Harrison Woodard

Christian writer, SMU fan, Texan, 80s music, and Toymaker To The King. The van down by the river wasn't so bad. Mom, circa '44, under the B-29.

[Harrison Woodard @MatneyWoodard]

What would my Father say...

[Harrison Woodard @MatneyWoodard]

@Jaredhowe Drudge? Is he still around? I don't even remember the last time I visited his site.

[Harrison Woodard @MatneyWoodard]

@ShawnRyan762 @HerVitamins Isn't she an actress - Hallmark films?

[Harrison Woodard @MatneyWoodard]

Humans don't need a license. It comes naturally. You do need to be reborn from spiritual death to SPIRITUAL LIFE. Once that happens, those old desires tend to fade as you make Jesus LORD of your life. In other words - He becomes your TOP PRIORITY, even over religion.

This is a SPIRITUAL CONCEPT. To the natural man, its like the ceiling - over their head. That is why religion seems more appealing than God's Will. For the spiritual man, its just the opposite. God's Way is Perfect and quite Simple.

Do you not understand that GOD CREATED YOU? He was there before and after every single sin - past, present, and future. And did you know that HE LOVES YOU? Nobody wants your success more than your Heavenly Father. He is not in Heaven playing "Whack A Human." Get your mind off of the crude, religious traditions of men, and see LIFE from God's Perspective.

[Harrison Woodard @MatneyWoodard]

2 Timothy 1:15 BSB
You know that everyone in the Province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.

Paul was still alive and teaching his Revelation yet people were turning to religion. Folks love having their senses tickled. They avoid and reject Spiritual Truth - even God, who is Spirit. (John 4:24)

Mark 7:5-8 BSB (all of Mark 7 is germane)
5 So the Pharisees and scribes questioned Jesus: “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat with defiled hands.”

6 Jesus answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.

7 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’

8 You have disregarded the commandment of God to keep the tradition of men.”

If religious leaders, living with, observing and listening to Jesus, could not recognize God Himself in their midst, and those alive, hearing and reading Paul's Revelation of the Body of Christ did not recognize it as TRUTH, why should we trust ANY religious leader? The world need's teachers, but to be a good student/disciple means you must trust, but then VERIFY. That is the purpose of God's Word and the Holy Spirit.

GO TO THE SOURCE!

Proverbs 3:5-8 BSB
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
8 This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.

Ignatius, is not someone I would look to for Spiritual insight. If he read Paul's letters, according to his writing, he did not understand the Revelation. He was obsessed with suffering as necessary to reach God. And in the end, got exactly what he hoped for - likely unnecessarily. Brave man for sure, but little understanding of the TRUTH. Jesus suffered FOR US. And when HE was raised, God SAW YOU raised. (Colossians 1 - 3) A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST! (2 Corinthians 5:16-17)

Believers don't have to suffer to KNOW God. (John 14, Ephesians 2)

[Harrison Woodard @MatneyWoodard]

This is GOD's PLAN, not made by men, or their religion. God worked it out long before you even had a chance to sin. And yet you not only REJECT IT, you come out and PUBLICLY mock it!

13 And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:13-14 BSB

God's Plan is so easy it would take a theologian to make it complicated. Simply pick up a Bible, turn to Romans and start reading. I would also read Ephesians and Colossians - both very short. AND HEAR what the WORD says.

Religion is such a waste of time. Get to know your Heavenly Father and just how much He loves you. I think you will be SHOCKED by how unnecessary religious works are in view of His Salvation Plan. Jesus did it ALL. He said it perfectly, "IT IS FINISHED."

Hebrews 11:6 BSB
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God. For anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Romans 4:1-3 BSB
1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has discovered? 2 If Abraham was indeed justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

If ANYONE could boast about works, why not Abraham. Left his family and followed God. Willingly offered Isaac before an angel stopped him and instead, God provided a substitute - oh if only people would receive the REVELATION of that moment! His righteousness (right standing before God) was credited to him because HE BELIEVED GOD. His faith was so strong, he told his servants:

Genesis 22;5 BSB
“The boy and I will go over there to worship, and then WE will return to you.”

Ephesians 2:4-10 BSB
4 But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved! 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

8 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.

How can ANYONE read Ephesians and cling to religious hooey?
Why did God do it? His GREAT LOVE.
What did He do? Made us ALIVE even though we were dead.
How are we saved? By Grace through faith.
What did we do? Nothing but BELIEVE. There is no boasting - we are GOD's Work. He made us NEW CREATIONS IN CHRIST.

What is required? Praise God for His Love. Seek His will for your life. He has that planned out as well.

Colossians 2:8-10 BSB
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ. 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form. 10 And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

If you are COMPLETE IN CHRIST, what can religion offer? Even a very old denomination with lots of traditions?

[Harrison Woodard @MatneyWoodard]

Growing up with parents/uncles who all fought/served in WW2, our performance in Viet Nam and other actions made little sense to me as a youngster. Later, I started to understand there were many profiting from a long war, and a good many people using it to divide and weaken America. I love America. And learning that people were actively working for its downfall made me quite angry.

I should have chosen my words a little better. The folks fighting were doing their best. You go to war to destroy your enemy's ability to fight. Our military was never allowed to do that.

[Harrison Woodard @MatneyWoodard]

@bonedaddy8002 @BreeSolstad Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am with them - Jesus. If its 2 or 200 people, as long as Jesus is the HEAD (and ONLY HEAD) of the Body, that group is being fed by the SOURCE - far superior than any religious leader or denomination.

[Harrison Woodard @MatneyWoodard]

@CatholicDrip___ Good thing we don't put our Eternal Trust in men. God is TRUE. If He says it, I BELIEVE IT. The rest is just religious opinion.

[Harrison Woodard @MatneyWoodard]

You are arguing about 7 different issues in this thread. Maybe that is why it is so confusing. Let's break this into smaller pieces.

What is Biblical Salvation? All men are born Spiritually Dead - the result of the sin in the Garden. That means you are cut off from intimacy from God, because God is Spirit

Jesus came. Suffered ALL that was necessary to pay the debt mankind owed because of sin. Long before you were even born, your debt was paid - Jesus blood on the Heavenly Mercy Seat is the evidence.

Now, one only needs to recognize and BELIEVE that Jesus PAID HIS DEBT FULLY and acknowledge Him LORD. Both personally, and Eternally. From Romans 10:9 - "If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, and that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved." - At that moment, the spirit, or inner man is REBORN, or as Paul writes - Made Alive In Christ. That is nonreversible.

Yet the desire to sin may remain in the flesh, and in the mind. And you will miss it at times - step out of love. That is where 1 John 1:9 comes in - If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Sin disrupts fellowship, but does not change status - ALIVE IN CHRIST.

By reading and meditating the WORD, you can renew the mind, resist the devil, and avoid sin. Many find that once they are Born Again, those old sinful desires simply vanish, or fade. That happened with me several times. You WANT to please the Father.

Let's talk a bit about "works" in THIS DISPENSATION, in the Body of Christ. In an IDEAL WORLD, God places Believers in the Body where it pleases Him. You have been given talent and Grace to do great things for God. Yet, most people struggle trying to be a duck, when they are actually a cat. That unfortunately, was me for many years.

One of my favorite examples the Lord gave me was an apple tree. You plant it in good soil, make sure it has water, light, CO2 and what will it do? produce apples abundantly. Its not work - It Is Life! ABUNDANT LIFE!!

If you are called to be in waste management, God can make every garbage run your greatest adventure, and bless you beyond comprehension. There are plenty of examples in the Word, and in life, if you look around at BELIEVERS. The key is being faithful in your calling. How do you please the Father? Heb 11:6 - "...without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."

Now let's address the meme. I suspect this is intended to be provocative for those who are not religious - who BELIEVE what Jesus did is sufficient. Count me in that group.

However, it is a fair question when Paul and Jesus seem to contradict each other. Who is correct?

This is where dispensationalism helps.

Do you carry an unblemished lamb to church with you and slaughter it. If not, why not?

Take a deep breath and consider the question.

What was required of folks often changes with the dispensation. When Jesus was teaching the Jews living under the Old Covenant, the requirements were different than they are for Gentiles in the Age of Grace - which was "hidden in God" while Jesus was present.

The vast majority of his teaching was about the KINGDOM of God, and His return - all predicated on Israel believing Jesus was the Messiah - the man from prophecy they were expecting. The nation rejected Him - delaying the fulfillment. And the Old Covenant and sacrifices ended with Jesus' death - "It is finished". Emphatically with Rome's destruction of the Temple in 70AD.

Its like a letter addressed to me that you received by mistake. You might understand some of it, but since it was not written ABOUT YOU or TO YOU, it likely makes LITTLE SENSE.

There is a Blessing associated with reading Revelation. The actual title is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It is the MOST Jewish book in the NT. It is interesting, but its not written TO or ABOUT ME. Its for the Jews and Nations living during the end times. Their Salvation plan is different from ours.

This is getting too long, so I encourage you to compare Paul's letter to Ephesians, to the letter in Revelation 2:1-7 (AMP)
1 TO THE angel (messenger) of the assembly ...

Compare the verbiage, the nouns and titles used. Judgment versus Grace, and wrath instead of Love. What changed? The start of a new dispensation of judgment. That is the ONLY plausible explanation when you have a Heavenly Father - who "CHANGES NOT." HE does not change, but the audience being addressed does.

[Harrison Woodard @MatneyWoodard]

I agree. The outfit is more late 70s than early 80s. By 82, what was popular had changed dramatically. However, I will say this, I was a Junior/Senior in High School in 82, the 70s look and disco was thoroughly rejected by my generation. However, my sisters 5 and 9 years older, would on occasion dress in their 70s best to hit the club. This was in East Texas. The Last American Virgin (1982) does a pretty good job reflecting the times in fashion, and the actors actually were teens!

[Harrison Woodard @MatneyWoodard]

@denverfrogTCU @mere_de_rousses I wish I had written down all the stories I was told. They were wild. Although most players wisely kept quiet on such things.

[Harrison Woodard @MatneyWoodard]

@denverfrogTCU @mere_de_rousses I understand. I am basing it on what the NCAA reported. For every "job" "car" or whatever, we were likely bidding against other schools.

[Harrison Woodard @MatneyWoodard]

@denverfrogTCU @mere_de_rousses TCU got smacked pretty darn hard in 1985 - like SMU, far worse than the large state schools for similar sins.

[Harrison Woodard @MatneyWoodard]

@CatholicDrip___ "Bibles in the wrong hands are dangerous"

The history of Rome PROVES that.

[Harrison Woodard @MatneyWoodard]

I saw great progress from being stabbed in 1st grade, and rocks thrown at our football team's bus in JV, to bringing black friends home from college to play pick-up basketball in my hometown park. TV/film/sports were all "naturally" integrated - not forced by courts. I could meet folks and chat about anything without fear of offending, and of course violence.

Something changed in the 90s early 2000s. It became safer to just avoid conversation. One of the last times I tried playing pick up basketball at a Dallas public park, I was the only white, and only one that got picked to play. I was getting smacked around, hard-fouled yet competing. The "gentleman" who was guarding me got a good hip check as I blocked him out for another rebound. His response was to flash a knife and make some colorful threats. To everyone's credit - he was shamed off the court, however, it was my last trip to that park to play.

I should point out. The players were professionals, business men, fathers. The violent ones were younger - high school, maybe college age. Like me, the mature ones just wanted to play, get some exercise, forget about life. I loved it because I always wanted to play against/with folks who were better than me.

[Harrison Woodard @MatneyWoodard]

Elisabeth Shue - My agency had just landed Disney's regional film advertising in Dallas. There were rumors of a publicity tour bringing Shue to Dallas. Oh my heart was a thumpin' - and I'm usually not someone who got excited over "stars" - but she was somethin' in '87. It was cancelled, as was her trip for Cocktail in '88. Sadly, I never met her. I did get a signed 8 x 10 head shot and an AIB one-sheet from my Disney (Buena Vista/Touchstone) client whose kindness was always appreciated. Both hung in my office as great conversation starters, until lost to time.

[Harrison Woodard @MatneyWoodard]

@CatholicDrip___ No. But I do KNOW someone with INFINITE WISDOM. And I love His Word - consume it every day.