From a religious perspective, God is the potter and we are the clay and he can do with us as he pleases...and I accept this concept as well. The only problem is what the religious community assumes to be the things he would do to us.

Throughout the Old Testament and within the New Testament as well, God is written in a way and reacted to in a way that sets in place a method of thinking where he does not have to follow the spirit of the teachings he expects the rest of us to follow. It's just somehow accepted that he is above having to behave in the manner in which he asks us to behave. It's just somehow accepted that he is simply given a blank check to do as he pleases, when he pleases and to whom he pleases...and we are required to believe we cannot question his actions...no matter how far out of line they are with his own teachings...because for some reason, the act of not following the spirit of his own teachings is how he teaches us lessons..

"From a religious perspective, God is the potter and we are the clay and he can do with us as he pleases...and I accept this concept as well. The only problem is what the religious community assumes to be the things he would do to us."

Why is there a double standard? From a religious perspective, God is the potter and we are the clay and he can do with us as he pleases...and I accept this concept as well. The only problem is what the religious community assumes to be the things he would do to us. As with the concept of Zeus, God is often seen as a puppet master...spending his time pulling the strings on the events here on earth and either engineering or endorsing our cataclysmic events.

God, as he is written in the Bible, is allowed to do as he pleases and as he wishes, no matter how much pain and suffering this might include and we cannot disagree or question this because the God depicted by the Bible is a God to be feared...not loved and understood. Of course followers of the Biblical God will scream back to me "I love my God with all my heart!" and I believe that you think this is so, but to truly love your God, you have to love all that he represents and has been said to have done. With this in mind, do you love and endorse the following:

• do you love and endorse... The obliteration of millions of animal life forms and tens of thousands of people as reported in the story of Noah? (Gen 6-9)
  • Are you happy that these people and animals died? Are you proud to be associated with the God who performed this act? If given a picture of bloated and decaying bodies floating on the water, would you turn to somebody and say with pride, "My god did that. Isn't he wonderful? Look how loving and forgiving he is." If anyone else had done this, other than the God whom you hold unaccountable for his actions, would you love them dearly as well?
• do you love and endorse... The death of family members and years of pain and suffering as part of a wager God made with Satan? (Job 1:1-5, 13-22; 2:7-13) Satan was give permission by God to destroy Job's crops, his livestock and even his children...not to mention that God allowed Satan to give Job sores all over his body.
  • How could you not love this concept of God? He's willing to let you suffer and allow your loved ones to die so that he can prove something to the town's bully (Satan). Again, if anyone else had done this, other than the God whom you hold unaccountable for his actions, would you love them dearly as well?
• do you love and endorse... The use of evil spirits to purposely confuse the world leaders and ensure war and difficulties occur as when God sent a lying spirit to the prophets of Ahab so that he would go to war and die in battle (1 Kings 22:22) or how about when God repeatedly and purposely hardened Pharaohs heart (Ex 9:12) so that plague after plague and calamity after calamity could occur?
  • Imagine you were about to make a good decision or even just a normal decision, but then God makes you change your mind about doing the better thing and so you change your mind and do the bad thing and then get punished by God for it. Again, if anyone else had done this to you, other than the God whom you hold unaccountable for his actions, would you love them dearly as well and brag about how you deserved it?

This kind of stuff is nearly endless where God has been written into the hearts of his followers by the way the stories are written about him in the Bible....and so many of the things God has been recorded to have done, goes against the spirit of his own teachings.

Consider this...the stories are not true and God does follow the spirit of his own teachings and everything written to the contrary is simply mans mistaken and feeble attempt to rationalize what he thinks he should fear...but does not have to. For some reason, man has a problem with accepting God as truly being loving, forgiving and peaceful. When you fear anything, your perception of that thing is tainted, clouded and will always appear as a ghostly shadow...demanding even more fear. Stop fearing God by seeing that there is no reason to be fearful of him. The stories of his retribution, punishment and visions of hell are all mistakes made by fearful minds.

A primary issue with how God and Jesus are perceived is that most followers of the Biblical God limit themselves to only those things written in the Bible. This seemingly good choice to hold these teachings as the exact and only words from God, is exactly why many people in this world do not truly see our loving and forgiving God as he truly is. These ancient words were written by primitive people with primitive concepts of gods and spirits. Every natural calamity or attack from an enemy nation would be conceived as a message from God at that time because they could not explain it...so it was fearful...but it had to happen for a reason, right?...and the reason had to be that God was angry. They could not fathom that sometimes, things just happen or that you sometimes bring events about on your own.

On the other hand, from a modern and more enlightened point of view, we see that God only endorses things that are loving and peaceful, which means that vast portions of the Bible cannot be neither inspired nor endorsed by God since it includes so much murder, deception, killing, endorsing of wars, creation of famines, destruction of cities, etc...and inevitably, the genocide of billions of people as depicted in the Book Of Revelation.

With respect to the Book of Revelation and many other prophesies within the Bible, whether you actively or submissively accept that your god will send millions of angels to this world to slay billions of people, you need to consider yourself as an accessory to the act and realize that you will be as responsible for the billions of murders as the ones who actually perform them. You need to take another look at Hitler, Saddam, Stalin, Ho Chi Minh, abortionists, gays, alcoholics and prostitutes, and realize they have done nothing to humanity that even compares to the scale of death, brutality, anguish and destruction you have accepted as a necessary step for you to reach god.

To have lusted in your heart is no different than having performed the act (Matt 5:27-28). Likewise, to endorse the massacre of billions in your heart is no different than having performed the act yourself. Therefore, if you desire, have accepted and have agreed to the necessity of prophetic end times where billions will be slaughtered, you are a murderer in your heart and this is as far from the spirit of Jesus' teachings of love and forgiveness as you can possibly get. If you truly wish to see the real face of the anti-christ, you need just pick up a mirror and behold the face of one who would eagerly or blindly accept the death and suffering of billions. Jesus' last act before he died was to forgive...not lust for the death of anyone, let alone the death of billions. Be loving and forgiving. Be like the Christ and not an antichrist.

There is an alternative to how you can see God. You can step back from your beliefs for a moment and see that they cannot be true since the actions that God is said to have performed and is prophesied to perform, are totally out of line with the spirit of his teachings, and therefore, the bulk of what you believe, can not be true. Open your heart to God's unconditional love and see that your current perception of him is not true. It can't be true. There is no way any loving creature, God, human, or even animal can perform the atrocities and apocalyptic acts described within the bible and expect to be loved for their acts of goodness and mercy.

The only question you need ask is whether you think a truly loving God would desire you love him because he is loveable or that you love him because he'll kill you otherwise. If your own children believed that they had no choice other than to love you or you'll torment them and kill them...do you think they would be seeing you for who you really are? Just because they think they should fear you, has absolutely nothing to do with how you really feel for your children. You love your children...sometimes unconditionally....Now, imagine God did this too. Imagine for just one moment that God could be as unconditionally loving of his children as you are. Do you think he has it in him to do this? Do you think that somehow he cannot achieve this love that even we can sometimes find?

You are created in God's image and his image is love. You love your children unconditionally and would never do anything to harm them. You will see their mistakes as opportunities to teach, not punish. You will see their rebellions as phases they will outgrow, not threats to your authority. You may anger on occasion, but you will not cling to any reason to hold onto your anger and you will forgive them time and time again...even if they don't ask you...because they are your children and you love them and you want them to know you are there to help them and guide them...with love, not threats of doom. Can you imagine for one moment that God can do this as well. Can you imagine for a moment that God can do this on a scale that even dwarfs our own capacity? He can, He does and He always will.

In a nutshell, with respect to the end of times and the thoughts that Armageddon is near...Jesus is not coming back to slay billions in order to create an earthly kingdom. This entire concept is contrary to all his teachings. He taught love and forgiveness and he taught about the spirit of the law being more important than the letter of the law because when you understand the purpose for the rules, you no longer need the rules. Jesus' mission was spiritual, not physical and he has neither a need nor a desire to create a physical kingdom. This concept is simply a Jewish belief in the Messiah that has been extended into many modern beliefs...and just like YHWH, the ancient god of war, Jesus is now depicted as a slayer of men...simply because there are people in the world who don't know him in the way a specific belief claims is necessary.

Step back for a moment and be open to see God and Jesus differently. Simply say "I would rather see things clearly. I am open to see things differently. I prefer to see things truthfully."...and then lay down any defenses you have of your current beliefs and let God heal your mind and open your heart to who he really is...and who you really are. You are his child that he loves and that he will walk beside for billions of years if necessary, until we all choose to let go of all the lies of the world and accept him as he is, a loving God.

Be part of peace. Be part of the reason why the mid east finds answers. Be part of the reason why racial issue are resolved. Be part of the reason why less wars occur in the world.

Be part of love. Be part of why families are happier. Be part of why God is seen as loving. Be part of why all life is cherished, no matter what you believe, where you live, or who you pray to.

I extend my love, I extend my peace and I extend the truth of the unconditional love and forgiveness that God has for you.