10But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. ¹¹Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. ¹²But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; ¹³And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; ¹⁴Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: ¹⁵Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

II Peter 2

"Then said I: 'For what object is this blessed land, which is entirely filled with trees, and this accursed valley between?' Then Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered and said: 'This accursed valley is for those who are accursed for ever: Here shall all the accursed be gathered together who utter with their lips against the Lord unseemly words and of His glory speak hard things. Here shall they be gathered together, and here shall be their place of judgement. In the last days there shall be upon them the spectacle of righteous judgement in the presence of the righteous forever: here shall the merciful bless the Lord of glory, the Eternal King. In the days of judgement over the former, they shall bless Him for the mercy in accordance with which He has assigned them (their lot).' Then I blessed the Lord of Glory and set forth His glory and lauded Him gloriously."

Enoch 27:1-5

Some people count on Christians to be ignorant of their Bibles and of history.  This bit of hedging their bets is well-founded because some churches either treat the teaching of the Bible as an exercise in abstractions as applied to whatever ideas are popular or the needs of society as perceived by the teachers oftentimes.  It is well enough to teach the Bible as it is true.  Needless to say that many people do not search the scriptures daily and seek the face of God, much less pick a Bible up to look for themselves as to what it says.  There are notable exceptions to this, but it does seem as though a lot of Christians do not seek to inform themselves as to what the Bible says or do not think God speaks through the Bible.  There are very few people who have the time or the inclination to study things outside of the realm of the Bible and inform themselves as to what history or science has to say about things.  This is ironic in an age where so much information is easily available in what is deemed as the "Information Age".  The again, there are some who are fine with the Bible, history, and science as long as what they find out agrees with their worldview.  Facts are relegated to the dustbin immediately if they challenge cherished sins we practice.  Preachers and priests are not immune to this.  In fact there are charlatans and false teachers that abound, doing evils much worse than what the people they are in charge of would even think to do.  The break with God is a continuum just as human behavior is in all of its variety.  The question of where to draw the line or move it to comes up a lot in societies and always has.  The cultural war is just now being noticed in the United States from time to time by many and then a new outrage or a new proclivity comes along to distract and it is forgotten.  It is noticed because people oppose the changes that are brought about as new lines are drawn and the battle takes a novel shape.  However, history is a continuum as well with an ebb and flow, transgression and regression, and new objective facts influencing people one way or another.

When I became a Christian I believed that the Bible is correct and God is correct.  I believed and received Faith as a gift.  No matter how in opposition to the teachings of the Bible my prejudices and proclivities may have been that I entered into with at first or wrong directions stumbled into or willingly embraced, I have never thought God was wrong or is wrong.  The reason is that it is so clear to me.  It is me who falls short of God's perfection in abundance, not the other way around.  Do or say as we will, it will not change that objective reality.  Denial, ignorance, or willful disobedience does not change facts.  As a Christian I have learned God and the Bible as being trustworthy.  I have learned Jesus and the Holy Spirit as trustworthy no matter how far off the mark I may have been or am at any given time.  It is terribly painful to see how much in error I have been sometimes.  Dealing with my own personal sins and hypocrisy has not been easy all the time.  I might well use a simple example.  I agree that people should forgive one another, yet I have a difficult time with it sometimes.  I think I have forgiven someone and anger well inside due to a natural trigger such as a new event or some memory that won't go away and I find myself having to forgive again or decide not to forgive.  I may think that if I truly had forgiven I would not be angry all over again and can accuse myself as being very short of what I know to be the right thing to do.  Yet, Jesus said we are to forgive seventy times seven, an idiom meaning to forgive as many times as it takes.  Self-change, the metanoia part of repentance, is discovered to be a becoming, a process in some instances.  The final decision is to forgive again and again until my understanding of what forgiveness is toward others is final and complete.  Turning from the wrong to the right is to be done daily and in the context of seeking the face of God, not a handy set of formulae with no thought or effort invested on my part.  I recognize my need of God and my awareness of that need as instrumental in traveling toward Him and not away from Him.  I pray that turning away from God and His Word is never a viable option for me and know it takes my diligence to cooperate and ignore the natural part of me that can be bent so to do.

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