I Just Want to Go Home!

If you know me well you would probably say that nothing is ever good enough for me. My actions are never as good as they could be; I just feel as if I could be doing more Jesus. You know He died for the sins of the world but I cannot stop dropping the "F-Bomb" when I stub my toe. At times I feel my life is just so petty and meaningless.

For instance, few times a year I get the reigns to teach during a youth ministry event and several times I have blown it. I have prepared what I thought was going to be a firecracker of message that was just going to collide with the worlds of the youth. Like my message was just going to infect the lives of those youth and I end up just standing there, ever eye staring at me as if I am nuts. And I wonder...

Why am I doing this?

Has God really called me?

Can I not just get to heaven already?

At times I just feel so uncomfortable with my surroundings. Like a Jew in Berlin during the 1940's, I roam this earth trying to find my home. There is one problem though, this is not my home. I am a Jew in hostel Berlin during the 1940's but I am okay with that.

You see if I was comfortable with my surroundings then I would be of this world and not of God. If I get comfortable in this earthly tent, sin will engulf me as if someone pulled the tent poles out. Darkness will surround me and I will be stuck looking for the opening of the tent all by myself but there is another option.

Jesus has prepared a room for me in his fathers house and I long to be in it. You see, this place is not my home and I am not comfortable. Life is a path, death is a destination.

"Son, he said, grab your things, Ive come to take you home." Peter Gabriel, Solsbury Hill

Zeitgeist (Part Two)

Alright guys like I said in my last blog, this blog is going to be entirely about the Gods that came before Jesus. In this part of the video Zeitgeist starts to compare Jesus Christ to gods that were worshipped thousands of years before Christ. Although Zeitgeist uses clever ways to make these gods look more like Jesus than they really are.

1. They use gods that have a laundry list of attributes that have changed and evolved from year to year and from myth to myth.
2. They use gods whose attributes have been altered after the birth, death and resurrection of Christ.
3. They stretch the truth, male false accusations and flat out lie about their "research" and "findings."

Because Zeitgeist compares several gods to Jesus I will be only discussing Horus in detail to save time.

P4, S3- "He (Horus) is the sun, anthropomorphized, and his life is a series of allegorical myths involving the sun's movement in the sky."

The earliest records of Horus state that Horus was a sun god, not the sun. To be more precise, the right eye of Horus represented the sun while the left represented the moon. Like I stated above, Horus has a large list of characteristics, that range from myth to myth, that Zeistgeist picked and chosed from to make him look more like Christ. In fact Horus has over 20 names that describe his characteristics. These names are Horus, Harmerty, Har-Si-Ese, Heru, Heru-ur, Heru-khuti, Harsiesis, Har-Wer, Osiris, Ra, Atum, Atum-Ra, Ra Herakhty, Neferhor, Nekheny, Mekhenty-er-irty, Khenty-er-irty, Har-Behedti, Ihy, Bebti, Heru-sema-tawy and many others.

p4, S5- "For instance, Horus, being the sun, or the light, had an enemy known as Set and Set was the personification of the darkness or night"

Horus was not the sun or the light he was a sun god. This is just a poor attempt to draw a parallel to Christ.

P5, S1 Part 1- "Broadly speaking, the story of Horus is as follows..."

Broadly speaking...

Broadly speaking...

Broadly speaking...

Well if you know my pastor, Pastor Dave, then you know what to do. You see he told our congregation when ever something is repeated three times, you should pay close attention. This is not an introduction to the next paragraph, rather it is a disclaimer. Zeitgeist knows what they are saying is false but are just blinded by so much hate to admit they cannot prove their story, so they fabricate a story. A story they hope you will except and follow... the very same thing they are accusing Christians of doing. To make things worse for Zeitgeist edited their movie and transcript after they realized what they said. If you request an original transcript P5, S1 will say "Boldly speaking..."

P5, S1 Part 2- "Horus was born on December 25th"

This is not an attribute of Christ. It is a tradition put in place by the Catholic church in 354 A.D. The reason why the Catholic church chose this day to celebrate the birth of Christ is because pagans celebrated the winter solstice on that day. The theory behind it was if the pagans celebrated the birth of Jesus on the 25th they could not celebrate the winter solstice and thus be forced to chose in between the two. There is no recorded date of Jesus' birth in the bible so therefore the actually date cannot be verified.

p5, S1 Part 3- "of the virgin Isis-Meri."

The impregnation of Isis is often debated by many historians because there are so many different versions. Although, when you look at the references Zeitgeist uses they say nothing about Isis being a virgin

"It is often argued that Isis was not a virgin because, in one version of the myth, she impregnated herself using the severed phallus of Osiris [the envisioned father of Horus] after he was killed and torn to pieces.... A ‘miracle conception.'"

"However, in another version of the myth, Frazer points out that Isis was impregnated with Horus: While she fluttered in the form of a hawk over the crops of her dead husband... a ‘virgin conception'"

It may be odd but it is not a virgin conception. Also if it is such a huge deal that Isis was virgin, do you not think it would have been recorded? The word virgin is not mentioned inside of the actually myth but later added by the author.

P5, S2 Part 1- "His birth (Horus) was accompanied by a star in the east..."

Later in the video, Zeitgeist will unveil that the star that announces the birth of Christ was Sirius. Although that makes no sense considering I am looking out my window right now and I have located Sirius. Was Jesus just born again? Of course not, this is just another pathetic attempt by Zeitgeist to relate the birth of Christ to astrological advents. Sirius is visible almost everyday of the year so what would draw the magi to it? It wouldn't, it was not the sign that was prophesied by the prophets.

P5, S2 Part 2- "Which in turn, three kings followed to locate and adorn the new-born savior."

Biblically speaking, there are no kings who visit Jesus just magi and the number of magi is non-specific.

P5, S3 Part 1- "At the age of 12, he was a prodigal child teacher, and at the age of 30..."

Zeitgeist sources do not reveal that, Horus was a "prodigal child teacher." The only reference, that Gerald Massey (the author of the reference Zeitgeist uses) uses, of Horus being 12 is that is when Egyptian child becomes an adult. Although Massey continues on to describe at the age of 30 is when a Egyptian becomes a real adult. From this data Zeitgeist came to the conclusion that Horus, "at the age of 12, he was a prodigal child teacher, and at the age of 30 he was baptized by a figure known as Anup..." Give me a break, another blatant lie!

P5, S3 Part 2- "...he was baptized by a figure known as Anup..."

From my personal studies I have found no such claim. Zeitgeist sources claim that Horus was pleading to the gods at the boat of Anup. Although, surprisingly the baptism of Horus by Anup is not mentioned. Another fabrication by Zeitgeist.

P5, S4- "Horus had 12 disciples he traveled about with, performing miracles such as healing the sick and walking on water."

Again my personal studies, the studies of other Zeitgeist debunkers and the studies of Zeitgeist do not reflect Horus had 12 disciples. Rather that the 12 signs of the Zodiac represent the twelve disciples, although I will go into further detail about that later in another blog.

p6, S5- "Horus was known by many gestural names such as The Truth, The Light, God's Anointed Son, The Good Shepherd, The Lamb of God, and many others."

Zeitgeist list two sources for this claim. The first is The Christ Conspiracy, by Acharya and it is listing the attributes of Osiris not Horus. The second is The Historical Jesus and the Mythical Christ, by Gerald Massey. In that work Massey excludes to list his own citation. Without a citation it is to be assumed to be opinion not fact because you cannot verify the claim.

P7, S5- "After being betrayed by Typhon, Horus was crucified, buried for 3 days, and thus, resurrected."

Crucifixion was a form of Roman capital punishment and is a fact that is was not developed during the supposed life of Horus. In fact, there is no crucifixion, 3 day death and resurrection scenario of any person, let alone another god, before Christ. This point will be made clearer in my next paragraph.

P8- "These attributes of Horus, whether original or not, seem to permeate in many cultures of the world, for many other gods are found to have the same general mythological structure."

Whether original or not...

Whether original or not...

Whether original or not...

You know what that means, listen up. Again Zeitgeist is warning you that they might not have been completely truthful. Zeitgeist knows if these attributes of Horus and other pre-Christain gods are added on after the life, death and resurrection of Christ it makes them, the pre-christian gods, look like the copy cat gods and that is what Zeitgeist claims Jesus to be. As far as I am concern we could close the book here. In a court of law you just have to put a shadow of doubt into jury to get your defendant acquitted but I am going on the offensive. I want you to have no doubt that Zeitgeist is just anti-christian propaganda. So I continue.

P7- Attis

This god cut off his genitals and planted them in the ground. Later an almond grew from his genitals. After the almond tree died an evergreen grew in its place. How is this related to Jesus?

(and on a completely different side note I think I made a huge discover! Is this why we call male genitals "nuts." I mean this man's genitals grew an almond tree which produces nuts and are the seeds of the almond tree! I mean I am just saying, it could be. I am sorry I could not resist!)

P8- Krishna

A god who is still worshiped to this day. The claims that Zeitgeist make about Krishna are true but do not surface until the 11 century. "Whether original or not!"

p9- Dionysus of Greece

The god of wine press according to Greek legend. After his death, he just remained dead. Zeitgeist shows no support of their claims.

p10- Mithra of Persia

Mithra was not known to the Roman world until the 2nd century A.D. How is this god a possible influence on the new testament writings considering it was already completed by this point.

It is getting late again and I have discussed everything that I believe is relevant. My next blog will be about the false claims that Jesus life is just merely a series of astrological events. Until then I just want to say propagandist pray on those who are weak. They look for those who are having hard times, maybe health issues or family issues. Hitler convinced an entire country that Jews where evil because they where weak. I am telling you, do not be weak and look at the facts. They add up to one answer, Jesus is real and he loves you. If you do not know and want to know how to get to know him give me a shout at phillipsz@my.wccc.edu.

Zeitgeist (Part One)

If you did not read my Introduction to this then please read this.

Zeitgeist is truly one thing, propaganda. Look at how it was made. The movie is made to mess with your emotions. The intro to part one shows wars, starving people, cruelty and the 9-11 attacks. Those scenes can get people angry and make them ask the question, "Why did this happen? Why are there so many tragedies?" Then Zeitgeist proposes an answer...there is no God. It kind of makes you think about it. Although Zeitgeist does not deliver their answer to me.

This movie is brilliantly made for its purpose; to get people to doubt God's existence. What makes it even better is how hard it is to prove wrong. You see Zeitgeist uses two main fields of study to disprove Christianity. The first is Egyptology and the second is Astronomy. As you my have guessed Egyptology is the study of ancient Egypt and Astronomy is the study of the stars, galaxy and space. I do not know about you but I am not an Egyptologist or an Astronomer. The information they unveil is not common knowledge. So we are left to check there sources but yet the articles they use are not found in your average library.

This is crucial to the game Zeitgeist is playing. If you cannot look it up then you are just left to believe what they are saying. The average person does not have the time and the money to get these books. Zeitgeist is banking on you getting discouraged with trying to prove their movie wrong. They know the majority of the people will not try to disprove and those who try probably cannot.

Zeitgeist is riddled with inaccuracies and half-truths. To display my argument I will be taking parts of the interactive transcript and pointing out its fallacy. If you would like you can get your own interactive transcript so you can see the sentence in context to ensure I am not taking the authors work out of context.

Paragraph 1, Sentence 5- "These realities made the sun the most adored object of all time."

The reference that Zeitgeist provides for this "fact" has nothing to do with statement. So that leads me to wonder why did they make this statement if it cannot be proven. It sets the stage for what is to come.

P1, S7:8- "The tracking of the stars allowed them to recognize and anticipate events which occurred over long periods of time, such as eclipses and full moons. They in turn catalogued celestial groups into what we know today as constellations."

This sentence leads one to believe that ancient civilizations have been tracking star patterns some 10,000 years ago (Sentence 1) because of it contextual implications. Yet there is no archaeological proof supporting Zeitgeist claim until 1300 BC.


P2, S1- "This is the cross of the Zodiac, one of the oldest conceptual images in human history."

The "cross" that Zeitgeist refers to is also known as a "Crux" or "Southern Cross" constellation. The earliest known Zodiac record dates back to 5th century BC but the "cross" of the Zodiac, "Crux" or "Southern Cross" constellations where not named until the 16th century BC. That dates the "cross" of Zodiac way past the life and death of Christ and therefore has nothing to do with his life.

P3, S2 Part 1- "The sun, with its life-giving and -saving qualities was personified as a representative of the unseen creator or god..."

The reference Zeitgeist lists to support this claim, The Book of the Sun by De Sole, does not support their claim. There is bibliographical evidence to support this claim.


P3, S2 Part 2- "...God's Sun [implication: God's Son], the light of the world, the savior of human kind."

This part of video starts to compare the sun to Jesus. The basis of this part of video is that the "myth of Jesus" arose from the sun because of astrological events the sun does throughout the year. Zeitgeist goes as far to say because ancient civilizations believed that God was the sun that eventual, through time the sentence was shorten to God's Sun. From that we get God's Son, Jesus. It is a well thought out hypothesis but there is one problem, the bible was not written in English. It was written in Hebrew and Greek. Just because the two words Sun and Son sound the same in English does not mean they sound the same in a different language. That parallel is just absurd.

I am going to conclude for the day. My next post will be solely addressing the ancient gods that Zeitgeist uses to parallel to Jesus. Until then, God bless!

Zeitgeist (Introduction)

The movie Zeitgeist was brought to my attention about three months ago. For those of you who have not seen or heard of it, the premise of the movie is simple. It is split into three parts. The first part focuses on religion and more specifically Christianity. The other two parts focus on America and its "corruption." To be honest, I do not care about the last two parts; American conspiracy theories are a dime a dozen. Watch them if you want but just know that I do not support the accusations Zeitgeist is making in them. It is honestly not worth my time to try to disprove the second two parts of the movie for two reasons.

One- I have invested a lot of time and money researching the first part. I cannot imagine doing the same for the second because, like I said, I do not care about them. It is just another American conspiracy theory.

Two- Once I am done blogging about the first part you will be able to conclude if the authors were so incorrect and dishonest about the first part that they were probably dishonest about the second.

If you read my blogs constantly you are probably thinking, "This does not seem like something the Deuce would blog about."

Your right, I had no attention on blogging about this at all. In fact no one has asked me too either. My blogs are generally generated either by personal experience, a nudging of the Holy Spirit or request. Although I know people who see this movie as truth and because they see this movie as truth then Christianity is destroyed. When I started researching Zeitgeist I researched what people thought of it. So many people take this movie at face value and have sweared of Jesus because of it. I cannot let Zeitgeist get away with that, I have to do all I can to stop it.

This is going to be series of blogs that will take some time. There might be 5 blogs, there might be 100. I honestly do not know but I will do my best to shed the light on Zeitgeist.

If you would to watch Zeitgeist you can watch at their website.

Zeitgeist

John 17:15-17

"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth." (John 17:15-17)

That passage can be summed up in 5 words.

In it, Not of it.

In it, Not of it is a popular way to describe Jesus. He is in the world but he is not of it. Jesus is of God created by him. Although are we not the same? As we Christians, are we not the same?

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1)

Summed up, if you believe in Jesus you are forgiven. Better yet, in those areas in your life where you just suck at, Jesus took the blame for them and he gave you his perfection in that area. You are made perfect in the Christ.

You see I know this world has got nothing for me. All I could ever want is with Jesus, in Heaven. While I am here on this earth, I do not want anything that is not in God's plan. I want to be in it but not of it.

I screw up but I am forgiven. Call me what you want. Call me...

Freak...

Screw up...

Sinner...

Bible Humper...

Worthless...

I do not care because I know what Jesus is going to call me at my Judgment...

Faithful Servant.

The only title I care about.

Why I used to be an Atheist...

Yes, I used to be an Atheist. I used to believe that this all was fake. Christianity could not possibly be real because there was so much "scientific proof" against it.

Jesus, he was just a man who could of possibly lived 2000 years ago.

God, some guy who lived in the sky... hahah. It made me laugh.

Church was a system of control that wanted to keep me from having a good time. No alcohol, no drugs, no sex, no pornography, no swearing, no fun...

The very thought of church bothered me and I honestly did not want anything to do with it. When my best friend invited me to his church I declined several times.

Eventually I began to research Christianity and Jesus the person. I found compelling evidence that led me to believe that it could be real. Then I researched the other side and other religions. Atheism just used tired and old ways to disprove God and Jesus. Evolution and "common sense" are the best they to have to display their "truth." Then when I tried to look for evidence of other religions they did not offer any. Rather they just said you have to have faith. So I began to look at Christianity as the possible truth in the world but it still was not right.

To be more exact I was not right. I had been going to church for awhile but I was not right. I mean I excepted Christ but I was not perfect. As a believer I still stole, did drugs, drank, I still sinned. It pushed me away from Jesus because I was not any different. My problem was not with Jesus but with myself. I began re-think everything again...

"How could Jesus love me?"

"I am supposed to be a Christian, why can I not do this right?"

"If I could get this junk out of my life then I could have a relationship with Christ."

"I cannot be a Christian because I do this."

Guys that "Christian logic" is wrong. Christianity is not religion but a relationship. When you become Christian, God wants you to build a relationship with Him and his son, Jesus. In this relationship He wants you to work with Him to get that crap out of your life.

I believed in Jesus for 3 years before I honestly tried having a relationship with him. If you feel like Jesus cannot except you then I pray that you ask someone for help. He can and He will you just got to ask.

Seek forgiveness not perfection.

My Daily Bread...

"Give us our daily bread..."

We hear that phrase constantly in church. It is a really churchy phrase but yet again how many times is it explained. A lot of people believe the daily bread concept is such a Christianity 101 thing there is not much need to explain it. You do not need to go into such depth on it because you should know what it means. It is something that is explained to you in Sunday School when your a kid. How do you not know what it is?

Well if you are like me you did not grow up in a church. You went to maybe two Sunday school classes with your friend, just because you slept over his house and there mom is very religious. So what is the daily bread concept?

When Moses lead Israel out of Egypt, God provided them with Daily Bread. The bread would rain down from the sky and the Israelites where to gather what they needed for the day. They could only gather what was needed, any extra bread would rot before the next the day. The Israelites had to rely on God to provide for them daily.

Today, as Christians, we are supposed to rely on God to provide for us. We are supposed to rely that God will provide us with food, shelter, love, grace, everything and anything we need. Now I am not saying that we are supposed to just sit around and let God do everything. You are not supposed to sit in your house and not work because God is going to provide for you or you do not have to go grocery shopping because God is going to give you food. Rather God allows you to get groceries because he enables you to work. When things are tough just take in that God will provide whatever you need to get through the day.

I live a very discouraging life. It is an understatement to say that my family does not understand my choice to go into ministry. I am constantly under going a barrage of insults by the Devil.

"You cannot make a difference."

"God does not even love you."

"You are worthless."

"How can you help other people when you cannot help yourself."

Just to name a few. What I crave most from God is just to be able to work with people who needs his love and if some way I am able to bring them closer to him, well it is just wonderful. He gives me such great opportunities and this is what keeps me going.

Events like when...

Thomas gave his life to Christ...

Amber gave her life to Christ...

Blaine gave his life to Christ...

Caleb gave his life to Christ...

Mouse broke her walnut...

Amber decided to go into ministry...

Alex got baptized again...

Seth giving his testimony at last years youth retreat...

an unnamed youth stopped cutting...

an another unnamed youth stopped smoking...

anytime we have Communion and a youth had gone up for seconds...

Keeks hugging the cross...

Bree just so concentrated on worship, you could not interrupt he if you wanted too...

and so many more just like these sustain my heart. They are my daily bread that keeps me going through the day. Said events help me remember what God has called me to do and do not let me give up on my mission. So thank you guys for allowing me to be apart of it.

I Will Take the Usual

Every Tuesday and Wednesday I get together with a relatively large group of people. Tuesday is my small group day, where a group of about 15-20 of my friends get together and study the bible. On Wednesdays my church's youth ministry holds an after school program called Chill and on average we have 20-40 youth there. At the end of each of these nights we take prayer request from each other. It is just a good way to build relationships with each other. Think about, not only are we sharing are prayers but we are sharing are concerns, are joys, are downfalls, are pain and so and so forth.

The whole idea behind sharing prayer request, in my mind, is first to have everyone hear what is going on in each others lives. Second, God promises us that where ever a group of two or more are gathered are voices will be heard. Third, when you go home and have your own prayer time, you should try to keep those prayer request in mind.

In those two groups I pray for the same things every darn week. It has gotten to the point that I just ask for the usual and side dish of whatever else is going on in my life.

The usual is...

Help for a married couple who is having trouble having a baby...

All my friends (two by name) who do not know Christ...

DENNYS...Everything about it. That I can be a better witness to the people there. That it could be more enjoyable or at least bearable. That I could have more patients there...

School...

Two of my friends who are Christians but are struggling with depression...

and that I could build a stronger and more passionate relationship with Jesus.

I know some of you are going to read this and realize that you are one of people I am praying for week after week. You might say, "Why has it not happened yet? Why do you have to pray week after week after week?"

I honestly do not know but I can speculate. God is in the driver seat and he has a plan for everyone and everything. It might not be in his time for something to happen yet or it could not be in his plan at all. The prayer request might just be in "my plan" or "your plan" but not in HIS PLAN. Although if you seek him with all your heart he will never leave you in need.

If you want to be apart of the usual just let me know.