In Which I Return From the Far South

...WELL, in case you didn't already guess, Alex decided to take a rather, eh, prolonged vacation last week and part of this week, traveling to the far reaches of South Carolina and Georgia to visit some old friends there. Not as though it's unusual for Alex to disappear from his blogs for long periods, but...it matters not! I am back, for those few who are interested!
...Much indeed has happened since I updated the world on my life, and in fact the past few weeks do seem like some kind of unreal dream. Having spent the past 8 months burying myself in schoolwork and studies, nearly locking myself away in my room with the schoolbooks like Brad Voeller, having an entire month of a break was both a beautiful relief...and painful. There is some truth to the old rumor that it can be just as hard to stop working and fighting, as to start and continue.
At any rate, there's no way I can tell you all even half of what has happened in the past few weeks in one post, so I'll start at the beginning and perhaps tell the story over a couple of posts. As opposed to Alex's usual ramblings on life, this might actually be interesting, don't worry.
But all in all, never fear! Even if this rambling blog bores you, rest assured, now that Alex is back, I have begun and picked up again all work in full! And in fact chances are high that over the next few months I won't be going anywhere, so I'll have no excuse for slacking. Spires of Savarica, Reborn Humanity, the Bible studies, AND this blog will once again be kept up fully!

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Two weeks ago, though it seems much longer in the past, myself, Sam Herson, and Matthew made it to Grayson Highland State Park and Mount Rogers National in Virginia, after a long drive and much anticipation. Disappearing up into the mountains for a weekend for massive hiking, camping, and backpacking adventures was like a streak of incredible fortune for someone who had spent all winter behind a cold stack of books like myself, so as we wound our way up into the beautiful mountains and reached the park, the three of us were ready to test ourselves out on the trails. And indeed we did.








As we parked the car and jumped out, Matthew, the oldest one, the host of our trip, AND the driver (And thus the leader) quickly went over the maps and compass while me and Sam organized the various packs of equipment and supplies. Somehow we got organized and strapped on those packs (which we learned to despise three days later), and went to stand by Matthew and the map.
Looking over his shoulder, I glanced narrowly up at his darkened, gray eyed face before offering my doubts.
"We're going there?" I pointed.
"Yep, that's it!" He offered a smile, though I read some concerns in his countenance.
"That's at the bottom of the river, and less than two miles off."
"We can do two miles!" Sam offered with his usual energy, but that wasn't my point.
"Well yeah, but that's definitely not the Appalachian Trail! The hiking shelters are further up!"
Matthew glanced over and shot me a rather sarcastic, knowing look. "You wanna hike five and a half miles straight up those slopes in four hours, Alex?"
I shrugged. "It depends. Whatever you say, man."
"Alright then." Without further comment, he shouldered his pack. Being the expert camper, Matthew always had the best equipment and knew (mostly) what he was doing. Definitely more than we did, that was for sure.
Without further ado, the three of us professionals attacked the lower slopes of Mount Rogers of Virginia...and nearly killed ourselves on the first mile.
We journeyed down into some pretty looking wooded areas, cool and quiet, much like the foothills not far from my own home in fact. Streams and brooks flowed past, under the gathering clouds and shadows of the massive slopes towering over us.







On reaching the bottom of the falls, Matthew checked the map for us again while me and Sam studied the small river. "WE should be close!" He called back from his perch further up the rocks, and disappeared back onto the trail again. Scrambling after him, the two of us, the followers after the Master Camper, made it to the top and ran after him.
We reached a lower meadow where a lovely waterfall flowed down and created a stream surrounded by trees, where we three found the shelter marked on the map. I noted with interest that on the western horizon, beyond the towering peaks, dark clouds were gathering. Not a good sign. Good to be near a shelter.
Me and Sam were just coming out into the semi-clearing when Matthew's shout reached us, aimed at no one in particular but the map. "Are you serious?!" Exchanging worried glances, me and Sam picked up speed and reached the site, some distance ahead, where Matthew was fuming. We started likewise fuming.
The 'shelter' we probably big enough to be a large refrigerator, two walls and part of a ceiling, and probably big enough for one of us to fit in. Standing up.
"A rain shelter." I muttered, with a grim sigh. Sam nodded, never really one to lose his temper or ever get mad at anything that I knew of. Mostly.
Matthew growled. "Are you kidding me?"
"Dude, this is bad."
My comment got looks on both sides. "What you mean?" Sam asked.
"I mean there's no other shelter between here and the AT trails. Unless you guys want to sleep in the car for the night." I added sarcastically. That wasn't an option and they knew it.
"...They told me we could camp here!" Matthew fumed.
Sam laughed. "I bet they did."
I started thinking fast. Since we couldn't camp here and even hope to stay all three of us dry, there was two options: Go back to the car or family campgrounds, which would set us way off track, or go ahead and try to make the AT trail before sundown.
Make a guess which we did.
Correct.









After several reassurances, careful calculations, and a lot of refilled water bottles, we tackled the slopes of Mount Rogers, the highest point in Virginia, with a vigor. It had been decided after some heated debate that we would go all out: Attempt to make the AT trail, 6 miles up, in 3-4 hours of daylight. And to our credit, we did make it, I'm glad to say. Somehow we crawled up those slopes.
It was a brutal climb. Let no one deceive you, the first day of any long camping trip is always the worst. Not being used to tugging an extra 40 pounds apiece on our backs we huffed and growled and grit our teeth as we struggled up the rocky slopes and mountainsides. From now on I will honestly pity and sympathize with Frodo and Sam as they struggle up the slopes of Mount Doom.
Though when we took a break from our travels, panting for water, I will admit the landscape was beautiful. Breathtaking, in fact. It was lovely to look from high up and see the world spread out below you, with the dark and violent clouds somewhat mingled with sunlight and gentle, green slopes bordering darker green forests. Looked like Vantainian slopes, in fact. I made a mental note to add this state to my list of places to travel through and visit when I turned 18-19 and went on a nationwide adventure. After college, of course.



After we got past the lower rocks and steep slopes, coming out on the peaks and ridges above, the travels went well and easily. The pretty landscape reminded me of New Zealand almost, from what I knew of it, and all of us were pleased to reach the Appalachian Trail Shelter as the thunder began to rumble. Though we did have to share the shelter with a few other wayfarers, it wasn't bad at all. The night was pitch black, stormy and cold, though we stayed fairly warm and dry, reading our Bibles and books under Matthew's flashlight in the dark.
As I put away my Bible for the night, I looked up with interest half buried under various blankets to see what my two comrades were up to before I went to bed. Sam was already half asleep, and was in fact looking at his cell phone screen. I grinned wryly. There was no way that cell phone got service up here, at 6000 feet altitude, but...he was a texting addict, especially when it was his girlfriend that he was trying to text. Suppressing a chuckle I looked to Matthew, who was reading.
I glanced at the book he was reading. I nearly turned over and went to sleep...when the author's name caught my eye. I knew that name.
Joshua Harris.
I stopped immediately, and glanced again at the title. "Dug Down Deep," by Josh Harris. My brow furrowed.
"What's that?" I asked bluntly, nodding to the book.
Matthew looked up and smiled faintly. "Oh, just Harris' newest book, came out just a little bit ago. Very good, I like it a lot."
"Really?" As far as I knew, Josh Harris had written several books and all on the same subject almost, from dating and relationships to broader topics like marriage and purity. I wondered what he was working on now.
"What about?" I queried.
"Ah, it's about mostly how important it is for us as Christians to lay our foundations on orthodoxy and Scripture, as opposed to traditionalist and conservative beliefs." Matthew answered. My ears pricked up at that. That...sounded like something I would write a book about, nearly!
I nodded vigorously. "Ah, really? Now that sounds cool!"
"It really is!" Matthew went on, "So many Christians today just rely on traditions of churches or conservative doctrine, or even laying aside Scripture for...well, many things. In other words, religious morality and conservative tradition aren't good enough."
That sounded like my kind of truth. Dangerous and painfully true. He smiled in spite of myself. "I'm so going to have to get that book when I get home."
Interestingly, when Matthew wasn't reading it and we were taking breaks, I was. A beautiful work that everyone should read, too! I could name a few names, big and small, who prefer tradition and supposed morality over the knowledge of Scripture and God for foundations...but I won't rant tonight.
However, the trip wasn't over. The next day we made across the AT trails and headed for Thomas Jefferson National Reserve, where we ran into...some interesting people and events. I shall post later on the next (and much cooler) half of the adventure!

Colossians 1:15-20

n the last study we did in verses 10 through 15, we learned several majorly important facts. A quick recap to bring them back to mind.
In verses 10-12, Paul told us much of the results of putting our trust in Christ and then increasing in His knowledge, which leads to several things and ultimately, after death, perfection. It’s important to note here that the Gospel that we believe in isn’t about happiness for human beings. It’s about righteousness for human beings. Our relationship with God and Christ certainly does make us happy and fulfilled, but of foremost importance is righteousness before God and the removal of black sin.
Back on topic, Paul goes on in the next paragraph to tell us of our transferring from Satan’s kingdom of darkness to Christ’s kingdom of light. And this, accomplished through Christ Himself and His death, by his transferring of sin from us to Him. Blessed be His precious name for it! Finally, Paul prepares to launch into some words about God and Creation, and His relationship to it. Which we’re to study…now!

Let’s take a look at Colossians 1:16-20:

“For by Him all things were created, in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fulness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”

The beginning of this seems a very simple, blunt statement. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” -Genesis 1:1. There are some who believe that the world came about by a supposed theory called “Evolution,” the only vaguely god-less way to explain the world around us without a God. However, in all seriousness and without exaggerating in the least, I cannot think of a more cracked, lost, confused and entirely unproved theory than that of Evolution. One piece of solid proof has yet to be furnished in defense of that theory, while the mountains of proof that evidence a God-made earth continue to pile up. It takes blind faith indeed to believe foolishness.
That being said, God is the Master and Creator of all heaven and earth, both the visible and invisible aspects of both. Though we see some aspects of the heavens visibly, such as the sky, or the further areas of space, most of what we would call ‘heaven’ is invisible. I personally find it intriguing just how much of our world really IS invisible, and I’m not just talking about microscopic organisms here. For example, both heaven and Hell are invisible to us here on earth, like anything that exists merely in soul and spirit really is. However, the vast majority of the population of the universes exists in one of two places…and probably the majority of those souls, in Hell. The ranks of the angels, the hordes of the demons, the prince of the demons, the spirits of evil and angels…all of this vastly outnumbering our own little 6 billion planet and all invisible.
And therefore, all of it created by an invisible God. At least, invisible to our bodily eyes. C. S. Lewis, one of the greatest Theologians of our time, put it this way. He believed, in theory, that it’s not so much that the spiritual world is ‘hiding’ from us, but rather, our physical, bodily eyes are too, well, physical. “Low-tuned,” “Slow,” “inferior,” are all decent enough words to use. The spiritual world is the REAL world, whereas the physical world is merely a passing shadow. More of this can be found in 1st Corinthians 15:45-55. I highly recommend looking it up for more depth on this.

“Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created by Him and for Him.” Pretty self-explanatory. The thrones of the kinds and their places, the lands they rule, the very rulers themselves are all created by God, and FOR God. As we all know, our end result should be to ultimately glorify Him, and the entire of Creation is going to be brought to this. We as humans beings, and all the rest of Creation is ‘geared’ for that one object. This is something I believe we all, myself included most of all, should bear in mind more often. Though we can and do achieve great reward and benefit by striving to glorify Him now and further His kingdom, remember: The end result in inevitable. It’s going to happen, period. And probably very soon. We WILL glorify Him in the end, in some form or another, indirectly or directly, and all Creation will also be to His glory forever and ever, amen. Even the very souls in Hell will indirectly glorify Him, by testifying to his justice and righteous judgment, whether they like it or not.

“And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead;”

Obviously also God is before and above all things, the first and the last. He is indeed the beginning of all and the end of all, and He will always be so. In fact, as Paul aptly states next, all of Creation is held together by Him, and without Him, none of this would exist. This flies in the face of a older theory called “Deism,” that believes God merely created the earth, and then left it to spin on its own, or tick away like a watch you leave alone on your desk. Our universe requires CONSTANT empowering and supervision from God, His constant life being continually poured into it, to keep it held together.
‘He is also the head of the body, the church.’ Sound familiar?

“For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.” -Ephesians 5:22-24

“…but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” -Ephesians 4:15-16

We are the church, that is, those of us who believe in the Gospel and Jesus Christ as the savior from sins. The church of God, also called the Bride of Christ (a MASSIVE side study in itself!), will be made up of all the human beings who are saved on this earth. Naturally then, Christ is the head of that church, the Leader, the Founder, the Maker and Designer of it. And this goes much deeper than any husband-wife relationship, in fact, probably far beyond. Though they are both very similar relationships, in fact made to be so, Christ being the groom and head of His Church and its Creator.
Furthermore, Christ is also the beginning of the resurrection from the dead and from Hell, the firstborn of God that was also the first to return from the dead, and thus the beginning and an entirely new age and covenant between man and God. This is only natural, since it is the Father’s will to give Him a Name above all names, and a place above all places, the ‘firstborn’ of all.

“For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fulness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”

This is an interesting passage. Here Paul states that it was God’s good pleasure for all fulness to literally dwell ‘IN Him’ (emphasis added). On this, I am actually not sure what it means. It could mean a couple of things, and the idea interests me. It could be referring to the fact that God does really exist in His Son since Christ is the exact copy in personality and virtue, if you will, of His Father. However, it could also be referring to the fact that God dwelt IN Christ literally when He was here on Earth, in human form. I’m not sure. Check me on it!
And of course, God, through Christ, has reconciled all things to Himself, that being the earth and its sins. This does not mean that everyone will go to heaven or that God reconciled ALL men to Himself, sadly. He HAS made peace with us, fallen humanity, through the blood that was so horrible shed on Christ’s cross, as Paul says, but this doesn’t imply that literally all men will be saved. It does, however, mean that since God’s righteous wrath and justice has been satisfied, He no longer has to hold a man’s sins against Him…except for one. That what is that ONE thing that God will ask us on Judgment Day? The all-important question. “Did you believe in My Son, or not?” It’s a yes or no question, and that indeed will be the really only defining thing for all eternity when all is said and done. God has reconciled all things to Himself, but even still, if we reject the reconciliation, it will be pointless, and really leave God little choice but to throw us into judgment. Finally, this doesn’t just to apply to humanity, as Paul states at the end. Both heaven and earth will be held to this fact, and all heaven and earth has been reconciled to Him through His Son’s death.
Wow, another long study! Questions? Comments?

~Alex
Phil. 4:13

PICTUEZ!!!! Among other things!

Ach, I know, I know, I'm terribly and horribly behind and late on my blog posting, and the only real excuse I've got to offer is that nothing majorly interesting or worth blogging about has been happening of late...unless you count Greek studies, piano playing, and sorting out college difficulties. HOWEVER, I will make up for the lack of bloggingness by posting several pictures and videos for you to enjoy! Warning, however: The below content needs a little imagination, and so only real insane, random, fun loving, and particularly adventure and fantasy loving people will be able to understand it.




Spring has come, thank goodness! The land explodes into green life once more, its very pretty.




A random one I took of a blooming tree(s) outside in the backyard.




The same again. Only at twilight.




I thought this one looked kind of cool...took that some time ago during a full moon. Rather mysterious looking, hmm?





Yes, yes, tis true...I totally like all kinds of twilight/sunset pictures.




Two days ago...a dark and growling storm was brewing.





A random creation of mine, actually, using a few online art tools. Hannah McNally kindly dubbed it and gave it a name, "Starstruck."




Randomness, again.




And finally, a portrait of me in front of my house. Also my sword, there, in my hand.


And now, for a pretty neat video that I had fun watching! WARNING: This is the "Fantasy/adventure/randomness lover" people only video, though it IS cool.
For the record, I do NOT care for, have, or even really know much at all about "Guild Wars" or PC games like that...I just thought the cool scenes, intro, and overall prettiness was awesome.



Hopefully in the future, I'll have more of interest to post!

Randomness

For lack of decent posting material and since for the life of me I can't come up with anything more interesting to talk about, I'm going to go out on a limb...and try this.


The Playlist Shuffle Tag:


Rules: Put your iTunes (or whatever media player you use... I know other people don't use iTunes ;) ), Playlist on shuffle. Put the name of each song as it comes up as an answer to the following questions:

If someone says "This is okay." you say: "The Joy of Victory" Fire Emblem Soundtrack. HAHAHAHAHA! Totally.


What would best describe your personality? "Bring Me To Life" Thousand Foot Krutch. Another score for the media player! I guess that works. In a...Christian sense.

What do you like in a guy/girl? "Dark Forces" Warcraft III soundtrack.
...
...
...The media player fails.


What is your life's purpose? "Gollum's Song" LOTR - Two Towers Soundtrack. HAHAHAHA! Yep, that's me...the saddest song I've got in my library.

What is your motto? "The Rose General" Final Fantasy IX Soundtrack. ...?!? Random?

What do your friends think of you? "Final Partings" Battle For Middle-Earth II soundtrack. Pffff, sure. Maybe.

What do you think about very often? "Welcome Home" Medieval Folk Songs. ...Not really. Very little, in fact.

What is 2 + 2? "The Grey Havens" Return of the King Soundtrack. Yep, totally.

What do you think of your best friend? "A Powerful Foe" Fire Emblem soundtrack. HA! Well I suppose, depends really. Sort of. Media Player fails.

What do you think of a person you like? "Cirith Ungol" Return of the King soundtrack.
...
...
...Media Player fails again. Psssh, LAME.

What is your life story? "Akkadian Empire" by Audiomachine. Absolutely!

What do you want to be when you grow up? "Nayru's Song" ZREO Soundtracks. Ok, that's just downright disturbing...

What do you think when you see a person you like? "The Part That Hurts the Most" by Thousand Foot Krutch. EPIC FAIL! That's the biggest lie this thing has told yet...

What do your parents think of you? "Beyond the Wasteland" Advent Children Soundtrack. I have NO IDEA what that's supposed to imply...

What will they play at your funeral? "Defeated" Fire Emblem Soundtrack. HAHAHA! Perfect.

What is your hobby/interests? "Like a Dog Chasing Cars" The Dark Knight Soundtrack. ....(shakes head) That went over my head. This media player is....(grumbles)

What is your biggest secret? "Wonderland" by Maksim. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Yes, totally, my biggest secret. More than you know!


What do you think of your friends? "Arena Battle" Mount and Blade Soundtrack. .....Sure....Not.

What's the worst thing that could happen? "F-Stop" by Sullivan. Well I don't even know what this song or title means, so that doesn't help anything...

How will you die? "Israel Hands" by Sullivan. What the....!?

What's the one thing you regret? "Amazonic" by Maksim. Pfff....whatever. I think this game is screwed up now.

What makes you laugh? "Death of Thadrid" The Two Towers soundtrack. WOOOW. Now that is a failure. That's like the saddest part of the movie. Major media player fail.

Will you ever get married? "Divinity II" Advent Children Soundtrack. ....I'm not even going to ask...

What scares you the most? "Only the Beginning of Adventure" Narnia Soundtrack. (sighs) That's lame. I think not!

If you could go back in time, what would you change? "Swadian Town" Mount and Blade Soundtrack. I guess. (shrug) The towns did kind of need some improvement.

What hurts right now? "Ganondorf Horseback Battle" Twilight Princess Soundtrack. ...Not really...

What do you most often exclaim? "Victory 1" Mount and Blade soundtrack. HAHA! Yes, absolutely.

Where is paradise? "Beast Ganon" Twilight Princess Soundtrack. Nope. Fail.

What did you first say as a baby? "He Comes Riding" Twilight Princess Soundtrack. HA! Yes, that's me when I'm two years old. Prophesying.

If you had a pet, what would you name it? "Nazgul Theme" The Battle For Middle-Earth II Soundtrack. HA! Yes, sure, right, a pet nazgul. That's what I really need.

What is your favorite sight to see? "Sorrow" by Flyleaf. ...No comment.

What makes you gag? "Hyrule Castle" from The Wind Waker Soundtrack. Hmmm...perhaps. It was a very sad part of the story. Not really gaging, though.

What are you best at? "Serenata" by Audiomachine. Uhhhh.....not what I had in mind, but sure...

If you wrote a book, what would you call it? "Halo Chorus" by Microsoft. Yeah, sure, whatever.

What did you wish for last? "Friends and Allies" Fire Emblem Soundtrack. HA! Finally! A good one! Yep, that totally works, I'll take it!

What would your superhero name be? "Dwarf vs. Goblin Battle" Battle for Middle-Earth Soundtrack. Random failure, again, media player.

How soon will this be over? "Ezio's Family" Assassin's Creed II Soundtrack. Well, I was hoping NOW, but I guess not.

Where are you sitting? "Hope and Memory" Return of the Kindg Soundtrack. Nope. Fail.

What do you most hate? "Underwater March" Pirates of the Carribean Soundtrack. This is a lame game, another failure.

What do you most love? "The Love of Beauty" Fire Emblem Soundtrack. ...No comment.

What do you not care about? "The Blitz, 1940" Narnia Soundtrack. HA!

What is your secret name? "Forward Motion" by Thousand Foot Krutch. Hey, well that's kinda cool!


...Wow. So far I learned nothing, feel disgusted, and pretty much am going to get a new media player. That was largely lame. That's what I get for using WMP.

Colossians 1:1-5

Hope you guys had an awesome Easter Weekend! A great Holy Week period for that matter.

Well I expect its about time I started some serious Scripture Study here, at least as a sideline even. Don't think this will be a major part of my page though, which will still focus more on the ideas I've stated above than anything, but still...before we can tell what's a lie, its a good idea to know what the truth is. SO...stay tuned for Colossians! I'll be posting one of these once in a while, every two or three posts. Thought I would do a rather less-famous book too.

First, a little backstory on the whole book of Colossians. It was written by Paul, obviously, primarily not just to Colossae but to the region around it too, including Laodicea, and Hierapolis. The people of these areas, at least the Christians there, were starting to fall into some legalism and disbelief that Christ really was the Son of God.

You see, in Ancient Greece at the time, as soon as Christianity started taking root, a major disagreement the Greeks and Jews had with our 'religion' was that "How could a man be God?" If flesh and the body was inherently sinful, they found it impossible to believe that Jesus could be divine. So instead, like happens often with Christianity...they just mixed the two ideas together until they were happy with the mix. Jesus really wasn't THE Son of god, they said! He was just an incredible teacher, a prophet, perhaps even some kind of spiritual representation of the real Son of God...all kinds of such trash.

So Paul naturally decided to shoot them a letter. Let's take a look at it:

"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

"We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in word of truth, the gospel, which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as in you also since the day you heard and understood the grace of God in truth."

Part 1 Colossians 1:1-2

...I have never seen anything like the way Paul's sentences never end. Seriously...one sentence is like 4-5 verses!

Anyways, more seriously. First of all Paul opens his letter as he does many of his, stating up front that he IS an apostle, not of his own choosing, but of God's choosing. What is an apostle, we ask? Simply put, its a man who is "sent" by God, as the Greek word behind it implies...but is that all? No. Even more seriously, it means that Paul is not only sent by God, but he literally SPEAKS for God...a after-Christ prophet, no less. As a result, he's infallible. At least in his writings and on Theological foundations, Paul cannot be wrong...look to Galatians 1 and 2 if you want to go into this in more detail.

Secondly, more as a sideline, its interesting to note that Timothy, Paul's student and 'apprentice' of sorts, also signs his name to the letter. Apparently Timothy was with Paul at this time. I'm not sure, I'll look it up in the future if you wish, but Timothy was a younger man brought along by Paul on his journeys and was eventually left to look after the church in Ephesus. Paul's letters to Timothy himself, 1st and 2nd Timothy exactly, are a sample of what Paul was teaching him in how to take care of the church.

Anyways, back on topic. Paul goes on to say that he's talking to the 'faithful' brethren (brothers for us new agers) in Christ, that currently live in Colossae. I suppose Paul still had faith and was confident the Christians in this city would remain faithful in spite of the difficulties, by seeing how he calls them still faithful and in Christ.

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father." Paul opens his letter to them with a blessing of peace and grace from God. First off, its good to note that in fact, grace and peace only CAN come from God our Father, and from no other source. Only God Himself can bestow on us such things as grace and peace. Grace we should know about well. Grace is God's gift to us or pure love and mercy, meaning simply, "He gave us what we didn't deserve."

Peace is what the Holy Spirit is in our hearts as saved believers. Anyone who is saved should know what peace feels like, and more seriously, its an expression of God's constancy in us. A man who has God's peace can take and deal with anything, if he's got enough faith to trust Him for it!

Part 2 - Colossians 1:3-5

"We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel,"

Paul starts out bring grateful for his brothers in Colossae. He gives thanks to God (who interestingly, he stops to point out is the Father of Christ, something we already know...but in context of the whole letter it may be that Paul is gently reminding those who are wandering from this truth in the present state of Colossae...well, what the real truth is.) for them all. He goes on to say he prays from them always.

Now stop here and see what this means. I'm ashamed to admit I don't pray for my brothers half as often as I should. I still find it amazing what a man of God Paul was, after all he had suffered, to still be giving thanks and praying, ALWAYS praying, for his brothers in the growing churches! I hope one day I may personally reach that level of godliness. It still blows my mind.

Anyway, Paul goes on saying he's heard of the faith of his Colossian brothers in Christ Jesus. And not only that, but he's heard of the love they have for each other and all the saints. Despite some of the heresies some of the Colossians may be buying into, they still have some form of godliness left and can't all be buying into it. Otherwise such a display of good godly behavior wouldn't be there.

Then, he goes on to the really interesting part. He then says that the reason they are like this is BECAUSE...they heard of the hope laid up in heaven for them. Interesting! May we always strive to have faith in Jesus Christ and also to love all our Christian brothers and sisters, FOR the hope laid up in heaven! It does us good to remember that God is a wonderful, overflowing, generous God...He doesn't even stop at saving us so graciously with His own Son's blood! Even STILL, God has stored up treasure and reward in heaven for us! That's like bailing an evil criminal out of a billion dollar, lifetime prison sentence for no reason at all, and as if that wasn't enough...when he becomes a good man again, you start showering him with unbelievable wealth! Its almost too much!

At any rate, he gets them back on focus. We should have these qualities, and continue to strive for them, because we're keeping in mind the reward God let's us gain for ourselves in the coming Kingdom.

Finally, Paul goes on saying that all of this they heard before, previously...from the evangelists. The Gospel taught them all this, it being the 'word of truth' indeed. That is funny, almost...think how much the Gospel that these men preached back then, the correct one, would differ so much from what we consider to be the Gospel our evangelists preach today. Perhaps a sad thought, too.

And on that note, ladies and gentlemen...PLEASE, COMMENT! I never, ever want to hear anyone ever say, "Alex said this and that," unless its something wrong I said. I'd much rather hear that Alex just told you what the Bible says, not what Alex says. If you find any problems, no matter how minor, with this, please by all means, hit me! Comments are awesome!

Well everyone, have a good, remembering "Good Friday." Its a day we should remember. God bless!