Is the reference in the Gospels, addressing the apostles, or a larger group of disciples?  And what is a disciple ...and a disciple of what, or whom?  Their is much mention of "bride" and "bridegroom".   And there is something revealed to us, called "the marriage supper" of the Lamb.  How do we fit in?   

The first part of answering that question is to ask ourselves whether we are a believer, or not?  And what is it that we believe, and what do we not believe?  

Many people dismiss the validity of what is written in the Bible, stating it is just in parable form ...and not literal.  Others say it is tainted by men, who wrote and rewrote it.  I partly know this because I was one of the ones saying these things.

The difference is, I was looking for error in the Bible ...not merely to discount what was being said, but in actuality, I was challenging myself.  I was not angry with the truth, but was on a sincere search for it.  I was not trying to tear truth apart, with the same delight that a young child knocks down a tower of blocks. I was merely studying the blocks, in an attempt to see how they fit together, how they could be used to build, and the usefulness of form and function.

Part of the much publicized, "Inconvenient Truth" that was presented several years ago, was to attempt a new brilliance within the arena where there was the most thirst for it.  Students were told that there parents knew much, but there were things they didn't know.   Now, I don't know if this was an attempt at separation, or a careless venue chosen to attempt to make parents proud of their children for showing them that they knew something the parents did not?

I felt I was learning much when I went to college, but things did need to be shown in perspective.  I remember Dad saying, "You think you know everything, now that you've been to college."  He didn't say it unkindly, and he did not say it in a derogatory sense ...all I know is, I needed to hear that.   In my case, I guess I was still somewhat of a little kid ...thrust into a world I thought I was prepared for, and equal to the challenge.  We need to have a sort of enthusiasm in approaching life and its new challenges, but we also have to have a sense of perspective that we are where we are today because of much effort on behalf of others.  

This is not saying the same thing as what is being portrayed in current political realms.  I'm speaking of another realm ...but not quite yet.  We didn't build it ...our forefathers built it.  And I don't think that I am wiser than all those before me ...to attempt to rebuild it.

I don't think the majority of you would like to claim, "I helped destroy it!"  But that is part of the ultimate weakness of a democracy ...that the majority decide.  I will not rejoice in the day that the majority of the people decide that God has been either minimized in their lives, or raised to false new heights ...created by their own strivings, yet without so much concern for who they claim to represent.

Sort of brings us back, doesn't it?  Brings us back to before us.  There was a striving to reach heights that came into immediate question and conflict.  Height is relative and comparable as in relations to other heights, or others.  And to reach a higher goal for ourselves may be good, yet not necessarily when comparing with others ...who would have to be viewed as lower, in comparison.  But there is good and bad in this.  It is not good to think of ourselves as better than anyone else, yet we do need to learn that there is a healthy hierarchy.  It is good to respect your elders.  It is proper to look at your boss as someone who employs you, and there is a need to understand that relationship.  Going back to before us, the conflict began when Lucifer was able to freely think and choose.  The problem is not in the ability to think and choose, as love itself is defined by those criteria.  No two people may define love in exactly the same way ...but I will simply say, "God is love." But I'd also say that no two people would define God in the same way.   That's the problem though ...we are not suppose to define God.  God defines Himself, and He reveals who He is ...we are merely to glorify Him.  To glorify God is to represent Him for who He is ..who He has revealed to us who He is.  

I've taught children in Sunday school ...not because I wanted to, but because I'd been asked to.  The children taught me a lot.  There is much wisdom in their simplicity of faith ...but faith also needs substance.  If we adults don't provide substance, then there is going to be much lacking ...though it will probably not be lacking in the imagination department.   Children may say, "God is cool."  But when they start reading the Bible, they may say, "Hey, that wasn't cool for God to do!"  King David kind of thought that after an event that then led him not to want the ark of the covenant to enter his city.   So, if a King that truly loved God could think something is uncool, then so could you think God is uncool.  You may say that the Father was a little too strict, but that's okay, because now that His Son, Jesus, is grown ...well, let's just say, the Father has cooled out a bit.  And we can kind of just excuse the Dad, because now we look to Jesus, and Jesus is cool.

Sorry to disappoint you, but Jesus was involved in the creation of the world, and He and the Father are One.  If you are shifting between who you think is cool and uncool...concerning today's believers, by a standard to preserve your own comfort level, then it is you who lacks understanding.

When faced with a discussion over possible wrong decisions, the comment that too often arises is "You're not perfect!"  That response is way off base, and usually tries to end the discussion.  But the real problem arises when we begin to think, though we may never really come right out and say it ...that we think God isn't perfect either.   Just for purposes of clarity, though I know you already know it ...God is perfect.   

So, what do we do with that?   Well, we claim that God isn't like that ...and we put more faith in what the populace says, than what God says.  Do we say that the Bible is written by men who didn't do a very good job ...is that what is believed?  What about Peter, James, and John (the longest living apostle) ...how did they receive Paul, and what he said?  Most of Paul's letters were to the churches, so they would not so quickly stray. 

I'd say that the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit working through the apostles and disciples ....are quite thoroughly united.  So, if there is confusion, where would you suppose it would be?  We are supposed to put on the armor of God ...so, if there is a weak point in the armor, it is us.



Yes, God gave us free will, and the ability to choose.  If Jesus is considered the Bridegroom, we are not expected to be like the Stepford wives.  Though we do allow ourselves to be programmed by all the gadgetry we employ ...tweeting away to a tune no songbird would accept, texting while ignoring the true text or context, and preparing ourselves a king's banquet of sound bites of untruth and out-of-context.