and at the same token its not easy for us to let go of many worldly pleasures. The trip is a hard road. I can however look back at these rough waters, and especially this giant whale shark and appreciate what God has done in my life.

 Getting back to a relationship with my Creator and being apart of His eternal plan versus life on the run that truely was living in agony.    Im glad and thankful HE sent such a fish in my life.
In the end Jonah gave up  running away from God. He had grown tired and was fighting sorrow from the sailors lives that was threatened from the storm. At some point we need to realize the same and that is, what does it take for us to stop running from God?
 God can get you where you need to be!!

Luke 5:4

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." -NIV

Its very important, that if you want to enjoy Fish Soup, you must let down your nets for a catch.

We who serve God are fishers of men, and it is up to us to push out into the deep (the present day world) and cast out our nets. The catch we bring in is not substance for our body in literal food but it is people who receive spiritual salvation through Jesus Christ.


Join me in future topics as we discuss modern day Christianity and our role as servants of God.