HOW ABOUT PART 2

                                         HOW ABOUT PART 2

    I hope you read my message "How About" that did not have any type of
persuasion to join anything except the human race. That message was to
help us understand that judgment and prophecy go together, no matter what
race you represent, what government you represent or what belief or no
belief you represent. To recap, your life consists of many judgments you
make, and those judgments eventually dictate your future or prophecy.

     Near the conclusion of that message, I introduced another word that now
must take its place along with judgment and prophecy. This word is the key
to help you make the correct judgments. Unfortunately, most people will take
shortcuts that prevent good decisions (judgments). For minor mistakes, this
has little to do with your future (prophecy). Taking the wrong street will
probably only delay your arrival, and dialing the wrong number will only get
you the wrong person. These situations rarely have any effect on your future
and prophecy.

    Major decisions such as the make and model of car you buy, the house you
buy and the college you attend can and often do bring you delight or a problem.
To make a good judgment in these situations, you need to conduct some
research and separate the sales pitch, charming person, and facts. By all
means, you must separate rumor and any preconceived conclusions you may
have before making any judgment.

    The word that is key to any and all your judgments is TRUTH. Many people
play fast and loose with this term. Frequently their statements or claims reveal
to a sensible person that these people are ill informed, uninformed, or just plain
stupid. This may sound cruel, but truth sometimes is cruel. It usually takes time
and effort to secure actual facts. You need accurate hard copy that is not biased
or promoted. As Sgt. Friday used to say, "The facts, Ma'am, just the facts."

    The importance of accurate information has in the past been the cornerstone
of society and culture. The proof of this is the continuing existence of the legal
system. In much of the developed world, we have a system that seeks TRUTH.
You need judgments based on true facts to guide your future (prophecy). Our
system today is much like that established thousands of years ago in Israel.
Before anyone is brought to trial for major crimes, truth is sought by the same 
kind of panel today as then.

     Israel established the Sanhedrin, a panel of 23 citizens whose job was to
decide whether or not charges should be placed against a suspect. They did
not judge the person guilty or innocent. Their only responsibility was to determine
if enough information was available to cause the person to be brought to trial.
That panel in America is called the Grand Jury, and its only goal is to determine
the truth of presented charges. There is no vote of 12 jurors as in a more
recognized criminal or civil court. 

     I have the honor to be a member of a Grand Jury, and it is interesting to see
how history has continued to use this system for so long. Originally the grand
jury considered both religious and civil matters. That changed over the years
because of the continuous growing populations and the separation of the church
and state. Our grand juries do not consider church differences. That is good,
because we have hundreds of denominations and sub denominations as well
as many, many faiths.

    As a minister, my responsibility is to present the truth of my faith without falling
into the trap of pushing people into joining or belonging before they understand
the principles of a belief. Friends, the only way you will determine the truth about
any faith or belief is through study, And, I don't mean the study of a book or two
from that belief or faith. Books for everything from Algebra to religion will have
lots of information, but it will be to further the subject. With religion, this is
especially true. It is easy to be misled. Leaders often don't know the subject
well and slant the "pitch" to "make a sale". 

    Now, if you haven't become so bored as to delete this message, I'll add a bit 
more dry material. Many of  the comments I read or hear are statements presented
as fact. Few have any relationship to fact or truth. I suspect most are the result of 
rumor or gossip as frequently found in barber shops, beauty parlors, bars or
coffee clatches. Many people in this type environment suddenly become "highly
educated" or experienced in matters of interest. The more they think they know,
the louder their exclamations. The adage, an empty vessel makes the most
noise" applies.

    I'm not trying to sign up new members when I tell you I am a Christian pastor
and teacher. What I want to clearly explain is that I base my  preaching and
teaching on research in many books. They include books representing many
Christian and other faiths, including atheism. The Christian bible is quite a
manual, and does give us information not directly related to religion. That
information is history, proven accurate by many textbooks written by both
secular and various faiths. 

    To get answers requires work. Nothing replaces reading, but it must be
study reading. If you don't want to read for yourself, you need a teacher. 
Herein begins your problem. Most teachers are eager to persuade you to
follow rules, regulations and procedures related directly to the teacher's
goal. This is much like a politician. If the teacher is unwilling to talk about
other faiths or answer some "hard" questions about his faith, you may as
well discontinue the study.

    I have delivered messages to many different denominations and unbelievers.
I have grown more disappointed every year with the liberty these denominational
groups and leaders take with the history and interpretation of judgment, which
is the father of prophecy. More and more, leaders are actually changing the
very manuals which were used to teach them. They are rewriting history to
conform to their likes. Rather than assisting you to make good judgments, they
try to convince you to take shortcuts to achieve some goal.

    One man said it all when my wife and I were talking about our scripture
study. He said, "What's to study?" Indeed, the history alone is worth the time.
We usually don't realize what's truly important to us until it is either nearly
taken away or lost. If you get injured or sick enough to die, you may come
to your senses about what is important. The judgments you make every day
set your path of prophecy. The judgments we make as a nation establish the
path of our nation and the world. History explains the cause and effect of our
actions, if only we take the time and effort to consider the truth (facts).

    When we talk about prophecy, people usually are referring to the end times
as written in the Christian bible and other sources. There is a fascination about
knowing the future and what to expect. Some self styled "experts" give us
dates and circumstances that are supposed to give us the answer. They have 
all failed. Most of the prophets of history did not specify that a nation would
fall on a certain date. Even when they prophesied a person would not regain
health or be healed, they did not give a specific day. We can't simply discount
these prophesies  because history and science have proven the prophecies
were accurate.

    Our possibilities to understand the end time prophecies lie in matching
historical causes and effects, and the fallout from greed, desire for power, 
treatment of the common people, ignorance of the environment, as well as
many lesser issues. History shows us clearly there is a pattern that all
mankind follows, and always with the same results. Our mistakes in judgment
determine our future. They also determine when the prophesied end times
are upon us.

    You can look upon the end times strictly from the standpoint of science, the
religious writings, or a combination thereof. No matter how you look at it, history
makes it clear that mankind always repeats a cycle of actions. No matter the
advances in knowledge and science, people are always people, and behavior
is dictated by emotions and personal judgment. 
    
    This is the second "How About" message, and I have promised to keep these
messages free of religious or other influence. We have looked at prophecy, both
personal and national, from the standpoint of secular thinking. That includes
our freedom to make choices--judgment--and the reliance on truth to sort out our
reasons for judgment. The next message in this series will look at conditions and
current events to paint a picture of our relationship to prophecy. I pray you will
join me. 

Rev. Walbear