Not Religious?

Phew! Neither am I. Religion, by definition, means 'to bind'. Traditionally, what it has meant is: "To bind to an abstract rule set.".  Many times, in many cultures, -- those rules are vague, unfair, illogical & do not discern between acts that harm others vs. acts that merely break some 'rule'.  For the most part, "religion" is evil - and that evil is obvious by what it DOES, (not by what it proclaims) -- for it often espouses the very opposite message of how it acts.  Jesus pointed that out, and the religious establishment of his day conspired to kill him.  So much for institutionalized "religion".  It always seems to gravitate toward evil attracting the power-hungry, manipulative & psychopathic personalities among us to its leadership.  Yeshua pointed that out (read Matthew 23 in the Bible).  God's way is better -and while the world may call it a "religion"; -genuine Christianity that follows the Biblical pattern of obedience to God is a very different thing because of how it BEHAVES ("By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another." -Jesus {Jn 13:35}).  It is important to make this distinction - because there are many who claim to be Christian and are NOT.

However, not being "RELIGIOUS" does not equate to being faithless.  As a matter of fact, the Scriptures record Jesus stating that the greatest faith he found was not in Israel among his own people, -but from a Roman Soldier who requested that Jesus heal his "Beloved Servant" (Doulos-Pais).  "And a certain captain had a servant who was very dear to him; this servant was ill and near to death. And when news of Jesus came to his ears, he sent to him rulers of the Jews, requesting that he would come and make his servant well. And they, when they came to Jesus, made their request warmly, saying, It is right for you to do this for him, because he is a friend to our nation, and himself has put up a Synagogue for us. And Jesus went with them. And when he was not far from the house, the man sent friends to him, saying, Lord, do not give yourself trouble: for I am not worthy enough for you to come into my house: And I had the feeling that I was not even good enough to come to you: but say the word only, and my servant will be well. For I, myself, am a man under authority, having men under me; and I say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it.  And when these things were said to Jesus, he was surprised, and, turning to the mass of people coming after him, said, I have not seen such great faith, no, not in Israel! And when those who were sent came back to the house they saw that the servant was well." - Luke 7  Yeah, the greatest faith Jesus said he found came from a guy outside of the faith of the very group of people Jesus came to save, and that man happened to be g0y!  See, at the time it was the practice of ranking officers in the Roman army to "draft" a teenage guy into service to help with responsibilities.  The drafted guys were almost slave status -at least in the eyes of Roman law.  You can imagine what went on behind closed tent "doors" - which is one reason why the reputation of the Romans was so detested by the Jews.  In the particular account recorded, we have an example of a soldier who had a servant -- but one that was "very dear" to him. The Greek is "ENTEEMOS" which translates as More-Noble.  Combined with "DOULOS PAIS", a picture begins to emerge that this was no ordinary soldier/servant relationship.  For the soldier to have sought out this "Jesus" was remarkable in itself -- humbling himself (a Roman soldier) before a Jewish guy who had himself taken on the role of a servant!  See, a hardened soldier would have simply drafted another guy to replace the one dying.  However, there was a bond between this soldier & his "servant" that went deeper than the social customs of that day.  After all, while this servant was ill, who was taking care of him?  The soldier was.  Another hint at the relationship is when the soldier said that he was not worthy to have Jesus in his house.  This is a humble, veiled way of saying that he did not keep a nice "Jewish" household.  There was probably only one bed -- if you get the picture.  However,  Jesus did not pry for more information (he already knew) ... neither did he judge nor condemn the relationship because - it becomes obvious that it was not an exploitative relationship.  What he did do was comment on the man's faith (I suspect with a 'wink of understanding') & the servant was healed (from some sickness about to kill him).  I also note that the soldier did not have the 'sickness' himself (ergo: no anal-sex in that tent, hence the soldier did not catch what his servant had).  G0ys in the military?  Yup.  2000+ years ago!                

Obviously, mere-religion has usually done an extremely BAD job of portraying God.  Why?  Well, the ignorance & prejudices of men get in the way.  As a matter of fact, this is such a problem that if you read the Scriptures, you'll find that God's solution to doing things the right way is to inhabit the body of the people who are willingly yielded to him, & do the job Himself!  This theme of "possessed by God" is recurrent throughout the Hebrew Scripture as the primary means where God's will gets done.  Problem is, too many people who claim to follow him are not Possessed by Him.  Instead, these rebels insist things like "we have the whole Bible" with which to figure things out.  If that was so easy, why are there hundreds -- if not thousands of religious sects all claiming to be the "way" based on their Biblical interpretations?  According to their own Bibles, FACTIONS are a manifestation of fallen humanity & it's shortfalls...which of course, should be self evident in any group trying to accomplish something - when division nullifies their efforts.  

The Apostle Paul wrote about the basic morality built into people -even who were not 'religious'.  This is what he said: "(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law,  since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts accusing, - even defending them.)" - Romans 2.  Those of you who aren't 'religious', but G0Y, have already proven that the requirement of the Law of Moses against Anal-Sex is written on your heart.  You've become a "law unto yourself" in that regard.  That doesn't seem like an oppressive religion to me?  You?  Of course, what does it mean when you violate your own conscience -- break your own rule?  Or, what happens when your conscience is clear, but you've still managed to do the wrong thing -- perhaps unknowingly?  Hmmm? If you know about LAW & JUSTICE, anyone who finds themselves in such a situation has a serious problem.  How can you fix the past? And those dilemmas are what true, grace-centered Christianity actually addresses. 

Where all other "religion" falls short - is in it's complete lack of ability to solve such (ex-post-facto) problems, & the problems spawned in the aftermath.  Religion sets you on a path of busy-work, trying to atone for that which you cannot fix.  Consider it: If you punched someone in the nose & broke it, how does saying 1000 "Hail-Mary's" fix that?  Religion is generally built on lies & fraud.  (However, there is nothing about saying those "Hail-Mary's" in the Scripture to begin with; --So by what authority...)  Remember above where I wrote: "Well, the ignorance & prejudices of men gets in the way."?  What did Jesus himself say about repetitious prayer? "Now when you pray, do not use vain repetitions [or, many meaningless words] like the Heathen, for they suppose that they will be heard by their many words." - Mat 6:7 If Jesus own words show us that the Catholic Church (the largest & oldest sect proclaiming itself 'Christian') members act like a bunch of HEATHENS when they pray, -- this should be a wake-up call about vain 'religion' in general!   To follow Jesus, you need to be willing to lose your religion!  Sound ironic?  Jesus himself said: "You cannot be my disciple, unless you love me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot come with me unless you love me more than you love your own life. " - Luke 14:26 And if there was any hallmark that identified "religion" is the way it tends to become the focus of a person's life.  Following the pattern of Jesus is different. 

Basically, you can strip away the building, books, forms, rituals & externals.  Without those, religion ceases to exist, but a relationship with God is independent of those, anyway.  This is the message Jesus carried. It is written: "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus declared, "Believe me, ... a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." - Jn 4

So then: Jesus himself said that those who worship God no longer need be "in Jerusalem".  That was a profound statement because prior to his coming, the ONLY PLACE to worship the one true God was in Jerusalem!  Ironically, Jesus made it possible to have a relationship with God anywhere you are at -- without needing to be "religious" about it!  For people weary of the endless formalities & demands of "religion", this is great news!  We don't need their stink'n 'program'!

Spirit & Truth.  Faith & Love.  Intangible & unscripted!  It starts with SPIRIT (see Acts 2 -- especially v. 38-39).  As long as Yeshua's Spirit dominates, He leads into all truth.  How do you think G0YS.org happened?


Religion's Giant Blind-Spot:

I wanted to take a few paragraphs to point out & fix a common misconception that people unfamiliar with the Scriptures often assume.  People who do NOT know the Scripture often incorrectly presume that:

The Scriptures testify to something astonishing about the form of our present existence and what God is actually up to.  And I will tell you that anyone who has a background in computer science and object-oriented programming can testify to just how completely rational the explanation is.  As a result, -I will use technology metaphors to explain this in modern terms (And please keep in mind that the metaphors I choose are based on aggregations of my understanding of the Scriptures AND my background in computer science (among other areas of knowledge).  There are some systems of understanding that cannot be realized without substantial education and we have reached a time where these issues can be rearticulated into their telling analogies: "Daniel, I now command you to keep the message of this Book secret until the end of the age..." - Dan 12:4a  We're almost THERE...

Genesis chapter (1) is testimony to a massive IT (Information Technology) project undertaken by God & some astonishing sentient control programs He had created (collectively called Elohim/Angels).  The account gives details the fundamentals the metaphors & symbols easily recognized by any well educated IT engineer:
  • The creation of a data space (Creation Heaven/Earth)
  • The laying of a binary matrix (light/darkness)
  • Naming the variables (Median Level Language)
  • Creation of Complex Interactive Objects ("Let the earth bring forth"...)

The latest research in computing is being done with quantum (light-based) devices. And I mention this because Genesis records the creation act of the universe simply as God saying אור היה "Hy-yah ore" (EXIST LIGHT).  So here we are, in the 21st century and the greatest minds in science agree with a document penned thousands of years ago that says that the universe is made out of light (Multi-phase, multi-frequency, quanta)!

And about God -the Scriptures tell us:

  • He lives in pure light (brighter than the sun & unapproachable)
  • Within him we live & move & have our being

And these ancient statements do not conflict with the best developed scientific quantum models of the day!  Another interesting insight that parallels a computer-analogy for the universe is a statement made in the New Testament about the nature of the universe: "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."  From a computing perspective it also describes an approach to modeling data.  For example, if you select the "VIEW SOURCE" option on your web browser -you'll see the HTML code that frames the layout of this page & contains the instructions to create all the various aspects of it.  Likewise, beneath that code is the programming code that frames how the browser itself functions. Beneath that is the code that the computer's operating systems is built on --and all of that is on a matrix of billions of digital bits which are the 0's & 1's (Light & Darkness) of the entire system ... and that computing model bears no resemblance whatsoever to the hardware of which it is built (--indeed, it is possible that a computer system can be completely emulated in SOFTWARE).  "Precept by precept. Line upon line." - Solomon.

I don't believe that these parallels are merely coincidental -for Genesis makes a commentary about the nature of man: "So God created man in his own image".  And if man is created in God's image, -does it not seem likely that we shall do similar things?  Being the case, should it be any surprise that mankind has embarked on a similar creation project -the creation of virtual universes out of the 'darkness & light' -that is the binary substrate for all modern computing?  VR "Virtual Reality" is only virtual from our side of the screen!  From within the program itself --there- is the perceived "reality" of what has been wrought; -& if we were to endow the CG-Beings that we create in those systems -with knowledge & intellect, --would they not debate OUR VERY EXISTENCE (--as our world would be as nebulous & abstract to them as the concept of "Heaven", "God" & "Angels" are to most people right now).  Perspective is determined by which side of the screen you're on.  

Consider this: For many years, proponents of evolution & atheism have proposed the notion that the creation account is simply not "scientific" --lacking a rational theory or hypothetical model.  I would say their notions are patently (pun) false & easy to dispel by proving the opposite.  Computer science openly glares at their absurdity & willfully blind ignorance!  Consider: we routinely model & test many new inventions in Virtual Reality (inside computer systems) before we attempt to build them in the material world  Even decades ago, -the Boeing 777 super-jet was one example - well-publicized; -Built & tweaked entirely within the Virtual Reality of the computers at Boeing & even test flown in VR before a single piece of sheet metal was formed for the plane in the material world. 

Today -we are years beyond that example & man has found innumerable ways to create, test & even play (image to left) using Virtual Computing Environments.  And the gigantic-irony is that "evolutionists" are now using computer models to try to simulate "evolution"!  So, they sit in the very "chair of creation" while trying to figure out how to make their "earth bring forth the living thing NOT after it's kind".  And they miss the answer - staring at them: If they must 1st create their "life-forms" in VR (by which they will try to get to "evolve" using some set of programming rules); --Why not make the logical leap and skip the "evolutionary process" altogether and design a VR universe populated with life forms of all variety built to order & then call yourself "G0D" over your creation?  Of course, they can't take that logical leap; --because (their time & technical limitations aside) -to do so would be unveil the fact that they are PLAYING GOD with their evolution simulator... and their self imposed paradigm desperately can't admit to the possibility of a universe with a "GOD" in it (-even though they themselves now sit in front of the VERY MODEL they claim "doesn't exist": A CREATION ENGINE!).  

The "IF" of creationism's plausibility HAS been PROVEN with its routine use within computing environments & is no longer the question. PERIOD.  Mankind has created our own version of the heavens based on logic & mathematics; --& we now work on making the VR-"Earth" - in our own image from within the operating environment of computers as need arises (If you saw the movie "AVATAR" or TRON then you know just how complex man can make our virtual worlds within computers).    The only differences between what the Scriptures assert that God did vs. what we (man) are doing are simply matters of SCALE & PROCESS.  "Because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them.  For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made" -Romans 1:19-20a

And I want to stress the fact that the number of parallels to computing principles within the Scripture is astonishing.  Even in the the Book of Revelation (last in Bible), -the city of God is described as a colossal space equivalent to some +27 MILLION square-kilometers spanning 12 levels -each through a specific mineral type (got processor design knowledge?). The writer described each gate as a PEARL.  The streets are said to be made of gold. Balderdash? 
Consider this: BLACK PEARLS are the most valuable pearl-type; -And optical devices that communicate with infrared do so through filters that look like the rounded side of a black-pearl. Coincidence? Furthermore, according to the description: Each gate has a name of a Hebrew tribe above it. Hebrew is a language that assigns numbers for each of its letters.  Anyone familiar with the DNS system in networking understands that names are translated to numbers & vice-versa in that system; -& here is a language (Hebrew) that does so on the fly at the very access-gates of an amazing city!   And what material is used within modern computers to bridge the interface between the CPU itself & the outside? Pure GOLD!  Likewise: Gold streets 1500+ kilometers long are not designed for walking on. It would take nearly forever to get between points! No. Gold is the material used because it's the best electrical conductor known and transit between points in that city is done THROUGH the gold at near-light speeds -which is why the Scriptures describe that gold as "clear as glass".  This is also why the Scriptures describe the resurrected body as so substantially different & advanced. Got quantum mechanics in your design?  How's your grasp of materials science? 

I have a single goal: To get you to think big thoughts along these lines so that in doing so you can see that the Hebrew-Christian Scriptures constitute plausible & rational explanations regarding the origin and destination of the universe - specifically: man.  It truly is the greatest story ever told & absolutely brilliant on innumerable levels. The thing that matters most for you is IF you have established a lawful means for God to recover your personal-data & do the required critical patches to it when he finally says: "I am making all things new!" and reboots the universe (& proponents of an oscillating universe theory are in agreement that a new universe will emerge out of this one after the "big-crunch" -- one with different physical laws). Hello!  "...so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." -God (Isa 55:11)