"The Father": God

As the central figure of Christianity God, or The Father, is the creator of all living things on Earth and in the heavens. He is perfect. In fact he is the only perfect being ever in existence. If you want to see an example of what he can and has done just take a look around you. The air we breathe, the water we drink, we owe our very souls to him. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Our heavenly Father has unconditional love for us. He gave us free will so that we could choose for ourselves how to live our lives. In a perfect world we would all worship him and live a life pleasing to him. Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world. Far from it actually. We have been sinners every since the serpent tricked Eve into eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and then convincing Adam to do the same. It was the insertion of sin into the world that set into motion the need for Jesus Christ, the Son, to come to Earth and die for our sins. He made that unselfish sacrafice so that all who believe in him could live eternally in Heaven.

In the Old Testament God spoke to a select few personally. He spoke to Noah and told him to build the Ark. Told in the Bible in Genesis 6:9-22, (9) This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. (10) Noah was the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (11) Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. (12) God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. (13) So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth! (14) “Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. (15) Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. (16) Leave an 18-inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build three decks inside the boat—lower, middle, and upper.(17) “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. (18) But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives. (19) Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. (20) Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive. (21) And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.” (22) So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.

The story of Abram is another such story. He brought Abram from Mesopotamia (Iraq) to the land of Canaan around 2000-1700 BC. Abraham’s descendants were to become the chosen people that would live in the Promise Land or modern day Israel. Genesis 12:1-9, (1) The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. (2) I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. (3) I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” (4) So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. (5) He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, (6) Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites. (7) Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him. (8) After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord. (9) Then Abram continued traveling south by stages toward the Negev. In Genesis 17 Abram's name is changed to Abraham, Sarai's name is changed to Sarah and God makes a covenant (promise) (1) When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. (2) I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.” (3) At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, (4) “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! (5) What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. (6) I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them! (7) “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. (8) And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.” (9) Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. (10) This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. (11) You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. (12) From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. (13) All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. (14) Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.” Sarai Is Named Sarah (15) Then God said to Abraham, “Regarding Sarai, your wife—her name will no longer be Sarai. From now on her name will be Sarah.(16) And I will bless her and give you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will be among her descendants.” (17) Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. “How could I become a father at the age of 100?” he thought. “And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?” (18) So Abraham said to God, “May Ishmael live under your special blessing!” (19) But God replied, “No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant. (20) As for Ishmael, I will bless him also, just as you have asked. I will make him extremely fruitful and multiply his descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. (21) But my covenant will be confirmed with Isaac, who will be born to you and Sarah about this time next year.” (22) When God had finished speaking, he left Abraham. (23) On that very day Abraham took his son, Ishmael, and every male in his household, including those born there and those he had bought. Then he circumcised them, cutting off their foreskins, just as God had told him. (24) Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, (25) and Ishmael, his son, was thirteen. (26) Both Abraham and his son, Ishmael, were circumcised on that same day, (27) along with all the other men and boys of the household, whether they were born there or bought as servants. All were circumcised with him.

Knowing that I will have an eternal life in Heaven is a great comfort to me whenever I feel like things are getting too bad and I start to feel the stress. I think the biggest misconception that non-Christians have about Christians is that once you have been saved your life is all roses and lollipops. The first thing you need to realize is that being a Christian doesn't mean that all of your problems just disappear. God never said he would take away all of our trials in life. Instead he walks by our side as we go through them. Your life will definitely improve as a Christian because you will see things and prioritize things differently. You will have a complete change of attitude about life. You will have the peace and comfort of knowing that you don't have to go through anything, no matter what it is, alone. Christians are a family, the family of God, that stick together and pray for each other and lift each other up. I know I can call on the people of my Church at anytime day or night and they are there to pray for me, support me and let me know that I am never alone. That is what God wants from all of us. He wants us to live together, work together and help each other to be better people. God wants us all to go to Heaven. Our biggest obstacle is "free will". God granted us free will to choose to either do right or wrong. He allows us to decide for ourselves which path to take. I know some people have a hard time understanding God's reasoning for giving us free will. The best answer I can give is that God is a good and just God, he is perfect. To turn a phrase God is LOVE! So whatever the reason is that he gave us the ability to choose you can rest assured it was the right choice.

People have often asked me if I can "prove" that God exists. I always tell them simply that, the fact that we are here is "proof" that he exists. I never understood how intelligent people could be naive enough to buy into the whole evolution theory....the whole ape to man thing...if that were true, why would it have all of the sudden just stopped? Are we really supposed to believe that animals that supposedly could and did evolve into humans all of the sudden just stopped? I don't know about you but I haven't seen any half ape, half man creatures coming out of the jungle and saying, "WHEW! finally, no more tree's for me where is the nearest hotel!" You know why? Because evolution doesn't make sense...Even Darwin himself, prior to his own death, announced his theory was wrong. How so many people can still cling to a theory that has no basis in fact amazes me. Now, I know some of you are thinking right now, "OH Yeah! Well if evolution isn't real. how do you explain the caterpillar that becomes the butterfly?" I have a very complicated answer for that question...are you ready? Because, when a butterfly is a "baby" it is a caterpillar, and when it grows up it is a butterfly.....just like we all grow from a baby to an adult! That is what happens....we are born....we grow...and unfortunately we will die. Now, I hope that wasn't too technical for you! lol....Come on peole use that brain GOD gave you! Evolution is nonsense! There is now and never will be any proof of it anywhere. Now, God, on the other hand, well where do you want me to start. If you want proof of my God, I have an idea, go outside take a look around at the birds, the trees, the flowers...everything you see is all the proof you will ever need that God exists!