By Kevin Weston,
My birthday just past an hour and thirty minutes ago. Can you all believe I turned twenty? It's amazing how fast time can go! Next thing you know, I might be forty tomorrow! But no matter what happens in my life time - I want Jesus to continue to guide my life at all times.
I went on youtube.com to check out Christian videos. And I found a video on Jeremy Camp preaching to the audience. "Give Me Jesus" is one of my favorite songs, because it says that "you can have the whole world...but just give me Jesus". It's so powerful when you think about it. Can everyone truly say that? It's hard to say yes, but I just love how Jeremy Camp said, "we just need that desire" in our lives. Because God will one day grow more in us, an we can reach that level, that all we truly need is God to make our lives happy. The Bible says in Psalms 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." You see! All we have to do is seek God and delight in him, and God will take care of the rest!!!
His love is so awesome, that all I need is Jesus. I never want to lose Jesus in my life, he had broke so many chains in my life and for him, I am truly happy and at peace.
Psalms 62:5-8, "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge."
May God receive all the glory and honor, forever and ever, amen!
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Monday, April 30, 2007
Nixon's Final Remarks
By Kevin Weston,
It's been taking me a very long time to do my 12-14 page research paper on Watergate and public opinion about the president and the government. About a couple of weeks ago, I came across Nixon's speech on his departure from the White House. At first I just skimmed through the speech, because I had to find something valuable for my paper. But after reading it again, I found something so incredible and valuable for our lives. Nixon, saying something valuable? What? Uhm, he was a crook, and a liar!!! Yes, I know, but maybe we can learn something from people like that.
After Nixon's Watergate scandal blew out of the water, he had no way to finish his second term in office. He had to resign. On August 9th 1974, Nixon gave his last speech as president of the United States. Nixon was heart-broken to lose the presidency that he worked hard for. I'm not sure if his words were sincere or not, I'm not to judge, only God could do that. And let me make this straight, I'm not an "Anti-Nixon" or "Pro-Nixon" but I did admire his speech. I also feel that Nixon had left a valuable lesson that he learned when he had to resign from office.
August 9, 1974
"...this quote is about a young man. He was a young lawyer in New York. He had married a beautiful girl, and they had a lovely daughter, and then suddenly she died, and this is what he wrote. This was in his diary.
He said, "She was beautiful in face and form and lovelier still in spirit. As a flower she grew and as a fair young flower she died. Her life had been always in the sunshine. There had never come to her a single great sorrow. None ever knew her who did not love and revere her for her bright and sunny temper and her saintly unselfishness. Fair, pure and joyous as a maiden, loving, tender and happy as a young wife. When she had just become a mother, when her life seemed to be just begun and when the years seemed so bright before her, then by a strange and terrible fate death came to her. And when my heart's dearest died, the light went from my life forever."
That was T.R. in his twenties. He thought the light had gone from his life forever—but he went on. And he not only became President but, as an ex-President, he served his country, always in the arena, tempestuous, strong, sometimes wrong, sometimes right, but he was a man.
And as I leave, let me say, that is an example I think all of us should remember. We think sometimes when things happen that don't go the right way; we think that when you don't pass the bar exam the first time—I happened to, but I was just lucky; I mean, my writing was so poor the bar examiner said, "We have just got to let the guy through." We think that when someone dear to us dies, we think that when we lose an election, we think that when we suffer a defeat that all is ended. We think, as T.R. said, that the light had left his life forever.
Not true. It is only a beginning, always. The young must know it; the old must know it. It must always sustain us, because the greatness comes not when things go always good for you, but the greatness comes and you are really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes, because only if you have been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain."
Full Speech
It's been taking me a very long time to do my 12-14 page research paper on Watergate and public opinion about the president and the government. About a couple of weeks ago, I came across Nixon's speech on his departure from the White House. At first I just skimmed through the speech, because I had to find something valuable for my paper. But after reading it again, I found something so incredible and valuable for our lives. Nixon, saying something valuable? What? Uhm, he was a crook, and a liar!!! Yes, I know, but maybe we can learn something from people like that.
After Nixon's Watergate scandal blew out of the water, he had no way to finish his second term in office. He had to resign. On August 9th 1974, Nixon gave his last speech as president of the United States. Nixon was heart-broken to lose the presidency that he worked hard for. I'm not sure if his words were sincere or not, I'm not to judge, only God could do that. And let me make this straight, I'm not an "Anti-Nixon" or "Pro-Nixon" but I did admire his speech. I also feel that Nixon had left a valuable lesson that he learned when he had to resign from office.
August 9, 1974
"...this quote is about a young man. He was a young lawyer in New York. He had married a beautiful girl, and they had a lovely daughter, and then suddenly she died, and this is what he wrote. This was in his diary.
He said, "She was beautiful in face and form and lovelier still in spirit. As a flower she grew and as a fair young flower she died. Her life had been always in the sunshine. There had never come to her a single great sorrow. None ever knew her who did not love and revere her for her bright and sunny temper and her saintly unselfishness. Fair, pure and joyous as a maiden, loving, tender and happy as a young wife. When she had just become a mother, when her life seemed to be just begun and when the years seemed so bright before her, then by a strange and terrible fate death came to her. And when my heart's dearest died, the light went from my life forever."
That was T.R. in his twenties. He thought the light had gone from his life forever—but he went on. And he not only became President but, as an ex-President, he served his country, always in the arena, tempestuous, strong, sometimes wrong, sometimes right, but he was a man.
And as I leave, let me say, that is an example I think all of us should remember. We think sometimes when things happen that don't go the right way; we think that when you don't pass the bar exam the first time—I happened to, but I was just lucky; I mean, my writing was so poor the bar examiner said, "We have just got to let the guy through." We think that when someone dear to us dies, we think that when we lose an election, we think that when we suffer a defeat that all is ended. We think, as T.R. said, that the light had left his life forever.
Not true. It is only a beginning, always. The young must know it; the old must know it. It must always sustain us, because the greatness comes not when things go always good for you, but the greatness comes and you are really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes, because only if you have been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain."
Full Speech
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
President Guided by a Higher Power?
By, Kevin Weston
I read a recent article on the Herald News about a nun named Julie Vieira; and she blogs daily about her beliefs, life, and politics (much like this blog but I don’t blog daily).
The Herald News asked her a question that I really thought was very powerful and I would like to share with you.
“Q: Is it difficult to write about the war in Iraq when you have a religious president who says he is guided by a higher power?
People have always used religion as a way to justify their action and to justify their vision. Personally, to me, it bothers me in the sense that it kind of gives God a bad name. For those of us that think war in Iraq isn’t a good thing, to somehow baptize it by saying it’s part of God’s plan, does not make me feel good…”
Watch the video
Bush Iraq 9/11 Lies
For my view on the president, it’s very hard for me to believe that Bush says to himself, “W.W.J.D.?” – its more like “W.W.G.W.B.D.?” Someone who is truly guided by the Holy Spirit would not lie to his people; only someone who is guided solely on politics would. The more time passes by our eyes, I think we can come to realize new meanings in what the Bible says; for this subject matter, Jesus said in Matthew 7:21, “Not Everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven…”
I found the "W.W.G.W.B.D.?" picture in my professor's blog.
I read a recent article on the Herald News about a nun named Julie Vieira; and she blogs daily about her beliefs, life, and politics (much like this blog but I don’t blog daily).
The Herald News asked her a question that I really thought was very powerful and I would like to share with you.
“Q: Is it difficult to write about the war in Iraq when you have a religious president who says he is guided by a higher power?
People have always used religion as a way to justify their action and to justify their vision. Personally, to me, it bothers me in the sense that it kind of gives God a bad name. For those of us that think war in Iraq isn’t a good thing, to somehow baptize it by saying it’s part of God’s plan, does not make me feel good…”
Watch the video
Bush Iraq 9/11 Lies
For my view on the president, it’s very hard for me to believe that Bush says to himself, “W.W.J.D.?” – its more like “W.W.G.W.B.D.?” Someone who is truly guided by the Holy Spirit would not lie to his people; only someone who is guided solely on politics would. The more time passes by our eyes, I think we can come to realize new meanings in what the Bible says; for this subject matter, Jesus said in Matthew 7:21, “Not Everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven…” I found the "W.W.G.W.B.D.?" picture in my professor's blog.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda
By, Kevin Weston
Some time ago I was very curious about the recent news on Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda. So I checked in youtube.com (because it has such a wide variety of videos) and I finally saw a CNN report of this man claiming that he was the second coming of Jesus Christ. I’m a doubter about the whole thing, because the Bible says in Acts 1:11, “‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” The Bible clearly says in Matthew 24:30 that Jesus will come back from heaven by a cloud and call his chosen people right away, so that they will not endure the sufferings of the last days.
Many cult believers might respond to me saying, “oh, but Jesus went to earth in flesh and will come back in flesh as a child and a new creature, because Jesus spoke in parables” Once again people misinterpret the timing and place when and where Jesus spoke a parable. Jesus spoke in parables to his disciples and along with all the other people (in the temples or outside the temples) who were curious what Jesus had to say; but when Jesus spoke to his disciples he didn’t want to hide the knowledge from them, he would say, “I tell you the truth…” In Matthew 24:35, Jesus explains the signs of the end of age to his disciples and he said in verse 2, “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” Throughout the whole chapter, Jesus spoke to his disciples not in parables; he made his message clear about the signs of the end of age by saying, “I tell you the truth…”
CNN video “Greater than Jesus”
FOX News
Pretty scary huh? This so called “Jesus” made me so mad! So in return, I’m going to lay out all his statements and respond to it.
Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda said the following statements
• “I can’t die”
• “The true gospel is found in the letters of Paul”
• “I am Man Christ Jesus”
• “We don’t believe in sin, we don’t believe in the devil, we don’t believe in that such a place like hell”
• The commandments of God are, “Only good for the society but not for the kingdom of God”
• “He said, ‘I will appear for the second time without relationship to sin.’ I do greater things than Jesus of Nazareth.”
• When his followers get wild he said, “Sometimes it gets out of hand because of the other people….they get wild, not us.”
Now it’s my turn
• If Miranda can not die even if someone tried to kill him, why does he have nine bodyguards?
• Now he said the truth is found in the letters of Paul. So why does he cite other gospels, verses, and letters if according to him, these gospels are false? I will further explain in the other bullets.
• “I am Man Christ Jesus.” Well the real Jesus says in Matthew 24:23 “At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect – if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time.” Now, Miranda might say to me, “But those gospels are not true; only the letters of Paul.” Okay then, I will play by your rules.
• “We don’t believe in sin, we don’t believe in the devil, we don’t believe in that such a place like hell.” This is a very easy statement to tackle, and I will do it in Paul’s letters. 1. Sin - Galatians 5:16 “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” 2. Devil – Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s scheme.” 3. Hell – Honestly, there isn’t a verse that has the word “hell” in Paul’s letters, but if he believed in a devil, then he must have believed that the devil belongs in a place. Also, I will use Galatians 5:16 again, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious… I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” If these people do not live according to God’s rule, then where will they go?
• Now if the commandments of God are only good for the society, and not for the people of God, then why do Paul and every other apostles stress the issue to have faith and good deeds? Romans 6:13, “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.”
• “I will appear for the second time without relationship to sin. I do greater things than Jesus of Nazareth.” You are the second coming Christ? Give us a break! The scriptures say that he will come down from heaven. You are greater than Jesus? For it is written in John 13:16, “I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.” Jesus never said he was greater than his Father, even when they were one in the same. Miranda said that he is greater than Jesus – this is not Christ-like. If Miranda had revelations from Jesus that he was unified with him, he wouldn’t say that he was greater than his master. Also, in Romans 5:6, Paul says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” My brothers and sisters in Christ, nothing is greater than the love and sacrifice that Jesus did for us upon that cross. For his blood brought light into our souls and thus we can be free and live joyfully in Christ Jesus.
• When his followers become violent, he said, “Sometimes it gets out of hand because of the other people….they get wild, not us.” No matter which side has the fault, true children of God will not persecute people in violent matters, or any other matter that will offend God.
“Destructive religious cults are about fear, about control, about deception, about manipulation, and about making the leader wealthy and not about serving the down toddle and the poor” says cult expert Steve Hassan. It is truly amazing how someone can proclaim themselves God or a prophet and gain so many follows in an instant. I take the example of the recent news, Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, because he has truly mastered the art of twisting scriptures so that the teachings he has proclaim to be true may blind many people in believing he is Jesus.
About 100,000 believers would just about give anything to this man; for example, businesses, all their earnings, their houses, and the most valuable of all - their heart, mind, and strength. They ask you to give up everything you cherish such as you’re family, and friends; because of this outcome families have divided amongst each other. There has been many testimonies of how wives have lost their husbands, husbands losing their wives, children going against their parents, and friendships being broken into pieces; it has damaged everyone who has been involved in these cults.
Instead of preaching love, cult groups preach separation amongst themselves and falsehood.
On Feb.18th Sunday morning, my brother in Christ Juan Carlos told me that Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda influenced the Growing in Grace congregation to get a tattoo - number of the beast “666.” I was shocked...
Miranda preaches that he is the Antichrist
CNN video "666"
The videos are self-explanatory, and may God have mercy on them. How far will one man go to deceive so many people?
You see, many cult groups claim to have the absolute truth. The biggest mistake that anyone can do is to accept what they say and not researching or questioning these cult groups or any other faith before accepting the faith as “truth”. The world continues to fall into scams; a constant repetition of different doctrines to allure believers and unbelievers to deception and leaving them disappointed in the end. The world will repeat this cycle if they lack the knowledge of scriptures and history. But one can avoid deception and falsehood if one stop and think about it – very simple. As the philosopher Socrates said, “the unexamined life in not worth living.” In better words for this subject matter, the unexamined history and scripture interpretations are not worth following.
Just to add, Romans 6:15 says, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!”
Some time ago I was very curious about the recent news on Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda. So I checked in youtube.com (because it has such a wide variety of videos) and I finally saw a CNN report of this man claiming that he was the second coming of Jesus Christ. I’m a doubter about the whole thing, because the Bible says in Acts 1:11, “‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” The Bible clearly says in Matthew 24:30 that Jesus will come back from heaven by a cloud and call his chosen people right away, so that they will not endure the sufferings of the last days.
Many cult believers might respond to me saying, “oh, but Jesus went to earth in flesh and will come back in flesh as a child and a new creature, because Jesus spoke in parables” Once again people misinterpret the timing and place when and where Jesus spoke a parable. Jesus spoke in parables to his disciples and along with all the other people (in the temples or outside the temples) who were curious what Jesus had to say; but when Jesus spoke to his disciples he didn’t want to hide the knowledge from them, he would say, “I tell you the truth…” In Matthew 24:35, Jesus explains the signs of the end of age to his disciples and he said in verse 2, “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” Throughout the whole chapter, Jesus spoke to his disciples not in parables; he made his message clear about the signs of the end of age by saying, “I tell you the truth…”
CNN video “Greater than Jesus”
FOX News
Pretty scary huh? This so called “Jesus” made me so mad! So in return, I’m going to lay out all his statements and respond to it.
Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda said the following statements
• “I can’t die”
• “The true gospel is found in the letters of Paul”
• “I am Man Christ Jesus”
• “We don’t believe in sin, we don’t believe in the devil, we don’t believe in that such a place like hell”
• The commandments of God are, “Only good for the society but not for the kingdom of God”
• “He said, ‘I will appear for the second time without relationship to sin.’ I do greater things than Jesus of Nazareth.”
• When his followers get wild he said, “Sometimes it gets out of hand because of the other people….they get wild, not us.”
Now it’s my turn
• If Miranda can not die even if someone tried to kill him, why does he have nine bodyguards?
• Now he said the truth is found in the letters of Paul. So why does he cite other gospels, verses, and letters if according to him, these gospels are false? I will further explain in the other bullets.
• “I am Man Christ Jesus.” Well the real Jesus says in Matthew 24:23 “At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect – if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time.” Now, Miranda might say to me, “But those gospels are not true; only the letters of Paul.” Okay then, I will play by your rules.
• “We don’t believe in sin, we don’t believe in the devil, we don’t believe in that such a place like hell.” This is a very easy statement to tackle, and I will do it in Paul’s letters. 1. Sin - Galatians 5:16 “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” 2. Devil – Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s scheme.” 3. Hell – Honestly, there isn’t a verse that has the word “hell” in Paul’s letters, but if he believed in a devil, then he must have believed that the devil belongs in a place. Also, I will use Galatians 5:16 again, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious… I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” If these people do not live according to God’s rule, then where will they go?
• Now if the commandments of God are only good for the society, and not for the people of God, then why do Paul and every other apostles stress the issue to have faith and good deeds? Romans 6:13, “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.”
• “I will appear for the second time without relationship to sin. I do greater things than Jesus of Nazareth.” You are the second coming Christ? Give us a break! The scriptures say that he will come down from heaven. You are greater than Jesus? For it is written in John 13:16, “I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.” Jesus never said he was greater than his Father, even when they were one in the same. Miranda said that he is greater than Jesus – this is not Christ-like. If Miranda had revelations from Jesus that he was unified with him, he wouldn’t say that he was greater than his master. Also, in Romans 5:6, Paul says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” My brothers and sisters in Christ, nothing is greater than the love and sacrifice that Jesus did for us upon that cross. For his blood brought light into our souls and thus we can be free and live joyfully in Christ Jesus.
• When his followers become violent, he said, “Sometimes it gets out of hand because of the other people….they get wild, not us.” No matter which side has the fault, true children of God will not persecute people in violent matters, or any other matter that will offend God.
“Destructive religious cults are about fear, about control, about deception, about manipulation, and about making the leader wealthy and not about serving the down toddle and the poor” says cult expert Steve Hassan. It is truly amazing how someone can proclaim themselves God or a prophet and gain so many follows in an instant. I take the example of the recent news, Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, because he has truly mastered the art of twisting scriptures so that the teachings he has proclaim to be true may blind many people in believing he is Jesus.
About 100,000 believers would just about give anything to this man; for example, businesses, all their earnings, their houses, and the most valuable of all - their heart, mind, and strength. They ask you to give up everything you cherish such as you’re family, and friends; because of this outcome families have divided amongst each other. There has been many testimonies of how wives have lost their husbands, husbands losing their wives, children going against their parents, and friendships being broken into pieces; it has damaged everyone who has been involved in these cults.
Instead of preaching love, cult groups preach separation amongst themselves and falsehood.
On Feb.18th Sunday morning, my brother in Christ Juan Carlos told me that Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda influenced the Growing in Grace congregation to get a tattoo - number of the beast “666.” I was shocked...
Miranda preaches that he is the Antichrist
CNN video "666"
The videos are self-explanatory, and may God have mercy on them. How far will one man go to deceive so many people?
You see, many cult groups claim to have the absolute truth. The biggest mistake that anyone can do is to accept what they say and not researching or questioning these cult groups or any other faith before accepting the faith as “truth”. The world continues to fall into scams; a constant repetition of different doctrines to allure believers and unbelievers to deception and leaving them disappointed in the end. The world will repeat this cycle if they lack the knowledge of scriptures and history. But one can avoid deception and falsehood if one stop and think about it – very simple. As the philosopher Socrates said, “the unexamined life in not worth living.” In better words for this subject matter, the unexamined history and scripture interpretations are not worth following.
Just to add, Romans 6:15 says, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!”
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