Purpose
This site is an expression of faith. As I study God's Word, our history, and the world around us, I'm compelled to write about what I find. These studies leave me with a strengthened faith and a better understanding of God and our own human nature. I can only hope that it inspires the same in others. The world is becoming increasingly violent against the Bible and it's message, both spiritually and physically, and that's something I've come to accept. I find that everything in life points to or away from Christ. Much like love, this faith is a choice and must be continually nurtured lest it die.
What's in a Name
Why Riding the Beast? I was fairly new to Bible study when this domain was registered. The Hebrew letter Vav is both a W and a six so the www prefixing most domains could be interpreted as a literal 666. Could the Internet itself be the beast of Revelation? It was a naive interpretation but nevertheless, here the name remains.
So who is riding the beast? Babylon the Great, Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth. Plain and simply false doctrine, false religion, and false beliefs. The reality is that we all have some level of falsity in our belief systems and we're all subject to the desires of the flesh - power, sex, money, fame, goods, and substances of all kinds. We're all riding the beast to some degree and we'll all eventually receive the consequence of death. The good news is that Christ Jesus conquered death and His gift of eternal life is available to all - for everyone to accept, or to reject.
Many prefer to quibble over the name by which we should call our Savior. Whether it be Jesus, Yeshua, Isa, The Christ, The Annointed, or The Messiah, the redeeming work on the cross and the glorious resurrection are the same. Many get caught up in the image of a "white Jesus" or arrogant Christians, televangelists, and pedophile priests. Others claim that Jesus was just another man, or only a prophet, or simply a myth. Some are content with a higher power but an unknowable God. There are plenty of reasons not to believe in the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ.
Testimony
I'm a young man who is a software engineer by trade and a Christian by faith. As I've matured I've come to realize that all that glitters is not in fact gold. The things that looked so good from a distance lost their appeal as I approached them. What I was chasing I cannot exactly tell. It's not hard to say that a big part of it was myself. When everyone is trying to define the next person, it gets quite easy to lose our own true essence in the mix.
For me, the ultimate test of faith is believing that God wants to communicate with us directly through the written Word, and that He has power not only of life and death, but also of resurrection. If one can believe in the resurrection of Christ, then a creation in six days, a global flood, a parting of the seas, and a time of the end are not hard to accept - regardless of how improbable they seem to the modern world. This faith can be as simple or as complex as we choose to make it but everything in the Holy Bible points to the Savior Jesus Christ, and we ultimately choose who to follow.
Dedication
This site is dedicated to both believers and non-believers alike. It's also dedicated to my father who is currently serving a 14 year prison term now a free man in need of a kidney. Every attempt is made to respect all faiths and beliefs but this site represents my own perspective as a Christian and an American. With that said, I feel comfortable adding that if you've made it this far, it is for a reason.