Is It Right To Abuse Our Planet Earth?

Is it right to abuse our Planet Earth? Is it good to abuse it?

One of my Facebook friends recently took a missionary trip to Honduras. He described what he saw as they went across a bridge that spanned one of the rivers. As he looked down at the river, it was filled with trash, lots of it. There was so much trash that he could barely see the water. I have read of other countries around the world with the same thing happening; trash everywhere. It is polluting their water sources. This happens all the time in areas of poverty.

I know that there are monstrous amounts of garbage congregating in areas of the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans. Look up The Great Pacific garbage patch. It is estimated to be twice the size of Texas and growing rapidly. The same thing is in the Atlantic ocean.

Think about all the things we do that pollute. Strip mining, drilling, manufacturing, poisons to get rid of perceived pests, oil and gas processing, plastics, transportation, even farming and raising domestic animals can pollute. There are so many things when you really think about it.

I’ve been following the scientific discoveries of the planet Mars exploration rovers. From the discoveries they've made, there is evidence that Mars once had oceans, lakes, and rivers. There are areas of the planet that still have frozen water, but most of the surface water is gone. Could Mars have once supported life? Maybe even humans once lived on the planet. Maybe they abused their planet to the point that it became what we see today.

Have you ever thought about what keeps the water on Earth from escaping into outer space? I have read that there is an atmospheric layer that surrounds Earth that does that. It keeps the water from escaping into the vacuum of outer space. I have also read some about that layer being depleted. I don’t know how fast or how much that is happening but it is something to think about. I think that it would be good to find out more about it and if there is something we can do to reverse the process. Could Earth become like Mars? I kind of think that it could if we humans don’t come together, quit doing the things that abuse the planet, and find ways to reverse the destructive process.

All of the developed countries of the world spend massive amounts of money to develop weapons that destroy, each country trying to outdo the others. What a waste. We are so afraid of each other that we think that our weapons will save us when things are happening to our planet that will destroy us if we ignore what is happening.

We keep asking God to fix things. Why would God want to continue helping us when we keep doing the things that work against us?

The following are some things we can do to help reverse our destructive ways:

• We can convert our carbon waste into something useful; Flash Graphene. 
• Replace the fossil fuels with synthetic fuels that burn more efficiently and produce less emissions. Shuttering fossil fuel power plants may cost less than expected
• I just read this article today about plasma ignition "Can Transient Plasma Ignition Save the Internal Combustion Engine?"
• Plasma, one of the four states of mater, is a very interesting topic to study. It has many uses one of which is to get rid of our waste.   INTELLIGENT PLASMA SOLUTIONS FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT

God Hates The Deeds and The Doctrines of the Nicolaitans -- Revelation 2:6 and 15

In the past, I have stumbled across in the Bible where it mentions the Nicolaitans. It is only mentioned twice in the 2nd chapter of Revelation of the New Testament.

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Revelation 2:6 Lexham English Bible (LEB)

^{6  (The Lord speaking)} But you do have this: that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, things which I also hate.

Revelation 2:15-16 Lexham English Bible (LEB)a

¹⁵ So likewise you also have those who hold fast to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶ Therefore repent! But if you do not, I (The Lord) am coming to you quickly, and I will make war with them with the sword from my mouth.

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This morning I was searching for something that was in Revelation chapter 2 but again that name 'Nicolaitans' caught my attention. In the past, I have searched to try and find out who this group is and what are their doctrines or teachings that God hates but never found anything to help me understand. For God to hate something, it is worth trying to find out about it.

So, I searched the internet again and this time I came across a website 'BibleStudy.org' that has made it clearer to me who they are and their doctrines.

Copied from the web site: ""The Greek word for Nicolaitans is Nikolaites (Strong's Concordance #G3531), which is three words combined. Niko or Nikos is defined as "a conquest, victory, triumph, those who are dominate over the defeated." Lai or Laos in the word means people. The "tes" or "ton" of the word simply represents the word "the." Taken together, the word Nicolaitans means the conqueror of the people (which, in this case, is the church of God).""

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2/3/2023 -- I was searching through the Bible this morning and came across some things that Jesus said that I thought fit well with this post. 

Matthew 15:1-20

Lexham English Bible

Human Traditions and God’s Commandments

15 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat a meal.” 3 So he answered and said to them, “Why do you also break the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother must certainly die.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or his mother, “Whatever benefit you would have received from me is a gift to God,” 6 need not honor his father,’ and you make void the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah correctly prophesied about you saying,

8 ‘This people honor me with their lips,

    but their heart is far, far away from me,

9 and they worship me in vain,

    teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

Defilement from Within

10 And summoning the crowd, he (Jesus) said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth—this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” 13 And he answered and said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. 14 Let them! They are blind guides of the blind. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter answered and said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” 16 But he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not understand that everything that enters into the mouth goes into the stomach and is evacuated into the latrine? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these defile the person. 19 For from the heart come evil plans, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, abusive speech. 20 These are the things that defile a person. But eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person!”

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The word Nicolaitans is a symbol or represents those groups within the church who believe or even dictates that the knowledge about Yahweh (Father God) comes down in a hierarchal fashion, from top to bottom. Someone believes they have knowledge about God or interprets scriptures a certain way and that knowledge flows down through the ranks to the people. Catholicism is one example but you can find the same thing happening in the other Christian and non-Christian religions as well. Someone says they know Yahweh and that knowledge gets passed down to the people. Any person (of the people) who believes anything other than what is taught in their church is usually labeled a heretic (one who upsets the status quo).

11/27/19 -- When I woke up this morning I thought about Revelation 2:15 for some reason. I think I have missed the full implication of verse 15. (¹⁵ So likewise you also have those who hold fast to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.) In my mind, I have been putting more weight on the religious leaders, the Nicolaitans, but this verse clearly puts equal weight on the congregation, those who hold fast to the teachings. Holding fast to something means that you're not willing to let it go, not willing to change, not willing to repent.

There will come a time when man shall no longer teach man.

Daniel 2:44 New International Version (NIV)

⁴⁴ “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 

Jeremiah 31:34 Lexham English Bible (LEB)

³⁴ And they will no longer teach each one his neighbor, or each one his brother, saying,^[a] ‘Know Yahweh,’ for all of them will know me, from their smallest^[b] and up to their greatest,”^[c] declares^[d] Yahweh, “for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will no longer remember.”

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The beliefs of the Quakers fall in line with this idea that we don't need an intermediary to know Father God.

What is a Quaker

What do Quakers believe. 

2/16/19

I was thinking about a piece that I did back in 2014 "The Sign of Jonah". This piece on the doctrines of the Nicolaitans may very well be what Jesus was alluding to when He told the religious leaders, (and the people) that the only sign He would give them was the sign of Jonah.

Matthew 12:39

But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Matthew 16:4

A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Luke 11:29

[ Seeking a Sign ] And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Luke 11:30

For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

11/22/19

As I was reading my last post "Salvation From The Wrath of God" in the scriptural references on repentance, I noticed one of Jesus' quotes that has to do with the Ninevites. Nineveh was that wicked city that Jonah was commanded by God to go to. He was to proclaim a message to them from God.

Matthew 12:41 New International Version (NIV)

⁴¹ The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.

  

Wars

I have it on my heart to talk about war. I guess it's because of that war to end all wars, also know as the battle of Armageddon talked about in the Bible. We all know what war is but if you are like me, I doubt that you've ever really thought much about it. I want to start of by giving the definition of war.

From Wikiquote:

War

Weapons are like money; no oneknows the meaning of enough. ~ Martin Amis

War is a conflict involving the organized use of weapons and physical force by states or other large-scale groups. Warring parties usually hold territory, which they can win or lose; and each has a leading person or organization which can surrender, or collapse, thus ending the war. Wars are usually a series of campaigns between two opposing sides involving a dispute over sovereignty, territory, resources, religion, or ideology. A war to liberate an occupied country is called a "war of liberation"; a war between internal factions within a state is a civil war. Until the end of World War II, participants usually issued formal declarations of war.





How does a war get started? I was going to give you what others have said about this but I've decided to just say it the way I see it.

A war gets started by the spread of propaganda.

Propaganda is a form of biased communication, aimed at promoting or demoting certain views, perceptions or agendas. Propaganda is often associated with the psychological mechanisms of influencing and altering the attitude of a population toward a specific cause, position or political agenda in an effort to form a consensus to a standard set of belief patterns.^[1]

Propaganda is information that is not impartial and is used primarily to influence an audience and further an agenda, often by presenting facts selectively (perhaps lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or using loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information presented.^[1]

The ones who make the deceleration of war are rarely if ever involved in the killing.  I believe that the ones who die in war most often are the ones who wanted no part in that war. It seems to me that so many of those who are doing the fighting are there because they had no other choice. There are some who believe that killing is justified but I wonder what percentage of these there are and if they knew the truth about things would they still see the justification of killing?

I grew up in the United States during the Vietnam conflict. We had the draft at the time. When your number came up you were inducted into a branch of the service, most often infantry slated to go to Vietnam. If you were physically able you had to go or be labeled a "draft dodger". Some were able to escape going because they knew someone of power or influence. This was one of those wars in which for most of us it was a position of "damned if you do and damned if you don't" go. I was one who decided to enlist thinking it might save me from going to Nam but that was not the case. I thank God that while there I was never put in a position where I had to kill or be killed. I always remember returning home after my tour of duty was up. We were told not to wear our uniforms. By this time the anti war cries were growing in popularity and we returning soldiers were often shamed.

I've been going to a Friends (Quaker) church for a while now. Quakers do not believe in wars. This was not the reason for me going to that church. I didn't really know much about them and kind of found out this sometime later. Anyway, I recently met a couple from Costa Rica who told me their experience during the Vietnam war years. The family was living in the United States at the time. The man's father got his draft notice but decided not to go and claimed "conscientious objector" status. This was part of their belief system; they were Quakers. He told me of some pretty awful things that the "powers to be" did to them. They were farmers and were required to give up over half their produce for "the war efforts". Some Quakers who were not farmers were slated for experiments, chemical in nature. It was so bad for these Quakers that many decided to leave the United States and settled into Costa Rica. There is a large population of Quakers there today.

No matter what country you live in, if you look at your history, you too will probably find similar things that have happened. Why do we get so caught up into believing things that lead to war?

If we can not change, I can see that it is very likely this war of the future could happen. Some believe that this is when an all out nuclear war will happen and  will destroy earth and everything.

I'm praying that we see our true selves before that time, repent, and ask Jesus to be Lord. I see no other way.

Jesus said something that I wonder could be a prediction of that happening, all will repent. He was saying that this generation is wicked and evil. They wanted to see a sign but the only sign that would be given them is "the sign of Jonah" (see post "The Sign of Jonah". Jonah was sent to Nineveh, a very wicked city, and he was to tell them what the Lord wanted to say to them  All he said to them was "yet in 40 days and Nineveh will be destroyed". It says that everyone believed God and they all repented.