Reagan Reflects

  I’m not sure if I really have to clarify this or if everyone is just in denial about it, but there is only one true God. Whether I believe it or refuse to acknowledge it. He has been here, now, then, and forever.  He has dupes and temu versions of him. It’s just not the same. How do I know? Because people have tried since the beginning of time to replace him, or pretend not to hear his voice, nothing compares. I was reading the Book of 1 Kings, and I really see why He is the one true God. The new king and queen of Israel, Queen Jezebel (not the same Jezebel I checked) and King Ahab, ruled over the kingdom. Jezebel convinced her husband to worship the idol Baal, and it eventually spread to the entire kingdom, and they were all worshipping Baal. All except one man, Elijah. Elijah believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and encouraged others around him to get back to the God of our ancestors. They were so convinced that Baal was god that they didn’t believe them. So E...

  The Prodigal Son is one of the most popular parables Jesus told. I’m sure as I’m writing this, someone is right now preaching about the exact same thing. Just in case you don’t know, the prodigal son goes like this: A man had two sons. One of the sons came to him and said, “ Father, give me all that was promised to me. His father gives him his share, and the boy leaves for another country. He spends his entire fortune buying houses and friends, and once all the money is gone, so are all his friends and the things he bought. He was forced to work in the pig pen and ate what the pigs ate. Sitting in the pen, he decides that being a servant to his father is better because at least he would eat better food. He goes to his father and tells him he will be his servant. His father then rejoices and tells his servants to give him the best robe, ring, and to give him the best calf. He later throws a celebration to celebrate his son being alive. I know that's not the entire parable, but I’m...

  The number one question that people ask Christians is: How is Christianity different from other religions? What you choose to believe vs what is actually true are 2 different things. But every time I hear this question, it makes me think about the Christian doctrine. I call it that because when doing research on it, I come across an extensive amount of similarities with Judaism as a whole. (Other religions as well, but I'm discussing Judaism because that’s the main one.) Reading the bible, you'll notice that a lot of the laws and holidays they celebrate, we also observe. We bring up commandments that were given to the people of Israel during theOld Testamentt. The sabbath rest, for example. It is argued by many theologians whether or not Christians should observe the sabbath.  The sabbath was allegedly broken by Jesus, in the book of Matthew, to feed his hungry disciples. The Pharisees were enraged because he was “ breaking the sabbath. Jesus reminds them of the time David ...

  While listening to a podcast, I heard them talking about when sin first entered the world. FYI, it's in Genesis 3. Instead of reading just Genesis 3, I read 2 chapters before, and dare I say, I’m impressed with God. There was no perception of time, and no one was rushing. Hi,m and he still got it done in 7 days. No, 6 sorry. He rested on the 7th. Can you even imagine? I sure can’t. I attend school 5 days a week and need 2 months of recovery. Anyway, I got to Genesis 3 and I ended it a little confused. Here's what I comprehended: Serpent chats it up with Eve, gets her to eat the fruit, she gives some to Adam, they both find out they were naked, God catches them in 4k, curses the serpent, punishes Adam & Eve, makes them clothes, and sends them away. The thing I didn’t fully understand is what Adam did wrong. The only reason he ate the fruit was that his wife gave it to him. I re-read it, I wanna say 5 times before I fully understood the entire message. First things first, l...

  When people discuss evangelism, they often reference the seed analogy, highlighting the idea that you plant the seed and God will water it. This usually concludes the sermon, leaving listeners feeling good and motivated. However, I find this explanation lacking because there is so much more to it. A seed cannot just be planted anywhere; it requires specific conditions to grow. If it were easy for seeds to thrive, we would see them flourishing everywhere.  Instead the McDonald’s is flourishing everywhere. A seed needs good soil, a pot, water, and sunlight; it's not as simple as just planting it and watching it grow. As Jesus explained in Matthew 13, the seed thrives in a rich environment.  Moreover, growing a seed involves consistent care and attention. This includes adding compost and nurturing it, perhaps even singing a worship song to it (although, like me, not everyone is blessed with the voice of an angel).  The point I want to make is that when you share the g...

  As I mentioned in a previous article, I believe power can make people more prone to corruption and even lead them to do foolish things. I then brought up the idea that parenting is becoming kind of like that. And people just slowly fall into the pattern of we’ll never understand, so we shouldn't question it. No one understands rocket science, but people still gave it a crack… Anyway, I looked into power and corruption, and it's almost exactly linked to parenting, in the biblical sense. The Pharisees in the New Testament literally just made crap up so they would still have power; they wanted to play God. ( Matthew 23). Some people in the bible decided it would be okay to do things “ because they said so”. Pharaoh is a great example, enslaving people because he was afraid they’d become too powerful. ( Exodus 5-12) Hm. But that’s a really interesting example if you apply it to what's happening currently. But that’s a whole other article.  Now, let me clarify, I’m not trying ...