Keeping Your Eye on the Ball

Pardon the Interruption..

I wanted to take a brief aside and explain a couple of things about my blog. I sincerely appreciate anyone who takes time to read it. I ESPECIALLY appreciate people who read it, get pissed, and challenge me. A thing is not the truth until every bit of speculation and doubt have been burned away.

The purpose of taking up the blog again is to make myself write, every day, no matter what. These posts will eventually be compiled, edited and published. Don't get me wrong, though, I don't need or want to be a "famous" author. I also don't need, or want, to make money from writing.

I love to write, but I am not an author. I count many published authors as my friends and the type of writing they do (especially novels) requires an attention to detail, inspired creativity and some sort of "work ethic" (I don't know what that means, so I don't have it). Every one of them is a master and I would pay again and again to read their books. I'm not saying this to appear "humble" or "self-deprecating". That is exactly and precisely how I see it.

In light of these things I wanted to say that the reader shouldn't see each individual post as a complete thing that stands alone. They are interdependent and evolving. When I get ready to compile them there will be much trimming of stuff that isn't relevant, or outright wrong, and elaboration on the few things that actually matter.

Today, I started with the idea to present some math and physics to support some of the things I am writing that seem impossible for some to accept. I am going to take a different path, not out of doubt, but because I can't yet explain them in a way that makes sense to someone else. If I claim to write absolute truth, then I need to make damn sure it is clear, complete and actually TRUE.

The failure is not in the information, it is in my ability AT THIS TIME to explain them without my personal bias getting in the way, which would completely invalidate my claim of truth. Today I am going to talk about TODAY.

The Biggest Lie

Something happened today that both pissed me off and revealed such clarity at the same time that it needs to be said. I am not going to discuss what pissed me off, because they are unnecessary details and will hurt people I care about. My cognitive process of "anger" only happened because I let it happen and has nothing to do with the point I am making.

The most cherry-picked, abused, misquoted and murderous (literally, people have died) verse from the Bible is John 14:6 -

"Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

That's barely a verse, much less a complete thought.

In spite of the fact that there is a much larger context for this truth Jesus told right then, Modern Fundamentalist Christianity (MFC for short) has used this statement, particularly the last phrase, to divide, demean and condemn people by adding context created BY MFC that is false, did not exist in Jesus time and does not exist now.

A minister that wrote a commentary in a family Bible we have addressed to people who are reading it for the very first time, noted that one of the worst mistakes a person could make was to take a single verse and form it into a belief system.

To understand that turning the answer to a question posed in present tense at a specific time and location that sought an answer right then and there (not forever, especially not to use as a tool of hate) in to a contrived "belief system" that would affect billions, you need to understand the actual context of how it was made.

The scene was the last supper. The disciples still don't seem to understand clearly what they are being told or what they are expected to do. Jesus had already told Judas and Peter that they would betray him.

Jesus has just told Peter that he would betray him three times, but he didn't want Peter to worry about it or feel bad. 

Read the whole story surrounding the quote from chapter 14:

First, here is the complete quote, I will insert it again, with explanations in red.

The Road

 ^1-4 "Don't let this throw you. You trust God, don't you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father's home. If that weren't so, would I have told you that I'm on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I'm on my way to get your room ready, I'll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I'm taking." 

 ⁵Thomas said, "Master, we have no idea where you're going. How do you expect us to know the road?" 

 ^6-7Jesus said, "I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You've even seen him!" 

 ⁸Philip said, "Master, show us the Father; then we'll be content." 

 ^9-10"You've been with me all this time, Philip, and you still don't understand? To see me is to see the Father. So how can you ask, 'Where is the Father?' Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you aren't mere words. I don't just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act. 

 ^11-14"Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can't believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I'm doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I'll do it. That's how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I'll do.


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 ^1-4 "Don't let this throw you. You trust God, don't you? Trust me.[RIGHT NOW, RIGHT HERE] There is[present tense, not "will be"] plenty of room for you in my Father's home. If that weren't so, would I have told you that I'm on my way to get a room ready for you?[Jesus never lied. ever.] And if I'm on my way to get your room ready, I'll come back and get you[I WILL COME BACK AND GET YOU, period, no special prayers or rituals or any other thing is required. Jesus DOES NOT lie.] so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I'm taking." 

(Jesus is telling them AGAIN to destroy their fear, which is not-God, and only lies.)

 ⁵Thomas said, "Master, we have no idea where you're going. How do you expect us to know the road?" 

(This is CRUCIAL. Read it EXACTLY how it is written. Thomas says WE [the disciples at the table] have no idea [right now, right here at the table] where you are going [still misunderstanding that Jesus is going to a 'place']. How do you[Jesus, right there at the table when the question is asked] expect us[the twelve at the table right now] to know the road?[still not understanding that the 'road' is a metaphor, and not a tangible thing]

 ^6-7Jesus said, "I am[present tense, RIGHT NOW IN FRONT OF YOU] the Road, also the Truth[Jesus doesn't lie], also the Life[Life. Capital L. not biological finite life, ETERNAL LIFE]. No one gets to the Father apart from me[Because IS the Father, right now in front of them. He told them over and over and over that He IS God on earth. That what he says is what God says and what he does is what God does. He is not a separate or lesser existence than God. HE IS GOD RIGHT NOW RIGHT THERE]. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You've even seen him!"[past tense, already, God has been here the whole time.]

 ⁸Philip said, "Master, show us the Father; then we'll be content."[Are you serious? He isn't talking allegorically. He is speaking plainly and literally.]
 
 ^9-10"You've been with me[God on earth] all this time, Philip, and you still don't understand? To see[with your own eyes] me is to see the Father[with your own eyes]. So how can you ask, 'Where is the Father?' Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you aren't mere words.[Don't read anything into it. Don't add to it. Don't twist it. I am telling you the absolute and complete truth.] I don't just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act.[Jesus is explaining the authority and the power he has to use the full will and power of God]
 
 ^11-14"Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can't believe that[because you are human and you let doubt run your life], believe what you see[with your own eyes]—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do[with your own hands] what I'm doing[with my own hands that you can see with your own eyes] but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing.[YOU ARE GIVEN FULL AUTHORITY OF GOD and you will do even greater things that me.] You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am[God on earth, standing right in front of you] and what I am doing, I'll do it.[I don't lie and I am speaking plainly and literally] That's how the Father will be seen[by others, with their own eyes, when I am no longer physically here] for who he is in the Son[they will see God by seeing God's work that you are physically doing]. I mean it.[OH MY DAD! Get it through your dense head!] Whatever you request in this way, I'll do. 

What Gives You the Right!?

If you don't like or understand my comments, I absolutely encourage you to read the chapter, in context, in it's entirety.

By taking the one phrase "No one gets to the father apart from me." or in the horrible abortion that is the King James Bible that people continue to misuse, "no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" and distorting into an entire religion is, well, absurd.

Appropriating those nine words and twisting them into false, unquestionable and exclusive cult that claims to be the ONLY WAY TO AVOID BURNING FOR ETERNITY is an abomination. To extrapolate that the answer to a question in the context of a specific time and place, meant to give a literal answer to an actual question, into a statement that ONLY THOSE who meet conditions invented by men, and not God, can EVER see GOD for eternity is delusional and, in my opinion, sociopathic.

In fact, abuse of that phrase either by ignorance or outright lie, has lead to the death of millions since the first couple of centuries of Jesus. It has lead to the slaughter of innocent Christians because they repeat the lie and condemn all other religions. This makes the other religions mad, and because they are just as ignorant, they felt it was their duty to slaughter those saying it.

It has led to the slaughter of both Christians and non-Christians BY THE VERY CHURCH the Christians thought they belonged to.

It has implanted irrational fear in the mind of people who otherwise would be inspired and moved to do God's work through Jesus into a lifetime of doubt. It has turned them away from their own sovereignty and made them a slave to a "church". They, in turn, out of fear repeat the lie and condemn those who see it as a lie.

Who gets hurt? The families and friends that are alienated... The people who are suffering who would have otherwise been helped if a fearful person had put down the fear instead becoming enslaved to more fear.. and all the people that had no fear until the person they love and trust comes home and tells them a fairy tell about burning alive unless they go get "saved" (by a preacher, at a building).

If you want to talk about evil, consider this. At least Hitler (the most evil I can think of right now) came right out and said "I hate Jews. I will kill all the Jews." He didn't have to support his opinions with illogical statements. He said he would kill the Jews and he did.

I'm not stating that MFC in any way wants to kill somebody. But continuing a bald-faced lie, scaring people and claiming exclusive possession of the truth, thus ALLOWING innocent people to be murdered, means being an accomplice. Ignorance is no excuse.

Before you EVER tell a single person they are going to hell and that you have the authority to declare it, you better make damn sure you have done the research, possess the facts and can answer the questions. Saying dangerous things like that that provoke fear and hurt without doing your own homework makes you look like an asshole, it embarrasses your church and instead of demonstrating Christ's work (LIKE HE EXPLICITLY TOLD YOU TO) it destroys everything He said in order to make what YOU say the truth.

In human history NOBODY has ever presented factual evidence or even slightly compelling proof of the existence of hell. Ever. 

You've been told EXPLICITLY and PLAINLY that YOU are authorized by the Messiah to do God's work on earth, even greater work than He did. If you can't prove that telling people about hell is God's work, then you are living a lie and destroying any credibility Christianity has, ESPECIALLY those churches that actually DO follow Christ's teachings.

You are creating a future. You scare one person with a hell you don't actually believe in. That person scares two more so on and so on... You have created a tidal wave of lies that will hurt far more people than the one you influenced. 

Why it is a Lie

 It's been shown that Jesus said "no man cometh" was a small phrase, in a small sentence, answering a specific question in a specific place. If you want to see God, look at me in front of your face.

He is saying right here, right now, I am in God and He is in me. We are (present tense) the same.

Here's the part that's hard to believe. Right now and right here as you are reading this, Jesus the man is dead. I don't think even the most hardcore Christian would dispute this. Jesus(God on Earth) said Jesus(the man) would die. He never lied. Jesus the man died.



The disciples were asking him a question that was in the context of what they, the human people, could see (physically with their human eyes) God. God is infinite, and eternal, he cannot be seen or even grasped by a human mind. Jesus, the man, by his own testimony(he never lied) told these men sitting at the table, I AM God, I am standing in front of you in full human form so that if you think you need to see god, literally with your human eyes, he is right here in front of you.

He said that since He (the man) is God's literal, physical and ONLY presence on earth at that time and place, the ONLY way that any human person could see God with their own eyes is by looking at him, the man, right in front of their faces.

Since Jesus the man, that they could see and touch, is now dead, to imply that his physical presence is the ONLY way to God means that THERE IS NO LONGER ANY WAY FOR SOMEONE TO GET TO GOD. That's stupid and illogical.

Remember, He never lied, He said he would die and he did, and he answered a literal question with a literal answer. 

Saying, "Well what he actually meant that his spiritual self was the way..." means he was lying. Just like no human eyes can see God, no human eyes could see Jesus, the spirit. IT DOES NOT FOLLOW. It is not what he said, and no amount of wishing changes it. It was asked and answered right there. 

What he DID say is that these disciples are authorized to do God's work (the actual work Jesus was doing, healing the sick, alleviating suffering, feeding the hungry) in even bigger ways, and by DOING those things people in the future will always be able to physically see God with their own eyes by looking at the WORK you are doing in his name.

He did NOT say, that people would see God with their own eyes by listening to a preacher, getting "saved" from a non-existent terrible fate or wearing fancy clothes to a service every Sunday. 

THERE IS NOTHING TO SEE AT CHURCH. God is not there.

THERE IS NOTHING TO SEE IN A SMOOTH TALKING PREACHER. God is not there.

If you feel like you need to actually see God with your own eyes, go down to a soup kitchen and SEE GOD with your own eyes right now serving soup to the homeless. THAT IS GOD. That is the work of God, authorized by Jesus through the power all of us were given.

JESUS NEVER SAID THAT ONLY CHRISTIANS CAN GET TO GOD. There were NO christians on the earth at that time and place. They did not exist. The concept of a group of people organizing themselves at some point in the future (especially Gentiles) and claiming to exclusively possess God's works and teachings would have been preposterous in that room.

For those people who organized themselves and self-labeled their group as Christians, long after Jesus, the man's, death and turning a literal answer to a question IN THE PAST into some sort of one-liner prophecy that wasn't literal (meaning Jesus lied) and rallying behind it in order to claim 'specialness' is beyond ridiculous.

Jesus gave us authority to understand his ACTUAL plainly-spoken teachings, and the POWER to do God's work, literally, thereby allowing all people to SEE GOD with their own eyes. He DID NOT give us authority to change his words, draw conclusions, or do ANY OTHER THING that is not actually the work of God.

Don't believe me just because I wrote it.

Get off your ass, open the Bible to John 14 and read it. Put away your opinions and 'beliefs' and read it plainly. 

If you come up with a different conclusion than me, based on YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING and not some bumper sticker evangelists words, then come back here and prove me wrong. 

If you, like me, see this as an historical account of an actual event, that stands on it's own, then start reading the REST of Gospels with the same open mind and honest heart. You will read a story that is much more exciting and that makes much more sense than the lie you've been told.