My Thoughts On Psalm 82

This week I'm reprinting a blog entry from Wesley Baines on the topic, "Do other gods exist?" (His views do not necessarily represent my personal opinion on this subject.) 

"Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me." Isaiah 43:10

The words of God to the Prophet Isaiah are unequivocal. Throughout the Bible, God declares Himself the one and only God of all creation. But the fact that scripture mentions other gods would seem to contradict His words. There is, in fact, a vast amount of scriptural evidence that there are many such “gods”.

The confrontation between Moses and the Egyptian sorcerers is, perhaps, the most visible example. Exodus 7:10-12 reads, “So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts. Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.”

The question is this: how did the Egyptian sorcerers perform real magic?

The Battle of Gettysburg - 50th Anniversary Reunion

In April 1908, General H. S. Huidekoper, a Philadelphia native who lost his right arm at Gettysburg in 1863, suggested a fitting semi centennial observance of the three-day battle to Pennsylvania Governor Edwin S. Stuart.

Stuart, who presented the idea to the state’s General Assembly in January 1909 and established the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg Commission later that year, envisioned a reunion of Union and Confederate soldiers that would be talked about for years to come. “Other States, both north and south, whose sons fought at Gettysburg, will surely co-operate in making the occasion one that will stand foremost in the martial history of the world,” he said.

With assistance from the War Department, the Commission helped prepare Gettysburg, a town of 4,500, for the 100,000 visitors (about half of them non-veterans) expected to attend the reunion. The official celebration would be held from July 1 (Veteran’s Day) to July 4.

Cat VS Dog

 

What Happens After We Die?

Benjamin Franklin said, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” His words, though slightly humorous, remind us of a very real truth: One of the things we all have in common is that everyone dies.

At one time or another, most people wonder what will happen when they die. Death feels frightening and mysterious, and perspectives on what happens and what it means vary significantly.

Yet, the Bible teaches that God has set eternity in the hearts of humans (Ecclesiastes 3:11). This is one of the main reasons why death makes us sad; we were not created to die. That is why there are many passages in the Bible that make it clear we do not cease to exist when our earthly bodies die. Here are five questions the Bible answers about death:

Where Do People Spend Eternity?

Heaven or Hell. The Bible teaches that there are only two choices: eternity with God or eternity separated from God, often referred to as heaven and hell. From an eternal standpoint, to be present in one is to be absent from the other. The choice of where you will reside in eternity is the greatest question you will face in this life. 

"And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?" (Mark 8:36)