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No Greater Love
The Love of God Romans 8: 31, 35 -39 (NASB) .. If God is for us, who is against us? Who will separate us from the Love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the Love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. See the forgiving God

If a loving God exists, then it is important to you. How many minutes, hours or days of your life is it worth investigating? I challenge you to take the advice of the philosopher Blaise Pascal who proposes the following question "What would belief cost you if you are right and the church is wrong".

How much time would you give to examine issues that could be important to your life?

I would even make the question less burdensome by posing Pascal's Wager in another way. I will not ask you to believe. "What would investigating these claims cost you if you were right and the church was wrong?"
How much time would you give to examine the issues that could be important to your life?
Being right might be inconvenient, but being wrong will be deadly.
What will you lose by considering the claims of God for a reasonable period of time. I am relying on the fact that it is God himself who will help you see clearly, not any argument that I can make. I am just here to facilitate a discussion between you and God. I urge you to make no pre-determined opinions, make no demands or set no unreasonable time limits. You cannot say to God "I will give you a week to prove yourself". You have more respect for other relationships. Why not give this one a chance? What could you lose?

Being right might be inconvenient being wrong will be deadly.

Just gather the evidence, but be willing to be obedient to what God reveals of himself.
Finally, do not act from fear or guilt, act from love. He has feelings too. I promise you one thing. God has stated that he has given every one a "measure of faith" - a reason to believe, to start thinking about him. Romans 1: 19 says because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them . He has given you what you need. He wants everyone to have eternal life. He challenges you to reason with him, to question but to search honestly. You can reject him if you want to. But I guarantee that you will not be able to deny that he has touched you.

God's Knowledge of the Future
Who is like Me? ... let them declare the things that are coming and the events that are going to take place ... Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there any God besides Me? Or is there any other Rock; I know of none.” (Isaiah 44: 6-8)

Future Events
The prophecies show three converging forces at the end time. The United States as the number one financial and political power. The Christian Church controlling the governments of the world. The neo-pagan, spiritual based movements. Supporting all of them will be the dragon - the forces of darkness. Here are some bold predictions and provocative questions: The European nations will attempt to unite in many ways, but will never again be one political united nation under peaceful conditions. The European nations will give political power to the church for a very brief time. But it will not last. Where does the Christian Right, the Moral Majority or the Catholic Coalition fit in? What about the Ecumenical movement? How can there be unity with such divergent beliefs? Everyone will make a decision about the Christian religion. This will occur after a powerful supernatural delusion. The United States of America will be the last economic and political power. It will become a dragon, using its power to support its aims. Politicians will be forced to turn to the church as an answer to problems that they are unable to solve. Unfortunately, the political church will not be the solution, it will be the catalyst to the end. The Catholic Church and Protestant Church of America will dominate world leaders and their decisions. The United States of America will pass laws supporting and then enforcing religion in the United States and then around the World. See why some of you will agree to it and some of you will not care. Considering the Muslim religion this is a bold statement. But it was only a few years ago that I was unwilling to see the collapse of the Soviet Union in my life time even though I knew the prophecies predicted the United States as the last political and economic power. Events can, and will change suddenly. Fear will drive us. Fearful natural, supernatural and man-made events. The end will come at a time when the European nations exist, the United States is the Super Power, the Protestant churches in The United States can control politics, the Catholic Church has influence on the United States Government and in worldwide politics and the government has the ability to instantly impose economic sanctions on an individual basis. It might sound as if I am quoting today's news. But this is the prediction we have been making for over 150 years. And you are now living in it! All these forces have converged, they have the power and infrastructure that they need. The final struggle will not be about nations, it will be about enforced religion brought about by fear and terror. Appeasing God will be seen as the only solution left for our problems. We will not be able to solve our problems by money, power, weapons, social systems or intellect.

One of God's characteristics is His omniscience. He knows all. With detailed accuracy He described nations and leaders and events. There is nothing equal in any other religious system. His prophecies do not fail.
Because the prophecies are so detailed and accurate, some people try to question when they were written. People have speculated that Daniel must have been written after the fact... or at least someone tampered with the writing. But long after the book has been written the events are still unfolding in minute detail.
Others question the interpretation. "It could mean anything". Not quite. The prophecies of Nostradamus might be like that but there is truly not that much variation in the interpretation of biblical prophecies.
It is our hope to use His prophecies to show that there is none like Him. We will journey through history and prophecy to show His foreknowledge demonstrated through the prophecies. His patience and His great Love are demonstrated through His actions.
We will see His plan of salvation acted out through the Hebrew Sanctuary and Feasts and we will show how God works in history to protect and to suffer with His people and how He will at last vindicate His people, His government and His judgments.
His foreknowledge will be demonstrated through the amazing fulfillment of prophecies recorded by Daniel and John (in the book of Revelation) - hundreds, and in some cases prophesied thousands of years before the events took place.

The Love of God - He is Forgiving
"for Christ came not into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved"

Most people's problem with Christianity is Christians. The good ones are too good to be true. The bad ones are "just like the rest of us". And the ones in between ... well ... I do not like them either, they do not seem to represent anything loving or attractive. But I have learned that God still considers them (us) His people. So no matter how much we misrepresent Him there is still something about Him that you can learn from us. Once you realize the problem that God and His Church faces you will come to realize that even this too is the work of the destroyer who is trying to do anything to discredit God. The Bible says "we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places ...". Ephesians 6:12 (KJV)

The battle is for your mind and a propaganda war is an effective tool. So look past these things and try to find God. He is trying with all His heart to find you.

We are Human
Christian's are caught in a dilemma. It is called humanity. They cannot find a way to love the sinner, without wanting to beat the sin out of them. On the other hand, the world cannot accept that we can care about them without having to accept their "sins". Christ could walk this delicate balance. He saved a prostitute from being stoned to death. And at the same time He accomplished three things:

- He managed to make her accusers understand that even though they might think that their sins were better than hers, that they were all still sinners in the same boat.
- He told her that if she has no accusers, that He did not accuse her either.
- He told her not to sin anymore. Start over!

This is the God I know. He hates sin. But loves sinners. So how does He reconcile the two. Forgiveness! This is followed by transformation, if you are willing and patient.

It is God's responsibility to help us overcome sin. Our only task is to say "I am willing to let you do it"

Does this mean that we can go on sinning, because God is patient, loving "not willing that any should perish". No! There we go again! Double talk! No. The truth is that God himself says that it is His responsibility to help us to overcome sin. We can not do it ourselves no matter how hard we try. A few of us may, with will power, over come smoking and drinking and malicious gossip - while some struggle with a box of ice cream. But none of us on our own can get to the goodness that God inspires. You see, even a good man will do good deeds for good people, relatives and innocent strangers. But it takes a character like God to consistently love his enemies.
"Love your enemies, do good to those who deliberately persecute you, use you and despise you".

But most people want to see instant results. We want proof that the Holy Spirit is working in you. And we just do not know why you cannot understand. We worry about symptoms not causes. We try to do a job God specifically assigns to himself. All God asks us to do is to love and care for each other. Everyone, friends, family and enemies. God wants us to forgive and forget each other's mistakes. Never bring the past up. Allow each other to move on and be free of guilt.

We are Helpless - In Need of Forgiveness.
Deep in their hearts, people know that they are doing wrong because God convinces them. If not tonight, then after the hangover in the morning. But sooner or later you realize that what you are doing does not lead to peace.

Deep in our hearts we know something is wrong, because God convinces us

Some of you will deny that. But that is because you have a supporting network. People and philosophies around you that will reassure you that everything is OK. But in your solitude you wonder. I know you do. Because God is unwilling for you to leave Him. So He approaches you ... not with guilt ... but with the sense that what you have is not enough. What you are is incomplete. Something is missing. That's when God can fill you with peace, not guilt and say "start over!"
God keeps throwing our sins in a big black hole, He closes His eyes, turns His back on it and yet people keep dredging it up and bring it up time after time, year after year. God says if you do not forgive each others sins what am I going to do with them? If you cannot have compassion for each other, how can you believe in Me, a stranger you have not seen.
We need forgiveness, not condemnation. And right now this is what God offers - forgiveness - with the power to overcome sin.

We secretly hope that God does not exist, but if he does that he is just like us.

We Hope that God is Like Us
In these days people lean to one mistake after another. On the one hand they want love and acceptance but the unchangeable Law of God gets in the way. So they ignore it, hoping that IF God exists and IF he is loving, he will overlook these things. On the other hand, others see the slippery slope on which we are living when we change the standards of the church to let the world fit in on their terms. So they try their best to shame, plead and argue with others about behavior. Well these are not "Church standards" these are God's standards. He can no easier change them than He can His love for you. So what's missing?
The church needs to realize that it cannot make up its own laws nor change the laws of God to become attractive to the world. The sinner needs to understand that what they do is sin - no matter how much it seems natural to them. But it is precisely because these things are natural inclinations why God says changing you is His work, not ours, not yours.
What is our part? To be willing to accept the change. And part of this acceptance is acknowledging that what we do is not God's ideal. These things will not survive in heaven. The self-righteous need to exercise more patience and less judgment. But do we change the standards? Never! We continue to love each other more. We continue to love God even more.

We Hate the God in the Old Testament
But you say, look at that vicious God in the old testament. And I say look at that patient, loving God in the Old Testament .
For a long time I used to avoid the Old Testament just because I read the ending of the story and not the rest. I suggest you do the same. Read it with out any comment or opinion. What did I find? I found a God who was the equivalent of a rich, young, handsome, powerful king who fell in love with and old, haggard, toothless prostitute. He acted as if she were the most beautiful and the only girl in the world. Seriously! It was pitiful to watch. God was patient. When he acted it took hundreds of years and plenty of bribery, warnings and special treatment, but nothing happened. He finally weeps when his people or the other nations around (they are his people too) have to be given up to their choices.

God told his prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute so that he could demonstrate his love for his people through their marriage. She remained a prostitute throughout the marriage. None of their children belonged to him. Yet, he remained faithful - and loving.

God loves his Church. Maybe, if you can look past the harsh exterior you will find the nugget of gold that God sees in us.

God told Abraham that he would have compassion on Sodom and Gomorrah if he could find 50 righteous people, then 40, 30, 20 10. But Abraham stopped bargaining at 10, but if he had said "one" God would have responded, "If I can find one righteous person I will not destroy the city". This was a city where rape of all kinds and victimization was openly condoned. But if he could only find one good person in 100,000 he would be merciful.
This leads me to another fact. Exasperating, though we are. God loves his Church. We are like a crusty old, grey and tan clam shell but inside we have a jewel, a pearl of wisdom that we know about God. And if you can get past the crusty, ugly exterior, you might find a kernel of truth in us that God can use to inspire you.

A Reason to Love God
Other religions and philosophical systems leave it up to you to work it out. Whether you believe in karma, reincarnation, works, survival of the fittest, a bottle, drugs, natural instincts whatever helps you make sense of the world at the moment. In the end it is your own responsibility. You get back what you put in. Well God says you cannot do it by yourself, you are like a two day old baby trying to understand the theory of relativity. It will not happen. So since you are helpless, it is his responsibility as a parent. But you must cry when you are hungry. Ask for his help. He will not force you.
So what stops us from sinning. God certainly does not want it to be because you are afraid of him or because you are following rules.

God wants you to stop sinning because you are in love with him.

Rules are good, they describe what sin is. They help to keep order and help you to know what is acceptable or not. But rules will not affect motives. You see, God wants you to stop sinning because you are in love with him. Not because you are following rules, or because you want to go to heaven. You will stop sinning when you hate sin as much as he does. When you realize that every sin caused him deep anguish. When you are as broken hearted as he is. When you love him back unconditionally.
What about an eternal burning hell? Well you can read what the Bible really has to say about hell. But to get the full picture about God and the problems with this world you will also have to understand his problem, his plan of salvation and his judgments. But I am telling you - do not fear them. Do not be afraid of Him.

In Perspective - Our Problem
As you study all the topics you will learn that you cannot do anything to go to heaven, you cannot bribe God. You cannot change yourself. You have to depend on God.
How can we think about ourselves? Imagine yourself as a baby (three months old), sin is the diaper that needs changing. You have a normal loving parent. Get the picture?

No doubt about it! A baby cannot change its diaper. We also cannot change our selves. On our own we cannot be what God sees for us. God says "I know the plans that I have for you ... to give you a future and a hope"

Now, your sappy parents think you are the best in the world. There is no other baby quite like you. This begins to tell why God's love is unconditional. What normal person could not love their three month old baby? Your diaper stinks. It needs changing. Despite what you do you keep making a mess and you cannot change your self. Those ten long things that periodically come into focus and slap you in the face seem useless. They are not even good appetizers. Your fingers just do not work. You do not even know that they can be trained for this purpose. You cannot walk. You cannot get all the things you need to cleanup after yourself. It is your parent's responsibility to change you.
Now, you could alert them to the fact that you need changing or feeding by crying. That's all you can do. You cannot make your parents love you. You cannot give them anything to make them love you more. You cannot help yourself. All you can do is cry out for help.
This is the state that God says you are in. No matter how many Nobel prizes you have earned. No matter how smart you are. You are helpless. You are His baby.
Now, weakness is not a bad thing. No more than a baby can help being weak at three months old. It only makes God pour out his compassion on you even more.
Will you make the decision to accept that you are his son or daughter? He is hoping that you will. He wants you safely home.

How to Study
So, how much time would you give to examine issues that could be important to your life?
I asked you to give God a chance, to investigate his claims. This cannot be done in a day or a week.

| Prayer "Come to me all who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest"

Dear God. I do not know who you are. Most times I do not want to know. But if you exist, help me to understand. Help me to love you of my own free will. Thank you.
I also want you to take a reasonable approach and to investigate facts that you can on your own. A reasonable approach means that you spend a reasonable amount of time on each subject. Commit to 1 hour per week. Remember, form no opinions, make no judgments. It is the body of evidence, your commitment to do a reasonable inquiry and the work of the Holy Spirit that is the key.
Following is a suggested method of study. I will assume that you do not like God and want to find any reason not to believe. So here goes.
A Relationship with God - Always remember that under no circumstances should you ever be afraid of God. Start each study with a prayer. Then choose to follow the topics in the order presented below. It is more important for you to understand yourself and to understand God than to marvel at His prophecies. His best characteristic is His loving nature not His ability to see the future. He is a powerful, but a gentle person.
If you are willing to act on what God convinces you then state so at this point. If you are unwilling to listen to God even if he were to appear in front of you, then admit that also. Do not read this to find reasons not to believe. Do not even read this to find reasons to believe. Read this because you are telling God that if he exists and if he cares about you, you are willing to examine the evidence. What you decide to do at the end is your decision. I hope that it will be a decision made between two best friends.

Topic | Study Time | Web Location | What will you learn
--- | --- | --- | ---
Check Point | Know yourself, your expectations | What do you fear about God and why? What do you think you have to give up and why? What would you give up and why? What would you not give up and why? What would you do if you discovered a wonderful, powerful God? Write down these things in a journal, whatever you feel.
Rules | 30 Minutes | Methodology Conventions | Since you are skeptical, we ought to operate on reasonable ground rules. Make a note of things that are one-sided in the methodology so that you can go back over them. Read about the WEB site conventions and the resources so that you know how to find your way around the topics.
The Unseen World | 1 Hour | God, Satan, God's problem | If God is so good and powerful why does evil exist? I will agree that whatever you learn here is an assumption. It cannot be proven by scientific means. However, I offer this as a reason to explain why things are the way they are. Why God acts in certain ways. I want you to get the big picture.
The Bible | 1 Hour | The Bible | Since we assume that this is authentic. Read about it's history and changes.
The Love of God | 1 Hour | Love | How does God demonstrate his love. Forgiveness
Doctrines | 2 Hours | Issues | Read about some doctrines and issues such as faith.
Check Point | Review | Now that we have covered some housekeeping information review the assumptions and attitudes, adjust your expectations.
Sanctuary | 3 Hours | The Plan | Now learn about the institutions that God set up to teach humans about what he is trying to do.
Prophecy | 12 Hours | Daniel | Daniel 2, 7, 8 and 9 Only. Now we are getting into the realm of evidence. If the Prophecy of the Messiah does not raise your eyebrows, nothing else will
The Love of God | 1 Hour | Love | How does God demonstrate his love - he is a friend to his enemies
Hell Judgment | 1 Hour | Hell judgment | Controversial aspects of God's action. Read about Hell and the Judgment.
Check Point | Review | Did I go astray from the methodology. Is it reasonable. Did we make any assumptions that were too unreasonable. Does God now seem unreasonable? Do you think that you could possibly understand him?
The Love of God | 1 Hour | Love | How does God demonstrate his love. A Servant who was willing to sacrifice himself for his enemies
Doctrines | 2 Hours | The Law | Read about some other doctrines such as the Eternal Covenant.
In depth Study | Unknown | Main Menu | Start from the Main Menu and go through each item in order. You can skip over "History" until you get to the end. Because you will probably read most of it as you go through the prophecies.
The Love of God | 1 Hour | Love | How does God demonstrate his love. With tender loving care and compassion. How will the loss of people affect him. He will always grieve over you.
Next Steps | Your response | Pray, from your heart. Read about How to become a Christian. Then Contact us.

After the preliminary study above, go back over the rest of the site through the main menu and read each topic in detail. You must read the Sanctuary before you read the prophecies.

Convention and Methodology
To provide an orderly forum for a discussion we will adhere to a consistent convention for presenting the material and a conservative methodology for interpreting scripture. The methodology is based on how God interpreted Daniel.
Take the site tour to see what is available, look at the site map to see an overview of the topics so that you can get the 'big picture'.

Summary
There is only one God, YHWH (the personal God, the one who wants to approach you one-on-one) and he has one son Jesus Christ. YHWH states that He himself is Love in mental, physical and spiritual form. He is the source of Love, the Teacher of Love, the Example of Love. Christ created the universe and allowed us to share in this great Love of God by making the first human beings, Adam and Eve. Great love requires great risk and great sacrifice. So when God created us, he gave us freedom to choose. God did not interfere with this choice of Adam and Eve to disobey even though their choice meant a death sentence for their innocent unborn children.

God demonstrates his love through his sacrifice. If through one man's disobedience (Adam), sin and death would enter the world, then is fair that through the obedience of one Man (Jesus Christ) life could be returned to the creation. But while the consequences of Adam's choice are acquired through inheritance, God's solution can only be acquired through acceptance. It is a gift. And as a gift it must be received to be enjoyed. This gift gave us the rights of adoption, and as adopted children - heirs to the riches of God.

God also demonstrates his power through his ability to predict the future, unlike other religions. Hundreds of years before the event, God tells his prophets about a series of kingdoms that will impact the life of his people from Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, Europe and the United States of America as the final super power. He predicts that the Messiah would be killed while his people were under the rule of the Iron Kingdom (Rome). He also predicts the exact year of the baptism and death of the Messiah (Jesus Christ). And if you understood the sanctuary system you could have predicted the day and the hour of his death!
Finally, he tells of an apostasy starting within the Christian Church even during the time of the disciples. This system of the Anti-Christ would gain - then lose power and finally rise up one last time to attempt to crush his people with the assistance of the political powers at the end.
Current actions by the Muslim world, their alliance with the Pope and the threatened global instability caused by hatred of the United States might well be the door through which the United states will be forced to deal with the papacy on their terms. Although the Muslims see a world dominated by their religion, prophecy states something else - it will be a Catholic Christian domination enforced by the United States and its European allies.
The remarkable thing about these prophecies is that God shows that the final danger to his church and the final crisis at the end is not through wars or "rumors of wars" or famine or pestilence or earthquake but from within the church itself.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Hosea 4: 6 | Time: 25 minutes Print: 8 pages
Copyright Updated : May 18, 2002 Credits: Author: Laverna Patterson. Editor: Thanks to my pastor for those wonderful sermons about the love of God. For teaching me that every detail is important to God.