Can a Glorified Jesus Beat Goku?

This is an article I’ve rewritten for clarity. I tend to write in a very formal style by nature, which can be off-putting, so I’ve revised it for better readability.

Forget power levels. Forget energy blasts. This isn't about a fight. It's about reality. The Bible says God is supreme. He's the source of everything. He has a plan, and that plan is certain.

Jesus is the key to that plan. God gave Him all authority. He's Lord, not because He's the strongest, but because God appointed Him. It's like a king. The king might not be the best fighter, but he has the authority.

1 Corinthians 15:27 says, "For He [God] put all things in subjection under His [Jesus'] feet." "All things" means all things. Goku is a created being. He's part of "all things." Therefore, Goku is already subject to Jesus' authority, whether he knows it or not.

Philippians 2:10-11 says, "every knee" will bow and "every tongue" will confess that Jesus is Lord. This isn't a suggestion. It's a prophecy. It will happen. Goku is included in "every."

The question isn't can Jesus beat Goku. The question is, when will Goku bow? It's not about strength; it's about God's will. God's will cannot be resisted.

The body of Christ shares in Christ's authority. Therefore, any member of the body of Christ also has authority over Goku.

So, yes, Jesus wins. Not because of a bigger blast, but because He's Lord. It's a matter of fact, not a matter of power. And so does any member of the body of Christ.

Noah's Ark, Real or Fake?

This is an article I’ve rewritten for clarity. I tend to write in a very formal style by nature, which can be off-putting, so I’ve revised it for better readability.

I've heard it said that the Bible is inerrant, but I've also heard people try to explain the story of Noah's Ark as if it were a global flood. And, well, that just doesn't work. It's one of those things that, if you think about it for even a few minutes, makes you realize that something's not quite right with the way it's usually presented.

See, the story talks about all the high hills under the whole heaven being covered with water. Now, I'm no scientist, but I'm pretty sure there's not enough water on this planet, even if you melted all the ice and condensed all the water vapor in the atmosphere, to cover every mountain peak. It's just physically impossible. And it's not like the water could have come from some other planet, because where would it have gone afterwards? It couldn't have just vanished. So, the traditional explanation already has a major problem.

And then there's the whole issue of the animals. Two of every kind, or even seven pairs of some? Seriously? Has anyone actually tried to calculate how many animals that would be? And how much space they'd take up? And how much food they'd need for over a year? And how Noah and his family would have managed to collect them all, from all over the planet? It's simply impractical, if not downright impossible. And don't even get me started on the waste disposal problem. The logistics alone make the whole global flood idea collapse under its own weight.

But it gets worse. If you think about genetics, a global flood would have created a massive bottleneck, reducing every species down to just a few individuals. We should see evidence of that in the genetic record, a drastic reduction in genetic diversity. And we just… don't. For most species, the genetic evidence points to much larger populations throughout their history, not a sudden near-extinction event.

And the geological evidence? Forget about it. A global flood that covered all the mountains would have left behind unmistakable signs: massive erosion, huge sediment deposits, a complete reshuffling of the fossil record. We'd see a clear geological layer, worldwide, marking this catastrophic event. But we don't. Geologists have been studying the Earth's strata for centuries, and they've found absolutely no evidence of a global flood. They've found evidence of local floods, sure, but nothing on the scale described in Genesis.

And what about the plants? How would plants, especially those that need specific soil conditions or climates, survive being submerged under saltwater for months? Did Noah have a giant greenhouse on the Ark, too? And after the flood, how did all the animals get back to their original habitats? Did the kangaroos hop all the way back to Australia? Did the sloths slowly make their way back to South America? It just doesn't make sense.

Now, some people try to get around these problems by saying, "Well, it was a miracle! God just made it happen!" But that's a cop-out. It's basically saying, "I don't have a good explanation, so I'll just invoke magic." And if you're going to invoke magic, why not just say God magically made everyone think there was a flood, when there really wasn't? That would require far less magic.

And, speaking of water, there's the freshwater fish. If the flood was global, and the waters that covered the earth came from the "fountains of the great deep" and the "windows of heaven," that would almost certainly mean the floodwaters were saltwater. But saltwater is lethal to freshwater fish. So, unless God performed another miracle to keep all the freshwater fish alive (a miracle that, again, isn't mentioned in the text), they'd all be dead. And yet, we have freshwater fish today.

So, what's the alternative? Well, a local flood. A really, really big flood, sure, but a local one. The story is likely describing a catastrophic flood in Mesopotamia, the "land between the rivers" (the Tigris and Euphrates). This area is prone to flooding, and there's even geological evidence of major floods in the past. The language of "all flesh" and "under the whole heaven" is just hyperbole, the way people naturally talk when they're describing something huge and devastating. It's like saying, "The whole town was destroyed by the fire." Does that mean every single building burned to the ground? Not necessarily. It means the destruction was widespread and catastrophic for that town.

The Ark, then, wouldn't have needed to be some impossibly large wooden ship. It could have been a large reed raft, something that people in that region actually built. And Noah wouldn't have needed to collect animals from all over the world, just the local animals, the ones he needed for survival.

And the "fountains of the great deep" and the "windows of heaven"? That's probably just figurative language for a really, really big storm, maybe combined with some tectonic activity, an earthquake that caused the land to sink and the sea to rush in. We don't know the exact details, but we don't need to invoke a global, physics-defying miracle to explain it.

What is Temptation?

This is an article I’ve rewritten for clarity. I tend to write in a very formal style by nature, which can be off-putting, so I’ve revised it for better readability.

We often picture temptation as this outside force, like the devil whispering in our ear, trying to get us to do bad things. But the Bible paints a different picture. It's not about some external enemy trying to trip us up. It's about what's going on inside us.

The words used in the Bible for "temptation"; nasah in Hebrew, peirazō and peirasmos in Greek, they don't just mean "to entice to sin." They mean "to test," "to try," "to prove." Think of it like testing the quality of a metal, or proving someone's character. It's about revealing what's already there.

And here's a key point: God doesn't tempt anyone to sin. James is very clear on that: "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one" (James 1:13). God might allow us to be tested, He might even use difficult situations to refine us, but He's not the one dangling the forbidden fruit in front of our faces.

So, where does temptation come from? James tells us straight up: "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire" (James 1:14). It's our own desires, our own inner wants and longings, that get us into trouble. It's not about some outside force making us do things; it's about what we want to do.

Think about it. If you're on a diet, and you see a delicious chocolate cake, the cake itself isn't "tempting" you. The cake is just there. The temptation comes from your desire for the cake. If you didn't want the cake, there'd be no temptation at all.

And this desire, James says, leads to a process: "Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death" (James 1:15). It's a progression. It starts with a desire, that desire grows, it leads to action (sin), and that action ultimately leads to consequences (death).

But why does God allow testing, if He's not the one doing the tempting? Well, the Bible gives us a few reasons. One is to reveal what's in our hearts. Tests show us our weaknesses, where we're vulnerable. Deuteronomy 8:2 says that God led the Israelites in the wilderness "to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not." It's like a stress test for a building; it reveals the weak points so they can be strengthened.

Another reason is to strengthen our faith. James says we should "count it all joy" when we face trials, because the testing of our faith produces endurance (James 1:2-4). Peter says that the testing of our faith is "more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire" (1 Peter 1:6-7). It's like working out a muscle; the resistance makes it stronger.

And, of course, there's the idea that overcoming temptation, relying on God's strength, demonstrates His power. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says that God won't let us be tempted beyond what we can handle, and He'll always provide a way out. When we resist temptation, it's not us being strong; it's God's strength being shown in our weakness.

Now, when it comes to Jesus' temptations in the wilderness, that's a whole different ballgame. He wasn't just any guy. He was the Messiah, the Son of God. His temptations weren't just about resisting everyday desires; they were about fulfilling His mission. He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness specifically to be tempted (Matthew 4:1; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13). And those temptations? They were directly related to His role as the Messiah: turning stones to bread (using His power for personal gain), jumping from the temple (testing God and seeking public acclaim), worshipping Satan (abandoning God for worldly power). Jesus resisted by quoting Scripture and staying focused on God's will.

But here's the thing: we can't just copy and paste Jesus' experience onto our own. He was unique. We're not facing the same temptations He faced. We're not being asked to turn stones into bread or worship Satan. Our temptations are more mundane, more everyday. They're about resisting our own desires, the things that pull us away from God.

So, what does this all mean for us, as members of the body of Christ? It means we need to stop thinking of temptation as some external force, some demonic attack. It's internal. It's about our own desires. And it means we can't just "fight" temptation with willpower. We need to rely on God's grace, His power, His Spirit. We need to "walk by the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16), not by the flesh.

And here's the kicker: we're not under the Law anymore (Romans 6:14; Galatians 5:18). We're not trying to earn God's favor by following a bunch of rules. We're already accepted, already forgiven, already reconciled to God through Christ. Our motivation for resisting temptation isn't fear of punishment; it's love for God and love for others (Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:14). It's about living out our new identity in Christ, not about trying to earn something we already have.

So, yeah, temptation is real. But it's not what most people think it is. It's not about God trying to trick us or test us to see if we'll fail. It's about our own desires, and it's about learning to rely on God's grace and power to overcome those desires and live a life that reflects His love.